Legend of Spyro: Path of Delusions
by Elander
Summary: The story begins right after Malefor's defeat, the Dragon Realms are saved from total destruction, Spyro has directed the fate of the era into a new age of prosperity. Everything seems to be finally on the right track, like in the books about great heroes who always achieve "...they lived happily ever after" ending. Will Fate guide Spyro along the same road? Only time will tell...
1. Chapter 1

**Hey there, I'm new around here but most likely drawn to this place for the same reason which brought today's veterans here-to allow other people to take a sip from your imagination.**  
** There are some things you should know if you are planning to read this humble work of mine:**

**I'm not a pro and I don't plan to become one in the nearby future, this is just pure hobby, so you are reading this story at your own risk:P**  
**English is not my mother language so most likely there are going to be some grammar errors, sorry for that, I just hope it is redeable, if not feel free to thrash me:P **

**Since I've posted this story on another website so I know there are mistakes made in some of the chapters, I try to correct them at the best of my ability but unfortunately I have very limited time and you know how it is, when you sink into writing it all makes perfect sense to you, you discover later that what you scribbled is actually incomprehensible gibberish;P I'm exaggerating of course, it's not that bad (at least that's what people told me:D) rest assured I plan to revise my chapters if I find the time.**

**Most important thing, this story is completely improvised, I'm creating it from the top of my head, there is no plan or whatsover. Just like you I don't know what's going to happen next, that's why I'm rating this M, just in case. Hopefully it will be a cool ride for you just like it is for me.**

**I'm currently working on chapter 17 of book 2, if you guys will like the story I'll be dropping here a new chapter every now and then.**

**Enjoy!(Hopefully:D)**

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The Legend of Spyro: Path of delusions

Book I: A new world

Chapter 1

The cover of the book flipped open revealing the first of its many pages. Its beautiful text clearly visible under the yellow light.

_He watched her go shaking his head, he wanted to follow her but exhaustion finally took control, he could barely keep himself standing and just after she disappeared around the corner he collapsed. The young dragon regained his consciousness on a floating piece of marble floor, around him there were chunks of rock hovering in the air, not far away he could see another fragment of the floor, the same fragment he woke up on was spinning wildly in the air, right past it he could discern rough edges of a solid ground . This was an eerie place._

_"Hello? Is anybody there?" Asked Spyro with a _glimmer_ of fear in his voice_

_"Do not be frightened young dragon, you are not alone." Answered a calm voice coming from nowhere_

_"Who are you? What is this place?"_

_'I have summoned you here so that you might be warned.__The ___Celestial Moons are counting down___ and time is running out"_

_Not sure what to make out from all of this Spyro cautiously took a few steps backward, suddenly strange voices started to whisper all around him__,__ their shrill sound piercing his skull . Spyro tried to shake them off but his attempt was futile, they didn't stop to torment him, they were getting lauder and lauder he couldn't stand it ._

_"Make it stop!" Spyro yelled__._

_That was exactly what happened, the floor he was standing on stopped floating, the hovering rocks all around him froze in place, the whispers ceased their torment, everything was still expect for the floating floor fragment in front of him. To the young dragons surprise the fast pace of the floor fragment when he took a glimpse of it for the first time was replaced now by slow rotation__,__ it was enough to make a jump for it and reach the ground past it__.__ Spyro waited for the right moment and without any second thoughts he ran as close to the edge as possible extending his wings and leaping into the air. It wasn't long before he reached the slowly rotating fragment, without wasting any more time he gained speed and jumped to reach the solid ground that was now clearly visible in front of him._

_"How did that happen?" asked Spyro confused about everything he had just experienced_

_"The purple dragon can wield many abilities that others can not including time itself" replied the same calm voice he heard early_

_"Learn to master this ability" it continued " and you will be able to see things almost before they happen, but use this gift sparely only when circumstances demand. Manipulation of time is not to be done without the utmost care" with that warning the voice went silent again_

_Spyro nodded in understanding_

It was a beautiful day, the sun was perched high in the air its beams illuminating the landscape below. It was a wonderful sight, leafs where slowly dancing in the soft breeze, birds sitting on branches were singing softly in perfect harmony, underneath the broad-leaved trees in an open space illuminated by the sun on a light green grass one could see many different kind of flowers already grown up and many of them still thriving. Wild animals where going about their business, some deers chewing the grass slowly others took care of their young, a fox chasing a hare here a pair of boars there, running blissfully in the forest. Peacefulness of this place was invigorating. The tranquility occasionally broken by a female laughter heard in the distance.

Of course the wild inhabitants of this place didn't mind those interruptions, a bear was standing in a shallow water staring at it watching for any movement of the many fish that swam underwater, it was keeping vigil for any stray fish that came close enough so it could catch it and devour it happily. On the other side of the riverbank a frog with a typical stoic demeanor was sitting minding its own business it didn't matter that the female laughter was getting lauder, it didn't care about such trivial things, its only concern was to watch for any insect that came close enough so it could catch it with a fast lash of its long tongue and swallow the poor thing.

It was a perfect day for the little frog, the abundance of insects ahead was appealing, and just when another one was coming within the range of its tongue, a sudden gust of wind created by a black shape startled the frog and blew it into the water with a laud splash.

She was flying close to the surface of the crystal clear water her body moving in perfect harmony with the flapping of her wings, her graceful and agile moves made flying look like it could be done with much ease. She flipped back to check what is happening behind her.

"Come on!, I won't wait for you, make it a challenge at least!" laughing- Cynder teased the shape behind her

After that innocent nudge she flipped again renewing her escape. Cynder plunged one of her claws into the water creating ripples alongside its surface. Still smiling she removed her claw and when the ripples disappeared she briefly looked at the water, her reflection clearly visible on its clear surface.

Cynder is a black dragoness with magenta underbelly, she has emerald colored eyes and six silver-white horns on her head, a blade-like tail made of iron and blade claws on her wing thumbs, Cynder's wings have magenta membranes. She wears two silver bracelets on her two front paws and a silver "choker" on her neck and her tail, below the "choker" on her neck she wore a necklace in the shape of a snake. Cynder has also white markings on her head, back, shoulders and around her eyes. All that gave her a somewhat ominous look.

"Just you wait!" she heard a voice coming from behind her

The green frog finally managed to resurface, it made its way to the same spot it was blown off before, adopting its stoic demeanor it sat on the riverbank.

It was a perfect day for the little frog, the abundance of insects ahead was appealing, and just when one of them was coming within the range of its tongue, a sudden gust of wind created by a purple shape startled the frog and blew it into the water with a laud splash. Again.

Spyro followed in her wake but he lacked the fluid and elegant moves Cynder had, so when he popped out of the forest at incredible speed and made his way alongside the crystal water he couldn't keep his balance, the momentum he achieved made him yank a little bit to his right side this made him plunge his right paws into the water loosing speed in an instant as a consequence of this small mistake. What Spyro lacks in agility he makes up for in raw strength, after he recovered his stability he made a couple of powerful flaps with his wings to regain the previously lost speed in mere seconds. He impulsively took a glimpse at the water, seeing his reflection for a brief moment.

Spyro is a purple dragon with gold underbelly, he has amethyst colored eyes ,two gold horns on his head and fins of the same color that start on top of his head and run along the whole length of his body ending with a gold sharp tip on his tail . He has two big gold wings with brown membranes . A necklace in the shape of a snake was wrapped around his neck.

They set up the track for this race hours ago, this wasn't their first run around this route, but no matter how many times they passed through it Spyro just couldn't make it perfect every time, oh how he hated maneuvering around those trees, and she knew it.

Nevertheless, this time wasn't that bad, once when he was just about to leave the forest he accidently bumped into a tree branch with one of his wings, the impact sending him straight into the water. Another time he was flying with incredible speed and when he just thought it would be a good run the momentum he gained didn't allow him to turn fast enough, instead of running alongside the water he crashed directly onto the ground, sliding and rolling around the mucky riverbank always ended with him being pinned upside down to a tree trunk leaving him dirty and with some scratches and bruises. Cynder always came back to check up on him and to make sure he was alright, after she was completely sure nothing was wrong giggling- she threw some words about how clumsy he is, her remarks made him flush in embarrassment.

To make it fair, after that wretched part of the race a tall rocky slope was coming into view, this was a sector that Spyro liked the most, after you reached its base the only possible way was up, there were no obstacles on that path, no trees, no twisted branches you had to dodge, just an open space. This was the perfect moment to take advantage of the trait that Spyro used when flying- power. He has fallen behind after that mistake earlier, but not everything was lost yet. He started flapping his wings with as much strength he could muster at that time, the precise movements of his wings created really strong gusts of wind allowing him to speed up quickly, every time his wings went down he stretched his body as far as he could, this simple moves allowed him to push harder.

He was gaining on her, after a while he could make out her feminine silhouette forming ahead, the sight made him push even harder. It wasn't long before he caught up with her, when he was at her waist-height, she turned her head to look at him, a sly smile clearly visible on her face, she didn't say a word she just poked her tongue at him. Realisation came too late, he was so focused on outrunning her he completely forgot about one obvious thing- the rocky slope wasn't infinite. The display of power was not the only reason he gained on her so fast, she was slowing down. It wasn't long before she turned right at the end of the slope while he shot up straight to the sky, it took him a while to dispose all that speed he accumulated during his wild chase, he hovered in the air for some time, looking down, he saw a black dragoness crossing a long straight scorched dash on the ground that represented the finish line, with a sigh he made his way towards her.

Cynder was jumping around in circles with joy.

" Told you I would beat you" she said when she noticed Spyro landing in front of her

"You didn't beat me, it's a draw, the final score is 4:4" he replied with a small smile on his face "besides I gave you a head start"

"You wish!" Cynder exclaimed laughing

Both young dragons were panting lightly after their strenuous effort, after all, that wasn't their first race. They made their way towards the outcropping overlooking the valley where the winner could collect the prize. They didn't think about anything fancy the prize was just another way to tease a little the losing side.

"Off you go" Cynder dismissed Spyro with a wave of her paw and a mischievous smile while she sat at the end of the outcropping.

At the beginning both of them used to complain when they lost, never wanting to move when an image of a rest was so close, exhaustion and aching wings or muscles used as the most common excuses. The pain was there of course, but it wasn't as lingering as they made it to be, and since Spyro lost this time he complied without saying a word.

He had experience so It didn't take him long to find what he was looking for, there were some green patches of land with different coniferous trees on them, at the base of their hunks plenty of bushes were placed one right beside the other, there were dozens of them, berries and raspberries were growing some of them were already picked clean- as a result of too many races, but there was still plenty of them to collect.

Near the bushes in a little hole on the ground covered in an icy mist was laying an item they called the basket, that was no ordinary basket, in fact that wasn't a basket at all, it was a quite appreciable round stone with a small cavity in its middle that Spyro made using his earth element by carefully sending a little earth missile since he didn't want it to make a hole on the other side, in the cavity dried juices from all those fruits they collected were still clearly visible, he made the handle by finding appropriate branches from the nearby trees he then pressed one of them to one side of the stone and covered it in ice then he pressed another one to the icy end of the first branch and used his ice breath again, he repeated the process until he reached the other side of the stone, it was a delicate work that's why the basket was lying in an icy hole so the handle wouldn't melt away. The whole basket thing was Cynder's idea, her ingenuity came in handy once again. It was a crude work- yes, but it served its purpose.

Spyro picked the basket and hung it around his neck, its icy handle leaving a refreshing and enjoyable chill. He made his way towards the bushes where the delicious fruits were growing, he started picking and putting them into the basket, every now and then swallowing one with great appetite, their sweet juices dealing with the growing thirst pretty quick, it wasn't long before the basket was filled with berries, satisfied ,he made his way back to the outcropping.

She was still on the same spot he had left her, laying on her back with her eyes closed and her mouth wide open awaiting her well-earned reward. He sat next to her, he reached out to the basket , picking the nearest fruit- carefully to avoid squashing it , with the fruit in his paw he moved it in front of Cynder and slowly began lowering it towards her mouth, the moment she felt the fruit getting close she snapped it really fast, the unexpected move made Spyro to impulsively withdraw his paw so he wouldn't get bitten by these sharp teeth, giggling she opened one of her eyes to see his reaction.

'You really enjoy it, don't you?" asked Spyro, smiling, the irony in his voice clearly noticeable

"Well...yeah" replied Cynder with an evil grin

She closed her eye and opened her mouth once again, she was ready to receive the next portion of the sweet fruits. Spyro was moving his paw even slower than before so he wouldn't be caught unaware if Cynder would try that trick again, she never did, but the slight tension sometimes made them both to chuckle. This was a simple reward really the winner's only concern was to find a proper space to laze about while the loser had to collect the fruits and feed them to the victor.

Cynder licked her mouth "Mmmm they were delicious, you did well" she patted his side with her paw

"I'm glad you liked it, still I don't know how you didn't feel the worms"

Cynder's eyes went wide open "What worms?!" she exclaimed

'You know the little slithering green things that you find in fruits sometimes, I was too tired to clear them off so I thought it would be a nice payback for all your teasing" said Spyro with a wicked smile

Cynder knew Spyro to well, he wouldn't do a thing like that to her but he used the moment when she was lost in bliss catching her unaware

"Thanks for ruining the moment" she pushed him making him tilt a little.

Spyro just chuckled in response.

After a while she pulled herself up and sat next to him, from here they had a good vantage point on the terrain below.

Valley of Avalar, this is here where they resurfaced after they defeated the Dark Master in his lair, how did they manage to get here was a mystery, but honestly neither of them cared, the evil that plagued this land was gone, they were both alive and together and that was all that mattered.

The valley itself was one of the most fertile places found in the Dragons Realms, many kind of tree tops dotted the greenish ground, they differed from one another, some of them were big and broad leaved while the others were thinner, through the land numerous rivers were flowing downhill from their rocky slopes, in the distance a waterfall could be seen, from their view it appeared like streams of milk rushing down the tall mountainside eventually ending in one of the rivers below, at the base of the mountain range they could see an empty space every now and then, probably a cave serving as a safe haven for many wild animals or hermits that lived here.

There are probably more valleys besides this one out there, but they never had the chance to explore during their adventure. If they didn't knew better both of them wouldn't even imagine that this land was struggling to fight off darkness.

They sat in utter silence watching the landscape that stretched ahead for quite some time.

"You did it" Cynder said with a soft tone breaking the peace

"Seems like it" answered Spyro with a clear sadness in his voice

"The stories had some truth in them after all"

"I wouldn't make it alone ,I had help" he gave her a knowing look

" I know I just didn't want to brag" the little joke made him small shyly

Spyro was no common dragon, he was THE dragon, a rare breed born once every ten generations. According to prophecies purple dragons are destined to bring justice, peace and hope to the Realms. Those dragons also have an unique ability to master and wield several elements like Fire, Ice, Earth and Electricity including Time itself, while all other dragons are capable

of breathing one particular element. Besides these common elements purple dragons can also harness an element nobody else knew was possible namely they can impulsively master the element of Convexity theoretically a mixture of all four elements they posses, this devastating attack comes with a price though, Convexity drains all the users energy leaving him extremely weakened.

Not every purple dragon believed in prophecies, Malefor also known as The Dark Master thought that their destiny was to destroy the world, to prevent it from happening Spyro and Cynder fought a severe battle with Malefor in his lair eventually defeating him, but the process of destruction had already begun the world was falling apart and when it seemed that everything was lost Spyro unleashed all his power healing the world in the final outcome. Their journey lead them to the outcropping they were sitting on right now.

"I just wish everyone could see it" the sadness in his voice almost palpable

Cynder immediately knew what he meant by that.

Ignitus the Fire Guardian served as the father-figure for Spyro, he saved the purple dragon's egg from the Dragon Temple when it was invaded by the Dark Master's army by sending it down a stream. Years later Ignitus lead the remaining war Dragons against the Dark Armies but in the end he lost that battle, driven by shame he exiled himself to the Swamp, where years later a very young purple dragon found the distraught Fire Guardian in his hiding place, he instantaneously recognized the boy, he was the purple dragon he saved from the attack all those years ago, the meeting rekindled the flame of hope in the old dragon and lifted him out of his despair. He provided Spyro with words of wisdom, lead him onto the right path and when there was time he taught the purple dragon about the element of fire.

Three years have passed after the Night of Eternal Darkness when they finally met again in the dragon city of Warfang. It was here where Malefor declared his plan to destroy the world by resurrecting The Destroyer a monster that emerged from the volcano below Malefor's Lair. His lair was nothing else than the Dragon Temple, after The Dark Master seized control of it he raised it above the volcano as a symbol of his dominance.

The Destroyer is a legendary creature it is said that it brings about a new age and world by destroying the old one, of course nobody from Warfang wanted to find out if the stories were true. It has the ability to form a wall of fire wherever it walks known as the Ring of

Annihilation. Once it has completed its journey around the globe and returned to the from whence it came, the creature would spread the Belt of Fire across the surface of the world in a torrent of fire and ash, issuing the earth's destruction.

When The Destroyer began to spread the Belt of Fire across the surface of the world, determining that they will be unable to catch up to the titan Ignitus ordered everyone to venture underneath Warfang to set up an ambush to stop the creature before it completes its circle around the globe. The army of Warfang confronted the titan at the dam, a tough battle took place, many lives were lost and much blood was spilled, eventually Spyro and Cynder managed to get inside the creature's body where they destroyed a black crystal at its center that probably served as a heart, but they only stalled the creature instead of stopping it completely ,it was probably controlled by The Dark Master himself by some evil means, after the brief pause the titan continued onwards.

When the plan failed Ignitus took Spyro and Cynder to the Belt of Fire to confront Malefor. Upon arriving he generated a barrier around them to protect all of them from the heat as they began to cross it. The Belt of Fire was possibly created by the dark magic of The Destroyer because not even a Fire Guardian as powerful as Ignitus could withstand it. The Fire Guardian struggled to keep his barrier around them up, but the dark power of the Belt of Fire was beginning to overpower him, knowing they wouldn't make it Ignitus with the last ounce of his strength threw Spyro and Cynder to the other side sacrificing himself.

The death and sight of his mentor being devoured by flames made a deep and almost devastating impact on the young dragon.

" It's not your fault Spyro, that was his decision" she looked at him with concern in her eyes

" I could have stopped him, there had to be a different way it was my duty to find one without endangering any of us"

"There was no other way"

Tears started forming in his eyes " I failed him Cynder!" he exclaimed "I failed the person who taught me everything, who believed in me from the very beginning, and how did I repay him? I've let him die!"

" You haven't failed anybody and especially Ignitus, just look around" she waved her paw across the landscape that surrounded them " You did more than just repay him, you saved all of us, he would be proud, he sacrificed himself so you could go on, there was nothing you could do"

He lowered his head "Then why I feel guilty?"

"Because Spyro you always blame yourself when somebody gets hurt, even when you can't do anything about it, you can't protect everybody"

He raised his head, the pupils in his eyes narrowed" I sure can try" the sadness in his voice was replaced by pure determination

She smiled kindly " Of course you will, but no matter what", Cynder leaned closer "remember that you will always have one black dragoness who trusts you completely" with that she softly kissed his cheek

Cynder's reaction took Spyro absolutely by surprise, his eyes went wide open as he turned to face her with a shocked expression. She was watching him closely, her tail wagging back and forth nervously, the iron blade- like tip creating minor sparks as she accidently ran it across the surface of a small rock.

He looked at her, the emerald eyes were focused on him, the first thing that crossed his mind the moment he took a glance of them was how pretty they are, but there was something else in them as well, he wasn't completely sure what it was, uncertainty perhaps? Whatever it was he ignored it. He couldn't help himself he was staring in her green eyes maybe for a couple of seconds but it almost felt like an eternity.

Everything around him vanished, the mountains, the trees, the waterfall, even the noise the animals were making, it was all gone, a dragoness with emerald eyes in front of him only remained. The longer he gawked at her the warmer he got, he couldn't say a word he was so choked up, the only thing he could sense and hear was the frantic pace of his heart, it almost felt like it was demanding to be released from the clutches of his chest. He subconsciously started to move his head closer, Spyro didn't notice it at first but there was something else he could feel out there besides his increased heartbeat, a familiar tingle had been crossing his body and it was getting stronger. He didn't care, the young dragon was focused on something else entirely.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A sudden thunder broke their trance, the noise it created made them both jump. Spyro and Cynder turned their heads from side to side looking for any signs of movement. Last days were not kind to them, the constant fighting against the Dark Army caused their instinct to kick in at any unexpected sound, alerting both dragons instantly.

They prepared their defensive positions. Muscles tensed, pupils narrowed, tails frozen in place, they were ready to repel any attack heading their way. Another thunder could be heard, black clouds covered the sky instantly, making daylight turn into night. Rain followed soon after, and an intense one at that, obscuring vision as a result. The undesirable change of weather made both dragons even more strained. They were watching their surroundings expecting that soon something will jump at them from the dark. Nothing did.

It took them a while to relax but they were still on edge it all happened so fast that neither of them noticed the weather getting worse . They couldn't linger here any longer, the harsh rain made them cold and dripping wet almost immediately.

That moment they had earlier, it was something special for her, that was another hint she gave him about her feelings, she really cared for him and it was quite obvious this feeling was mutual but in her case it was something more than just simply taking care for his safety, Cynder didn't want to pry. Those past months really brought them closer, fighting against almost impossible odds, helping each other in difficult times, even the little teasing, all those things made them the best friends and she didn't want to lose it.

Over time her affection for him evolved, she never expected it but there it was, the feelings she bestowed upon him were getting stronger, she tried to conceal them as best as possible but slowly it was driving her mad. After some time, as subtle as she could manage, Cynder started showing Spyro hints about her romantic feelings towards him. Only when everything seemed was lost, the world was collapsing and Spyro was making a desperate attempt to save it, she built up enough courage to finally reveal her love for him.

After they have resurfaced in the Valley of Avalar the first thing Cynder did was to look at Spyro with a meaningful expression hoping for an answer she couldn't wait for much longer. She never received any. Instead of saying the words she wanted to hear he was chattering about the battle with Malefor, the surroundings and many other things. She didn't pay much attention, Cynder was happy they made it out of course, but that was not what she expected, nevertheless she forced herself to smile, it was a fake glee of course but he didn't notice.

She realized back then that she was living in a fool's paradise, the words she craved for won't be coming, but a glimmer of hope still remained. Cynder was deluding herself, maybe with all that happened lately his thoughts were wandering somewhere else and after he would cool down he will finally concentrate and spit it out, but in never happened. Resigned she decided to give it a rest for the time being.

There were times she stopped sometimes ,lost in thought and stared into who knows what. Spyro always kept asking her if everything's alright and every time he caught her like that she tried to tell him how she felt about him but could never do it. Time and time again she felt a lump in her throat whenever she made an attempt to say it out loud. Cynder always hemmed and hawed eventually saying that she is fine. It was doubtful that he believed her, Spyro was naive sometimes but he wasn't stupid, luckily he never inquired further.

Occasionally when Cynder looked at him she wondered if he feels the same way about her, It was niggling her constantly, she really wanted to find out but she didn't want to be intrusive and make him uncomfortable, besides that she even didn't know where to start. Cynder always managed to regain her composure before curiosity got better of her.

Everything was fine and under control for the past hours until she kissed his cheek. Cynder never planned to do that, not after all these failures earlier, they always prompt disappointment, sadness, even anger in her, and she didn't want to feel the same way so quickly again.

That time Cynder couldn't help herself and despite her better judgment she decided to act even if she would regret it later probably. It was somehow different then, he was lost in grief, Cynder tried to console him, she had seen that her words helped him overcome it, but she wanted to show him that there is someone who really cares about him. Cynder never kissed him before, all those failed attempts earlier weren't really helpful in boosting her courage, but there it was and hell it felt right.

The moment she saw his shocked expression when he turned to face her made all her good emotions fade away, doubt taking their place. Cynder couldn't stop gawking at him, and judging by the look on his face she staggered him quite a bit. It was here and now when she will finally hear his answer even if just by watching his still startled expression she thought that she already knows it, and it wasn't a good one.

Then an unfamiliar sensation run through her body and that damn thunder struck ruining everything. She was really vexed after that unwanted interruption, but this time she was far from giving up since it was so close. Calming herself a little Cynder decided to act, tenderly this time. She was scared that she would push him away if he didn't share the same feelings for her . They were the best friends after all and a stifling atmosphere between them was not needed, but she HAD to know.

She lowered her head a bit "Listen Spyro there... there is something I need to ask you" Cynder said with a wavering voice "I can't wait much longer, the anticipation, it's... it's been boiling inside of me for quite some time and it's driving me crazy"

He was standing a little farther away, he's back facing her. Surprisingly there was no reaction from his side. Cynder furrowed her brow, she expected that she will catch his attention but he didn't move an inch, anyway she made her decision and there was no backing up now.

"My behavior lately? I know I have been acting weird after we got out" she raised her head "but I have a really good reason!" she bit her lip "_Perfect, that sounded like a kid explaining his wrongdoings to his parents" _she thought_ "act like one and he surely will take you seriously"_

Cynder cleared her throat and lowered her head once again " I mean... the thing is... you are my best and only friend Spyro, and I don't want to lose this friendship" she shoot a glance at him. He was still standing in the same position, motionless.

Cynder didn't know what to make out of it. Is he waiting for her to finally ask that question so he can confirm that he feels the same way about her? Or is he thinking about an appropriate way to say that they should remain friends to avoid hurting her much? Either way he's not very helpful in this situation.

Cynder sighed " I know this isn't the best time right now" she moved closer to him " you probably figured out already where this is heading" when she was right behind him she continued " I really care about you Spyro, and it's more than just a simple concern for a friend."

Cynder raised her head to have a good look at him when he finally turns to face her, she didn't want to miss even the single grimace on his face. " It was these feelings I really struggled to hide for the past days, and I have been wondering if..." Another thunder struck, Cynder flinched, the noise it created startled her a little.

It had to hit when she was just about to ask the question that troubled her for some time now. It was like a warning, she could swear she heard it screaming "_What are you doing?! You don't want to know!, Give it a rest!, You will regret it!" _Cynder shook her head, focusing anew she continued " I have been wondering if...if..." she took a deep breath "if you feel the same way about me?"

There it was, she finally said it, everything will be clear now. After all these trials and errors she will hear his answer at last. This was the moment of truth and it was inescapable this time, even if he would wanted to avoid this little confrontation she wouldn't let him , not after all these difficulties she had to face to get to this particular moment.

She was standing behind him making little circles on the ground with her claw, watching him intently, and waiting impatiently for his reaction. She didn't know how long she was staring at him, minutes maybe? Nevertheless he did not move, not even an inch he was still standing in the same position, frozen.

"_Maybe he doesn't know what to say? Maybe he doesn't know how to react?"_ there was a slight turmoil going on in Cynder's head. She waited a little longer but there was still no response. She had enough.

"Spyro?" she called him as gentle as she could manage. Still nothing. She raised her paw "Spyro?" Same thing. "It's ok, you can talk to me, no matter what you will say I promise you won't hurt me" That was a lie of course but a necessary one, she wanted to make it easier for him.

Like previously, nothing happened. Cynder extended her paw towards him, she had to get his attention somehow. The moment her claw made contact with his scales, he jumped and turned around quickly ready to defend himself if necessary. He relaxed when he saw it was only Cynder and not some bloodthirsty enemy. She was standing there clearly baffled with her paw still in the air.

" Sorry! I didn't mean to startle you" Spyro said when he saw her expression

"It's... it's okay" she muttered. "Not really what I expected but at least you are looking at me now" she added with a sarcastic tone

He blushed and lowered his head " I didn't realize that I have been standing there for so long"

"Spyro you don't..." before she could finish her sentence he interrupted her

" After I was sure that nothing will attack us I've started to ponder about the things that happened lately and I guess I've lost the track of time" his voice becoming more hectic with every word he spoke

"Spy..."

" I know we should have found shelter by now with all this weather and stuff since we are getting cold and wet..."

"Spyro..." Cynder murmured

"...But it all happened so fast! and I really didn't see it coming and as you know I'm really giving some thought about things that happen so unexpected aft..."

"Spyro!" she exclaimed. The sudden noise quieted him down instantly. Cynder sighted "You don't have to explain yourself"

Her remark made him blush even harder. Spyro realized he overreacted a bit. He took a deep breath to calm himself a little.

" Sorry, I'm slightly nervous , because I felt a strange sensation when we were sitting there and I was looking at you"

Cynder's eyes sparkled when he said that. " Relax, you can tell me everything" her voice soft

" I know, I just didn't want to make you uneasy so promptly , not after everything we went through. You deserved some peace"

She smiled slightly " Peace can wait when there are more important things "

" I expected that you wouldn't mind, besides even if I wanted to I couldn't keep it bottled up for long anyway"

Cynder didn't say a word, she was just standing there and watching him as expecting he will say something

" I don't know how to start so I'll just say it straight and plain"

His words visibly stirred her but she still remained silent

"The thing I've felt back there it was something special and it didn't pass away with the moment, I can still feel it rousing in me" After a brief pause he added " Cynder..."

She leaned closer "Yes?"

"Cynder did you also felt that tingle right before the weather changed? It was weird but so familiar!" he said with clear excitement " I can't really think about anything else, it's bugging me I need to find out what it is"

Cynder reared her head "WHAT?!"

Spyro looked surprised " Then you didn't feel anything?"

She was standing in front of him with her mouth opened, speechless

" It seems that it's related with me somehow, I swear that I've experienced it before, I just need to figure it out and..."

"THAT is the thing you were holding back from telling me?!" she snarled

Spyro's expression a mix of astoundment and confusion " Pretty much. Why? Was there something else?"

" You want to tell me that you weren't listening to me?!" little green flames escaping her mouth as she spoke

Before he could say a word Cynder added with a threatening manner " And Spyro think thoroughly before you answer or I'll do something unpleasant, and I promise that I won't hold back"

The way she said it made him gulp. Cynder is a fighter with a temper meaning that you don't want to get on her bad side when she is angry. Right now she seemed pretty agitated, to make things worse Spyro had no idea what she was talking about. One thing was clear though, if he wants to save his hide he needs to come up with an answer, a good one in fact and fast.

The first thing that came out from his mouth was some incomprehensible gibberish. "_Great I'm done for"_ he thought. Luckily she ignored it.

Spyro cleared his throat " I...I...I always listen to you Cynder you know that, you are the best thing that ever happened to me and... and..". Spyro suddenly was lost for words the little stress must be the reason. He closed his eyes readying himself for the inevitable. Nothing happened. He opened one of his eye to look at her, she didn't move, her eyes intently focused on him.

He sighed with relief " What...whatever happens I'm always here, your problems are mine problems. I admit that I sometimes miss the obvious things, it's just that some things are more important than the others, and at that time when everything happened so fast my biggest and only concern was your safety".

She was still tensed and staring at him, it seemed that his words didn't calm her even a bit, she still looked pretty angry judging by the little cavity on the ground below her that she made scratching with her claw, but at least she didn't pounce at him. He dodged a bullet, for now.

"More important?! You wouldn't say that if you would pay attention to what I'm saying" Cynder's voice still full of anger

" I'm sorry Cynder, I'll make it up to you but it's not the right time for it now, the weather is terrible and we should really be going to find some shelter"

" No, you are not getting away that easily. You..." before she could finish another thunder struck but this time it sounded like it hit right above them ,illuminating the sky with a flash of bright light. The noise was intimidating making them both wince as if in pain.

Spyro looked up " Can it wait?" After he didn't receive any response Spyro lowered his head to look at her " Cynder, please" he added with a pleading tone

She was watching him in complete silence, he could notice that her mouth was twitching, struggling to keep all these words that rushed through her head from escaping. After a while she just turned her head and snorted. A less popular way to agree with someone.

Spyro was grateful that she backed down "Come on, let's go"

The vision- breaking harsh rain that accompanied them through their little struggle intensified even more. It has obscured vision already, but now it was almost impossible to see anything. The ground and surroundings were only visible some meters ahead of them. The rain prevented them from keeping their eyes open, making the already difficult situation even harder. Both dragons had to keep their eyes half-closed , it was uncomfortable but necessary, that was the only way they could move.

Flying was a risky option in this weather, the intense rain made them feel already like they were getting buried alive below its many drops just by standing on the ground. If they would leap in the air no matter how good both dragons felt in the sky, they wouldn't make it far. It would have been a difficult struggle to maintain balance, high, distance and many other things. That would have been a tiresome and unsafe ordeal. No, it was an unnecessary risk.

Risk or not they would have reached their destination faster that way, even if the flight would probably end just after few meters but at least they would have made their way down from the tall rocky slope they were on right now. Spyro in his caring nature for everybody's safety didn't even take this option under consideration. They would have probably ended with an injury or two and he wouldn't have any of it, not if he can prevent it.

They decided to travel on foot instead, it will take longer to descend this slope but it was undoubtedly safer. They were moving almost with their noses to the ground carefully taking every step, occasionally looking up to see what's in front of them. It was a sluggish pace and the sporadic glances they threw to see what's ahead weren't really helpful in speeding it up. The darkness that came with the weather effectively concealed the surroundings and the intense rain hindered every attempt to pierce it.

It would help greatly if they knew where they should be going, whenever they wanted to go to do something else or just start another race they just glided down from the slope, neither of them bothered to look for a way that lead down from it without the usage of wings. What for?

For situations like this for example, when something unexpected happens that ruins everything it would be a nice thing to have another way to resolve such troubles. Since they were too lazy to do it, now it's the time to pay for this negligence. The complete darkness and the rain wasn't their only concern now, to make things worse a wind came as another unwanted guest and since they were on high ground it felt pretty strong and cold, sending shivers through both young dragons. Perfect.

Trembling they made their way to the closest edge, slowly to avoid slipping and falling down. just when one of their claws couldn't find solid ground they stopped next to each other and leaned over the age. They scanned the rocky wall to find a path that would lead down but from what they could make out there was no visible one, at least not from this side.

They bounced from one side of the outcropping to the other but they didn't find anything, even if there was a path, they couldn't see it anyway. After a while they gave up, there was no need to waste any more time on it , they didn't have any luck from the start and it was unlikely that it would change now. There were no shortcuts so they didn't have any other choice but to reach the second familiar place on this slope, maybe they will find something there.

They could make out the forms of the many coniferous trees they both were quite acquainted with still standing there. Their idly and calm existence destroyed by the restless gale. It was dragging their crowns behind it, like it wanted to rip the trees from the ground and force them to accompany it. With all of them tilted to the same side they looked like many arrows pointing a single direction, showing the dragons where they could find a way down.

Spyro and Cynder followed their advice, they had nothing to lose anyway. The pace they started with didn't change, it was still pretty slow but at least it was a calm walk. That is until one of Spyro's steps made an audible splattering sound. The noise made him stop immediately, he raised his paw close to his snout. It was damp and covered with dripping red liquid, this couldn't be blood it wasn't thick enough, no it was something else.

He sniffed and licked his claw, a familiar taste aroused his palate, these were the juices of the many berries that grew around here. Spyro looked behind his risen paw and the sight in front of him only confirmed his suspicion. Below him he could see the remnants of a purple berry, it squashed completely under his weight, some of its juices still spilled on the ground but they won't remain there, before long the rain will wipe them clean. Spyro focused and scanned the ground around him, there were plenty of the sweet fruits scattered everywhere. The wind made a short work of the bushes throwing their little inhabitants all around the place.

They walked in the direction the trees showed them every now and then a splattering sound could be heard when they accidently trampled another one of the fruits, it was nearly impossible to see all of them in this dark.

They've been heading in that direction for quite some time, if you won't count the fruits it was a uneventful walk. The landscape didn't change even a bit, there were still trees and bushes on both sides while the middle was a rocky terrain. With every step they took the land felt more inclined and steep, a sign that they are getting closer to the edge.

They moved even more slowly now since there didn't want to trip over these many small rocks or just slip, not with the ground getting steeper and steeper with every step. They rocky ground they were walking on was turning greener and small roots were visible on it and they were getting bigger with every meter. With the steep ground they assured a good and solid foothold.

Spyro was leading and everything was going pretty smooth, well as good as it could go considering the situation. Whenever he wanted to reach another root he made sure he got a good grip of it. Spyro extended his paw and thrust his claws into the root slightly of course to avoid weakening it, he had to make sure if its strong enough to hold his weight. They were old from the looks of it but surprisingly enduring. It was a tiring and very tedious process but at least they were moving forward.

Spyro took a deep breath before he made another attempt to reach one of the roots. A little pause to catch some breath and a quick rest for his aching muscles. There was no turning back now, there was an end of this slope ahead, the image of it giving him new strength. It was a slow pace but a steady one.

The noise created by the rain, wind and occasional thunder was almost deafening, that's why he didn't hear a sound coming behind him. Spyro was concentrated on reaching the next root, this one was quite far away but it wasn't unreachable. He stretched as far as he could, more than once his claw slipped from the moist root leaving only scratches on it, instead of getting a good hold of it. He sighted and tried again, he told himself that this time he will make it, and probably he would if a loud snap wouldn't break his concentration.

Spyro immediately aborted his attempt to reach the root and started to listen intently .There was another snap and another and then a couple more. He looked back just to see pieces of roots flying everywhere but that wasn't the thing that caught his attention, a hardly noticeable black shape quickly slid past him emitting what he thought was a muffled scream. Spyro just stood there dumbfounded but it only took him a few seconds to realize what's happening.

"Cynder!" he shouted and without caring for his own safety he jumped to his right side releasing his paws from the foothold and slid after her.

He saw her shape in the distance, she was bouncing, jerking and wiggling in every possible direction. Every time she landed on her belly she placed her front paws on the ground trying desperately to find something to hold on to. Her efforts were in vain, the speed she accumulated on this slippery and steep terrain was so high that her damp claws sent sparks, remnants of grass and shattered pieces of the smaller roots flying while leaving only scratches on the bigger ones.

Spyro was quite a way behind her, he had some difficulties maintaining his balance without jerking from side to side but for the most of the time he slid on his belly, the same position made him gain speed really fast. He wouldn't be able to do that if not for Cynder, Spyro intentionally was sliding on the same path she was- well most of the time. She left cinders in her wake, mostly the route was pretty clear, there were no smaller roots which could slow him down. The only annoying problem he had was the wet grass sticking to his snout making him spit when it got to his mouth, he didn't even bother to wipe it off, there was no time for that and besides with his wet paws he wouldn't be able to do it anyway.

Every now and then he noticed some blood stains on the ground or the bigger roots, she was clearly hurt, that wasn't surprising really since she collided with every possible thing, it had to leave a mark. Spyro had some difficulties also but nothing drastic, she was getting the worst of it. He could hear her muffled screams and grunts of pain as she struggled to gain control of her body. Cynder's battle with the environment left him mostly a clear path expect for the bigger roots, they were quite a pain. From his perspective there was also a bright side to all that fighting she did, it was rough but it made her to slow a bit.

Spyro was gaining on her. The roots on their path were getting bigger and bigger but they weren't large enough to actually stop either of them. She was probably to focused on trying to find a good grip to notice it, but if they could slide a bit to their left they might find a root big enough to actually stop them. It would hurt A LOT but it definitely was a better option than falling off the cliff and trying to fly with this strong wind and rain. It was impossible to predict what the nature would have done with them. Crashing into something was the most probable outcome.

Spyro could tell they were getting close to the edge of the slope since the terrain was more steeper here than anywhere else, not only that, he was quite sure they were also getting close to the source of these roots. He ignored this warning in his head, the only thing that mattered for him was getting Cynder out of this trouble somehow. He had no idea how he will pull it through but he kept telling himself that something will come up eventually. For their sake enlightenment has to come quickly since they were running out of time.

He was sliding behind her thinking about a solution for this situation. A sudden slap to his head broke his concentration. Spyro looked behind him to check what it was but he couldn't see anything. That was not the only thing that felt differently, there was something under his belly and it was quite long since he slid for a while and the feeling didn't pass. He looked down just to see some woody thing, for all he cared it was just another root.

A thunder struck making him raise his head to focus on thing that is actually important. Spyro didn't concentrate on the matter at hand for too long. The thunder lightened up the dark sky for a brief moment and revealed something that caught his attention instantly.

He saw the source of all these roots. It was a massive ancient tree leaning over the edge of the slope with a really wide and tall hunk. From its base sprouted some extremely huge roots that were running in every direction and were getting smaller the farther they were from the tree. It had many branches coming out of its hunk, some of the same size, some smaller but still of considerable mass. It's crown was big, extremely green and leafy, it was like five times the size of a normal crown. Every now and then there was a long woody vine hanging from the branch that held its top.

With the harsh rain the leaves were soaked wet so Spyro didn't even realize he was under its crown. The moment he saw that tree he knew instantly what was that uncomfortable thing under his belly. It was a liana and a really long one. If Cynder would have another one on her path she could grab it and they would be saved. Another thunder struck illuminating the sky and he used this moment to scan the surroundings.

The first thing he did was to look ahead and his eyes went wide. The slope is coming to an end and she is very close to it and to make things worse there was no liana hanging above her. The only visible one was quite far away and it dangled just past the edge. She wouldn't make it if she just fell from the cliff. In front of her he saw a really wide rock, it was flat and inclined upwards, it resembled a ramp. There was no chance she could avoid it now, with the speed she accumulated she will be thrown quite a distance away and maybe it will be enough to grab that liana.

There was no other choice he had to risk it, he felt terrible but he needed to rely on sheer luck this time. Trying to catch her now was a futile attempt, she was too far away and if he would be thrown from that rock behind her there would be nothing left to grab since she would probably hold on to the liana and be blown by the wind to the west. Spyro didn't want the nature to decide about his fate.

_"Blown to the west" _ this thought crossed his mind, that was enough for him to act. With the wind blowing from the east there was a high possibility that the moment she grabs the liana it will tilt forward and then spin with her to the west. He looked left the roots on that side were bigger than the ones he was sliding on, no wonder since the source of them was nearby. Spyro shot a glance ahead Cynder was nowhere to be seen, she was probably thrown away from the ramp. Fear gripped his heart, he wouldn't forgive himself if something happened to her. Spyro was consoling himself that she will make it, they knew each other inside out after all. She HAD to make it.

He was getting close to the flat rock ahead he needed to act fast. Spyro covered the ground ahead with ice and when he was about to reach it he forcefully tweaked his body, the icy ground made him spin around. The moment his back faced the edge he grabbed the liana under him, now the only thing he needed was to make it drag him to the right. He raised his head and released a fireball lobbing it. Spyro lowered his head a little, waited a bit and released another fireball but this time in a straight line.

He aimed them at the left side of the place the liana was hanging, quite a distance away from it, he didn't want it to burn down. He hoped he aimed properly since it was dark and only his instincts guided him. The moment both fireballs collided they exploded creating a gust strong enough to make the liana twist in the direction he wanted. Spyro felt the woody vine tautening in his paws, it wasn't long before it was dragging him across the ground. He looked back, waited for the right moment and released his grip.

He had seen a root big enough to stop him and it was close to the edge. He planned to gain a foothold there and with luck the liana he hoped Cynder hold on to will spin her close to him so he would grab her if anything goes wrong. Spyro was sliding over roots that were big enough to make him bounce and leave him pretty bruised. Every time he slid over them he ran his claws across them leaving scratches on their surfaces. It was painful but he had to slow down before the final impact, otherwise he will break many bones.

Somehow he was glad he was sliding backwards, colliding with it headlong would have been even more dangerous. He shot a glance behind him his destination was getting closer and closer, Spyro closed his eyes and braced himself for the impact. If not for the deafening weather probably the whole Realms would hear him crashing. It was almost like a boulder thrown from a catapult hitting a wall but this boulder had feelings. Spyro howled in pain the moment he hit the root a piercing pain run through his spine leaving his hind paws numb to make things worse he had difficulties catching breath, it almost felt like something crushed inside of him. At that time he was glad he was a dragon and not a dragonfly, dragons had a natural resistance to pain any other race would probably just splatter and end as a stain on the root.

He didn't have much time, despite the horrible pain he pulled himself together. He got on his hind paws and started scratching with his claws at the top of the root, it was smooth and plain there wasn't anything to hold on to. He wanted to make a cavity in it so he can place his paws there and lean over the edge if things go drastic. He was coughing terribly and it was difficult to maintain balance with the numbness in his paws, Spyro felt the feeling slowly returning to them but in the meantime he sometimes slipped from the root but that didn't stop him from trying again and again. Someone was counting on him if things go bad, and he won't fail, not this time.

He made holes big enough for his paws to fit, he placed his still pretty numb hind paws there and waited for her. Spyro narrowed his pupils and watched the dark expanse ahead, he needed to be ready when he will discern her form, but he couldn't see anything. Honestly he had no idea how much time has passed but it felt like minutes and it shouldn't take that long for the liana to spin towards him with her holding on to it, he should have seen her by now it was taking way too long. "_What if she didn't manage to grab it? What if she slipped? What if the wind had blown her away before she could reach it?" _this and many other bad scenarios crossed his mind. "_What if she DIED?_" the moment he thought about that he felt a void in him sucking the life from him. Guilt, despair, fear were overwhelming him, after Ignitus' death another one who he was close to was gone. He closed his eyes, he felt truly alone now.

Spyro was losing control of himself, negative emotions where taking control of him and with them a powerful dark influence that brewed inside in him was coming to life, a powerful and sinister magic. Spyro couldn't stop it not that he wanted to anyway maybe it will ease his pain and somehow find her and bring her back to life. His purple scales where turning black it started from his paws then it made its way higher and higher. He doesn't have anything to lose now anyway.

The turmoil in his head took all of his concentration that he didn't hear a muffled sound coming from ahead. Spyro gave up what will be will be, then suddenly he heard something, he didn't really care what it was but it was getting louder. Reluctantly he opened his eyes and the image he saw made all these negative emotions fade away instantly, his scales turned purple again, the darkness that was taking control vanished, he felt like a weight was lifted from his heart.

There were some good and bad news from what he could see. The good news is that Cynder was tightly gripping the woody vine just as he hoped she would, the bad news is that she was slipping, she won't be able to hold on much longer and definitely she won't reach the ground. Spyro was glad he prepared for this situation but still he was scared, it will be a painful collision and judging from the sound of her screams she was pretty terrified also.

When she hit the wall of the slope she groaned loudly, he winced he could almost feel the pain himself. Spyro leaned over the edge as far as he could without losing his foothold and extended his paw towards her so she could grab it. To his surprise she didn't do anything, he saw how her tightly closed paw over the liana was opening. Instantly he leaned even more just enough to catch her paw before she fell. He felt his hind paws slipping from the cavity but he didn't care.

Spyro held her paw tightly "Cynder!" he shouted, but there was no response, he called her name several times, no reaction. The impact had to stun her. He felt her weight dragging him down and with his hind paws slipping from the cavity he didn't have a solid foothold to pull her up, without the additional load he would make it but no matter the consequences he won't let go.

He needed to get a reaction from her somehow. Spyro stung her paw with his claw, nothing. Then he gently thrust his claw into it, same. He used a slightly more strength making her bleed a little. This time she shook her head, her senses were coming back to her. Cynder looked at the wall in front of her and then raised her head, the moment she saw Spyro holding her she firmly gripped his paw.

She started to smile slowly " I knew you'd here, now pull me up!"

He looked genuinely hurt "I... I can't"

Cynder's smile vanished "What do you mean you can't?" Before he could say anything she already knew the answer. Cynder felt that she was slowly going down instead of going up. She was dragging him down and if she won't do something they both will fall. Cynder looked at the wall, then down and then again at the wall.

She touched it with her free paws and raised her head "Let me go"

Her words made him sad and very upset " No! I'll never do that!"

"Stop being so melodramatic, I think that I can climb these roots here but I need my fourth paw for that"

Spyro looked at the wall he had no idea how he could miss that. The roots were running in every direction. Some were straight, others distorted, many run parallel to each other, another ones were running perpendicularly and some of them were running crosswise. On closer examination they formed a net-like structure, with care it was possible to use them to climb down.

Spyro noticed that she found a good foothold and grappling point with her free paws but that didn't stop him from holding her last paw tightly. Even if it was safe to let her go he had problems doing so. She once again looked at him, his expression speak volumes, the wound was still fresh and situations like these only rubbed salt into it.

"It's okay Spyro you can let me go, I'm not going to fall" Cynder's voice full of concern.

He looked like he didn't hear her, only when she repeated herself with more firm tone he complied. Cynder felt as her paw was getting free from his iron grip even if he was doing it slowly and reluctantly. The moment her paw broke free she used it to grab the nearest root, Cynder urged him to follow her as she slowly began to descend.

Without the extra weight dragging him down Spyro placed his both paws on the wall, the solid surface helped him to move his paws backwards along it, eventually pulling himself up. When he was again on the top of the root he pulled out his hind paws and threw himself behind it. Spyro leaned over it and sighted in relief the whole stress came out of him instantly. He took a deep breath, well at least he tried to, the moment he inhaled the air he coughed. A surge of pain struck him at his right side, impulsively he placed his paw there, he could feel quite a swelling.

He tried again to deeply inhale the air but it resulted in the same painful cough. Dragons are pretty resistant to pain and injuries but they are not immune, experience like this constantly reminded him of that. He felt like he could only take shallows breaths, that crash had to end with an injury or two, broken or cracked ribs were added to the many abrasions, bruises and scratches. He had enough for one day he just wanted to rest now even for a short while.

"Spyro you coming or what?" a female shout came from below postponing his resting plans.

Spyro sighed he knew he couldn't leave her there and whining wasn't in his style, besides with this weather it wasn't a good idea to stay so high in the open anyway. It was too steep and wet to get up, Spyrp gritted his teeth and despite the pain he started rolling over along the root to his left. Every now and then he groaned slightly when he irritated the already tender spot on his right side. The root that stopped his slide was big and sturdy but it wasn't long. It took him only seconds to reach its end. Now the only thing left was to climb down.

Cynder didn't go far before shouting at him, she was achy and wanted this struggle to end finally and since they found a way down from this slope it shouldn't take long to reach the ground and find a shelter. It was better to suffer a bit longer and earn a well deserved rest without any worries for the next day. She stopped her descend and waited for him to follow her, judging by the noise coming from above he was trying to find a way down. Cynder was inpatient but she didn't want to lose him from her sight again.

The roots she was holding on to were solid but also quite big and uncomfortable. In some places they formed a pattern that was either to tight for her paws to fit or there were spaces big enough to make her stretch before she could reach the next root. It wasn't a simple climb but Cynder and Spyro were experienced climbers they had to overcome more difficult walls in their adventures.

Cynder was watching with half-opened eyes the ledge above her, he should be coming down any minute now and she was right. It wasn't long before she saw some distance away from her a purple tail with gold tip and small gold fins hanging from it. He moved slowly and carefully looking for a good foothold with his hind paws, it didn't take him long to find it, his front paws followed soon after.

Instead of going lower Cynder moved in straight line to be closer to him, they weren't lucky this past time and in case things go bad they would be able to secure each other, better be safe than sorry. He was descending very slowly, from the looks of it he was wounded, she couldn't really focus on him with all the rain coming from above. He probably wanted to rest a while that's why he didn't follow her straight away, and she rushed him. Just by looking at him everyone could tell he was in quite of pain, Spyro had a pretty rough ride himself but he was there to help her and after everything he wasn't allowed to rest even for a while, how could she done such a thing? Cynder felt really bad about it. She wasn't in top shape either she couldn't really tell where she was wounded, it hurt pretty much everywhere. She waited for him to catch up with her, this time however she didn't rush him. She could hear him coughing when he got close

"Spyro are you alright?" Cynder asked with clear fear in her voice

He coughed again "I'm fine don't worry" his voice almost a whisper

"Yeah I can hear that"

"This? This is just a sore throat and don't mind the coughing, I'm probably ill the cold got me it seems" He smiled weakly

"You are a terrible liar" she sighed" I'm sorry Spyro its all my fault, if I have not cracked that damn root you would be fine"

"It's not your fault, I urged you to move in the first place remember?"

"Liar" she smiled lovingly

Spyro chuckled slightly "Lead on there has to be a ground nearby" Cynder nodded and continued to descend.

She was climbing down slowly, that was everything she could do for the moment. She tried to make up for her clumsiness that caused him to suffer like this. Cynder concentrated on the matter at hand, the only thing that broke it was a cough coming from above her. After a while she didn't allow the sound to take all of her attention, she won't make the same mistake twice.

Back there Cynder focused only on him, she was mad at him that he didn't hear her, she built up enough courage to try again and he didn't LISTEN to her. The longer she was looking at him the angrier she got, it would be different if he would just say that he doesn't feel the same way instead he avoided the confrontation, just like that. Just remembering this moment made her boil with anger that she didn't notice that she created holes in the root with her claws weakening its structure. The moment she stepped on it with all her weight it broke and with the wet and steep terrain she gained high speed almost instantly making every attempt to stop herself impossible.

Cynder shook her head, it was enough, there was no sense to dwell on it any longer. To their surprise the climb was uneventful so far, a desirable change after all that near death experience. After climbing down so many roots Cynder gripped one of them tightly and stopped to catch a breath before trying to reach the other one. She lowered one of her hind paws to find a root below for a foothold but she couldn't feel anything. "_Another one"_ she sighted and stretched herself farther and farther but still she couldn't feel anything. She returned to the starting position, breathed and tried again, still the same thing. She looked down but couldn't see anything, with nothing else to do she tried again but this time she slipped, the tight grip around the root prevented her from falling down. The moment her paw slipped she saw below her some faint light, Cynder quickly run her hind paw across the surface of the slope. She knew what that light was, her fast move made her claws to scratch alongside the slope creating small sparks instead of sending some woody elements flying. That meant only one thing- the root wall ended.

"Stop!" she yelled and the purple silhouette above her stopped moving "There are no more roots below me"

"Are you sure?" asked Spyro pretty shocked that their struggle to reach the ground was almost over

"Yes I'm sure"

"Do you see the ground?"

Cynder looked down and concentrated but she couldn't see anything but that doesn't mean that she didn't hear anything. A sound caught her attention so she started to listen intently, the raindrops were hitting something solid, rocks maybe?.Cynder could hear also some faint splashing sounds.

"No but there's definitely something below us, I can hear the raindrops hitting something and some splashing sounds"

"That has to be a river or a pond!" Spyro yelled happily, his rapture made him cough terribly

"Don't strain yourself" she remarked him "There isn't anything to hold on to, we have to fly"

"After you" answered Spyro unhesitatingly

The rain was still pretty harsh but at least the wind wasn't so strong here , just an another proof that they've descended quite low and the ground has to be near. Cynder bent on her paws almost hugging the remnants of the roots, and then extended them and leapt of the wall, she used the strength the simple move provided to jump away from the wall as far as she could. When she was in the air she spun around so her belly would face the ground below her and extended her wings. It felt wonderful, after all these walking, sliding and climbing her paws needed a short rest. The rain and wind were taking their toll on her, but she managed to maintain balance. It was tough but since she needed only to glide down it was practicable.

Cynder didn't flap her wings even once, she let the wind carry her. The moment she leapt from that wall she was doing little circles in the air, Cynder was getting lower and lower with every new one. Their assumptions were correct, after a while Cynder had seen the thing they both couldn't wait for any longer. Earth, a green earth stretched below her and after spending so much time above ground it was a welcoming sight.

When she landed she raised her head just to see if Spyro was doing ok. He was, and it wasn't long before he landed next to her. Happy that they both reached the ground safely they immediately started to look around. Spyro was right the source of these splashing sounds she heard was a small pond. On their left quite far away they could see a pretty dense forest, on their right however the terrain was pretty empty, only some small hills, a river and a tree every now and then were visible. It seems they landed in a space between two slopes since that was what they could see in front of them. All of this was unimportant however , the thing that caught all of their attention was a opening in the hill ahead.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Without any second thoughts they've entered the cave. It was pitch dark in it, the darkness covered every wall, every corner and more importantly the ground below them, they could grope but it wouldn't make any sense at all. Being able to breathe fire Spyro immediately knew what to do, a one strong flame would be enough to illuminate probably the whole cave. He tried to inhale deeply, but the effort only caused him to cough painfully.

He let the pain to fade away before taking a shallow breath, the moment he inhaled the air he focused a little to make a connection with his elemental energy dwelling inside and breathed little flames out of his mouth. If somebody could see it, they would never believe he was the purple dragon who defeated The Dark Master. The flames were pitiful but it was everything he could do without suffering. As weak as they were, they at least provided a little light, it was enough to see the ground below their paws.

They were both moving slowly and carefully, in their adventures they already stumbled upon caves that looked safe at first glance but they turned out to be deadly traps. Some of them had almost undetectable cracks on the ground, once they had found a troll in such a cave its blows caused the ground to subside creating a bottomless pit which dragged the creature down and both dragons would share its fate if not for their survival skills. Others for example looked like they had really solid walls but one misplaced earth missile was enough to cause a cave-in. Another caves had a really high placed ceilings and since they are usually dark it was impossible to see what was up there, they thought it was safe until a horde of orcs started smashing the walls around them with their clubs in a fury, only thanks to their instincts or luck they managed to jump away before they were skewered with the green creatures by the many stalactites that came rushing down from the darkness above.

This time however they didn't have the comfort of knowing what was around them. The slow pace was tedious for both of them, but they have been looking for a good spot to rest as far as possible from the entrance and the chilling breeze outside. Cynder was tired and was getting really annoyed by yet another obstacle that prevented her from resting ,and this sluggish tempo didn't help her to cheer up either, judging from the way he moved his tail he was pretty agitated also. Spyro was doing his best with his condition, he would probably push harder if she had urged him to do so, but Cynder never did, she felt guilty, he had suffered enough because of her. She remained silent the whole time since they were walking in this cave, until she accidently kicked something, it was enough to tip the scales.

"It is pointless" Cynder finally burst out "we will never find anything with this light"

"Sorry to disappoint you, but that is everything I can do without spitting my lungs out" Spyro replied irritably

"That's not what I meant" she sighed" just wait here ok? I'll be right back" with that she turned around and made her way towards the exit.

The moment she stepped out of the cave she scanned the ground around her looking for any twigs or cracked branches that would serve as a good tinder. Unfortunately she didn't see any near the cave, the wood was not the only thing that she looked for. Cynder also needed some rocks, and since they were in a spot between two slopes they were pretty abundant here. She dragged the nearby rocks with her paw towards the entrance eventually creating a small pile in front of the cave.

She took a sip from the pond before venturing into the woods. Like almost everything here the forest was located on a small rise, it was really dense and quiet. The bad weather already blocked every sun ray but in there below the many tree tops the darkness felt thicker. Cynder was no coward but she wouldn't dare to venture deep into it, maybe they defeated the evil that plagued the Realms but that didn't mean that some stragglers couldn't be hiding in there.

Cynder decided to stay on the edge of the forest maybe she was paranoid but if her fears would have any truth to them in her shape she would have difficulties defeating a bunch of trained killers. Safety comes first. Clearing her mind from all these bad thoughts she began her search, she didn't have to look long there were twigs and some quite big branches lying everywhere but finding a dry ones ,at least a little, was a different story. She walked around for a bit but after a while she gave up, the intense rain covered everything in its wet coat.

Cynder picked up some twigs and threw them off the small slope she was on, thanks to the wet terrain they slid and stopped just before the cave. Twigs only won't do, something bigger was needed, there were some branches here as well, they weren't long but at least they were thicker. Nevertheless she needed to make them shorter carrying and dragging them intact didn't make any sense since they wouldn't fit in the campfire she planned to do. She instantly knew how to make them smaller.

She turned around, her back facing the branch and raised her tail, the iron blade-like end cut through the wood just like a knife cuts through butter. She started chopping the branch bit by bit, kicking the pieces down from the slightly steep ground with her hind paw. One branch wasn't enough it will be already hard to lit it as it is , if she would prepare more pieces they could be left lying next to the fire to dry up a little, and put into it when needed, that way the fire would be burning longer.

Cynder placed some branches next to each other before starting to chop them down, she didn't want to waste any more time. Just when she was working on the next branch something stirred her, she instinctively looked ahead at the forest covered in darkness. Nothing. She shook her head and continued working. After a while she felt something again, she looked at the forest-nothing.

"_Becoming insane is the last thing you want" _ she thought and renewed her work. Cynder finished chopping down a branch and got into position to start working on the next one. She couldn't help herself, she occasionally shot glances at the forest ahead and every time she did that Cynder felt the feeling getting stronger, besides this unnerving sensation she could also feel that her heart was beating faster. A strong wind howled through the trees making a wind chime noise that made her jump a bit.

"_What's wrong with you? It's just a wind pull yourself together!"_ she comforted herself as best as she could but no matter what thoughts crossed her mind she didn't feel better. Another branch landed under her tail, this time however she kept an eye on the woods ahead . Cynder started to sweat and with every passing moment her heartbeat increased. It may be only her imagination but with every blink of her eyes it looked like the darkness that covered the woods was getting closer and closer.

There were still some branches to take care off she needed to HURRY, Cynder didn't even finish the last one before moving to the next, she was so focused on the darkness she didn't notice that after chopping down a piece her tail was hitting the ground most of the time, but it didn't matter she was convinced that she did it right. Cynder started to quiver and a feeling of stuffiness struck her, she stopped working when she heard a howl probably created by the wind.

She stared at the woods ahead, her heart pounded at her chest with such a force that it was almost painful. The uneasiness was growing inside of her and it was getting stronger with every passing moment. She stared ahead without moving an inch, that is until she heard a sound coming from the right side of the forest. Cynder turned her head immediately in that direction to see what caused it. Another sound this time from the left caught her attention, soon she heard another one in front of her. They sounded like whispers or faint growls and they were coming from every corner of the forest.

Cynder stood there and turned her head in every direction, she froze when she had seen a pair of glittering red dots that appeared in the darkness, after a while many others penetrated the dark curtain . The darkness was closing in on her as if it wanted to embrace her, some fast moving dark shapes were visible on the ground just at the edge of it. Cynder couldn't move she was paralyzed, she watched the darkness moving closer and closer ready to consume her. Just when it was close enough that she could touch it if she wanted to, a huge and horrifying monster with red eyes appeared making her moan with fear. She was trembling and staring into those eyes, Cynder wanted to run away from it as far as possible but she couldn't move, only when it emitted a terrifying and deafening roar she snapped out from her paralyze.

She instantly took some quick steps backwards completely forgetting that there were branches behind her. Cynder tripped over one of them, she could see her own tail a couple of times just right in front of her eyes as she rolled down the small slope. Before she could do anything the little rise ended and moments later she hit a stone wall. Cynder fell on her back dizzied but her eyes automatically moved in the direction of the forest. The red-eyed beast roared again from the slope and started walking slowly towards her, the darkness following in its wake. The vertigo passed away instantly at the sight of that monster.

Cynder got up in mere seconds and turned to face the creature, she didn't know why but she HAD to look at it. Cynder's heart was racing and to make things worse she could feel a sharp pain in her chest that intensified the longer she stared at the beast. She tried to retreat but something was blocking her way, she didn't even look behind her to check what it was. Cynder sidestepped quickly trying to find a way to bypass the obstacle, the moment she felt an opening she started to back up again.

For every step the creature took towards her she did one backwards, she was staring at it intently watching its every move. They were doing it for who knows how long but everything has to end eventually. The creature was walking faster and faster with every second it looked irritated about this whole situation, enough playing games it was closing in for the kill. Only when it pounced after her Cynder turned around and started to run, she didn't make it far she had troubles breathing and the pain in her chest was unbearable. Cynder stopped, panting heavily she lowered her head, she had difficulties catching breath Cynder tried to inhale as much precious air as she could, but what for? The monster will tear her to shreds soon enough.

She looked behind her ready to face it for the last time but to her surprise there was nothing there. She thought she had lost it but the glee ended as quickly as it started. The red eyes appeared again she yelped the moment she saw them. Cynder started to run instantly but this time she didn't look behind her, she turned her head to see what's in front of her. The moment she did that a purple snout emerged, she screamed in horror when she saw it.

Cynder changed direction immediately she didn't want to look at it, she didn't care what it was, she just wanted to run away from it, it didn't matter where, she just wanted to be as far as possible from it.

"Cynder it's me!" something shouted behind her it sounded familiar but she didn't stop to see what it was.

Her strength was fleeting she could feel it but she didn't stop. Something grabbed her tail and it was pulling her backwards. Cynder pushed forward trying to slip away and at the same time she wagged her tail violently, trying to shake this thing off, after a brief struggle she succeeded her tail was free, the moment she was trying to get it back to its natural position she hit something with it. As before she didn't check what was it, it could have been a rock or the thing that grabbed her, whatever it was she just hoped it slowed down the pursuers.

Cynder was running slower and slower but the sound coming from behind kept her going. She run and run never looking back, avoiding a rock here a tree there, sometimes she slid from small slopes never stopping to catch some breath. She would do it for a bit longer until she would collapse from exhaustion but it never came to that, unexpectedly one of her paws sank into a hole in the ground. Cynder fell on her belly, she tried to get up but her paws were shaking whenever she tried to rise, Cynder couldn't keep her balance every attempt ended with a fall.

This is it then, everything will end right here and now ,her strength left her completely the only thing that remained was the sharp pain in her chest, this time however it was so intense that she touched her chest with her paw as to try to ease the pain even a little. The screeching noise blocked all the sound, only a loud roared penetrated it and it was close it sounded like it came just from above her head. She didn't look up instead Cynder touched the ground with her nose and closed her eyes she could feel the beast leaning over her with its maw wide open any many fangs sticking out of it ready to bite her head off, and a wet drop probably a drool which landed on her back only confirmed it.

Cynder screamed when she felt some cold claws touching her, she never expected it but the sensation sparked the flame of survival in her like it would probably in every living creature, a strong impulsive feeling to cling to life even in the worst circumstances. With renewed strength she started to fight desperately Cynder was shaking, twitching, beating her wings, wagging her tail, kicking with hind and slashing with her front paws just to break free from the claws that held her in place. The only thing she could hear were some annoyed loud growls, the sound of them only made her to try harder. The struggle was going on for some time but eventually she managed to break free by hitting the beast with her wing and giving it a solid kick, not only she could escape now but she also hurt the monster, Cynder heard its painful roar as she started to crawl away from it.

Spyro only managed to emit a faint scream before he coughed painfully several times, tears and pain clouded his vision. He shook on his paws from this anguish, she kicked him in the tender spot on his right side, Spyro had troubles breathing already but now it was even worse. Before he could take only shallows breaths without suffering but now every attempt to inhale the air ended with a cough, he talked about spitting his lungs out sarcastically but now it felt quite real, he could almost feel like they were making their way up his chest and towards his throat. Spyro fell on the ground coughing all the time, the pain was unbearable, also he felt like he was choking he tried to do something about it but the cough prevented any attempt to inhale deeply. He lay there for a couple of seconds fighting with his injuries, after a while the uncomfortable feeling was fading, the pain still pretty intense was subsiding but most importantly he could breathe again, shallow of course but at least he felt the air in his lungs again, he raised his head.

She was still getting away but she wasn't far, he saw her getting up taking maybe one or two steps and falling again, she could only move forward by crawling on the ground. Spyro won't have troubles catching her, she looked exhausted but he underestimated her once already.

"Enough" Spyro murmured under his breath and got up this time however he won't be delicate, he tried twice already and it always ended with her escape and he was dead worry about her, he never seen Cynder acting like this and he needed to stop her to figure out what the hell is going on. No, this is no time to be gentle.

Spyro run after her it took him only moments to catch up ,this time he didn't hold her with his paws only, he covered Cynder with his body pinning her to the ground. As he expected she screamed in terror when she felt his touch, she fought valiantly to break free, trying in every possible way to knock him off of her back but she struggled in vain Spyro was heavier than her and it looked like the fatigue finally took its toll.

"Cynder it's me!" he yelled but there was no reaction from her she was still shaking under him, weaker and weaker with every passing moment as she tried to escape using the last ounce of her strength. Her attempts to run away were futile Spyro knew he controlled the situation, there was no chance she will get away this time.

'It's me Spyro!" he yelled again, Cynder didn't react at first only when he repeated his name again he felt her shifting under him as she was slowly realizing who is holding her.

"Spyro run!" Cynder exclaimed faintly, she didn't even have the strength to scream loudly

"I'm not going anywhere"

"Let me go, let me go, let me go..." she kept repeating the same words over and over again between gasps

"Cynder calm down" he said firmly, Spyro hated himself for acting so cold but she was clearly in panic, tender words won't do much good here

"I can hear it its close!" she yelled and shook violently trying to lose the extra weight and to make enough space so she could slip away

"Hear what?" he asked confused while adding some extra pressure to hold her in place

"It's right behind us!"

Spyro was even more dumbfounded than before after hearing her words, that was the direction from which they came running and he was pretty sure he didn't see anything on his way. Nevertheless he turned his head to look behind him and it was just as he expected there was nothing there.

"It's getting closer!" she tried again to escape

"Cynder there is nothing there!" Spyro yelled so she could clearly hear him

"It's going to kill us!"

" There is nothing there!"

" We need to run its..."

"Nothing's there!" he leaned closer almost resting his head on hers "Calm down" he said softly

"But...but..." she stuttered

"Cynder relax I'll make sure you are safe" his calm words seemed to be working since she slowly ceased to struggle but still remained pretty tensed

"We are going to die" Cynder said resigned ,stopping every attempt to break free, she lay there flat on the ground with her nose touching the earth

"No one's going to die"

" We need to run it's right beside us"

"Nothing's there" Spyro said vigorously

"Why are you lying?"

"I'm not, look for yourself"

"I don't want to!" she yelped

"Cynder rise your head" he said with a soft but also demanding tone

She was panting heavily and trembling unrelentingly Spyro could hear her every breath, at first she was laying in the same position like she tried to ignore him but after a while Cynder started to shift under him and reluctantly raise her head. Spyro slowly backed up giving her some space but still holding her with his paws. To his surprise however when her head was in a position to see everything around her she was still panting and shaking like she didn't really acknowledged what is happening. Spyro leaned closer to get a good look at her face and when he did that he saw the reason why her behavior didn't change.

"Open your eyes" he said rigidly

He had to repeat himself several times to finally get a reaction from her. The moment he saw her eyes he gasped, they looked really unfocused, blurry and dull. The incisive green color of her eyes was gone, someone once told him that everything hides in them, emotions, traits, feelings, even personality a true window to one's soul. Spyro was no expert but if somebody would ask him what he thinks he would say that her eyes were stripped of all these this things. Her pupils were moving nervously in every direction not focusing on anything like nothing existed for them maybe expect one thing he couldn't see himself but surely she did. He could see them moving left , right than quickly returning and suddenly freezing in place, she was staring at something very unpleasant and scary since her eyes were getting wider and wider with each passing second, she started to tremble violently under him this time however she didn't even tried to escape he didn't feel any pressure from her side she was just laying there, paralyzed.

Spyro lifted himself and took his paws from her and it was like he expected she didn't move, he thought that he managed to calm her down a bit and bring her back to her senses since she was talking to him after all. The previous attempt didn't work well, it was close but there was something missing, soon he found out what it was. Spyro sat in front of her trying to block the image she was seeing and to have a good look at her, to his surprise Cynder didn't even twitched. He thought that she didn't recognize him in this state, he leaned closer so she could see him better -still nothing. Her pupils were locked in the same position they seemed like they were seeing through him like he didn't existed. Fear gripped his heart when he got a good look at her eyes, they seemed to be going darker and darker with every passing moment like life was being sucked out from them. It was wrong, really, really wrong.

He took her head into his paws and made her to look at him.

"Listen to me Cynder" despite the fear he said these words with the most adamant tone he could muster at that time

"We are going to die" she muttered

"No!" he yelled "We won't because there is nothing there"

"It's close" Cynder babbled

"The thing you are seeing doesn't exist"

"But..."

He shook her head and yelled "Listen to me!" and without taking a breath he continued " There is nothing there, we are alone here "

She moved her head trying to get a good look at the thing that was supposedly behind him " I see it ,it's real" she said with a wavering voice

Spyro made her to look at him again " No it's not!" he snapped " If there was a threat I would defend you, Cynder you know that"

" Where are you then?!' she burst out " I can feel it, it's holding me"

'That's me Cynder, I'm holding you, you are looking at me now" he said softly

"Then hel..."

"Focus Cynder and trust me nothing is going to happen, you are safe"

Spyro interrupted her before she could continue, he had to convince her that this is all happening in her head and if he would allow her to speak that might make things only worse. Her pupils seemed to narrow and focus directly on him but moments later they again widened and she twitched a little.

" You are safe" Spyro repeated himself tenderly

When he saw that she wanted to say something or when she tried to move her head he repeated the same words over and over again. Spyro thought that this isn't helping, he was doing it for quite some time now and when he was about to try something else, unexpectedly she blinked. He saw her pupils jumping between him and the image she saw behind his back and every time it happened she blinked, clearly trying to discern what is real and what is just an illusion. Spyro didn't allow her to have any doubts by talking to her all the time, he felt like some sort of a guide leading her to reality. Her eyes froze in place she was looking directly at him, this time however it looked like she acknowledged his presence. Spyro saw how color was returning to her eyes and it seemed like life was its partner , it wasn't long before he was staring into these sharp green eyes again he adored so much. Spyro was still holding her head and he could feel how relaxed she was, the whole fear, stress and panic vanished in a instant like they were never there.

"Wow" Cynder muttered amazed

Spyro was just staring at her and lowering his paws down her head until they touched her neck, he heard Cynder gasp in shock when he impulsively stretched her neck and hugged her dragging slightly her laying body across the ground. Spyro squeezed her tightly forming a protective embrace around her like he tried to prevent all these feelings and emotions from escaping again. His unexpected move caught her off guard she was pretty tensed at first but then she rested her head on his shoulder relaxing completely and enjoying the moment.

"Spyro I'm choking" Cynder said ironically after a while

He let her go slowly backing up with his eyes fixed on her. He sighed in relief when he saw her smiling, after everything this sight was even more pleasant than normal.

"Welcome back" Spyro smiled "Don't you ever do that to me again" he warned

"Promise" Cyder said smiling, after a brief pause she added " Thanks Spyro for not giving up and helping me to put myself back together" she said sincerely

" That's what friends are for, you would do the same for me" he replied happily

Cynder smiled and tried to get up but when she moved she grunted in pain

"Whoa" she exclaimed " You sure weight a lot I feel like all my bones were crushed, consider grabbing a salad every now and then" she winked

Spyro chuckled and watched her getting up she stood up she stretched as far as she could relaxing her muscles, after that she moved her tail back and forth like getting used to feeling it again, lastly she unfurled her black wings grimacing slightly as she did that, they took the worst of it since they were the first thing Spyro felt when he pinned her to the ground. Cynder flapped her wings several times just to make the pain go away, after a while she furled them satisfied.

"Come on, let's get out of here" Cynder urged Spyro nodding towards the direction from which they came

"That's it then?" he asked surprised

'What?"

" You were in panic or whatever it was minutes ago, I've never seen you acting like this, and now you will pretend like nothing ever happened?

She sighed " I hit the wall Spyro I just want to lay down and rest, we will talk later ok?"

Spyro wanted to know what has happened here and now but he decided not to ask any questions, she looked exhausted and after everything she needed a moment's respite

"Let's get back to the cave" with that he started to retrace their steps

When he passed by her he saw smiling faintly, it was an ambiguous smile showing that she was grateful he didn't question her here but it also meant that she will have to give him some answers the moment they get there, he won't back down and she knew that.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

During their way back Spyro shot quick glances behind him to make sure she was alright, with everything that happened lately he couldn't be too careful. He was wondering what could scare her so much, he had seen her frightened before but never something like this. It was normal to be afraid sometimes, after all they were fighting with creatures armed to the teeth, some of them were even thrice their size and all of them craved for their lives, it would trigger fright in every being. There was a distinctive line between fear and complete terror however, a line that she undoubtedly crossed.

With every step he took the adrenaline that pumped in his veins earlier was slowly vanishing. It effectively blocked every unwanted sensation that could hinder his attempts to help her, not only it aided him on concentrating at the matter at hand but it also gave him an additional strength, an extra endurance he desperately needed back then.

Now it was all gone, Spyro felt his every sore muscle, every wound and every step he took only intensified the feeling of discomfort. Fatigue finally made it presence felt, he started panting and every attempt to inhale the air deeply resulted in a cough he was so familiar by now. His paws were shaking under him, Spyro had difficulties keeping his balance, every now and then his paws bent under him like they couldn't keep his weight anymore. With the exhaustion taking control their normal walk turned to be a plod.

Every small rise, every small rock felt like it was an impassable barrier, normally he wouldn't even bother noticing it they were usually so irrelevant. It was different this time, something that was a piece of cake before now turned out to be a difficult obstacle. Whenever Spyro had to cross over a rock, branch or when he had to walk on a small slope he used his reserved strength to place his paws as firmly on the ground as he could. After a while even the last ounces of his endurance were leaving him.

Spyro as for his age could withstand much, he didn't practice under the watchful eye of the Fire Guardian for nothing. Ignitus' training sessions were harsh and intense, during the exercises there were maybe seconds to catch a breath, and those were the moments that the Fire Dragon wanted him to focus on. He always said that the enemy won't wait for him to rest, breath control is the most important thing in every exhaustive situation. In those situations Spyro always remembered the Guardian's words that were embedded in his mind .

"_You are your worst opponent Young Dragon, no matter how skilled fighter you are if you lose this crucial battle with yourself you will perish before anything can truly begin. Learn to control your body, make it to obey you, don't allow it to take control, force your will upon it by giving it air. Not too much to avoid spoiling it and not too little to avoid making your organism hunger for it. Allow it enough in the appropriate moment, give it a clear signal that there is a reward waiting, make it crave for it and it will prove to you that it deserves the prize. Never become overconfident, know your limit Spyro ,everyone has one ,even a Purple Dragon such as yourself but that's not the case right now. Do you hear that? Another wave of enemies is coming and they won't wait for you, now get up!"._

If there was a situation where he finally reached his limit this was it. Spyro lost the battle in fact he did it a long time ago, she was the only thing that kept him going. Ignitus didn't teach him that, he figured this out by himself, besides his foster brother Cynder was the second person who sparked more strength in him, he pushed harder when her safety was in danger and it didn't allow him to rest until he made sure nothing is going to happen to her. He wasn't plodding now he was staggering, Spyro felt his paws giving away, he faltered and he would probably give up and collapse if not for the image ahead.

The familiar hill came into view and with it a hardly visible opening, a sign that everything will end finally. The vision of relief prevented him from giving up but it didn't give him any additional vigor, everything that was left was to come down this small rise he was one. The moment he placed his paws on the slightly steep terrain they bent under him finally having enough of this strenuous effort . Spyro fell on his belly and slid down the little rise, despite his lack of energy it felt quite pleasant, a moment of recovery for his tired paws.

He was panting heavily, coughing almost all the time and to make things worse he became thirsty. Running, climbing, chasing left him dry, he needed water and he needed it now. After everything he came through the thirst was powerful or at least he made it to be, it was a clear signal he had to replenish the lost strength even a little. Luck was on Spyro's side this time, to his relief he stopped just inches from the pond they've seen just before the cave. Spyro couldn't get up instead he crawled towards it eventually plunging his head into the water.

He drank, and drank, and drank getting as much water as he could into his mouth before swallowing it down. With each sip his belly felt like it was getting rounder and rounder, he stopped drinking just before he burst and rolled on his back. Spyro was laying like that with closed eyes, the previously bothersome rain now really helped him to cool down. Taking quick shallows breaths he enjoyed the little moment of peacefulness, a moment he deserved.

Spyro heard a noise but he didn't have the strength even to look what it was, not that he had to, he exactly knew who caused it.

"Spyro are.. are you alright?" Cynder stood not far from him breathing heavily, she pronounced each word slowly between gasps

Breathing quickly, he just nodded a couple of times without saying a word. Spyro could hear her every breath and every step as she trudged towards the pond. It seemed that Cynder was just as exhausted as he was since he even heard her swallowing the water. When she fell flat on the ground next to him he knew that his presumptions were correct.

"I'm a goner" Cynder's voice muffled by the grass and exhaustion

Spyro looked at her and smiled "Really?" he asked with faked surprise " I wouldn't notice, you look terrific"

With her nose still in the ground she clenched her paw and softly punched his shoulder "Someone is in a joking mood I see"

Spyro chuckled and coughed " So how are you holding up?"

"Better now since I've managed to stand on my paws longer than our hero" she smirked

" Only because I'm injured"

" Hey" she exclaimed softly " I'm wounded too"

" Yeah, but mine wounds are worse" Spyro said slyly

" No, they are not, you just whine too much"

" I don't whine, I just let you know how much it hurts" he smiled

Cynder giggled' "Yeah, it makes so much difference, besides..." she slowly started to rise her head " ...if you can still walk they don't count as ser... Spyro you are bleeding!" Cynder burst out when she laid her eyes on him

"What?" Spyro asked confused but being guided by her gaze he impulsively touched with his paw a spot below his nose. He lowered his paw and looked at it, she was right, there was blood on it. With everything that happened lately and with the pain running through his whole body he didn't even notice that there was blood flowing down from his nose. It didn't make much difference anyway, he was already achy as it is.

"See? Told you mine are worse" Spyro said pretty unconcerned

" Stop fooling around" she remarked him with firm tone "Is it broken?"

Spyro touched his nose, he couldn't feel any pain but even if he did he wouldn't tell her about it anyway " Nope, it's just a nose bleed"

Spyro rolled over and slowly stood up, his paws felt numb and were shaking but he managed to make his way towards the pond. Plunging his paw into the water he started to wash the blood from his snout. After a proper clean-up he squeezed his nostrils to stop the bleeding , with a corner of his eye he saw Cynder watching him, she looked extremely guilty.

" I've must hit the ground pretty bad when I fell down" his voice low and muffled

"I'm sorry Spyro, I screwed up again" she lowered her head in embarrassment " I feel like a burden lately. It all happened because of me, you wouldn't be in this state now if I had just controlled myself"

Still squeezing his nose he turned to face her " Don't say that, you have nothing to blame yourself for, It's my fault if I was more careful I would be fine now"

Cynder shook her head " We both know that's not true, stop pretending that this is your fault"

Spyro was watching her with eyes full of worry and concern, he didn't like seeing her sad like this, the image was almost painful for him. He really enjoyed her company, Cynder's witty and cheerful character, sometimes even her temper made him smile and Spyro always did everything in his power to cheer her up, this time it was no different.

His nose stopped bleeding he could focus only on her now. " Maybe you are right" he heard her sigh " but that doesn't mean you have to blame yourself, you are a fighter pain just follows you around"

He moved closer " Besides you have done more for me than I'll ever do for you that's the only way I can repay you"

"I don't think I ever did such a thing" Cynder answered confidently " but if anything happens like this you don't have to repay me, I hate to see when you get hurt because of me"

"I've got an idea" he laid in front of her " From now on if anything happens unexpectedly and one of us gets hurt while trying to help we won't blame ourselves for it. Deal?"

She looked at him "A bet? Seriously?" Cynder asked in disbelief.

"Yep" Spyro nodded

" Stop joking"

He shook his head "I'm not kidding" Spyro watched her intently "Deal?" he asked with a serious tone without any glimmer of humor in it

"My.. .you are truly serious" Cynder said surprised.

Spyro nodded

He was watching her all the time, she averted her gaze and seemed lost in thought. After a while she looked him straight into the eyes and smiled.

"Deal" Cynder said with conviction.

She stood up and nodded towards the opening in the hill "I don't know about you but I would really want to feel some dry ground finally"

Spyro smiled and led the way but before he entered the cave he turned towards the forest. Before he continued Spyro convinced Cynder to wait for him here, she protested of course but he didn't budge, and when she had seen that, she backed down reluctantly. It all started there and he was scared it might happen again and he won't allow it, not if he can help it. The thought of it only brought back the image of her eyes before him, a void filled his guts and dread gripped his heart when he remembered that moment . Her eyes looked lifeless almost...dead, Spyro blinked several times to forget about it, he couldn't stand the thought of losing her.

He looked behind him just to be completely sure she was there, she was. Cynder shuffled around the entrance and wagged her tail impatiently occasionally kicking a small rock. Oh how she hated waiting, before they became the best friends she used to yell at him whenever he tried to hold her in one place and keep out of harm's way. Back then she got really indignant about it, she always kept repeating him that she doesn't need protection, she's not frail and can take care of herself. Spyro never listened, he kept doing the same thing over and over again until one day Cynder annoyed beyond imagination agreed to stay, maybe because the magic necklaces didn't really allow them to move far from each other . As strange as it may sound he really liked that fighting spirit of hers.

That was not the only thing he liked about her, her jokes, resourcefulness, sarcastic relation with his foster brother, helpfulness and many other things made her almost immortalized in his eyes. If she had any flaws he either didn't see them or didn't want to, whatever the case might be Spyro wasn't interested on finding them anyway. He got warmer and a strange feeling in his stomach occurred only by thinking about her and he couldn't stop it, it was like all other thoughts vanished from his mind only the image of Cynder remained. Spyro liked her, really, really liked her, no one ever had triggered such emotions in him, it was the second time he felt like this, and the sensation only got stronger with each passing second. It was strange but somewhat enjoyable at the same time, excluding the uncomfortable frantic pace of his heart that came with it.

Spyro blinked a couple of times to calm himself, every time he opened his eyes a piece of the surroundings appeared. The hills, grass, trees, slopes, everything was slowly coming back to him as if he had just awoken from a deep slumber. Cynder appeared as the last piece of the puzzle, she was no longer walking from place to place instead she was watching him with her head cocked to one side in confusion. Spyro realized then that he was probably staring at her far longer than just seconds, who knows for how long exactly but it must have been a while judging by her expression. Luckily it was dark and she was standing quite a distance away so there was no chance she could see him turning red instantly. He quickly continued walking towards the forest breaking this awkward moment before she could ask him any questions.

Not far from the entrance he saw what he was looking for, the pieces of wood she chopped down were still laying there untouched. Spyro started walking around picking up the wood and twigs placing them in one place so they could be easily found. It took him a while to find all of them but eventually he managed to do it, he created quite a pile in the end. Before he started carry the wood to the cave Spyro turned around to look at the forest.

He tensed and readied himself to fight if there was something actually there and not only imagination playing tricks on her. Spyro narrowed his pupils trying to pierce the thick darkness that the many trees created, but no matter how long he started at nothing changed, there was nothing there. The forest was quiet but thanks to the weather it looked kinda spooky, there was no arguing about that but even if the woods were an ideal place for an ambush it shouldn't scare her like that.

He knew Cynder better than anyone else, she never acts rashly, if something made her act like that then it has to be really serious. Spyro concentrated even more but the result was the same, the only thing he could hear was the wind howling through the trees. She has never overreacted but this time it seemed that was exactly what happened, Spyro couldn't really accept it, he saw her and it wasn't normal but there was nothing he could do here.

He turned around ready to carry the wood towards the cave but before he made a step he felt a slight itch on his scales, Spyro spun around in a moment and looked at the forest again. He observed it's whole length but there was nothing there, Spyro chuckled he probably overestimated the feeling, he really wanted to find an explanation for her behavior so he took an simple itch for more than it actually was. No matter what he thought he couldn't move, his gut was telling him something entirely different. After all his adventures Spyro began trusting his hunch, it helped him to solve problems in one situations and helped him avoid them in other's.

He focused anew maybe even harder this time, firstly there was nothing there and just when he was about to give up he felt something. It was faint almost at the edge of perception but it was there somewhere in that forest. He concentrated harder but this time a barely noticeable tingle crossed his body, he pushed harder but no matter how hard he tried Spyro couldn't feel anything anymore. He was staring at the woods wondering what it was or if there was anything there in the first place, it might have been only his mind playing tricks on him. He really wanted to find out what scared her so much that maybe his imagination created it. Whatever the reason Spyro kept wondering from where these feelings came from, the itch and the tingle felt quite normal but there was something odd yet so familiar about them, he had no idea what it was but he will definitely figure it out even if it may be only his imagination.

" Spyro is everything alright?" came a concerned familiar voice from behind him

"What?" he exclaimed softly completely confused and a bit startled when he heard it, it broke his train of thought immediately

"I've asked if everything's alright" Cynder stood next to him

"Yeah, yeah it's just that I...I " Spyro stuttered still pretty puzzled but when he looked at her his concentration returned "What are you doing here?" he asked firmly

" Don't get all bossy on me now" ,she remarked him irritated "I've been waiting and waiting but you didn't show up and I decided that enough is enough and went after you"

Spyro shook his head and sighed " Why you never listen to me Cynder, what if something happened to you?"

"Then you would have to catch me again" she smiled provocatively

" And what makes you think I would do that?" Spyro returned the smile

" Oh call it a hunch" she winked" besides you couldn't keep me there for long since you've been acting really weird" before he could say anything she added quickly " yes I know that I should be the last one to say it but you got me worried there, it was just like you were somewhere completely different"

He averted his gaze quickly and looked at the ground "It..it was nothing" he started uncertainty "I've just been lost in thought"

"What were you thinking about?" Cynder asked curiously without any hesitation just after he finished

There it was, the question he would really like to avoid, Spyro didn't know what to say, should he tell her that he was thinking about her, or maybe about the strange feeling when he does that, what if she takes it the wrong way? He didn't want her to feel uncomfortable. He felt he was starting to blush Spyro didn't have much time he needed to come up with an answer before she will notice it.

" I...I...I" he cleared his throat " I've just been wondering what scared you so much" his words came out rashly

Cynder sighted "Really?" she asked without any emotion in her voice

Spyro nodded quickly" Yes, whatever came over you it happened here, and I need to know what it was, and I thought this will be the ideal place to look, and this is everything I've been thinking about" he continued to babble thoughtlessly, the last words coming out barely noticeable as he was out of breath

His words didn't seem to have any effect on her "And what did you find?" she asked emotionless

Baffled, Spyro shot a quick glance at her to check if she really meant it, it looked like she did. Sighting in relief he quickly regained his composure and looked at the forest

" Nothing ,I must have been imagining things" he said disappointed

"Happens to everybody" she added indifferently

He watched the forest for a while but nothing new occurred, Spyro shrugged " Let's get out of here"

He turned around and made his way towards the early prepared pile of wood, he saw Cynder with a corner of his eye with her head lowered down, she looked sad and hurt. He was quite surprised to see her like this, he was disgruntled himself but it didn't make such an impact on him. Spyro eventually came to a conclusion that she was more worried about this failure, after all the past events touched her personally.

Spyro took the smaller twigs into his muzzle, one of the branches he impaled on his tail tip by hitting it several times and wrapped his tail around two others to carry them ,the rest he dragged on the ground. Now he was glad that Cynder followed him, he was tired and if he would have to do it alone picking them up wouldn't surely end just in one run but two or three maybe.

When they reached the cave nothing changed in it, the darkness still covered everything. The sound of the wood being dragged on the stony floor bounced from wall to wall and echoed through the cave. Spyro couldn't breathe fire with the twigs between his teeth, he didn't want to drop them, that would only mean that he would have to come back to pick them up later, and that was the last thing he wanted. Spyro had to rely on the tiny flames that were coming out from his nostrils, he always avoided doing so but when there was no other choice he was forced to do it. Dragons usually puff little flames from their noses when in great anger or when they want to intimidate someone. Spyro never did that, he always disliked the uncomfortable feeling that accompanied it.

He knew the way but with the dim light Spyro still decided to move slowly. He already tripped over something once when he rushed from the cave concerned about Cynder's safety when he heard the noise outside, he was sore enough. Eventually they reached their destination, instead of an empty spot when they first came here, there was a circle formed with small rocks. Seeing Cynder dropping some rocks at the entrance he had foreseen what she was up to and since he hated sitting idly Spyro decided to make himself useful.

The twigs came first, on them some smaller branches and lastly even some more twigs. With dry wood and fireplace formed like that a solid flame was enough to lit it. They didn't have neither. Spyro laid on the ground with his neck on the rocks and breathed the little flames from his mouth, with a wet wood like this and pitiful flames it was nearly impossible to start a fire. It would help if they had any dry grass or leaves but thanks to the rain there was nothing like that available.

Flame after flame he tried to lit the wood and with every new one he got more bored and annoyed. Spyro sighed resigned after another failed attempt it was then when he heard a giggle, he shot an annoyed look at the culprit. When Cynder saw his expression she covered her muzzle with her paw hiding her smile and shrugged innocently. Spyro shook his head slightly and renewed his work.

He heard a muffled chuckle almost every time he failed, the sound only made him even more enraged. Spyro didn't care any longer about the pain, ignoring it completely he breathed bigger flames after every failed attempt. He was getting angrier and angrier with each passing moment from becoming completely furious saved him the tiny flame just right in front of his nose, his eyes went wide when he saw it.

"I did it!" he exclaimed happily releasing all the anger in joy and coughed soon after, the air he exhaled was too much for the small flame, it extinguished it completely.

She couldn't hold it any longer, seeing this situation Cynder burst out laughing. Spyro was just staring at the fireplace incredulously. Confusion, anger and embarrassment growing inside him the longer he gazed at it. The female laugh wasn't helpful either, he tried his best to ignore it but just when he looked at her he couldn't remain calm.

"Ok I give up, if this so funny try it yourself" he burst out annoyed and got up

"Oh come on!"she exclaimed barely hearable, Cynder had troubles catching breath due to laughing "It's not that, you just looked so silly"

Spyro looked at her, her happy expression killed all the anger inside him instantly " Ok I'll try again, but don't laugh this time" he admonished her tenderly and moved to the previously occupied spot

" I'll try" she groaned slightly and placed a paw on one of the painful spots on her body, her abrasions ached a little when she laughed " Look what you've done" still smiling Cynder cleared her throat "Come on, it was close"

Spyro laid down and rested his neck in the same position as formerly, but before he tried to lit the wood again, he looked at Cynder, she was watching him with a broad smile. The image only forced Spyro to smile, he shook his head and chuckled before concentrating on the matter at hand. With renewed motivation Spyro tried again to start a fire, this time however he could smell the burning wood, even if he didn't see a flame he knew it won't take long before the twigs will ignite.

Spyro couldn't be more right, soon after a tiny spark appeared, moments later it turned into a small flame. Not wasting any time he started to lit some other twigs so he wouldn't have to rely on one flame with the still damp wood. After a while another twigs caught fire, Spyro moved his head backwards and held his breath, not wanting to ruin it once again he watched the flames as they slowly started getting bigger and consume the wood.

Spyro was still holding his breath and watched the fire intently, he would turn purple by now if his scales had a different color. The fire was getting bigger and even if it looked safe he didn't want to risk it, there were more than enough failed attempts already. It didn't take long for the other pieces of wood to catch fire, in the end all of them were burning.

The image and inability to hold his breath any longer made Spyro exhale the little air he accumulated in his lungs. With it came a very satisfied and prolonged "Yes" that made Cynder giggle, he spontaneously looked at her, Cynder's expression spoke volumes, it was a "well done" look that made Spyro grin with pride after accomplishing such a feat.

A powerful flame formed itself, the heat it emanated made them both shiver, after spending so much time outside in the rain and the cold wind it was a pleasurable and most wanted change of scenery for both dragons. The fire not only provided warm but also light, with it burning they could look around to finally see what was hiding behind these shadows.

They found themselves in a cave with a low ceiling quite a good place to spend the night for creatures of medium size but impossible to accommodate larger ones. In the edges of the cave they could see stalagmites rising from the floor, some small others pretty big and all of them had a shape of a cone. Just above the entrance there was a big hole, they had no idea how it was created. On the ground there was a small cavity and it ran across the cave which ended in a far away corner of the cave, it resembled some sort of canal and it was filled with water. Also there were some dried blood stains on the floor, some looked more fresh than the others.

The thing that really caught their attention was behind Cynder. There was a low dais at the end of the cave with two completely extinguished fireplaces . At the top of one there was a big cauldron filled with disgusting still green liquid. It looked like it was left unattended for some time, the liquid had to boil once since there were green stains running down the cauldron ending on the on the wood and the rocks below turning them green. Above the other there was a completely roasted hare impaled on a stick, it seemed like it was forgotten also.

Between them on the ground was laying a huge bear skin that probably served as a bed, just beside it was a spear with dented tip. In the corner there was a wooden table with many different items on it. A knife, a flat stone, some sort of a wooden ladle, a bone halfway crushed, a provisional hammer and some other things they didn't know what were used for. Above the table there was a woody vine with both ends stuck in little holes in the cave walls. There were many ingredients tied to it, dangling just at arm's reach above the table.

Claws some sharper than the others, dark bat wings, colorful butterfly wings, fangs, and some other parts they didn't really want to know from where they came from. Besides the leftovers from many different animals there were also many kind of herbs hanging from the liana, and just like the body parts they all differed from each other. A flower with big colorful petals here, a herb with a deep green foliage there, some had big showy blue flowers and feathery leaves, others had thick rubbery tubers. Besides the healthier ones there were also herbs that didn't look so pretty, some were dark , others just by looking at them seemed poisonous, another ones were completely weathered, they just had one thing in common they were ugly and pretty scrawny.

Below the table there were pieces of wood placed one atop the other with utmost care. There was laying a hand-made axe on the top of the last piece. Both dragons sighed, they would save much time and energy if they had noticed it when they first came here. There was a tanning rack standing next to the table with an extinguished torch in the wall beside it . A pelt was already stretched on it with many knife scratches on its surface. It looked like somebody was drawing or writing something on it, at least someone tried to. There were some illegible letters, sentences and drawings on it due to many deep cuts running through them, just as if somebody had an idea, wrote it down so it won't be forgotten, then having a different idea, writing it down and erasing the previous one as deciding it was useless now. Just by looking at the pelt they could tell that someone was doing a lot of thinking since almost all the hide was covered in deep cuts expect for one place. At the bottom of the skin one clearly visible sentence was carved " I NEED IT" these were the only three words that were readable. Next to the rack was a cavity filled with water and a canal running away from it, now they knew where all this water was heading to.

The cave is obviously occupied by someone, judging by the looks of it somebody put much work into it trying to make a cozy place to live in and it seemed that someone did a really good job. That only meant that they intruded into someone's home but they comforted themselves that maybe the denizen had abandoned this living place since everything was in ruins and it was like that for quite some time. Even if they were wrong they both didn't feel like moving again, they were both tired and this was the only cave they could find. Besides they just want to spend the night here and not take this place for themselves. It looked like nobody had come back here in a while so they assumed that they could sleep here without any problems.

Spryo lost interest in the cave after a while and focused on something more important, they both suffered injuries after everything they came through and when there was finally some light he could tell how serious they were. He looked at Cynder her head was still moving from side to side scanning the surroundings, Spyro could see a dried streak of blood running down her neck from a small wound, besides it there were some minor scratches visible, nothing really serious. She had a really big bruise on her forehead, a remainder how painful was the collision with the slope.

Spyro's eyes went lower passing her neck and stopping when he saw a gash on her side some still fresh blood surrounded it but she had to suffer this injury quite a while ago since the wound was slowly closing itself. Cynder was sitting with her left flank facing him, in this position it was difficult to see how badly her underbelly was hurt but since Spyro couldn't see her insides anywhere he came to a conclusion that it was nothing drastic. Her front paw had many cuts some smaller others bigger and all of them were bleeding slightly, no wonder since she didn't allow it to rest preventing the wounds to heal properly.

What really worried Spyro at first was the small solid wooden root protruding from her waist, Cynder was colliding with every possible root during the slide from the steep slope that it was almost certain that some of them had to find a chink in her leathery armor eventually, she was lucky that only one did. Spyro was really concerned about it but then he looked at her and realized that she didn't seem to even feel it, or maybe she does but with all the painful spots on her body one more didn't really make any difference. Either way the idea calmed Spyro, if the root went deep it would prevent her from walking or worse like cut some vital veins for instance. It was undoubtedly uncomfortable to be walking with a wood sticking out from your body and since she seemed oblivious about its existence it wasn't anything severe. The last parts of her body he could see was one of her hind paw and a side of her tail. Her back paw suffered the same fate as her front one, the tail however looked pretty undamaged with only minor scratches visible.

Spyro sighed in relief besides the root and the gash on her side that was already healing she managed to avoid more serious damage. These two wounds looked dire and would probably weaken or even make more fragile creatures bleed to death if left unattended. Dragons however didn't need to worry about such things their fast regeneration precluded things like that allowing such wounds to heal quickly or preventing them from doing any more harm. Every organism has its limits, if a dragon body suffers many deep cuts even their natural regeneration won't help in such cases, even dragons can bleed out. The first thing Spyro learnt about this healing process is to avoid overstraining your organism and everything that gets stuck in your body leads to it, effectively blocking the regeneration from accomplishing and in the meantime losing much of needed energy. That's why it's important to remove such things as quickly as possible even if it doesn't seem dangerous, Ignitus kept reminding Spyro at every occasion when he rushed doing everything he asked him for without taking care of his wounds first " _Always be vigilant because you never know what is hiding behind the corner_". Another lesson he remembered.

"It looks like you had a rough ride" Spyro finally stated after examining her injuries

Her head stopped moving when she heard his voice, Cynder looked at him and if as following his gaze she lowered her head to take a closer look at her body.

She has been moving her head from right to left checking both sides of her form "Wow, more cuts than on a used armor" she said unconcerned

She moved her paws across her body looking for more serious injuries, she only hissed when she touched the wounds that were still quite fresh. It changed when she found something protruding from her waist, the moment she touched it Cynder winced and groaned in pain. Her reaction put him on edge, Spyro immediately got up and was standing near her in seconds.

"Cynder is it that bad? Maybe lay down for a moment? Will you be fine?" Spyro mumbled question after question deadly worried about her, also many bad thoughts were swirling in his mind "_What if the injury is more serious than it looks?", "What if I was wrong and this is a mortal wound?"_

Cynder only smiled gratefully " Relax, it's just a scratch but it hurts like hell"

Spyro sighed in relief and without any second thoughts moved his snout closer to the tender spot.

Cynder didn't hide her surprise "What are you..." before she knew it a chilling air caressed the painful place on her body " Ohhh, now that's a good idea" she moaned

Spyro looked at her and smiled " I knew you'd like it"

" I might need that one more time"

Spyro nodded and focused on the small root again, he saw as her paw was clenching around it. He heard her taking some shallow breaths and just when she went silent Cynder pulled the root out with one swift move. The moment he heard her painful hisses and groans Spyro breathed a little chilly mist to ease her suffering.

" Thanks, you really surprise me sometimes" Cynder said relived that the stinging pain was gone

"That was the only thing that came to my mind"

Cynder smiled 'Thanks again" she stood up "That was everything that bothered me, let's focus on you now, how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine" Spyro answered thoughtlessly

She reared her back slightly "Is that so?"

He nodded quickly " I didn't suffer any serious injury"

"Let me be the judge of that, lay down" Cynder said firmly

Spyro without any other choice reluctantly laid down on the floor with his left side facing her. Cynder moved closer and examined his body, she finished without saying a word. This was the moment Spyro thought his plan had worked until she circled him and stopped with a loud gasp, she stared at his right flank with shocked expression.

"What the hell happened to you?!" Cynder stated with a loud tone

"What are you talking about?" Spyro turned his head and answered with a faked surprised voice

" Look at this swelling, it's huge" she moved closer to examine it better " How could you not feel it?" Cynder asked concerned and confused

Spyro was lost for words "You know.." he was struggling to find a good answer " with everything that was happening I couldn't really focus on my injuries"

She shot him a quick glance, her eyes seemed to read from his very soul "Oh, really?"

He nodded "Yeah, I have no idea when this could happen" Spyro couldn't look at her, he averted his gaze quickly and stared at the wall

"Breath" she said rigidly

Spyro turned to face her with a confused look "What?"

"I've said breath"

There was something in her tone that didn't leave any space for arguing, with no other choice Spyro took a shallow breath

"Deeper" her tone unchanged

Spyro winced, he felt like a thief who was just about to confess his crimes, he had his back to a wall and only blind hope remained that somehow he will pull it through without her noticing. Spyro started to inhale the air, everything was going fine and when he was almost convinced that nothing's going to happen Spyro felt a sharp pain in his chest and coughed.

Cynder frowned " All this time I thought that you hit yourself badly and you did everything to avoid the pain, but this..." she looked at the swelling "this are broken ribs Spyro!" Cynder exclaimed incredulously

"It's not that bad" he replied quickly

"Not that bad? You have fractured bones and you just walk around" Cynder raised her head to look at him "What are you thinking?!" she exclaimed frustrated

"I didn't feel anything"

'You broke your bones and you want to tell me that you didn't feel it? she kept asking irritated

"Yeah, if you haven't told me I wouldn't even notice it" Spyro answered without thinking

His words seemed to make her more angrier "Your lying, but why are you ly..." Cynder froze with her mouth opened, seconds later her head drops down and her expression changes drastically " You wouldn't be in such a pain if not for me"

" Remember our deal" Spyro quickly reminded her

She stood there with her head lowered down for a while, but moments later she moved, when Cynder set her eyes on him she smiled weakly " Clever"

Spyro chuckled " Don't mention it "

When he laid there on the ground he could feel every part of his body screaming in agony especially his ribs annoyed him, sending surges of pain across his length, demanding attention. They made their point, Spyro looked around trying to find the solution for his problem he thought about earlier. He didn't have to search for long, near the campfire a stone was laying with little ice on its edges, it was bigger than the other ones, just about the size of his paw. Spyro shifted and extended his paw to reach it but it was too far, without no other choice he decided to go pick it up, but just when he was about to rise he felt a paw on his back pinning him to the ground.

"Don't move" a familiar voice admonished him.

He saw Cynder walking past by his eyes, she picked up the rock he reached for and placed it just in front of his snout when she returned. Spyro breathed little icy flames out of his mouth cooling the stone in the process trying to make it as cold as possible. With his limited capabilities it took him some time to achieve his goal but in the end he covered a part of the stone in ice. Cynder dragged it across the ground and moved to the previously occupied spot.

"That's the least I can do" Cynder said with a appreciative tone.

Spyro trembled slightly when the rock touched his scales, he was surprised and quite proud he managed to freeze it that well with his pitiful ice breath. The chill overruled the annoying pain on his right side in seconds, but then just as if in envy other parts of his body started to send surges of pain that felt stronger than before. It almost looked like Cynder was reading his mind, after she finished with the worst place she tenderly moved the stone towards his tail and hind paws, she stopped every now and then and made little circles making sure she won't miss a spot.

When she finished with the lower part of his body she ran the stone across his back and sides towards his neck. Spyro shivered again when the stone reached new territory, he could almost feel the bruises and scratches being grateful for the attention. He moaned slightly when she cooled his exhausted front paws, he could feel every muscle relaxing under her touch. With everything taken care of she moved towards his neck, Spyro stretched when the stone left its cold mark. Besides the chill he could also feel her warm and rapid breathing, both sensations received in turns would make his head drop on the ground if not for the feminine paw holding it.

After she finished with the back side of his neck she moved her free paw under his jaw and raised his head a little before proceeding with massaging the other side of his neck. She ran the stone up and down it several times, with every move his eyelids were shutting down his sight becoming blurry with every second and he didn't do anything to stop it, not that he wanted to anyway. After a while the stone stopped moving cooling only one spot on his neck, soon after she lowered her head to check if she didn't miss anything. Her quick breath was almost intoxicating, the moment he felt it on his neck he purred , Cynder ran the stone across his neck once more time before retreating after she raised her head he could hear his beating heart yearning for her breath again.

She started all over again giving the much needed attention to every muscle she could reach, her touch relaxed every sore spot on his body that when she started massaging him from the beginning again he forgot about the pain completely. It was so pleasant that he couldn't even open his eyes, Spyro forgot about the whole world the only thing he could feel was her invigorating touch and breath.

Just when he thought that this can't get any more pleasant he felt the chill running down his haunches, she moved the stone slowly up and down his thighs, in the position he laid it must have been uncomfortable for her to massage them but she didn't seem to mind. She moved the stone upwards along his left hind paw and then ran it across his back until she reached his shoulders, then she moved the icy stone slowly lower reaching his chest just besides his elbow. Cynder moved it as low as she could, it was enough just to reach only a slight part of his underbelly, Spyro huffed when she caressed the spot that managed to avoid her attention, he couldn't help himself ,he leaned a little every time he felt the stone reaching the end of his body making more room for the refreshing chill.

It was like she realized that this parts demanded attention just like all the others and she did everything she could to make up for this little oversight. Spyro could tell they forgave her instantly as they quickly relaxed under her touch bottling up the pain as if it never was there in the first place. Nevertheless she spent some time on both sides of his chest moving slowly and gently asking for forgiveness, she was pardoned already but his chest didn't mind the additional attention and if it had a mouth it would surely moan.

Cynder convinced it was enough kept the stone as low as possible on his left side touching the edges of his underbelly moved it gently towards his back and loin, Spyro hissed in pleasure when the stone touched the border of his underbelly that wasn't under her spell yet. He leaned once to the left once to the right just like a ship tossed about on the ocean avoiding rolling on each of them, making more space for the chilly rock. Spyro gritted his teeth when she moved the stone down his waist just right beside his left knee, he twitched and his head froze in place hanging in the air when he felt a chill covering that particular spot on his body. She ran the icy stone tenderly up and down the left side of his waist and with every move he gritted his teeth fiercer that if not for the enjoyment it would be painful since it almost felt like they were about to break from all this pressure.

The sensation was overwhelming and now he was sure it can't get any better, he changed his mind quickly when he felt a warm paw touching his back and moving across it towards his rump. Both the stone and her paw met together at the top of his loin just to slide down on both sides of his waist at the same time. Spyro puffed a little ball of smoke from his nostrils when her paw touched an edge of the most tender spot of his body, the position he was laying in prevented her from going lower but it was good enough for him. When she felt she couldn't go any further she moved her paw and the cold stone on the other side slowly along the border of his gold underbelly stopping almost in the middle of his body.

She made little circle motions carefully caressing him with her paw and blunt side of her claws. He couldn't tell how long she spent there, Spyro lost the track of time a while ago, for him her touch was the only measurement of the passing moments. every slide alongside his length an opening for a new sensation. Cynder's paws started returning the same way from whence they came, his head went a little higher and he shivered when her paws reached the place just besides his knees. The stone and her paw ran upwards along his waist eventually meeting at the top before making their way towards his hind paws.

She moved gently up and down his bend thighs, Cynder repeated the motion a couple of times like she tried to accustom his right back leg to the feeling of her warm paw. Deciding it was enough she gently stroke the back end of his thigh, Spyro held his breath when he felt her touch, the icy trail the stone left was pleasant but this even more so. She tenderly rubbed his exhausted muscle every now and then accidently touching the beginning of his tail, and whenever it happened his tail bounced from the ground glad that it wasn't forgotten.

Cynder run the stone and her free paw up his hind paws so they could meet again at the top before returning to his loin. She began to repeat the most enjoyable part of this massage again, and he could feel that part of his body waiting for her touch in great anticipation. The moment she slid her paw down his waist and touched the edge of his gold scales Spyro couldn't hold it any longer. He moaned loudly and his head fell numbly on the ground that in other circumstances would be painful. Cold and heat received at the same time felt incredible, the two most hated enemies coexisting together and working in perfect unison.

She moved up and down his waist, back and forth along the borders of his gold underbelly and every new motion felt even better than the previous one. His breathed faster every time she touched the lower part of his waist, he could only feel his loin, all sore muscles and chill left by the stone in the other parts of his body were completely gone, it was like that only her touch awakened the life in him. Cynder seemed to be focused only on that simple motion now, she moved slow and with so much care that made him emit a soft moan every time he felt like his body wanted to scream in uncontrollable ravishment. Spyro felt like he was in a seventh heaven completely lost in it in fact, he wanted to wander it for all eternity without even thinking about finding a way out. He turned his head just to look for the generous host who invited him here.

Through blurry eyes he saw her sitting with lowered head and with his tail just between her hind paws when the other two gently massaged his body. Her emerald eyes were blurry and unfocused like they were seeing something entirely else. He laid close to the fire and its light must be the reason why he saw a hint of red just above her nose that was even visible through her black scales. She was just moving up his waist just to start everything anew but when her paws met at the top they stopped. As if feeling his gaze she slowly raised her head to look at him.

The moment they made eye contact she froze with her mouth hanged open, her eyes became wider and wider with each passing second, it looked like she dragged her vision back from whenever it was as focus slowly returned to them. In this shock she unconsciously released the icy stone, it slid down his body eventually hitting the ground. Cynder jumped on all her four paws at the sound, just then the flame had to intensify since when she quickly turned her head he saw that her snout was almost completely red.

Cynder cleared her throat " That...that will be enough" she said with a wavering voice without even looking at him

" But... but..." Spyro stammered

"I'm not going to spoil you!" she shouted irritated and patted the swelling on his right side with a flat end of her tail before she quickly walked towards the water filled cavity, one could say that she almost ran.

His blissful expression vanished instantly it seemed he was no longer welcome in that little paradise anymore. It felt like something grabbed him by his horns and dragged him forcefully through many long serpentine- like corridors before finally reaching the doors. Even those closed loudly behind him blocking themselves from being opened again by shutting its many locks with an audible grind. To make things worse he was dragged to an edge where he received a solid kick in the butt that sent him flying down the many stairs. He accumulated more speed the longer he bounced so when the flight of stairs finally ended he rolled on the ground eventually crashing into a huge boulder.

Spyro felt every inch of his body as it was released from its enchantment. Every muscle, cut, scratch and bruise started to ache with such strength that it was almost unbearable. His body blamed him for losing the refreshing chill and the stimulating touch, sending surges of pain from every direction as punishment. Spyro saw the ice covered stone laying beside him, salvation was at hand. Despite the pain he managed to sit and pick it up. He slowly moved the rock down his right flank, letting his scales absorb the chill that it created.

To his surprise it didn't seem to work, instead of subsiding, the pain only seemed to intensify. He thought that the swelling on that side was the reason so he quickly started working on his left flank. He moved the stone up and down this time faster but it didn't seem to work either, he tried his free paw, then his neck and chest still the same thing. It felt like his body was screaming in agony and longing so strong that his every move infuriated it even more. Spyro tried his best to calm it down but to no avail, his own touch superfluous and irritating for his body, it demanded something else, something that he couldn't give. Spyro dropped the stone and laid down resigned, it seems he will have to fight with the pain again.

His struggle broken by the sound of a splashing water, he turned his head to locate the source of this noise. Cynder was sitting near the canal like cavity with her paws in the water just to splash it onto her snout and run the wet paws down her neck and sides soon after. She helped him relax his sore muscles so it was clear for him that she also looked for a way to cool herself and wash all that blood from her scales. Cynder was in no rush, every time her paws reached as low as they possibly could she froze for a moment, every now and then taking a deep breath before repeating this process again.

After a while she placed all her paws on the ground, took a deep breath and turned around sharply. As she did that Cynder shot a quick glance at him, that split second seemed to drain all confidence from her. She reluctantly took a step forward with her nose sticking to the ground, then she took another one and another one. Cynder moved slowly as if she never wanted to reach her destination, just like a convict who heard a death sentence and was on his way to the gallows with his head hanging low ashamed of his crimes in his final minutes.

He watched her as she laid down on the opposite side of the fire without even looking at him, her sight focused on the flames alone. Spyro kept staring at her and she seemed to feel it since he saw her eyes taking a glimpse of his snout every now and then, whenever that happened she shifted slightly and frowned as she concentrated on the fire again, punishing her eyes for disobedience. They laid like that in complete silence for quite some time, both of them could finally rest so Spyro waited patiently for the moment when she will finally tell him everything about what has happened. He waited a bit longer but it didn't seem to be coming, the situation startled him he had to take the matters in his own paws.

"Will you finally tell me what has happened?" Spyro burst out

His question seemed to hurt her as she winced when she heard his voice "I...I...I didn't mean to..." she stammered and her voice was trailing off with each word

Spyro cocked his head slightly "What do you mean by that?"

She swallowed hard and started to scratch the ground with her claw nervously "I...I... Its just that... that... that I've never wanted you to...to... " she sighed "it was wrong"

"I would say it was surprising"

"I know I know... I've got carried away"

He reared his head back slightly, confusion filling him " Then I guess you should be more careful"

That particular sentence seemed to struck her right in the heart as she froze and thrust the previously moving claw into the ground so forcefully that it was on the brink of breaking apart " I was afraid... I hoped... I've never expected... one day it just happened"

In his confusion Spyro didn't notice as she struggled to hold back tears, with his head cocked to the side completely dumfounded he tried desperately to make sense out of everything she said but he couldn't do it "Cynder I've played along but now you completely lost me and I give up" he sighed "What are you talking about?"

Cynder looked at him, her expression a mix of confusion, sadness, anger, resignation and surprise. She stared at him lost for words

"So?" Spyro urged her after a while

"And you?" Cynder asked surprised

" I'm talking about the situation just when I saw you running away from something"

Cynder reared her head in abashment "Me too!" she exclaimed " I just don't know where to start"

" From the beginning" Spyro smiled "Please"

She shook her head as in disbelief, Cynder looked like she was lost in thoughts but after a while she focused on the matter at hand.

" Honestly I have no idea, it all happened so fast"

" Oh no you won't slip away that easily" he admonished her " Tell me everything step by step"

Cynder sighed" I left the cave, collected some rocks, took a sip from the pond outside and went up the hill towards the woods. There I found some twigs that I threw down the slope and some branches which I started chopping down and then I felt something strange, like someone was watching me"

Spyro looked alarmed and shocked " Bandits, here? This cave seems to be abandoned for weeks but I trust your hunch"

"The thing is..." she scratched her head "that wasn't my instinct"

He cocked his head " No? "

" No, it was something else, I've felt...insecure, I was worried that something will jump out from the trees"

" Bandits scared you?" he asked baffled " I mean... the vision of them attacking would put anyone on edge"

Cynder raised her head "Your right!" as she watched him her expression darkened, it looked like she was realizing something else "No, it's not that, I wasn't afraid for my life" she made a brief pause ,thinking "or maybe I was?" she shook her head " I don't know"

" Cynder focus"

" My heart started to race, beating in my chest like it was defending itself" she scratched the floor nervously " I didn't want to go"

Spyro frowned in confusion "Go where?"

She looked at the fire" Deeper into the woods, it was difficult to resist it's luring call but I've managed to do it"

" I don't understand, what was calling you? "

" I don't know maybe the forest" she frowned " or it might have been my imagination since later I didn't hear anything, only the darkness that covered it looked scary"

Spyro watched her with increasing puzzlement " Since when you are afraid of the dark?"

Cynder started to scratch the ground with more speed " There was something else there that terrified me"

He raised his head a little " What was it?"

"It was.. it looked like... " she shook her head " I don't know what it was"

" Think"

Her claws stopped moving as she threw him an annoyed look " I don't know" she pronounced each word slowly

Spyro cocked his head " You tried to run away from it, you must have..."

" I don't know!" she yelled and hit the ground angrily. He reared his head back at the noise. Cynder sighed " Let's change the subject"

Spyro watched her with a baffled expression, he opened his mouth to ask her more questions about this situation but he couldn't say anything. They laid there in awkward silence for a while, he thought that she will change her mind but she never did.

" What did you try to tell me back there on the slope?" Spyro asked tired of this silence

" Good choice" Cynder muttered

"What now?" he was used to her sarcastic tone but this time it annoyed him

"Oh no nothing, I'm just happy that you picked an interesting topic for a conversation" she smiled wryly

Her expression only made him angry " Ok Cynder I didn't want to say anything but you have been acting really weird lately, way before this whole forest thing"

She frowned " Guess why"

" I have no idea"

" Of course you don't!" she shouted indignantly

"Then why don't you tell me!" he shouted back

"You should have figured it out by now you clueless bastard! It's important and you don't even know what I'm talking about! You...you..you..." she snorted and turned around, her back facing him

"Hel..."

"Stop!" she exclaimed "I'm tired and I want some sleep, leave me alone" she shifted looking for a good position to rest and when she found it Spyro heard an audible "Ass"

He watched her with wide eyes, her reaction took him by surprise. She told him it was important and when he wanted to know what it was it only made her angry. Spyro had no idea why it infuriated her so much. First she acts as if it can't wait and now when a right moment to talk about it came she turns around offended. Females huh? With nothing left to do he rested his head on the floor and closed his eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

He opened his eyes, the red light from the flames illuminated the cave, from what he could see it was still dark and raining outside. On the opposite side of the fire a black dragoness was sleeping peacefully, her chest moving up and down in a slowly rhythmic pace as she breathed. Spyro twitched to find a better spot for his head to rest, sighed and closed his eyes again. The cracking sound of the burning wood pounded at his head, he heard every single noise the fire created as it consumed the many twigs and branches.

Spyro threw it an annoying look, a single thought crossed his mind about extinguishing it in revenge. It was gone just as fast as it came, he wasn't alone here, his companion wouldn't probably like that, besides he needed the warmth anyway. He rolled over on his right side so that his back faced the campfire, a clear signal that he won't listen to its yattering ,in fact he didn't want anything to do with it anymore. Spyro exhaled and closed his eyes.

In the corner a single drop fell from the ceiling and hit the ground, he winced, such a tiny thing created a noise so loud that pierced and rang in his skull for a moment. After a while another one fell down creating the same effect, moments later another one hit the ground, then another and another. Spyro grumbled irritated and rolled over on his back, with his snout facing the ceiling he turned away from both parties which offended him greatly. Spyro sighed and closed his eyes.

The wind seemed to intensify, with a strong gust it entered the cave, the noise it created bounced from wall to wall which ended when it ran through his head with a shrill sound. Spyro opened one of his eyes in disbelief "_This can't be happening_" he thought to himself. Another gust rushed through the cave, he gritted his teeth when it reached him, nevertheless he was convincing himself that this was the last time it happened. When another one got him Spyro snorted and rolled over on his belly.

" It's just like I'm trying to sleep in a jungle" he muttered annoyed

He stood up, took a few steps and laid down again with his eyes fixed on the exit from the cave. Spyro gave up he couldn't sleep, it was odd since he was exhausted ,even the floor below him felt uncomfortable like it had many jutting rocks that plucked at his belly. He leaned, twitched, shifted but nothing helped no matter how hard he tried he couldn't find a space without something bothering him. Sighing in defeat he watched the world outside as the many raindrops fell down from the sky covering it in a wet blanket.

_" Mom told us to stay inside" a young _ _purple drake said staring at the window and wagging his tail anxiously _

_" Yeah I know but nobody's home and this is our best shot" replied a young dragonfly that hovered next to him_

_" She will get mad when she finds out"_

_"That's why we won't get caught"_

_" Parents always told us to never go outside when it's raining" _

_The little dragonfly placed his hands on the glass " Can't you see it?, It wants us outside" he said with an enchanted tone and sighed before turning his head to look at the dragon "We will never have another chance like this we have to take it"_

_The drake lowered his head "I... I don't know" he replied unconvincingly _

_The dragonfly frowned " What do you mean I don't know?!"_

_" We promised mom that we won't cause any trouble"_

_" Who said anything about causing trouble?" Sparx asked surprised_

_"But..."_

_"There is no buts about it! " the dragonfly interrupted him and positioned himself in front of him placing his hands on the both sides of his snout and raised his head so he could look him straight in the eyes. " Bro, you trust me?"_

_Spyro nodded "Yes"_

_" Was I ever wrong?"_

_Spyro averted his gaze thinking "Well..."_

_The moment they lost eye contact the dragonfly yanked the dragon's head forcing Spyro to look at him again, when their eyes met he gave him a meaningful look _

_Spyro shook his head confidently "No"_

_" Did I always showed you the good stuff?"_

_He nodded again "Yes"_

_" Did ya like it?"_

_He nodded once more "Yes"_

_Sparx clapped his hands "See? There's nothing to worry about" He grabbed Spyro's horn and started dragging him towards the window "I'll show ya something" Just when the dragon's nose touched the window the dragonfly opened his palm with his fingers pointing at the glass 'What do you see?" _

_With no other choice Spyro stared through the window looking for anything strange. After a moment of thinking he said tentatively with his voice muffled by the glass "Rain?"_

_"And what does the rain do?" Sparx asked unhesitatingly_

_"Ummm... makes things wet?"_

_The dragonfly sighed" That too" and with a shake of his head clearly excited he started to fly all around Spyro " What is more important my not very bright brother is that the rain makes the air cleaner and gives you more energy!"_

_"I don't think it does that"_

_" It does! Just think if we would go outside even for a while we could be faster and stronger, and you would be able to catch up with me finally"_

_Spyro frowned "Hey! I'm not slow and I'm getting better!"_

_Sparx hovered in front of him " Bro, I hate to say it but you are fat and you will never reach my perfect shape without the rain"_

_The dragon snorted " I'm not fat!" he gave Sparx an angry look "And how do you know that? Just like me you've never been outside"_

_Sparx grinned " I was"_

_Spyro jerked in surprise " Really?"_

_The dragonfly looked around checking if nobody is listening before moving a bit closer "You know Flare? he whispered _

_The drake shook his head _

_" Ok that's not important, the thing is that this guy can't keep his mouth shut, he always boasts about how good is he, that there is nobody who can beat him and stuff like that. Pissing me and some other guys off in the process. One day it starts to rain just like now and I sit in my room staring at the window bored like hell and what do I see? Flare! He's outside flying low making rounds around some trees and I think what the hell, right? Since we are not supposed to go outside in such weather. My brilliant mind told me that this whole thing smells fishy so I decided to find out what it was."_

_"Why you didn't tell me anything?!" Spyro exclaimed irritated and excited at the same time_

_Sparx raised his hands up " Don't blame me! I wanted to tell you but I couldn't" he lowered his hands " Like always when something interesting happens you have to make a mess. I was about to call you but then I saw you cleaning up something from the floor. You probably broke something again with this two things on your head since Mom was picking up some shattered glass while Dad was lecturing you."_

_"It was then?!" Spyro shouted and shook his head "Damn I screwed up big time"._

_Sparx nodded "Knowing I won't be able to get you I decided to act on my own and you created a perfect opportunity for me to slip away unnoticed. Thanks for that by the way, you are useful sometimes" he patted his head "Anyway I've waited for Flare by the trees but he never stopped and I could barely see him, he was so fast! With no other choice I started to chase him, firstly, and I hate to admit it, I couldn't catch him but then with every new round I inhaled the air deeply, it felt so fresh! With every breath I felt stronger and faster it was then when I realized that rain was behind his form!. Now no common dragonfly like..." he looked the dragon over". well... you..."_

_Spyro snorted_

_Ignoring his reaction he continued" ...would be able to do what I did. Thanks to the rain, and my natural talent of course I eventually caught up with him. He only confirmed my suspicions and when threatened that I will reveal his little secret he told me a couple of things about how he managed to stay outside and now when I think of it that was the last time I saw him, guess he was to afraid to show his face ever again. Serves him right, the cheater!"_

_He turned Spyro's head towards the window and wrapped his arm around one of his horns and said with clearly touched voice " Isn't it beautiful?". Sparx hovered in front of Spyro "This is also our great opportunity to get better, we gonna test it before telling other guys about it, this will make things more interesting" he rubbed his hands_

_Spyro watched the world outside anxiously, being torn apart by his curiosity and __cautiousness " I'm not sure if we should do that"_

_Sparx grabbed his head again " We are dragonflies right?"_

_Spyro nodded_

_"And what dragonflies from this family do?"_

_They stared at each other for a while before simultaneously and happily exclaiming " They stick together!"_

_Sparx clapped his hands" You with me bro?"_

_" Yeah!" he exclaimed fully convinced_

_"Then let's roll!" the dragonfly started to fly away_

_Spyro took a few steps after Sparx but then he turned his head to look at the window for the last time as he realized something was amiss "But what if Mom comes back earlier? And what will we do about the fumes?"_

_" Don't worry dude I've got this covered" without even looking at him he scuttled into the kitchen_

_Moments later he returned carrying a large cup with him "Don't worry about Mom I've already questioned her discreetly, she will be at a friend's house and you know how she likes to talk. I even convinced her that we will take care of ourselves so she doesn't need to hurry" he gave him the cup" Bottoms up!"_

_Spyro took the cup and peeked into it to check what it contained. There was a dark orange liquid swirling inside, he sniffed the contents and reared his head back when an unpleasant smell invaded his nostrils " What is this?"_

_Sparx hovered next to him " This is a special brew that will protect you from the fumes. Flare told me about it when I squeezed him"_

_" And where is yours?"_

_" I've drank mine already. Stop whining and drink it" he urged him with a motion of his hands._

_Spyro reluctantly rose the cup and poured a portion of the liquid inside his mouth. He swallowed it down, just when it passed his throat Spyro twisted his snout in abhorrence "Ugh, it's disgusting"_

_" Of course it is, have you ever heard about a medicine that tastes good?" Spyro shook his head "Exactly! Stop whining and finish the drink"_

_He looked at the medicine and took a deep breath. He wanted to get this over with so instead of taking small sips he poured the remaining liquid into his mouth before swallowing it all down. Just when he felt the taste he grunted with his tongue lolling out._

_Sparx clapped his hands "Great! Rainy here we come!" he dashed towards the exit doors. _

_Shaking off the bad taste clearly excited Spyro ran right after the dragonfly, he really wanted to know if everything that Sparx said was true. The moment the door swung open the dragonfly with a scream of joy dashed forward into the yard, Spyro however stopped right at the doorstep the raindrops falling down just right in front of his nose. He inhaled deeply as to check if the brew is working, it looked like it was since he couldn't smell anything terrible. Spyro craned his neck forward and when the first drop landed on his head he winced as if in pain and hid below the roof of the house again._

_It wasn't long before curiosity got the better of him, he craned his neck again but this time when a raindrop hit his head he didn't budge. Drop after drop splattered on his head, the feeling it created was greatly refreshing. It was his first time in the rain despite his parent's warnings to stay inside when the weather gets worse. He took a bite of the forbidden fruit, he was taking his time savoring it . Spyro didn't understand why they didn't allow them to go outside, the rain wasn't bad,in fact it was pleasant and so addictively invigorating._

_He awakened from his trance when something hit his cheek " Dude move it's not going to eat you!" a familiar voice shouted at him_

_Spyro touched his cheek and looked at his paw, it was covered in mud "Hey! Cut it out!" he exclaimed " I don't know why Mom told us stay inside, I don't smell anything and the rain feels great" he raised his head looking at the sky in awe and started wiping off the muck from his cheek._

_"Yeah whatever" Sparx murmured under his breath and started forming another ball of dirt, when he finished it he threw it at the dragon " Spyro check it out!" after a brief pause he shouted excited_

_Spyro lowered his head instantly to see what his brother meant by this. The moment he did that a mucky ball hit him directly in the snout ,the dirt covering it almost completely. When that happened he heard only a hysterical laughter._

_He wiped the mud from his snout and looked around the house before giving his brother an annoyed look " Sparx stop it! Your making a mess!"_

_"Yeah? And what are you going to do about it?" he threw another ball at him_

_This time however Spyro was expecting that he will do it again, so when he saw the ball closing in he ducked dodging it as a result "I'll think of something" he replied threateningly and dashed after the dragonfly_

_Seeing this Sparx turned around and without wasting any more time he started to fly away as fast possible to escape from his pursuer. Spyro was focused only on catching him that he didn't really mind that the ground was muddy and it was difficult to run. Every time he placed his paws on the ground he made a splashing sound sending the water in every direction that made his paws and belly wet instantly allowing the mud to stick to them easily. It was easier for Sparx he was using his wings so he didn't need to worry about such things._

_He was chasing him for a while but he didn't even felt tired, not even a bit. It looked like Sparx was right, the rain really gave more strength, he overcame every obstacle with ease. The dragonfly did everything he could to make this worse for him by picking a route where there were plenty of things that served for barriers. Rocks that he had to jump over, trees that he had to avoid, and the mucky ground that felt like it was pulling him down as he did everything he could to continue his chase without much delay._

_It seemed like the second part Sparx told him about the rain was true also, he felt like he was gaining speed, running faster and faster with every second. Spyro was right he was clearly gaining on him, he saw as the little silhouette was getting closer. Sparx had to notice it since he started to circle around some branch that was big enough making it impossible to jump over it. Spyro stood on the opposite side, when he started circling the branch to the left Sparx moved to the right and the other way around when Spyro changed the direction._

_" How is it possible that you're not tired yet?" Sparx asked while staring at him, watching for his slightest move while he was slowly flying around the branch panting heavily_

_" You were right the rain works after all" he smirked without losing eye contact with his brother_

_" Dude you took it way too seriously" the dragonfly shook his head " Not everything I said wa..." before he could finish something hit his head, he looked up just to see some mud heading straight at him._

_Sparx dodged it just in time but he lost sight of his brother. That was the moment Spyro was waiting for, while he was focused on something else he didn't waste any time and started running around the branch as fast as possible trying to get as close as he could. The whole situation startled Sparx, and seeing his brother closing in his first thought was to start circling the branch again but then he realized that he won't make it, with no other choice he turned around and renewed his escape._

_Spyro knew why he stopped, he wanted to catch some breath since he was becoming more tired with each passing second, it looked like the rain didn't give him enough energy or he wasted it on chasing Flare, either way he didn't care. He was really close and it might be the first time he actually manage to catch him, the idea only made him push harder. With each passing second he was running faster and faster, his paws felt like they were created for such rough terrain, they haven't displayed even the slightest symptoms of __weariness. He won't get away, not this time._

_Spyro was focused solely on the dragonfly ahead, he won't waste such an opportunity. He was gaining on him, Spyro was so close that, if he wasn't used to it, the yellow glow Sparx emanated would burn his eyes. The dragonfly had to feel his breath on his back since he turned his head to look behind him. Seeing this Spyro grinned mischievously giving him a clear signal that he won't slip away this time. He was close enough, it was now or never, Spyro readied himself to make a jump but it was then when Sparx made a sharp turn. It surprised him but he followed in his wake, what he saw later surprised him even more. Instead of a little dragonfly there was a pair of trees in front of him one closer than the other._

_His eyes went wide, he never expected it but it was too late to stop now. He was running too fast so everything he could do was to lean his body a little to avoid colliding with it headlong. Spyro yanked his body to the right, unfortunately he hit the tree with his wing but at least he managed to avoid colliding with it. His joy didn't last long another one was in his path, he yanked his body to the left side but even this time his wing hit the tree. The impact and the sudden maneuvers made him lose his balance, Spyro would regain his stability if not for the small stones in front of him._

_He tripped over them and fell into a mucky puddle, the dirt sticking to him as pins stick to a magnet. Spyro tried to wipe it off but every attempt only made it worse, his head hit the ground first, making his purple snout disappear below the mud. Spyro slowly stood up and just when he tried to find his eyes and reveal them from this sticky curtain he heard a loud derisive laughter coming from a glowing shape hovering nearby ._

_" Bro I must tell you that you really know how to make my day better" Sparx said between gasps_

_" Shut up" Spyro replied as he spit out some dirt from his mouth_

_He placed his hands on his belly "Ow, my stomach" catching some breath the dragonfly started flying around the young dragon " Have you ever heard of a mud bath before? People say it makes you look better but now I think they lied. You were always ugly but now... whoa" He moved closer to his head " Seriously dude, if somebody asks we don't know each other, I have a reputation to take care of you know" he retreated and burst out laughing again._

_" I've almost had you and you know that. You've tricked me " Spyro shot him an annoyed look _

_Sparx caught his breath again and pointed his finger at him " Hey, you started it, remember?"_

_" I did that only to distract you, it was easy to avoid"_

_" Yeah, I wanted to repay you with the same thing but I improved it a little" he touched his temple with a finger " There's a brain there ,you will have one too one day...probably" he grinned _

_"You cheated, you knew I had no chance to avoid these trees!" Spyro exclaimed _

_Sparx watched him for a while then sighed and shrugged " Ok maybe I cheated, so what? Nobody said It was a fair run in the first place"_

_" I'll tell you what, it's payback time" Spyro murmured under his breath and frowned " Sparx look at this, it seems like Flare hid something here, It's some sort of a message!" he exclaimed excited while he looked at the puddle_

_The dragonfly jerked in surprise " What? It's impossible" he flew closer, curiosity getting ahead of him_

_Seeing this Spyro smiled mischievously, this was the perfect moment to strike. With a fast move of his paw he splashed some water towards him, the dragonfly yelped in surprise. His tail followed soon after, with a fast spin he threw some mud at him, this time however he didn't manage to dodge it, not all of it at least. Sparx wavered when a bit of mud hit him, this was the moment Spyro used to his advantage. Not wasting any time he jumped with his paws extended trying to grab him. Sparx tried to slip away but Spyro was faster this time, he caught the dragonfly and fell with him in the shallow and mucky puddle._

_" Where's that brain of yours now?" Spyro asked mockingly _

_Sparx screamed and fought valiantly splashing the water everywhere trying desperately to break free from his grip. He received the same treat as Spyro, he was getting covered in the damp and sticky mud in seconds and that was everything the dragon wanted. Spyro was splashing some water on him followed by some little dirt later, the dragonfly shook as fast as he could trying to avoid everything that was heading his way, this struggle was accompanied by his loud yelling. Over time he was moving slower and slower until he finally stopped completely covered in mud._

_" Ha! Who's the winner now?" Spyro asked triumphantly watching him closely while he laid there pinned under his paw. To his surprise however he didn't respond, he laid there with closed eyes completely still. Spyro's eyes went wider and wider as he slowly began to realize that he was larger than him and might have actually hurt him._

_He raised his paw releasing the dragonfly" Sparx!,Sparx!" Spyro shouted his name several times and nipped him delicately with his claw to wake him up. "Oh no, what have I done? Sparx wake up please!" he yelled at the top of his lungs with fear in his voice and lowered his head_

_"It's still there" Sparx whispered_

_Spyro raised him head instantly to look at him and just when he did that he felt Sparx's hand smearing his mouth with some mud as he quickly took to the air._

_"You thought you can beat me that easily?!" the dragonfly exclaimed irritated "Take that!, and that!, and that!" Sparx repeated the same phrase a couple more times as he threw some balls of dirt at him one after the other._

_Spyro got hit by some when he was startled by this situation but after regaining his composure he started to cover his snout and body behind his wings when the balls were closing in, and just when they collided with his membranes he moved his wings away and threw some balls at the dragonfly. _

_The mucky projectiles were flying between two brothers in quick succession as they waged this little war of theirs. Between the occasional shouts a laugh could be heard every now and then as a sign they both enjoyed this little game, sometimes it was even accompanied by a scream of joy when one of them got hit in a uncovered part of the body. Sometimes they stood in place and exchanged their mucky balls, another times they startled circling each other as fast as they could throwing every bit of muck they could get their hands and paws on. Occasionally they moved directly at each other splashing the water and sending the mud flying in every direction without caring for their own protection. One of those runs ended with them tackling each other, even if Sparx was without much chance in such a battle he still did it. They were smearing the mud all over their faces when they were close enough. They would be playing for quite some time if they didn't hear a familiar female voice yelling angrily" WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" the sound of it made them both wince and freeze with their paw and hand on each other faces._

_Spyro spit the mud out of his mouth " Didn't you tell me that you convinced Mom to stay at her friend's house longer then she planned?" he asked with a wavering voice _

_Sparx scratched his head" Ya see... how to tell you this umm... I might have vamped up this whole thing a little" and then they both swallowed hard when they saw the familiar dragonfly getting closer. _

Spyro chuckled when he remembered this particular memory and especially his foster brother's words. " A LITTLE" he said, it was a huge overstatement since later he found out that he made up this whole thing. It all started with a clever dragonfly named Flare who irritated Sparx greatly by beating him constantly, the same dragonfly who he caught training outside, the same dragonfly who revealed the true secret behind his form. It isn't hard to imagine Spyro's surprise when Sparx admitted that there was no special power behind Flare's shape since a dragonfly with such a name didn't live in their village or any other for that matter, in fact he didn't exist at all.

Later Sparx revealed the truth behind the little conversation with their Mother in which he convinced her that they will behave. Spyro knew he likes to talk so he believed him straight away there was no reason for him to lie about it. He was baffled when he heard that the discreet questioning really was a discreet stalking, Sparx was following her all the time while she was in the house waiting when the exit doors finally shut behind her. Bottom line he didn't exchange with her even a single word.

Then came the rain, it was supposed to give new strength, firstly it felt like it was true but then he realized that it only left such an impression on him because he truly believed it. It was his first time outside in a rainy day, everything was new and felt so real that it didn't take long to convince him completely. Truthfully it wasn't helping at all, in the Swamps it only caused harm. Later that day he understood why their parents forbid them to go outside while he laid in the bed with a terrible fever with all his energy drained away. The rain caused the whole mucky terrain and the plants to release fumes that were almost odor- free, Spyro knew they were there but he imagined them to be something terrible that will make his nose curl in disgust, and just when he couldn't smell anything like that he thought that he was protected against them. Basically it isn't dangerous to be outside when it's raining but they were both still pretty young and their organisms weren't fully adapted yet to absorb those slightly poisonous fumes.

The "special brew" as Sparx called it instead of helping him resist the toxic fumes made things only worse. No wonder since it was no medicine, it turned out to be some still juice, even Sparx himself couldn't remember what rotten fruits he used to make it. Normally a single cup isn't harmful but back then the "medicine" combined with the fumes that led to a fever weakened him and made room for the not very fresh juice to work its magic. Not only he was ill beyond imagination but also he threw up everything he ate or drank, even sometimes smell made him retch. The only thing he could do was to hang his head from the edge of the bed just above a bowl. Surprisingly Sparx didn't share his fate, he only suffered a fever and when they recovered he always boasted about how resistant he is. Spyro envied him back then that he never put two and two together and realized that Sparx never drank the juice in the first place.

How their Mother yelled at them, no wonder since they both ignored her warnings and came back so dirty that they would cover the whole house in mud if they could just run freely. To make things worse the ball that Spyro dodged hit and shattered a vase that their Mom really liked. After they washed themselves they received a harsh lecture about their behavior and later both of them fell ill and landed in beds. Some days have passed but eventually they recovered fully, they were ready to play again thinking that this sickness was punishment enough. Their joy vanished immediately when they found out that they were grounded for two weeks.

Spyro smiled and shook his head, how time flies, it had been years but it felt like it happened just yesterday. A soft whimper broke his concentration he turned his head to look at the source of it. It looked like Cynder was dreaming since he saw her paw twitching slightly. They seem to have more in common then he thought, just when he was remembering some pleasant memories she seemed to do the same even if it was unintentionally. Moments later she whimpered again this time Spyro stood up and got closer to her.

He stopped near Cynder and craned his neck forward to get a good look at her. She's laid on her left side with her back turned towards him. The end of her tail was bouncing and sliding across the floor slightly, her hind paws twitching as if she tried to run away from something. She whimpered again, the sound made Spyro to look at her snout, Cynder's eyelids were fluttering rapidly processing every image her mind created very quickly. Spyro was wrong, they had their differences ,she was dreaming but by the look of it that was not a jolly dream.

She whimpered one more time and muttered something incoherently. Seeing her like this only made anxiety growing inside him, they've been through a lot, and after all this time Spyro set up one goal for himself that he will achieve no matter what. Supporting her in every situation was his biggest concern, even in situations as trivial as this, her well-being was the most important thing for him.

Her tail bounced from the ground and she whimpered again. Impulsively and with utmost care Spyro extended his paw towards her. Cynder was trembling as if she was against a wall with nowhere to run and was begging for help. He was moving his paw slower and slower the closer it got to her body, Spyro wanted to comfort her as delicately as he could without waking her. It was just a dream after all.

He touched her wing and the moment he ran his paw across it she moaned. Spyro withdrew his paw instantly, he bit his lip with his paw hanging in mid-air as he watched her rolling over on her other side. He froze terrified that he did something wrong and woke her up, Spyro thought that she wouldn't like to be interrupted, she deserved some rest after all. To his great relief nothing like that happened, the moment she turned Cynder sighed and clicked her tongue before returning to her peaceful slumber.

He couldn't help himself and smiled happily when he watched her sleeping calmly. Spyro extended his paw again and touched her. He tenderly ran it up and down her foreleg and across her wing and shoulder to end on her cheek. Spyro repeated the same motion over and over again, every now and then he could hear her purring softly and shaking slightly below his touch. He stared only at her snout, his eyes enthralled by that black muzzle like it was charmed, trapping his sight in a delightful prison from which it never wanted to escape.

Even if it was unlikely that the bad dreams would return Spyro kept caressing her. He wanted to show her that he is always by her side, that he will always help her, that he will always protect her, that he likes her company even if they sometimes argue. As he watched her Spyro started to get warmer, his heartbeat increasing every second until it reached such a pace that he could hear it beating in his chest. He even started to sweat and with it came the awkward sensation in his belly it felt like something was swirling in there. Only she triggered such unfamiliar emotions in him whenever he kept thinking about her. Spyro never felt like this before, he wanted to be near her, never to abandon her, spend every second of his life in her company. He liked her, no, it was something else, something he has never experienced before, a feeling that was alien to him. Whatever it was he was sure of one thing though, he was sure that he didn't want this moment to end he could stare at her for all eternity if he could.

He couldn't, Spyro twitched when he felt a tingle crossing his body, he raised his paw and looked at it he saw as his scales were shaking slightly and his paw becoming slowly numb. The unfamiliar feeling vanished, his heart returned to its normal pace as he focused on the new unexpected yet familiar sensation. It was weak but whatever it was it gave clear signals that it can be found, not in this cave, somewhere else, quite a distance away. Firstly he tried to ignore it but it was so unnerving that he couldn't concentrate on anything else. Spyro considered waking her up but then he thought better of it, she finally has the much needed rest, a moment for recovery after everything she's been through. Besides this cave was in a middle of nowhere, hidden behind a thick forest and between two high slopes ,it was clearly abandoned for who knows how long. It was unlikely that something will stumble upon it, it looked quite safe.

Spyro made up his mind, he looked at her for the last time as to ensure her that he will be back before turning around and making his way towards the exit. The moment he stepped out of the cave he looked around and focused trying to locate the source of this uneasy feeling. It didn't take him long to set his sight upon the woods, it was coming from there, he wasn't imagining things after all. This feeling was stronger than the previous one and more importantly it wasn't fading away. Something was there and this time it almost looked like it was calling him.

Spyro stopped at the edge of the forest, the feeling intensified slightly with each step he took, he was heading in the right direction there was no doubt about that. Spyro concentrated, the tingle that ran through his body was still pretty faint meaning that whatever was there it was undoubtedly deeper , somewhere inside this thick dark forest. A thought crossed his mind that maybe Cynder wasn't seeing things after all? But then again he didn't see anything chasing her, it reminded him of the situation at the slope, he felt something there but she didn't. Maybe it has something to do with the whole world saving? He used tremendous power back there and they both were in its radius so maybe these were simply some side effects that were different for each of them?.

With this thought in his mind he ventured into the forest. Even if he considered that this was the most possible explanation he still moved cautiously, carefully maneuvering around the many trees and bushes. The only noise he heard was created by the wind howling through the trees and his survival instincts told him to avoid making any other sound. It was unlikely that someone or something was here, better safe than sorry they say, if there was something actually here it was better to leave it oblivious to his presence.

Spyro kept going and going moving away from the cave with each step he took. It was a good thing, whatever he felt it was far away from their safe heaven, there was a little chance that someone will locate it with this forest in the way. The feeling was getting stronger but he couldn't see anything, Spyro moved a couple of steps and stopped. His body was almost shaking , it was close, really close. Spyro narrowed his pupils and tried to pierce the darkness but with no luck, there is something here definitely but he couldn't see it.

He took a step, stopped and looked around before taking another step. Spyro repeated the same move again and again carefully searching for the source of this feeling. He kept doing the same thing until he heard a noise behind him that pierced through the sound created by the howling wind just like a noise of a falling chain when it hits the ground piercing through the sound of an air roaring in a windy corridor. Spyro spun around quickly at the unexpected sound to see some tall and thick bushes, their green twigs rustling against each other like something was stuck between them or trying to get past them.

Spyro low on his paws took slowly some steps backwards with his eyes focused intently on the source of this new sound. He retreated until he reached a hunk of a tree, the darkness that surrounded it covering him entirely, only a very skilled hunter would notice a pair of purple eyes glistening from the shadows. He hunkered down and waited for his opponent to show himself. Slowing his heartbeat and breath Spyro observed the rustling bushes ahead, he was ready to pounce at anything that would come rushing through them. Nothing did for the moment, the green twigs were still swishing against each other, his gut told him there was something there. Maybe the bushes were thicker than he firstly thought.

Another moment has passed and still nothing appeared. Spyro stared at the bushes all the time not losing sight of them even for a second. Whatever was there it has to come out soon enough, he was taught to try to remain calm in every stressful situation, and this is what he will do. He will wait for his enemy to show up, not letting his emotions to get the upper hand, patience is the key. Spyro waited and waited but nothing new happened, nevertheless he didn't budge, the bushes have to end eventually and whatever was on the opposite side had know it, the rustle confirmed it. Sighing quietly Spyro focused even harder, it can't be long now.

The whish was getting on his nerves, he kept staring at those annoying bushes for who knows how long and he was getting more agitated with each passing second. After a while Spyro realized what is happening, whoever is on the other side is taunting him, wanting him to reveal his position and lose the element of surprise. How he could not see this? It's so obvious! A clever trick but he won't fall for it, he won't allow to be provoked. Spyro shifted from paw to paw and smiled slyly, he had read his enemy intentions. It was his turn now, with renewed determination he awaited for his opponent's next move.

Surprisingly nothing new happened, his enemy didn't make any move and that wouldn't bother him if not for this noise. The constant rustle was infuriating! If only it could stop tormenting him for only a second! But it didn't, it began ringing in his head, laughing at him, laughing at his cowardice. Spyro shook his head trying to ignore it but he couldn't, the sound was teasing him and after a while he had enough.

" Have it your way then" Spyro growled and popped out from his hiding place, but he didn't stop to wait for his enemy to attack him. Instead he ran as quickly as he could and jumped into the bushes with his claws at the ready.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The forest was dark and dense , it was difficult to see anything but at least it stopped raining , the wind calmed down, everything was silent. Spyro landed on his belly when he jumped out from these bushes, it seemed he ran faster than he firstly thought since he couldn't keep his balance. While he was laying on the ground he looked around but there was no sign of the culprit who taunted him nor did he leave any footprints, it looked like he just vanished into thin air. As he laid there on the dry ground his instinct told him something was wrong, not only it was way too quiet but he felt also somewhat strange, just like he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Unfortunately Spyro couldn't be more correct, a noise filled the woods but through this thick forest it was impossible to locate it. He concentrated just to make sure if his not imagining things, he wasn't, the sound he heard again was nothing else then a scream that was getting louder. Spyro instantly tried to get up and help the person who was yelling so loudly clearly terrified, he didn't care who it was, that person is in trouble and that's what matters.

The moment Spyro tried to rise something pulled him backwards and he landed on his belly once more. He looked behind him just to see some quite big twigs wrapped around his hind paws just as the bushes didn't want him to go, just as if they were telling him that there is nothing he can do. Spyro didn't listen he yanked his back paws forcefully trying to break free from their iron grip but to no avail, they didn't budge. Another scream filed the air but this time it sounded close, really close, just like it was coming from ahead.

Figuring he doesn't have much more time Spyro had to move faster, whoever it was he was clearly heading in this direction with his pursuers just behind him no doubt. Spyro's tail was stuck just like his paws, too bad it would really be helpful right now. With no other choice left Spyro slowly slid alongside the ground and started to roll over on his back. He couldn't roll over completely with his paws stuck in one position but it was enough for him to reach a slight portion of the twigs on the lower part of his body. Spyro thrust his claws into the twigs as deeply as the position he was in allowed it and began slowly cutting through them. He had to weaken their structure, that way they will break easily and he would be free again.

The dragon heard another scream. this time however it sounded like it came from just a few meters in front of him. Spyro looked in that direction just to see a cheetah popping out from the shadows . The fugitive had to trip over something since he fell on the ground, he didn't waste any time, just when the cheetah hit the ground he looked behind him and screamed in horror. Something was clearly chasing him and from the looks of it, the pursuer wasn't far. The cheetah crawled on the ground for a bit just to quickly make some additional steps on all fours before raising on his two legs. Whatever was chasing him he really wanted to lose it.

The cheetah made only a step or two before Spyro saw something behind him, it flashed briefly when it reflected the light from the moon which found an opening in the many dense tree tops.

Spyro tried to warn the feline but he only managed to open his mouth, it was already too late. The swirling axe that was thrown after the cheetah found it's mark. The feline uttered a stiffed scream and terror filled his eyes when the axe impaled on his back. He saw as the cat's body arched forward at the force of the impact, with one of his hands bend above the shoulder and the other one at his waist-height just like he tried to reach the foreign object that struck him. The cheetah took two or three ponderous steps before he fell on his knees and soon after on his face, completely lifeless. Moments later from the shadows stepped out the killer.

Malefor's Dark Army was created using unknown dark arts and promises of wealth and power. Firstly there were the Apes, mercenaries that were taught to artificially harness the power of Spirit Gems- the dragon's life source. The Apes served as perfect soldiers driven by greed, lust for power and even simple pleasure of butchering something without any consequences. The traits of every self- respecting mercenary. Out of this freelancers Malefor created a disciplined army with different ranks from common soldiers armed with simple weapons whose solely purpose was to follow orders to commanders wielding enchanted arms and what's more important-magic. These mercenaries bred beasts of their own like Dreadwings and Death Hounds that are capable of fighting dragon-sized enemies. Spoils of victory and discipline were one thing, what Malefor truly wanted was loyalty, loyalty that was hard to come by in an army consisting only of mercenaries. When The Dark Master was sure of his victory he severely punished the unfaithful portion of his army by turning it into Shadow Apes while he rewarded the most loyal ones with more power.

Years later Malefor wanting to replace his lost numbers used an unknown and powerful spell which spawned the Grublins. Grublins are artificially created servants through some evil means, they come in different varieties, from small common soldiers to big and large commanders. Their ranks match the ranks of the Apes, a simple equipped Grublin soldier is a replacement for a common Ape soldier while the more talented ones match the status of an Ape leader or commander. Another example that belonged to this species are Orcs, they are more dangerous and more intelligent than normal Grublins, that's why usually Orcs commanders lead the army when it's marching. Just like Apes, Grublins brought with them dangerous creatures like Wyverns and Trolls that are perfect for fighting with dragons. After all those years Malefor not only added more deadlier forces to his army but also he achieved the goal he craved for- unswerving loyalty. Grublins are not interested in gold or power their sole purpose is to kill and follow theirs Master's every whim, and it goes without saying that they carried his orders with utmost pleasure.

It was an ape mercenary with red markings on his face and fiery eyes, he was wearing light leather armor with small spikes on its shoulders, two silver spiked bracelets on both his forearms, a helmet with two long spikes protruding from its edges, studded legs with silver spiked patches on its knees and studded boots. An iron belt was wrapped around the ape's waist with a small axe strapped on one side. He was undoubtedly a scout.

The ape stopped for a brief moment when he saw the cheetah's body laying still on the ground before he started circling it slowly as if admiring his work. Spyro instantly looked behind him and started working on the twisted twigs again, if the ape will notice him he will be defenseless and the mercenary won't waste an opportunity for an easy kill. Spyro moved his claws slowly carefully cutting through the woody twigs avoiding making any noise. He gritted his teeth when he tried to pull out his tail, he yanked it delicately but it wouldn't budge, Spyro shot a quick glance ahead.

The ape stopped at the left side of the cat's body and placed one of his foot on its back while he grabbed the handle of the axe with his hand. With a fast move he pulled out the axe, crimson fresh blood spouted out after it, the ape hunkered down staring at the feline's body with contempt and evil grin while he wiped the bloody axe on the cheetah's cloak.

Spyro quickly renewed his work, that was a scout after all, what are the chances he will not head in this direction? He was sure of one thing tough, they are slim. Spyro cut and cut, faster with every passing second yanking his tail all the time. He looked briefly ahead just to see the ape looking around just like he was feeling that someone is watching him. Spyro didn't have much time, he began working even faster, he felt as his tail was slowly breaking free, with luck he will slip by unnoticed, who knows how many of them are there. It won't be long now, he weakened the twigs so a sharp quick move of his tail will be enough for a soundless tactical retreat. Deciding that he can't waste any more time Spyro yanked his tail quickly releasing it from its clutches, unfortunately luck played a trick on him again, the twigs broke with a loud snap. Spyro bit his lip and looked ahead.

The scout turned around towards him bending on his knees slightly, adopting a defensive posture, firstly his eyes were wide with surprise but then he narrowed his pupils and even from here Spyro could see them flash with murderous intent. The mercenary smiled wickedly and reached behind his back, he pulled out something Spyro didn't notice at first glance. It was an ivory horn, he didn't really wanted to know who was its former owner. The ape placed one side of the horn to his mouth, took a deep breath and blew it. The rumbling noise it created startled every single bird or other animal that was hiding in the trees, falling leafs and small twigs were a sign that they were escaping in panic. The animals can take care of themselves, what really worried Spyro was the distant shouts and roars echoing throughout the woods, his suspicions were confirmed, the mercenary wasn't alone.

The ape threw the horn aside without even caring where it landed, with the same smile plastered on his face the ape unstrapped the axe from his hip. With both weapons in his hands the scout yelled and charged. Spyro immediately focused on the twigs, the gold sharp tip on his tail cut through them with much ease. There were plenty of them wrapped around his hind paws and for simple twigs they were quite sturdy, resisting efficiently every jerk. Spyro wagged his tail faster and faster at the increasing sound of thumping boots, sharp jerks weren't working as good as he wanted. Spyro gritting his teeth started to pull with all his strength, grunting and with his tail wagging quickly he desperately tried to break free. The twigs were slowly weakening their iron grip, feeling this Spyro pushed harder without even stopping to catch a breath. Moments later with a fast move of his tail he neutralized the last sign of resistance and with a loud snap he released his paws from their prison.

The moment he was free he instantly rolled over the ground, just in time in fact, as he began rolling over he saw two axes hitting the spot he previously occupied. With an angry shout the ape raised his weapons again dragging some grass and dirt along with them and struck again. Spyro rolled over avoiding the axes, unhesitatingly the mercenary tried again to plunge his weapons into the dragon's body. He rolled once more dodging another blow, just when the ape yelled angrily and prepared to throw his axes at him Spyro slapped the mercenary's head with his wing knocking down his helmet and staggered him for a short while. With one final turn Spyro jumped on his paws and turned around to face his opponent.

With the opponent stunned it is easy to finish him off, well usually. Spyro inhaled the air, the moment he did that a sharp pain ran through his ribs making him cough terribly. The sound seemed to wake up the ape as he shook his head and focused his fiery eyes on the dragon while smiling menacingly. The mercenary charged with his axes raised above his head, Spyro jumped backwards just as they flew down slashing through thin air as a result. He didn't have much time to regain his composure, the ape attacked again this time slashing his axes horizontally, Spyro jerked his head back quickly hearing a sharp whizz as the axes almost reached his neck. The ape slashed again, Spyro repeated the same move just to duck the sharp edges of the mercenary's deadly weapons moments later. His opponent was no mere scout, he was a skilled fighter and a really fast one at that, he kept pushing relentlessly preventing Spyro from making any counter-attack.

The ape kept his pressure slashing the axes in every possible direction. Spyro knew he had to catch a breath soon, he was clearly unfamiliar with Ignitus' rule. He ducked the axes once more and quickly jerked his head backwards to dodge another blow but this time the sharp edges came maybe a second later than usually. This was the moment the dragon was waiting for, without wasting more time Spyro quickly spun around giving his tail some speed before striking the ape. He reflected the blow with his axe but it gave Spyro enough space to cut the scout's arm with his sharp claws. He screamed angrily and slashed with the axe held in his uninjured hand, Spyro jumped backwards avoiding the blow, the weapon in his wounded hand followed soon after but he was already out of reach.

Instantly the ape raised both weapons above his head and hacked them down vertically. The moment they hit the ground Spyro quickly placed his front paws on them preventing them from raising and jumped extending his wings. The moment he took to the air he wrapped his tail around the ape's neck and hauled him behind him. His axes fell on the ground as he tried to pry off the dragon's tail from his neck. The trees didn't allow Spyro to raise high but it was enough for him to finish the job. He began flapping his wings quickly gaining speed instantly while he made small circles in the air with the ape dragged behind him. The moment he felt he was fast enough with a sharp move of his tail he hauled the mercenary headlong towards the ground, the moment he struck the earth Spyro heard every possible bone shattering.

Spyro landed on the ground and run quickly to the cheetahs body, he met only one tribe in his journeys and members always had something with them that served as a identification from which tribe they are, and it would a good thing to inform it that one of them is dead. He stopped just beside the body and rolled it over on his back, the dull horror filled eyes made his heart jump, he shut them just out of the respect for the fallen. Spyro looked over the body but there was no symbol he recognized or maybe he just didn't know what to look for. Through his shirt ran a leather strap that eventually ended with a small bag just next to his hip, something was standing out from it that looked like a rolled parchment, the cheetah was clearly no soldier but a messenger. The felines are fast and they know the Valley like nobody else but it's not always enough to survive.

" I'm sorry" Spyro whispered pleadingly as he reached out for the strap, he delicately cut through it eventually pulling the bag out with some strips still hanging from it, the whole thing only left a moral mark on the young dragon. You never disturb the dead but these were difficult times.

He quickly unrolled the scroll to check if it contained anything of value. "SHE'S COMING" was written at the top while the whole parchment was covered with a hastily drawn map, probably of the valley, with mountain ranges as thick lines, rivers as straight lines and trees as dots. Every now and then there was a hut drawn inside a red circle and a number beside it starting from one to four, many red arrows pointed at each circle from different directions . What caught Spyro's attention was number one, the hut was drawn near two big thick lines and above many dots, a village was nearby. It was some sort of a plan, a warning for other villages that the messenger was supposed to deliver of the incoming attack. Clearly the cheetah won't be able to finish his mission.

Spyro started to fold back the map just to see an ape soldier trying to stab him with a sword. He sidestepped quickly avoiding it but unfortunately the tip pierced right through the parchment destroying it completely. He didn't have the time to worry about that now as the ape struck him with a shield, Spyro's head jerked to a side and blood gushed from his mouth at the impact. The soldier seeing that he managed to hit his opponent quickly swung his sword crosswise. Spyro sidestepped again but this time he was to slow, the sword cut his wing, nothing serious but it still hurt. A strike with a shield followed soon after that he reflected with his second wing making the ape lose his balance for a moment. It was enough for the dragon to jump on the soldier and plunge his claws into his arms, the ape fell on the ground under the drake's weight, with his arms locked in place he couldn't defend himself, Spyro had no troubles ripping the ape's throat with his powerful jaws.

Spitting some blood out Spyro turned around quickly to see another mercenary approaching him with raised axe just above his head. He couldn't use his deadly breaths but that didn't prevent him from channeling his elemental powers to take advantage of skills that didn't require deep air inhalation. Lowering his head till the gold horns pointed at his opponent Spyro used his Comet Dash ability. With a red flash he charged his enemy, he gained speed instantly, Spyro was so fast that the ape didn't even had the time to react. The axe fell on the ground when two gold horns pierced his armor and then his abdomen, the ape uttered a faint grunt and impulsively placed his hands on the dragon's head trying to push him away. Spyro felt the pressure from his opponent weakening with every inch as life was escaping him. He kept running with the impaled ape until he hit a tree, the soldier had to die on his horns since he didn't scream when he was set ablaze.

Two angry shouts came from behind him, Spyro spun around quickly to see two ape soldiers attacking him. He rolled to a side avoiding the spear that tried to stab him and jumped backwards but it wasn't enough to dodge the attack of the second soldier. The sword cut his foreleg, it bent slightly after receiving the wound. Spyro growled and jumped into the air, the moment he flapped his wings the spearman raised his weapon and tried to stab him once again. Spyro spun around quickly just to see the spear running inches from his belly, he grabbed it with all his paws and with a powerful jerk he tore it out from the ape's hands. Spyro hovered in the air as he turned around to face his enemy, the moment the dragon saw him he threw the spear with all his strength at him. The ape didn't even move when the spear impaled him to the ground, with a gurgle blood shot out from his mouth as he arched forward for a moment with his arms extended trying to grab the spear and pull it out, seconds later his body arched backwards numbly as death took him in its cold embrace. Without wasting any time Spyro dived, the second soldier raised his weapon above his head but didn't have the time to swing it as the drake caught him and lifted him upwards. Spyro made a quick circle in the air and just when he was getting close to the spear he dropped the mercenary. He didn't even yelp as he impaled on the wooden end of the weapon with his chest.

Spyro jerked when an arrow flew past him with an audible whizz, he wasn't far from the ground since the many trees prevented him from going higher, deciding he was an easy target here Spyro landed quickly. The moment he set his paws on the ground he saw an ape soldier running towards him screaming madly. He unstrapped one of his axes and hurled it at him, moments later he did the same thing with the second axe just to unsheathe a sword in the end and raise it above his head as he kept running at him still screaming. Just as the first whirling axe was closing in Spyro bent on his paws dodging it, still in the same position he spun around swiftly and just when the handle of the second axe faced him he wrapped his tail around it. The moment the image of the charging soldier ran past his eyes he extended his tail and released the weapon, the axe penetrated the helmet and got stuck in the ape's forehead silencing him forever.

Four soldiers jumped out from the shadows, Spyro turned around lowered his head and charged. The mercenary didn't see this coming, he only faintly yelped in surprise when two horns pierced him. Just like previously he ran with the soldier until he hit a tree but this time the mercenary wasn't alone. Spyro didn't have the time to turn around and release the impaled body when one of his companions began attacking him, the ape swung his sword but Spyro managed to deflect it with his tail. The moment he did that the other two mercenaries raised their weapons preparing to strike him. Spyro channeled the power of his ice element, some little icy sparks began shooting out from the gold tip on his tail, he swiftly swiped it to the other side knocking down both soldiers. Thanks to his Ice Tail ability they froze the moment they hit the earth.

Spyro withdrew his horns, the body of the ape that was pinned to the tree slumped down its hunk leaving a trail of blood behind it. He turned to face the last mercenary just to see a group of archers with already stringed bows behind him, Spyro pounced forward blocking the sword that was heading his way before prying it off from the mercenary's hand with one fast blow of his claws. The ape gripped his wrist with terror on his face as one of the dragon's claws sliced through the veins, streams of blood flowing down his wrist just as quickly as rivers flow downhill. The arrows were set loose, not caring for the mercenary's problem he grabbed him by the arms and turned with him towards the incoming arrows. Most of the arrows got stuck in the ape's back just like he was some sort of a training dummy, some of them whistling past him, only one arrow managed to leave a mark. It didn't hit him directly, the sharp edge of the arrow-head ran alongside his whole side leaving a bloody cut on his body.

Spyro dumped the pierced mercenary and started to ran towards the archers as they began pulling out arrows from their quivers. As he gained a little speed Spyro jumped slightly and channeled his earth element powers to turn into a spiked boulder. Some archers jumped out of the way when he rolled over them but the spikes prevented them from getting far, dismembering them in the process. Legs, arms or even bodies cut in half were thrown into the air. Spyro returned to his normal form just to see some apes crawling on the ground with only the upper part of their bodies intact leaving a bloody trail and guts behind them. Gross.

A bigger ape than the previous ones showed up next to him accompanied by two archers, the mercenary swung his sword crosswise just to follow the same move with his other hand that also had a sword in it. Spyro jumped backwards quickly, one of the weapons leaving a scratch on his neck, he didn't have the time to recover as the ape attacked again, Spyro deflected the first strike with his wing while the other cut his side. He roared in pain and stumbled backwards, the mercenary pushed again he deflected the first strike with his tail then ducked under the second blow and hit the ape in the extended arm with his claw. The mercenary swayed a little and Spyro raised his second paw to strike, but just when he was about to slash with it an arrow hit him in the chest just next to his extended paw, he flinched and with a grimace of pain on his snout pulled it out quickly, drops of crimson blood gushed from the wound, he didn't have the time to recover as another one thrust into his waist just beside his hind paw.

Spyro sidestepped avoiding a vertical strike from one of the ape's swords and leapt into the air, he flapped his wing forcefully to gain speed but it wasn't enough to avoid the second sword as the ape swung it upwards, the triangular edge left a gash on his thigh. Spyro growled and swung his tail so that the sharp tip headed directly for the ape's chest, but this mercenary was a skilled fighter, he read the dragon's intentions, just when the purple tail was getting close he dropped to the ground the tail threw off only his helmet. After this miss Spyro spun in the air dodging an arrow heading his way fired by one of the archers while he dived to reach the other one. This one was less experienced than his companions since his arms were shaking violently unable to keep his bow straight when he saw the dragon turning towards him. Just as he prepared to string his bow the arrow fell on the ground, he picked it up and the moment he raised his head a gold tip thrust into his chest with such a force that it almost went clean through, he only gurgled as streams of blood shot out from his mouth.

Spyro withdrew his tail and the body dropped onto the ground covering the grass in a pool of blood instantly. He maneuvered in the air as arrows kept whistling past him, he can't stay in the air there is way too many archers in the forest, they will shoot him down eventually. Spyro looked behind him and saw a place on the ground that wasn't crawling with enemies, yet. Deciding that this was his best option he turned his head to see what's in front of him as he slowly began preparations for the landing. The moment his head returned to its normal position Spyro's eyes went wide, a quite big rock was heading in his direction that would most likely stun him leaving him at the mercy of the mercenaries, and they would have no troubles shortening all his years.

There was no chance he can avoid it now, Spyro instantly took cover behind his wings, they jerked back at the impact and Spyro groaned as the rock exploded into many small chunks. With nothing to sustain him in the air Spyro began falling vertically down, he began spinning around as he extended his wings trying to catch a gust that would carry him anew. It won't happen, the trees prevented him from gaining a proper altitude and the ground was getting closer. With last unintended spin he turned to see the green earth below him as he screamed and braced himself for a rough landing.

Fortunately not only the dragon was surprised by the unexpected turn of events, an ape soldier looked up just to see a purple drake heading directly at him. The mercenary only emitted a faint gasp when the dragon landed on him, his weight crushing every possible organ inside the ape's body and almost creating a hole in the ground. Spyro shook his head and opened his eyes to see the mercenary's face frozen in shock with his eyes wide open and mouth agape. There was no time to admire the view as he saw a group of soldiers charging from ahead, that was not his only problem, many sounds of clanking armor were coming from behind him accompanied by the noise of released arrows from the bows.

Spyro thrust his claws into the ape below him and rolled ahead, the ape's back was skewered the moment it faced the direction from which the arrows were coming. With that of the was Spyro gave the body a solid kick with his hind legs sending it flying directly at the group of soldiers charging from ahead. As the group ahead slowly began getting up from the ground Spyro quickly raised up, the soldiers that attacked him from behind were close, shouting they prepared to strike. He moved his tail to one end as far as possible, charged it with ice and swiped it to the other side, knocking down some ape's while others jumped backwards avoiding the freezing blow. He quickly spun around and took cover behind a slab of ice that was previously a living and breathing mercenary, the arrows deflected, some shattered and even others got stuck in the block of ice, the archers didn't care that they companions were nearby skewering some of them as a result.

Spyro left his hiding place and with a flash of light charged the archers with his head low, just as his horns thrust into one of them setting him ablaze he stopped and attacked the rest of the group. The archers were defenseless in close combat against the bouncing dragon between them, they didn't even manage to unsheathe their small swords or daggers when a sharp claw run across their throats releasing all the blood that had been held behind the skin.

Just as he finished with them Spyro ducked under a sword, sparks were thrown into the air as it ran across his horn. He deflected a strike with a shield with one of his wings while he threw off a raised axe with his second one. Rolled on the ground as a huge sword hit the ground right next to him and quickly pounced at the mercenary just in front of him, the ape only screamed loudly when his arm got trapped between powerful teeth, Spyro yanked the soldier forcefully slightly lifting him from the ground, with the soldier in the air he spun around quickly, the legs of the helpless ape knocked down every soldier that was to close. After one spin he threw the body into an another group of charging apes before concentrating on the mercenary's that were near him.

Spyro sidestepped as a sword whizzed just next to him, with that out of the way he slashed horizontally with his claw killing a soldier that was preparing to strike him on the spot. Just as he was preparing to block a blow with his wing an arrow struck him in the chest, Spyro roared and swayed as the pain rushed through him, he didn't have the time to recover as something cut his unprepared wing leaving a deep gash on it. Stumbling backwards he saw a tip of a sword heading for his throat covetous of his dragon blood, he jerked his head back but it still managed to reach him making another scratch on his neck. Growling he extended his front paws quickly above the sword and brought them back down moments later pinning the weapon to the ground, the soldier was brought to his knees and with his arm stuck under the dragon's paws he couldn't protect himself against the bite.

As the hunkered body of the ape was slowly beginning to fall on the ground he pounced onto its shoulders and sprang from them allowing him to jump over the many slashing weapons, while he was still in the air with a fast move he pulled out the arrow from his chest. Just when he was about to land Spyro threw the arrow with all his strength at the archer who was stringing his bow, he didn't finish as the projectile hit him straight in the eye, a faint gasp of surprise could be heard before the ape's body tumbled onto the ground. This reckless move came with a cost since he jumped directly into the middle of a group of enemies, the ape's froze with wide eyes fixed on the dragon as neither of them expected something like this. Spyro didn't hesitate, he knocked down some startled mercenaries with his wings simultaneously swiping his tail killing a handful of enemies behind him while freezing some others.

Not everyone was caught unaware, a spear emerged from behind their ranks and stabbed the dragon in the side, luckily for him it didn't go deep. Spyro groaned and with a powerful flap of his wings took to the sky, He raised straight upwards for a moment before turning to face the earth below him, just when he flapped his wing and began heading headlong for the ground Spyro used his elemental powers and turned into a boulder. The moment he hit the ground a powerful shock wave was created knocking down every ape off their feet in close proximity. Spyro didn't waste time as he began finishing off the mercenaries near him, seconds later the ape's began to raise and another groups of soldiers were headed his way.

He flapped his wings again and raised to the air to repeat the same move, but as he was beginning to turn around he saw an ice bolt heading straight at him. He made a swift circle in the air but the bolt managed to touch his tail leaving a painful trail of frost on it. Spyro winced and recovered his stability just to see a huge slowly approaching fireball, it was quite a distance away but even from here he could feel the heat it emanated, he didn't have the time to focus on it as arrows were flying from every direction preventing him from focusing on his elemental powers. It was too crowded on the ground so he decided to make a dive, he spun around, flapped his wings forcefully and furled them soon after, the momentum he gained surprised the soldiers below as they were not expecting the dragon to descend so fast upon them. Just as he was close to the ground he unfurled his wings regaining balance while slashing with his claws through enemy ranks, his attack ended when he grabbed and archer and raised with him in the air before hurling him down at the group which aimed their bows at him.

The heat was getting stronger, the fireball was close and he needs to find a place to land and quickly, Spyro looked around and spotted an appropriate place, the soldiers were there also but not in such great numbers. With no other choice he prepared to make a go for it, but just then he felt another source of heat, he turned his head to look at the approaching fireball just to see a smaller one emerging from the woods. This one however was flying with incredible speed and what was more surprising it wasn't directed at him, the fireball was raising in the air with no clear purpose, someone down there really needs to work on his aiming. Spyro concentrated on the more dangerous threat, the huge fireball is getting closer with each passing second, but just then with a corner of his eye he saw the burning edges of the smaller ball of flame. Spyro's eyes went wide when he realized what's going on but it was already too late, the moment the small fireball hit the bigger one they both exploded with a deafening roar. Spyro covered himself behind his wings as the powerful and scorching gust of wind approached, the gale was so strong that it blew him from the sky the moment it reached him, burning his wings at the same time.

Spyro spun and twisted uncontrollably in the air while he headed for the ground, before he could reach it a tree blocked his way, it almost bent when the dragon hit it. With a terrible howl of pain he began to slide down along its hunk snapping every branch that protruded from it. Eventually he arrived at the bottom with his back propped against the tree, groaning Spyro began to open his blurry eyes, his concentration returned quickly when he saw a huge axe ready to relieve his neck from the burden it had to carry from the moment he hatched. Spyro forced himself to slump and he made it just in time, the axe hit the tree just above his horns making bits of wood and bark land on his head. He didn't waste time, while the ape was grunting and struggling to pull out the axe from the hunk he used his claws on his hind paw to strike the slightly uncovered knee cap of the soldier. The ape's leg bent under the pain, the moment the mercenary's face was at the height of his front paws, he slashed it with his claws sending blood everywhere.

As Spyro slowly began to raise he cursed his curiosity, he could be in that cave now, resting and recovering with Cynder, but no, he had to check what was the source of that awkward feeling, oh how he wished he was back. Spyro couldn't really dwell on it as he saw the familiar ape wielding two swords charging him with a group of soldiers behind him, he didn't want to fight with him, this guy was good and he was tired and wounded ,he needs his strength since his enemies keep pouring in, he has to figure some other way to get rid of him. Spyro looked at the bloody body behind him and an idea crossed his mind, he slipped his tail under the double spiked helmet on the dead ape's head and lifted it. He threw it into the air and just when it was falling down Spyro made a quick spin and slapped the helmet with the flat end of his tail. It was sent flying towards the charging ape with one of the spikes directed at him, the speed it was flying with prevented the soldier from reacting appropriately, in fact the mercenary didn't even budge as the spike perforated his forehead.

The group of charging mercenaries stopped beside their leader's body and looked at it, not really sure what has just happened. Moments later all of the raised their heads and looked incredulously at the purple shape ahead, realizing where they are the soldiers raised their weapons, yelled and renewed their advance. With a roar Spyro began his own charge, this time however with his eyes fixed at the approaching group. Just when he was getting close he began charging his electricity power, a yellow sparkling sphere formed around him, when he directly ran into the group all the soldiers were instantly stunned by the electric impulses, with the sphere still around him Spyro killed every soldier affected by it.

Another mercenaries attacked, he jumped backwards as the weapons were swung at him vertically, deflected a strike with his tail just to be stabbed with a spear and cut with a sword. His paws bent under his weight when a sharp triangular shape ran across them. Spyro unfurled his wings knocking down the apes at both his sides while he jumped at the one in front of him, snapping his mouth on his arm he raised the ape above his head just to smash him on the ground behind him, he repeated the process several times slowly turning the soldier into a pulp. The bouncing ape prevented other soldiers from getting close, but an arrow managed to find a way and get stuck in his wing. Spyro growled with his teeth clamped on the ape's arm and started to spin around, just as he saw a group of archers behind some soldiers he threw the body at them, it knocked down or even killed several mercenaries instantly.

Taking advantage of this little break Spyro gained speed and jumped while he turned into a boulder, its solid and deadly spikes rampaged throughout the ape's ranks, he returned to his normal form as he felt his elemental energy depleting rapidly thanks to his wounds. Just as he landed on all his paws he felt two not very strong sources of heat heading his way, he turned around to see two small fireballs colliding with each other creating a gust of wind that burned the dragon and sent him sliding along the ground. Spyro stopped at the feline's body, regret and guiltiness boiled inside him when he looked at the corpse, he let another person die while he did nothing to prevent it. Shaking his head he pushed away the bad feelings, determination and thirst for revenge taking their place, both feelings so strong that he forgot about the pain for a moment.

Spyro pulled himself up just to see a sword heading his way, he ducked and slashed immediately with such a force that his claws penetrated the armor and cut the soldier's abdomen, they went so deep almost touching the spine, he swiped his wing knocking the surrounding enemies while he thrust his sharp tip on his tail inside some other, Spyro got cut but he didn't care, with a snarl he pounced at a soldier and sank his teeth into his neck. Arrows were sent flying towards him, he grabbed an ape's arm yanked it forcefully and turned him so the arrows got stuck in the soldier's back while he remained mostly unharmed. The skewered body fell on the ground and with a red flash he charged the archers and pierced one with his horns, with a powerful jerk of his head he hurled the burning body at a another group of advancing enemies while he froze the remaining archers with his tail.

As the last archer turned to ice Spyro had a moment to catch his breath, unfortunately for him the break ended as quickly as it began, he heard a cracking sound behind him, he turned his head just to see a slab of ice that previously was a living soldier, small cracks were forming on its surface slowly getting bigger and bigger. Then suddenly the block exploded sending small chunks of ice in every direction ,one of them managed to leave a little scratch just below his eye, he covered himself behind his already tortured wing, with all these burns it was more sensitive to pain than usually, Spyro gritted his teeth and hissed as the ice bounced off his membranes sending surges of searing pain along it, nevertheless it was still better than getting hit by the shards directly in the snout. He lowered his wing the moment the ice stopped flying just to see two apes with glowing scepters in their hands standing in the spot where the slab of ice was moments ago.

Spyro didn't have the time to concentrate on their features as they began their assault immediately, one of them directed the head of the scepter at him and with a green glow an earth missile was launched at the dragon, Spyro rolled aside evading the deadly strike, but it wasn't enough to completely avoid the second attack, the flame released from the second scepter ran maybe centimeters above his gold fins but it still managed to burn his back along the whole length of his body. Spyro didn't even managed to get up as he saw both mercenaries pouncing at him raising their swords ready to deal the decisive strike, he channeled his earth powers forming a insubstantial shape of a boulder around him. He winced when the weapons hit his protective barrier, it was weak so the moment it received the blows a searing pain rushed through his whole body and the barrier faded, luckily for him it served its purpose.

The swords bounced off from the surface after the hit sending tiny sparks in the air while their owners tottered. Spyro raised quickly and leapt at the closest caster. His claws thrust into the mercenary's shoulder pads as they began to roll forward. Spyro craned his neck and opened his mouth showing many pointy teeth ready to steal the life from his victim. just as he prepared to make the bite something touched his belly, he felt some magical energy charging just to be released moments later. With a thud and a flash of a bright light a powerful force struck his belly throwing him off the ape and sent him flying into a group of soldiers.

They were surprised just as he was since they didn't even blink when the dragon crashed with them killing some soldiers on the spot. Spyro pulled himself up swiftly and had to sidestep instantly to avoid a spear trying to stab him, still on the move he ducked under a slashing sword just to kill its owner by cutting his abdomen. He felt magical energy being released, with a strong swipe of his tail he hit and threw the spearman in the direction of the approaching magical bolt. The earth missile pierced his armor with ease, the bloody spiked end sticking out from his back while the thicker got stuck somewhere between the soldier's bones. The missile carried the ape with it impaling any mercenary on its way until there was no more room on its sharp end.

Spyro didn't have the time to admire the view as he had to dodge an ice bolt heading his way, he rolled on the ground but to his surprise the missile exploded into small shards just when it got close enough. Spyro covered himself with his wings and howled in pain when the chunks stroked his leathery cover and his front paws before he could hide them. Taking advantage of this opportunity a soldier with a shout jumped into the air and prepared to sink his sword into the dragons back till it reached his spine. Hearing it Spyro channeled his electric powers as fast as he could before he looked at the descending ape and released it, his electric arc was very weak since the soldier wasn't affected by it but luckily it was enough for the ape's weapon. The sword stopped in midair while the ape fell on the drake's back, with a wide smile and a shout of victory the mercenary moved his hand down forcefully to sink his blade into his flesh, shock and terror filled the ape's eyes as he realized that he only punched the dragon, the image of a toothy maw heading his way was the last thing he saw.

Spitting out blood Spyro pulled himself up just to deflect an incoming strike with his tail while he blocked an another one with his wing, he didn't have the chance to counter-attack as one of the casters swung his sword, Spyro ducked under it just to be hit again with the scepter as it emitted a flash of white light. The moment he felt himself being thrown away Spyro thrust his claws into the ground, with such grip the force only made him slide backwards while his claws leaving a scratch on the earth. A soldier didn't expect that he will resist the impact so he swung his weapon instantly at the dragon, Spyro deflected the blow with his wing just to finish the ape with his tail. He swiped it again at the caster but his gold tip only managed to scuff his armor.

The second caster joined the fight, with a fast cut with his sword he hit the dragon's extended tail, Spyro groaned and jumped aside avoiding a missile heading his way. He didn't have the time to recover as the first ape renewed his attack accompanied by a soldier with a shield, they struck at the same time, Spyro jumped backwards while both weapons hit the ground, he slashed with his claws but one soldier dodged the blow while the other blocked it with a shield. The moment his paw bounced off it he spun around ready to strike with his tail, as he turned Spyro took a glimpse of something reflecting the moonlight, it flashed next to a tree illuminating the middle of its hunk just to vanish moments later. Two ape's avoided his tail while the third one reflected it with his scepter and stabbed slightly the dragon's waist. Spyro roared in pain, exchanging blows like this would probably lead to his death, he needed to think of something else.

He avoided a blow from the second caster and moved closer to the two mercenaries in front of him, Spyro swiped his wing quickly not at the first caster's body but at his scepter, the soldier deflected his strike with ease, at the same time Spyro blocked an incoming attack from the common soldier with his other wing. The ape followed with his shield while the caster swung his sword crosswise at him, instead of jumping out of the way off the incoming weapon he ducked feeling the shield running just above his head. He heard a yelp of surprise and a ringing sound when the sword hit the metal shield with such a force that the impact staggered both soldier momentarily. Spyro jumped forward and just in time in fact since he felt a small gust of wind behind him as a sword hit the ground.

He raised and spun around to strike again with his tail, both soldiers jerked their heads back avoiding the deadly tip. Spyro repeated the same move but this time however he shot a quick glance above releasing the sword from its cage, just as he turned the blade reached an appropriate height, he wrapped his tail around its hilt. Spyro swiped again and the soldiers did the same dodge, they smiled wryly when the dragon missed once more and decided that it was their turn to attack. As they prepared to charge the dragon stopped spinning and showed them the sword wrapped around his tail with dripping blood from its tip. Something prevented both apes from advancing, they impulsively touched their necks and lowered their hands to see blood on them, even from here Spyro saw their terrified eyes as they desperately tried to prevent the blood from escaping. Moments later the blood created long red streaks on theirs armor until it dripped on the ground, both soldiers fell on their knees just to slump on the ground seconds later revealing a startled caster behind them.

Spyro hurled the sword at the baffled ape but as the blade got close the caster moved his scepter and a loud thud was created accompanied by a flash of white light throwing the scepter to one side, the sword to the other an the ape backwards. Spyro charged with his head low but the mercenary managed to roll away, he stopped turned around and began slashing with his claws quickly, the soldier parried some of his strikes, dodged the others while he kept moving backwards. Spyro continued his assault not really caring if he hits, he wanted to push the ape back and prevent any counter attack from his side. He slashed and slashed relentlessly pretty amazed at how the soldier avoided his blows, but everything has to end someday. The ape's back hit a tree, trapped he blocked one blow, then somehow managed to deflect the second one but the third strike pried the sword from his hands and sent it flying aside, the soldier looked at the dragon just to see an incoming pair of paws with sharp claws, Spyro tore the ape to shreds.

He spun around ready to repel any attack heading his way, his eyes went wide when he saw that there was no soldier charging him. Just as he looked around he took a glimpse of a mercenary retreating into the shadows, why did they stop he had no idea, they could overwhelm him easily. Spyro heard something ahead it sounded like some ponderous steps, moments later a huge ape emerged wearing a complete plate set that didn't allow even a tiny bit of flesh to stick out. The burly ape carried with him an even bigger two-handed sword with viciously looking teeth on its edge. He was a undoubtedly a leader, and that's why the ape's retreated probably so he can demonstrate how it's done.

Spyro didn't waste time, with a red flash he charged the ape wanting to surprise him with such fast attack, it seemed to work since he saw his sword thrusting into the ground beside him. He felt as something gripped his horns tightly and it was harder and harder to push with every passing second. The ape grabbed his horns in his plate gauntlets preventing them from penetrating his armor, he slid backwards on the ground while the dragon kept running, slowing down with each centimeter. Spyro pushed until the ape's back hit a tree but even then his horns couldn't reach his flesh. He tried to ignite the leader just to realize that his attempt was somehow stifled. Spyro's eyes went wide when he felt he was being lifted from the ground, the ape raised him upwards with fully extended arms just above his head, the moment Spyro's back touched the tree with a swift and powerful move the ape smashed him on the ground. He only emitted a faint gasp when he felt all his bones and organs screaming in pain, there was no chance to recover as he was lifted again just to be smashed onto the ground once more.

The grip on his horns was gone while he laid there on the ground in horrible pain, but the adrenaline in his blood allowed him to continue his fight, like it wanted him not to give up. Spyro opened his eyes and began raising his head just to receive a solid kick in the muzzle, blood gushed from his mouth while he flipped in the air just to land painfully on his back. Groaning Spyro rolled on his belly and started to crawl away from the ape to avoid any further blows, he wasn't so lucky since the moment he started to crawl aside he received another kick in his side. The plate boot sent him rolling over the ground for a couple of meters, when he stopped Spyro coughed, spitting blood on the ground, he felt a stinging pain in his chest every time he inhaled the air.

Some heavy steps could be heard that were getting closer and louder every second accompanied by clanking of an armor, Spyro panting and coughing looked briefly at the source of this noise just to see the sword being pulled off from the ground tearing some dirt and grass from it. He quickly pulled himself up and jumped backwards avoiding the incoming sword that would shatter his bones with ease. The blade hit the ground in front of him but even this miss didn't allow him to recover as the ape with a fast move hit his nose with the sword's pommel. His head jerked back while blood started to flow from his nose and his eyes began to water, Spyro shook his head trying to regain his lost concentration just to be hit powerfully in his cheek by a clenched plate fist.

The blow made him spin slightly while he bounced trying not to collapse on the ground, when he recovered his stability he had to sidestep instantly avoiding a stabbing attempt. The ape was stronger than he firstly thought since he swiped crosswise holding the blade only in one hand. Spyro dodged the sword once more and it was then when he realized that the ape not only strong but also fast even in his bulky armor. Just when the ape felt that his weapon didn't find the target he made a long stride with one of his legs, hunkered down and began spinning around with the blade whirling above his head. Spyro felt a sharp whizz as the sword slashed just above his horns, moments later he rolled aside as the blade was swung vertically at him.

With his elemental energy almost drained, wounds and increasing weariness there was no chance he could channel his powers without being pierced by the weapon first or even extend his wings properly to leap into the air thanks to the lesions on them. The ape swung, slashed occasionally even punched, some of his strikes finding their way to his scales, but somehow Spyro was able to avoid most of them. As the commander spun around a barely visible gold chain revealed itself from his armor, it spun around with its owner, but what really caught Spyro's attention was a sight of two medium sized crystals dangling from it, one was red while the other was blue. His eyes flashed, maybe these crystals are the key to turn the table.

An idea crossed Spyro's mind it was risky but he has to do something since he won't be able to keep this for much longer, he ducked under a horizontal swing, jumped away from a crosswise attack just to dodge a vertical blow. As a fist was heading his way Spyro stopped and allowed the ape to hit him, he fell on the ground, it was a powerful blow since he felt all of his teeth ringing inside his mouth, ignoring it Spyro bent his hind paws slightly and thrust his claws into the ground. The sword was dropping down on him from above and just when it was about to hit him he sprang forward towards the ape's legs while he wrapped his tail around the commander's forearm.

When the mercenary raised his sword Spyro was lifted from the ground, hanging upside down he extended his front paws for the chain but he didn't reach it as he felt a fist hitting his belly with such a force that he almost threw up every organ. The ape struck him two or three more times and he felt that he was slowly fainting from all these blows, Spyro stopped fighting and dangled numbly above the ground. The commander grabbed his tail with his other hand and moved the dragon's snout close to the visor of his helmet to give him a victorious look while he moved his armed hand backwards preparing for the final thrust. The ape was so sure of his victory that he didn't notice a red and blue light emanating below his neck.

Just when he moved the sword to pierce the dragon a strong jolt of electricity ran through his body making him twitch as every muscle tensed. Spyro fell on the ground and quickly got away from the ape, the leader screamed furiously and swung his sword at the dragon standing ahead. Spyro didn't make any attempt to avoid it, he slowly unfurled his big purple wings with their brown membranes almost completely healed. Just when the sword was getting close with a powerful flap he took to the sky, the ape tried to hit him again but he was already out of reach. The moment Spyro was directly above the mercenary he used his renewed elemental powers to turn into a boulder. He came down with such speed that he easily penetrated the ape's helmet and cracked his skull instantly. Spyro returned to his normal form and landed next to the mercenary as his body hit the ground with a rumbling noise.

"Impressive" someone stated from behind him

Thanks to the still ringing sound in his skull he didn't hear it clearly, Spyro slowly turned around to see who it was, but before he could set his eyes upon the person who said it an extremely powerful gust of wind struck him, lifted him from the ground and blew him towards the familiar bushes.

It started to rain again and the wind howled through the trees but he didn't care about such things as he popped out from the bushes with extreme speed just to hit a tree. He groaned loudly and a terrible pain ran through his body when he fell on the wet ground, Spyro pulled himself up and adopted a defensive stance while he fixed his eyes on the bushes. Everything swirled but he was ready to repel any attack heading his way, surprisingly nothing came after him. He stood there for a while but he couldn't hear the sound of incoming footsteps, taking advantage of their delay he hid in the shadows. Spyro furrowed his brow when after another couple of minutes no soldier came rushing after him, curiosity taking the lead once more made him to check the place where he fought.

Spyro didn't go directly into the bushes, instead he circled them hiding in the shadows, his eyes went wide when he reached his destination just to realize that there is nothing here, no blood, no bodies, nothing. He started to listen intently but besides the howling wind and the rain there was nothing there, then he thought about that gust, it was really strong so it might have blown everything deeper into the forest. Spyro walked around the forest for a while but he didn't find anything, deciding that it's better not to borrow trouble he decided to get back to the cave.

Limping he began to return to his resting place, he took a longer route just in case, every now and then stopping to check if anybody is following him, no one did. While he headed back Spyro remembered the plan, to be more precise he thought about the part of the map that he forgot, there was no chance he will find the villages, he won't be able to help them, they will have to fend for themselves for the time being until he finds help.

Spyro sped up when he saw the cave worrying for her safety, he sighed in relief when he saw Cynder still sleeping beside the dim fire. Throwing some more wood into the campfire he dropped next to it exhausted beyond imagination, nevertheless he watched the entrance, Spyro decided to keep vigil even if his heavy eyes told him otherwise.


	7. Chapter 7

**Throwing in another chapter now because i might not have the time to do this later this week**

**Gore warning!**

* * *

Chapter 7

She has been soaring above the greenish ground, the mountainsides calm and breathtaking, with the sun slowly hiding behind the horizon giving this place an invigorating touch for all these people who enjoyed and loved sightseeing. She wasn't one of them, the tranquility of this place made her sick, the silence rang in her head in its annoying and unending high- pitched tone that seemed to torture her just for fun. She flew past by a huge tree arched from the end of a tall slope, one look at it was enough to feel despise, hatred and contempt radiating from it, she was so consumed with rage that she mistook genuine compassion for something far more dreadful.

Good, they should fear her, they should loathe her, after all she worked hard for it. Every tree, every bush, animal and a living being has to know, WILL KNOW, that she won't be trifled with. She had her orders and she will carry them out, that was her Master's wish and she will comply, but as every living creature who works almost all day and night she needs a break, a moment for herself to cool down, relax after all day of grueling endeavor and wash away all the memories from yesterday just to start a new dawn with a clear mind.

Nothing was better than good old fashioned destruction, the sweet smell of burning houses just like the scent of the most beautiful flowers, the screams of her victims music to her ears just like the best song of the finest bard, their blood caressing her throat like the most exquisite wine, their flesh just like a delicious meal prepared by the most talented cook, their threats and will to fight just like the icing on the cake. This is going to be a good day.

One breath would be enough to tear off the tree from its long roots ending the annoying taunts once and for all. When something else caught her attention she decided to leave it alone, this is a lone tree standing in the middle of nowhere after all, it's not going anywhere. The thick black smoke raising above the many crowns in the distance was far more interesting. She smiled, the best moment of every break is just about to happen, not only it helps in boosting her reputation but also it's a most gladdening sight for her green eyes. Without hesitation she made her way towards the appealing image grinning mischievously.

The smell of something burning intensified, with it came distant roars, cheers of joy and the sound of ongoing battle. She landed near the village with its wall burning and front gate laying in ruins allowing free entrance, she swaggered into the settlement looking around carefully. On both sides there was still some fighting going on, two cheetahs with their backs to the wall of a building managed to kill three apes attacking them, it didn't bother her, they are only cannon fodder anyway. The feline's looked at the new arrival, frowning and with a loud yell they charged her with their spears pointing at her chest. She didn't move watching both cat's running at her with incredible speed, they were getting closer with each passing second but she stared at them with bored and unconcerned eyes.

She yawned, her mouth opening wide showing many sharp teeth, clicking her tongue she looked again at the charging felines. The moment she did that two apes tackled each cheetah throwing them to the ground, but the cats were agile, they broke free from the mercenaries grasp with ease just to thrust their spears into them. They didn't have the time to renew their attack as another group of apes attacked them, the cheetahs were fighting bravely, killing or wounding quite a number of enemies in this unfair fight. But the felines had no chance against overwhelming waves of opponents heading their way, blood was spouting in every direction when the spears managed to find a chink in the apes armor, but just when one of the cheetahs prepared to stab an incoming enemy he was cut with a sword in the chest, with a cry of pain he fell on his knees. Seeing this, his companion tried to punish the soldier who did that just to receive a slash across his shoulder, his spear fell on the ground when the pain ran through his arm. With both cheetahs defenseless the mercenaries raised their weapons for the final strike.

"Stop!" she shouted with a demanding tone and preserving the same walk made her way towards the cheetahs.

The apes looked at their approaching general with eyes full of respect and palpable fear and took a step back for every step she made forward. It was a moment before there was no soldier near the cheetahs allowing her enough space to walk without interruptions. The cats were tightly gripping their wounds trying to prevent any more blood loss, but even with their bodies weakened they eyes remained strong, they were staring with despise at her, their heads and pupils following her as she circled both of them

She chuckled "You know, it always surprises me that even after all this time you struggle, as if you believe you have a chance against me and I'm curious who or what gives you this blind hope, care to tell me?" She stopped and gawked at the cheetahs in return

Their mouths didn't even twitch as they looked at her with fiery eyes.

She smiled weakly and began circling the cheetahs again " I understand your resolve and I admire it, after all you keep fighting even if you know you can't win, that is something you are proud of. Am I right?" She shot them a quick glance but just as before they didn't say anything.

She laughed "Oh that reminds me of something, and I'm sure you will find it amusing as well" Regaining her composure she continued with a cheerful tone " Once I found myself in some other village, something like this one in fact, it was pure coincidence of course" She winked and continued " It was filled with cheetahs just like here but they had that... that... " she scratched the silver choker on her neck thoughtfully "What was it again?"

"A fang" a smirking ape reminded her

" Exactly!" she exclaimed " They had that little fang on their shirts or armor, it was a-" she pointed her claw at the ape who spoke previously

" A bear fang" the soldier added with the same grin on his face

" That's right" She looked at the helpless cheetahs " Do you know them by any chance?"

The cats snarled but didn't say a word

"Just as I thought" turning her head away she continued " They were pretty sure they knew you, some of those guys were screaming something about revenge, or were they yelling something about being avenged? Anyway they were quite mouthy just like you two, you should really meet up with them I'm sure you would get along just fine" She stopped and slapped her forehead with her paw " What am I thinking? You won't get acquainted because they are all dead " She shook her head and lowered it " Silly me, I always tend to forget such trivial things" With her head low, she looked at the felines with a corner her eye and smiled under her nose.

The cheetahs stared at her with burning eyes, shaking and with their fists clenched so firmly that blood was dripping from their hands, trying not to get provoked by her insults. They both wanted to shut that poisonous mouth of hers but they knew there is no chance for it to happen. They decided to stand down, they won't give her the satisfaction.

She began to circle the cheetahs adopting an even more cheerful tone" Thanks to our little chit-chat I completely forgot about the thing I wanted to tell you, enough of digressions, listen" She cleared her throat " There was that little kid in the village running through a street with his father chasing him yelling at the cub to stop. I was just in time to catch him, with the little brat in my paws his father fell on his knees and started begging me not to hurt him and to release his son." She chuckled " Asking me for mercy, can you imagine?"

Without even looking at the cheetahs she continued " It gets funnier just listen. The guy just wouldn't shut up so I proposed him a game, I will consider his pleading only when he will create something special for me using some unique parts that I will provide , I like resourceful people. To encourage the guy I promised that his son will be watching us all the time. He accepted almost instantly but how he could know that I'll use his kid for the parts?".

She smiled " So I cut the little brat into pieces, the father only managed to blink and almost every limb of his boy was lying in front of him, I only kept his head. Placing the head on a stone I turned its shock filled eyes at the father, and urged him to fulfill his side of the bargain, after all I kept my promise." She burst out laughing " You should see the look on his face! Priceless!"

She coughed and continued, chuckling " Instead of playing along the crazy fur rag charged me, but I'm not without a heart you know, I even managed to shed a tear, he really loved his son so I decided to let them get closer in this final moment. Grabbing the kids head I smashed it across the crazy cat's mug, when he dropped to the ground he extended his hands just as if he wanted to grab his son. This was the moment when I told him why I hate kids, eventually they will be the death of everybody, and to make sure he won't forget this lesson I cracked his skull using the brat's head"

The cheetahs were looking at their invader with such contempt and hate that even in this afterglow it was clearly visible that they were both red from rage, the color of their fur only seemed to intensify with the usually atmospheric glow.

She dumped the previously cheerful tone and replaced it with cold sincerity while stopping and turning towards the felines, watching them with a murderous and a full of disgust gaze " You cats are really filthy people, you stink and won't even allow the little me some fun, nevertheless I seriously admire this trait of yours, you just won't die, clinging to your pitiful existence with all your might. But that's good at least you give my boys some entertainment while they test their weapons on you checking if they are sharp enough" She looked around and stated with a assured tone " It looks like you served your purpose"

The apes surrounding her cried in joy, the sound of many yelling throats echoed throughout the remains of the village, while she herself looked back into the felines eyes and began moving closer towards the wounded one in the chest.

" Enough fooling around, you bore me, I have a reputation to keep and I make sure you will remember me before you die, also don't forget to pass the news to whatever place you cats are going to. After all everyone should know who cut you down, even those dead ones"

With that she shoved the wounded cheetah onto his back, he gasped faintly when she forcefully placed her paw on his chest to keep him in place, he couldn't utter a single word with his lungs squashed below her black paw. His companion made an attempt to stop her, but a nod of her head was a clear signal for the mercenaries, they grabbed him and forced the feline on his knees. He yanked and growled but he couldn't break free from their grasp.

She looked at the struggling feline " Simply killing you would be too easy, where is the fun in that? This is my free time and I deserve some entertainment. Trust me you won't forget who was the main actress of this show, it will be glorious, with music and cheers from the crowd." She shot a quick glance at the nearby ape and said with a demanding tone "Make sure he won't miss a thing."

Hearing that the ape moved behind the held feline and placed his thumbs just below the cat's brows and stretched his skin so his eyes were wide open while a second mercenary jerked his head forcefully towards her and held it in place. The cheetah snarled and tired to break free but with no luck, the apes didn't budge.

She sneered "Good" her smile only grew wider while she turned her head towards the feline below her paw "Where were we?" she pretended to think for a moment "Oh, yeah" With that her sneer was gone only to be replaced by a menacing expression "Showtime"

She thrust her claw into the cheetahs chest not to deep avoiding more serious injuries and moved it backwards tearing off his skin. He screamed in pain and started thrashing, wanting to escape from this horrible suffering. The sight didn't allow the second feline to remain calm, he roared and began jerking with all his might, he put so much strength into it that an another ape was necessary to hold him or else he would break free.

He kept growling and thrashing relentlessly but to no avail, the cheetah kept doing so until his whole strength escaped him, panting heavily he stopped fighting. The apes forced the feline to look again at the scene in front of him, seeing that vile creature towering above his companion roused some hidden strength in him, allowing the cheetah one more roar.

She looked around and smiled triumphantly " We have the music and a sincere applause from the crowd no less!" she exclaimed and began bowing her head quickly in every direction "Thank you, thank you" she adopted the same evil look when she focused again on the laying feline "I'm just warming up, I can promise you one thing though, this will be an unforgettable moment."

She shallowly thrust her claws into the cheetah's shoulders, he gritted his teeth and hissed not letting her any more satisfaction from his suffering. But even a toughest soldier will howl in pain when there will be enough pressure applied. She lowered her head towards his hand just to clamp her teeth on his forefinger, with the finger between her teeth she swiftly and powerfully jerked back her head tearing it off from his hand.

A stream of blood shot from the wound, the cheetah screamed at the top of his lungs, he hit the ground with the back of his head several times and arched his body upwards as far as he could when the almost unbearable surge of pain ran through his every limb. She raised her head and looked directly at the cat just to swallow the finger in front of his eyes. He turned his head and closed his eyes not wanting to look at her, the moment he felt the emerald stare leaving him he opened his eyes just to see a black head heading towards his second hand. When he felt her breath on his fingers he began curling and twitching them in every possible manner, in a pitiful attempt to defend them from her sharp teeth. That wasn't enough, since she clamped her jaw on his forefinger seconds later. She repeated the same move as before, and just as before the same full of agony scream accompanied her.

She watched the shaking feline and waited for him to catch some breath, after all she wanted him to feel every single thing. The moment he calmed himself a little her teeth sank into his abdomen, not deep but it was enough to drag the skin and bits of flesh with them when she jerked her head backwards. He screamed and began thrashing once more, but the firm paws didn't allow him to move. She munched the skin with utmost pleasure just to take another shallow bite at the other side of his belly.

The cheetah held by the apes began growling, shouting and screaming at the dragoness the moment she raised her head. His companion is being eaten alive and he can't do anything to help him, he wanted to turn his head as far as he could just to not watch this horrible scene, but even this was taken away from him, he saw and heard everything clearly. After swallowing another piece of his body she moved lower to take a small bite of his thigh, she was making sure the cheetah will feel every single bite before he expires, the show must go on after all.

She kept biting the cat, picking the spots on his body that allowed her victim to survive for as long as possible, every time she tore off of him a piece of flesh, the cheetah screamed shouting himself hoarse eventually. She kept chewing the cat again and again until no sound escaped the feline's throat, swallowing the last bit of his flesh she wiped the blood from her snout and leaned closer towards the cheetah's face.

His eyes were wide open, some tears were flowing down his cheeks, a piece of a tongue was hanging from his opened mouth, he had to bit it accidently during this torture, severing a tongue using your own teeth is no small feat, but when circumstances demand everything's possible, the feline's ruptured teeth a proof for that. The cheetah wasn't breathing, life has finally left him, but the palpable agony plastered on his face was a sign for her of a job well done.

"Gotta say that he was a good performer, his constant singing pushed me into a trance, I felt just like I could do it for the whole day, but like everyone else he couldn't keep up with me" She sighed proudly "Damn I'm good" With that her green eyes focused on the restrained feline " Hell of a memory right? But I can see you are eager for more and the well-being of my fans is my biggest concern"

The cheetah didn't say a word, he was just trembling involuntarily, with some tears flowing down his face. She dragged the corpse closer towards him while she laid down on the opposite side, with that she had a good look at his wide opened eyes.

"Let's consolidate this memory shall we?" She licked her snout and opened her mouth ready to take the bite, but just when her teeth touched the body she stopped and looked at the trapped cheetah "Where are my manners?!" she exclaimed loudly just like she realized she forgot about something important " All this time I've been eating alone completely forgetting to offer something to my most devoted fan, here, allow me to correct it"

She plunged her claw delicately just beside the dead feline's eye, made a little circle around it, the eye was close to falling out when she was about to finish it. The moment she saw that, she thrust her claw deeper and with a careful but confident motion he plucked the eyeball from its socket. She knew what she was doing, the eye was pulled out intact with a long, bloody and disgusting optic nerve attached to its horizontal section, every surgeon would be full of admiration.

With the eye in her paw she extended it towards the restrained feline, just when she was close enough she shot a quick glance towards one of the apes and nodded her head. The mercenary recognized the signal instantly, he wasn't the only one, the trapped cheetah also knew what this is all about. Suddenly new strength awakened inside him, he jerked so forcefully surprising the apes holding his eyes and head, they lost the grip and he began shaking his head from side to side gritting his teeth as hard as he could. The apes growled angrily and moved to restrain him again, one of them grabbed his head with such force that he almost squashed it in his hands, a second one opened his eyes while the third one tried to pry open his mouth, he placed one of his hands below his nose and grabbed his chin with the other one. The ape began pulling with all his strength but the cheetah's mouth was kept tightly shut, shouting furiously he clenched his armored fist and punched the cheetah with such power that the apes holding him lost the grip again, the cheetah's head went to a side after the blow, some teeth shot out from his mouth and blood started to flow down his chin. The apes restrained him again but this time the third mercenary had no problems opening his mouth.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk , your parents never told you that its impolite to refuse food and drinks from your host in such a manner? " She placed a paw on her chest "I'm deeply hurt" Moments later she lowered it and sneered "Luckily for you I forgive easily"

With that she shoved the eye into the cheetah's mouth just between the teeth with its nerve dangling from his chin, the moment she withdrew her paw the ape shut his jaw forcefully. The cheetah's sharp teeth pierced the eye's vitreous body momentarily, it's white gelatinous structure spread out down the feline's throat and mouth. The effort to keep his teeth clamped was futile against the strong ape's hands, the mercenary forced his mouth open and made him to chew on the eye while an another mercenary arched back his head forcing him to swallow its contents. With the nerve almost halfway down his throat he began to tremble and started to grumble as if choking. Knowing what's about to happen the ape's released his head, the moment their hands withdrew his head flopped towards the ground and he began vomiting. It took a while but eventually he finished with all of today's food laying on the ground in a repulsive pool. The ape's burst out laughing while he panted and coughed heavily, the mocking didn't last long as he was restrained and forced to look upon the "host" again.

She watched him with a concerned expression "You should have told me that you don't like this kind of food, nobody forced you to eat it after all" Her words made the mercenaries around her smile and chuckle. " I suppose you won't have any objections if I continue my dinner?" She shot a quick glance at the spew on the ground "Since obviously you are not hungry" Focusing her eyes on the cheetah she stared at him in complete silence for a while " I'll take that as a 'no'"

Opening her mouth wide she sank her teeth deeply into the dead cheetah's chest tearing off quite an appreciable bit of flesh. She looked directly into the restrained feline's eyes while she slowly began chewing the meat in her mouth. Blood started to flow down her snout and bits of flesh stood out from her maw as she clumsily yet intentionally turned it inside her mouth. With the last loud gulp she licked her snout and lowered her head for another bite.

This time however her teeth sank just above the feline's waist, with an audible snap she began raising her head upwards pulling out the intestines from his body. She kept doing so until she couldn't raise it anymore, only with her head at its peak she started biting the organ and swallowing some of its tiny pieces. Every time she did that she jerked her head upwards pulling out more bowels until she couldn't feel any more pressure, meaning there was no more of this organ left inside him. After it was all out she suck the remaining intestines, when no more could fit inside her mouth she began chewing the organ. She renewed the motion when she swallowed a piece, just like she would be eating a spaghetti .

After finishing with the organ she prepared for another bite, this time however she made her way towards the cheetah's arm. Her teeth sank deep into his flesh and found their way into the bone, her powerful muzzle was big enough to hold all of his limb inside. She thrust the claws on one of her front paws in the cheetah's body while she jerked her head back forcefully tugging the arm. After the second attempt a sound of breaking bones and ripping skin could be heard as she tore off the limb from the feline's body. Blood spouted in every direction when the limb left the cat's shoulder , she didn't mind, raising her head she looked back at the restrained cheetah with the arm in standing out from her mouth, blood was dripping onto the ground in streams and a bone protruded from one side.

She craned her neck towards the feline and smiled before taking a bite on the arm, the cheetah could hear every sound, the blood dripping onto the ground, the ripping of flesh and the cracking of bones as the limb was slowly disappearing down her gullet. When the arm was gone she reached into her mouth and pulled a small claw from it, she ran her tongue across her teeth until she found something stuck between them. She began poking at her teeth with the claw until she managed to pull out some bit of skin, she looked at it with contempt just to flick the claw away moments later. With a smile she returned to her dinner.

She started to bite the corpse, violently ripping the skin, shattering the bones just a predator who caught his prey. She kept going until there was nothing left of the cheetah expect for some tuft of fur and tattered pieces of cloth. She looked at the restrained feline with a satisfied expression, his eyes spoke volumes. The fiery warrior full of verve and a will to fight for his people was gone, replaced by a weathered person who experienced something close at hand, something nobody should have gone through. His will broken as realization clouded his mind, a feeling of defeat and pain with a vision of a black dragoness at the lead.

"I can see you enjoyed the show, I'm glad and I hope you will spread the word of my great performance" She smirked and looked around the village " As much as I would like to entertain you further I can't, more pressing matters you understand" She leaned closer and whispered into the cat's ear "But don't worry, I'm leaving you in good hands" with that she turned around and shouted "He's all yours!"

A cry of joy filled the street as the bloodthirsty mercenaries surrounded the cheetah, ready to have some fun for themselves. After she took some steps she stopped and yelled without even looking at them " And boys, take your time!"With that she began walking and smiled mischievously when a sound of an armored fist hitting a jaw was heard.

Burning or destroyed buildings surrounded her, the acrid smoke hanging in the air didn't bother her at all, in fact it was pleasantly addictive. She couldn't stop smiling as she inhaled it realizing that another village has fallen and every new one added to her collection only made her reputation worse. Everyone in the Realms will hear about her, everyone will tremble at just the sound of her name and what's more important she will leave a mark on this land, a mark so deep that she will be a main topic of a conversation for years to come. That's exactly what she wanted, let them remember the dragoness who ruined them, let them remember her as one of the curses of this land, after all she worked hard for it.

She swaggered through the street moving her head from side to side examining the destruction, there was practically no house left standing, almost all of them laid in ruins. Blood flowed down the roads in streams and bodies littered the streets, both feline and ape. There was nothing more satisfying for her eyes than the sight of a carnage, a desperate struggle to cling to life by the people of this land that always ended with their defeat, only thinking about it filled her tainted heart with joy.

Sounds of ongoing fights could still be heard as some stragglers made their final stand most likely cornered in a remains of a building. She turned around a corner and stopped when she heard a couple of angry mercenary shouts coming from ahead. A cheetah popped out from the smoke, he ran as fast as his legs could carry him while looking behind his shoulder. After a few meters he turned his head to see what's in front of him, the feline only managed to goggle when a blade-like tail ran through his chest cutting him in half, sending the upper part of the body slightly into the air. She wiped the iron end of her tail on the cheetah's remains, just when she finished a group of apes stopped near her and looked at the corpse completely surprised.

"Report" she said coldly

A bulky ape stepped out from their ranks " The village is almost completely under our control Mistress, only a handful of the defenders remain but we will finish them off soon"

" Casualties?"

"Plenty, but we are ready to advance again if that's what you wish Mistress"

"Survivors?"

The ape winced " We... we found one of our own tortured by a pair of cats, before he died he told them about our plans. You killed one of the torturers Mistress, the other one can't be far ahead"

"Anyone else?"

The ape gulped " Some civilians but I already ordered to send the hounds after them"

She remained silent for a moment, and began walking " Leave the civilians" After some steps she shouted "What are you waiting for? A small fortune for the first soldier who brings me the runner's head!" A cheerful cry from the group echoed as the mercenaries began their hunt.

She lead them with a firm paw and most of the time failures ended bloody, but after time she learned that failures lead sometimes to something far more better than the previously set plan. They feared her and they should, but cannon fodder or not armies require good morale and nothing boost it better for the mercenaries then a vision of being overwhelmed with glittering gems. She sauntered through the streets admiring the destruction until a sound of nearby fighting caught her attention, just out of curiosity she decided to check who is still resisting his unavoidable fate.

A roar that only one kind of creatures emitted came from a nearby building, creatures she is very familiar with. She rounded a corner and took a peek inside a huge ruined building, she didn't care about what purpose it served previously, what it contained was really important. A terribly wounded adult green dragon with filled with pure hatred brown eyes, a dun underbelly , green wings with mottled grey membranes and two long yellow horns on his head was driven back into a corner. His whole body covered in long deep cuts, almost all of them bleeding profusely, some deep wounds on his side, front and back paws just like something bit him and tore off his scales, the membranes on his wings tattered completely preventing the dragon from leaping into the air. Swords and spears protruded from his body, some of the blades sank so deep into his flesh that only a hilt could be seen, it looked like he kept breathing only thanks to his arrogance that chased away even Death itself.

Or it might be something else, just beside him on the ground she saw a dragoness of similar colors laying completely still, she was beautiful once even she could see it but now she was nothing else than a lifeless corpse. The natural beauty stolen forcefully from her, the carcass gnawed practically everywhere and in some places no scale and flesh was left revealing white bones . One of her horns broken in half, claws on her front paws shattered completely, one of her wing laying unnaturally on the ground, it was almost completely torn off of her body, just like a door barely held by its hinges. A huge pool of blood covered the floor under her, it didn't take long to notice from where it came from , a long gash on her neck was the reason. The cut was so deep that it was surprising that her head was still attached to her neck.

It seemed that he didn't want to accept that she was gone protecting her body just like a zealot protects something very sacred and dear to him, or he did realize that she was dead and driven by rage he went berserk, either way it looked like he lost his mind. That wasn't arrogance that was something else, something she didn't understand but whatever it was she was sure about one thing, there is no force in the whole world that can stop Death. You can chase it away for a while, you can stall it but you cannot cheat it, she had experience in this matter, after all they were like a family since she's been calling for it almost every day. She could feel and even smell Death when it was reaching for its victim and now the cold steel of its scythe was hovered just above the green dragon's head ready to release him from all this torment.

She wasn't the only one who noticed it, many glowing yellow eyes penetrated the dense smoke still hanging in the building, the eyes focused on the dragon, watching him intently and seeing how life was slowly leaving him through the many wounds. Patience in some cases is a virtue, allow it to call the shots and sometimes you get what you want without even making an attempt to claim it. Not everyone could appreciate it, a snout revealing itself as a proof of that. The hound snarled as it watched the dragon and drool started to drip from its mouth when the smell of a fresh dragon blood invaded its nostrils. The hounds eyes narrowed and moments later it roared smelling an easy kill. The hound pounced at the dragon opening its gaping maw and stretching it to an enormous size ready to make a proper bite.

The beast completely forgetting that the dragon had some strength still left in him, as the creature approached the dragon slapped it with his tattered wing sending it crashing on the ground. The dragon's teeth clamping on the hound's chest, with the beast in his maw the dragon began flinging his head quickly in every direction. One final turn and he will hurl the body at the beasts ahead, as he prepared to release the carcass he saw a black snout with green eyes staring at him. His eyes sparkled with hate as he opened his mouth , the punctured and crushed hound's body hit the ground.

"Lightbane!" the dragon roared deafeningly

"Owww, stop it, you flatterer!" she giggled and waved her paw shyly

" You are going to pay for all of this one day!"

She dropped the cheerful attitude "You know I keep hearing this every time when I'm going to play and in the end it's always you who keep dying"

The dragon roared once more " Remember that I'll be watching you. Every scratch, every burn, every single pain, you experience will be directed by me. I'll make you suffer just like you made me but this time I'll be laughing!" the male coughed up some blood

She sneered " A friend's advice ,you should really save your strength you don't look too well"

"I'll be joining the Ancestors soon" he looked at the body of the dragoness and whispered with palpable guilt "I'm sorry" with a shake of his head he focused his eyes on her black snout again "At least I'll die with honor, knowing that I don't have to kill innocent people to satisfy my overgrown ego"

He roared once again and ran towards her. After a few steps his paws bent under him making his belly touch the ground, groaning he pulled himself up renewing his advance. With each step the dragon became weaker, he stopped and inhaled the air preparing to unleash his elemental powers, but just when he was about to release it some powerful teeth clamped on his neck, he gurgled as they sank deep not allowing the hound to fall while it dangled above the ground holding tightly to his flesh. Two more beasts followed soon after biting the dragon's front and back paw, bringing him to the ground.

She craned her neck closely towards his head "What were you saying? The dragon only gurgled while he looked her straight in the eyes. "I'm sorry but I don't understand you, could you repeat that?" she moved her head closer almost to the point when their noses touched and focused only on his eyes just like she was reading from them.

"No!" she exclaimed "Your telling me that there is no one else in the village?!" she asked with a shocked and dreary tone. There was a flash in the dragon's eyes, it happened so fast that an inexperienced watcher would never notice it, she wasn't one of them "Your lying" she stated coldly " I have a knack for these sort of things, I can tell when someone's trying to protect something very dear to him, just want to tell you that I'll find it. Anyway I see that you are leaving us, just don't forget to mention my name to the Old Guys" she winked.

The dragon kept staring at her all the time, his eyes cursing her with tremendous hate until his pupils became wider and lost their fiery color as the last portion of life finally left him. The dragon's body fell lifelessly on the ground and the hounds who helped him in leaving this world released his flesh. Some other beasts joined them soon after and with a jubilant roar the creatures began their feast.

Smirking she continued onwards, this one had a secret and nothing made her happier than an surprise waiting somewhere nearby. She walked around the building looking for anything unusual but couldn't find anything, she decided to check the nearby houses. One side of the road was covered with ruined buildings that had nothing interesting in them, while there was nothing on the other side, whatever was there previously was completely destroyed now. Just as she began checking some other houses she heard a hoarse laughter, her gut told her that she just located the surprise.

She rounded the corner just to see a sight that confirmed her hunch. She stood near a ruined house, one side of it was completely blocked by rubble while the wall that protected it from the streets was completely destroyed, revealing an interesting sight. This was probably some sort of a dining room, long and small tables covered almost all of the floor and broken chairs were scattered all around the place. What really caught her attention was a sight of four apes covering each side of a long table, occasionally hitting their axes on the ground while laughing hysterically. She hunkered down and focused wondering what gave them so much fun, as one of the apes hit the ground she heard a squeaking sound and a tip of a little green tail stood out from under the table.

"Oh my, I hope you are a dragon of your word" with that she pulled herself up and began strolling towards the apes with a smug smile on her snout.

She stopped near them but they didn't even notice her as they were completely lost in their little game. She cleared her throat and the apes jumped and spun around swiftly to face their general with terrified faces. She nodded her head towards the street giving them a clear signal that the fun is over and she wants to be left alone, the apes complied without a word.

She hunkered down and scanned the surroundings, her eyes sparkled when she saw a green shape under a table on the opposite side of the building. She made her way there and laid on the ground, there was a very young small light green dragon still considered as a hatchling with dun underbelly and mottled grey membranes huddled up in a ball in the corner. The child covered himself with his wings just as he wanted to create a protective barrier around him, blocking all the horrors of the outside world, but it wasn't strong enough as the little dragon was trembling and sobbing terribly.

"Hush little one , you are safe now" she comforted the child with a charming and soft voice. The hatchling acted like he didn't hear a thing as he continued to tremble. "No one is going to hurt you anymore" The dragon took a peek from behind his little wings just to cover himself with them again. " Do not be afraid, I'm here to help" The dragon continued to sob for a while but after some time he took another peek just to hide again moments later. This time however she didn't say a word giving the child the chance to overcome his fear, the hatchling repeated the same move for a while to finally reveal his wet snout from all these tears. A charmingly smiling black dragoness was everything he saw.

"B...b...bad peop...people" he sobbed

"They are gone, you are safe little one"

"They... they...wan...wanted...to...to... hurt...m...m...me"

"They will never do that again, I swear"

The child wiped a tear from his snout " they...they are re...really g...one Miss?

"Yes, there is nothing to be afraid of anymore" She extended her paw towards him "Come, you are safe now"

The child froze in place but after a while he reluctantly stood up. Whimpering he made little and slow steps towards the smiling dragoness, just when he reached the end of the table the hatchling craned his neck just to hide it seconds later and look at the dragoness. She gave him a slight bow and whispered "It's safe". He craned his neck again and looked around quickly just to hide just as fast, trembling he looked at the black paw ahead, whimpering he took some steps back, looked around and dashed towards it. She grabbed him and moved her paw to her chest giving the hatchling a light embrace while covering him with her black wing just like a loving mother. The hatchling burst out crying and started to tremble even more violently.

"Hush little one, hush, everything's going to be alright" she said with an affectionate tone while caressing gently the young dragon scales

"T..th...the bad people t...t...they h...hurt e...every..o...one" the dragon sobbed

She squeezed the hatchling tighter "Hush"

"Th...they h...hurt my...my fr...fr...friends I...I...I-"

"Don't think about it little one, they won't hurt anyone else anymore"

He kept whimpering and another stream of tears started flowing down from his eyes. She kept caressing his scales delicately without saying a word, allowing the little drake to calm himself.

He wiped a tear from his eye " W...why did t..they do t...this Miss?

Her paw stopped moving as she absorbed the unexpected question " I...I don't know, I really don't know, I shouldn't-" she blinked unconsciously several times and started to caress the hatchling again as she regained her composure "Maybe because they are just evil"

"Th...thank you Miss" the little dragon said after a moment of complete silence and cuddled to her scales

She gave the hatchling a tender kiss in the head " Tell me little one, what I can do for you?"

"Mommy...Daddy" the young dragon sobbed again

"You want me to take you to your parents?"

The young drake shifted and looked her in the eyes "Yes, please!" he exclaimed excitedly

She shot a quick glance at the ceiling and smirked "If that's what you wish"

A muffled squeak penetrated the sound of burning houses, she couldn't stop smiling as she raised her paw to look at her claws, there was an young, innocent and crimson blood dripping from them.

Cynder gasped and her eyes snapped open, the sound of cracking wood echoed in the dark cave. She was looking at a stone wall illuminated by the fire, her own shadow and dancing flames visible on it.

"Fuck" she muttered and rolled on her back placing a paw on her forehead. Sweating and panting heavily she stared at the barely visible ceiling. She kept gawking at it listening to her racing heart, it pounded at her chest forcefully just like it wanted to tell her what strenuous effort it had to overcome. She closed her eyes just to open them again seconds later, trying to slow her rapid breathing and to apologize to her heart for everything it had been through. It took a while but eventually she managed to calm herself down, when everything returned to its normal pace she shot a quick glance at the purple shape laying on the opposite side of the fire just to stare at the ceiling moments later.

"Spyro your sleeping?" she whispered and without giving him the time to respond she continued " I've had one of the weirdest dreams ever, I've been in some kind of a cheetah village and..." she closed her eyes, the still fresh images crossed her mind, she swallowed "And I did some really bad things there" she started to stare at the ceiling once more.

"It was so real" she continued after a brief pause " I could see every single detail, a rock laying on the ground here and a twig there. That's not all, I also felt every single thing..." her voice trailed off as she moved her paw to look at it while she touched her sharp teeth with the other one. The images of destruction and death flashed before her eyes, the taste of flesh, bones and blood aroused her palate and the wrong but yet pleasurable sensation of taking somebody's else life filled a portion of her heart. Cynder shuddered and shook her head.

" I can't get this out of my head, I see the images every time I close my eyes, crazy right?" She asked while staring at the ceiling rubbing her forehead. He didn't respond "Spyro are you even listening to me?" Still the same thing, she turned her head to look at him and raised her voice "Spyro?" Nothing.

She rolled over on her belly and pulled herself up, her eyes focused on the purple shape on the opposite side of the fire. "Spyro?" she tried once more but there was still no response. Cynder began moving towards him, he was laying on his side with his back facing her. "Spyro?" she tried again after some steps until she stopped just right behind him.

"Spyro?" she asked again, louder this time. "Good, I'm trying to talk with you and you are just ignoring me, I know you are tired but at least you could say something!" she exclaimed, pretty agitated. He didn't budge, after a while worry took the place of anger as her heart slowly was beginning to race "Spyro?" Nothing. She raised her paw "Spyro?" and began extending it towards him" Spyro?". When her paw touched his scales Cynder called his name again but there was still no reaction.

With a frantic pace of her heart Cynder rolled him over onto his back so she could a good look at him. Cynder's blood froze and her heart jumped up to her throat when she saw his closed eyelids and the terrible deep wound on Spyro's chest that was bleeding profusely.

"No, no, no, no, no, this can't be happening, Spyro!" she yelled and placed her paws on the wound trying desperately to stop the bleeding "You can't die your hear me! You can't die!" Cynder screamed on the verge of tears as she squeezed the wound with all her might, just to prevent any more blood from escaping.

Her paws were completely soaked with the crimson thick red liquid in seconds " Don't leave me, wake up" she sobbed and placed her paws on both sides of his head while she looked at his closed eyelids. "Wake up, I beg you" Cynder closed her eyes and lowered her head crying loudly. Streams of tears were flowing down her eyes, as a feeling of defeat, resignation, guilt and anger filled her entire being. "WAKE UP!" Cynder screamed at the top of her lungs while she opened her eyes and shook his head.

She jerked back in surprise as his filled with hatred brown eyes snapped open, and yelped when his growling mouth with many sharp teeth headed for her throat.

Cynder gasped and opened her eyes to look at a stone wall illuminated slightly by the sun. She quickly looked behind her just to see the fire completely extinguished with only a small black smoke hovering above it and a purple shape laying on the opposite side. Cynder swiftly pulled herself up and ran towards Spyro, she stopped behind him and extended her paw but when she was about to touch his scales she froze. Cynder's heart began to race when she remembered that horrible sight, she wouldn't be able to bear it for the second time. Cynder decided to try a different approach.

She withdrew her paw and leaned almost to the point when her cheek touched his and began to listen intently. Cynder sighted in relief and felt like a huge weight was lifted from her heart when she heard and felt his calm breath. She quickly circled him to check his chest and exhaled loudly when she saw that there was no deep wound on it. Cynder looked him over, Spyro seemed more bruised than before but he was alive and that's what mattered.

"_It was just a dream, a stupid dream"_ she thought to herself and shook her head. Cynder focused her eyes on his calm purple snout and a warm sensation ran through her entire body when she realized that he will still be here, just beside her. Not that she made it easy for him, their fights and her weird behavior must have startled him and adding a strange dream to the pool wouldn't be much helpful. She was afraid that she will push him away and lose this precious friendship and that was the last thing she wanted. Her romantic feelings towards him were the reason for all this, she pushed him too hard but for a good reason, at least Cynder thought so. Besides it hurts too much, her heart almost screamed in pain when she thought that he doesn't think the same way about her. She made her decision, never again she will give him hints about her feelings, it's all up to Spyro, if he cares about her the same way she cares about him she can wait for him to finally reveal his feelings, if not... well then, she would rather lie to herself that he will change his mind eventually than hear the truth.

With a sad sigh Cynder turned around and made her way towards the bright exit. She squinted when she stepped out of the pitch dark cave, there was no sign of the rain and the dark clouds, a clear blue sky with a slowly raising sun taking their place. The sound of the howling wind was replaced by a whizzing soft breeze and bird's song. It took her a while to adjust her eyes to the sun's bright rays, it almost fell like her eyes haven't seen daylight for weeks. Cynder yawned, stretched and with fully opened eyes made her way towards the refreshing pond.

As she lowered her head Cynder saw her own reflection, thanks to the dragon's extraordinary regeneration process she looked like she never been hurt in her life, every single wound was healed completely. Cynder began drinking and as the water was flowing down her gullet she felt a slight pounding in her head that was pretty annoying. She groaned softly and closed her eyes while she began rubbing her forehead. The weird dreams had to be the reason of this pain, the rubbing didn't help so she decided to continue her drink. The moment she opened her eyes and looked at the pond a blurry reflection ran alongside its surface and it wasn't hers.

She spun around quickly narrowing her pupils and adopting a defensive stance ready to repel any kind of attack, none came. A tall slope, some rocks, a cave and the occasional tree was everything she could see. But where her eyes had failed Cynder's instinct didn't, she could feel something, something dark and sinister somewhere around here, she kept moving slowly looking around trying to find the source of this eerie sensation. Cynder didn't find a thing and when she was just about to give up taking this whole thing for a simple misgiving a barely hearable laughter coming from the pretty empty terrain caught her attention.

Cynder ran to the wall and started to edge alongside it towards the sound, that way at least one side was protected, after some steps she stopped and winced while she rubbed her forehead, the headache intensified in a very bad moment. There was no time to worry about that now, as she heard another noise coming from ahead, concentrating she continued on her way. Cynder kept moving and the sound only intensified with each step, just when she was about to reach the end of the tall wall a feeling of dread ran through her whole body sending a chill down her spine. She could now clearly hear it's low laughter, whatever it was it was close, just around the corner. Cynder pressed herself to the wall and moved silently until there was no more space left for her to hide, with a silent sigh she jumped out from her hiding place ready to face the source of this luridness.

Her emerald eyes went wide open when she realized that there was nothing in front of her besides the small slopes, trees and green grass. _"_I'm going crazy" Cynder muttered. She was glad that she didn't wake up Spyro when there was still the chance, he had seen enough of her lunacy already, more was not necessary. Cynder rubbed her painful forehead once more and turned around ready to head back to the cave. Just when her tail faced the open space another sound reached her, Cynder spun around, she saw something with the corner of her eye, the moment she focused a shape moved behind some trees in the distance casting shadow on their hunks.

She ran towards them and groaned when she was just about to reach the trees, Cynder touched her head once again but this time the pain was more severe just like something was pounding inside her skull. A laughter and a passing shadow on the ground caused her to focus anew, low on her paws she began slowly moving in its direction but whenever she got close enough the shadow seemed to appear some distance away from her. Cynder tired of this stalking ran after the shadow but she couldn't catch it, whenever she made a couple of steps forward the shadow vanished just to show itself farther ahead out of her reach.

After a while Cynder got extremely dizzy, she leaned over a nearby hunk and placed her paws on her head, groaning she began massaging it trying to ease the pain somehow but it seemed only to intensify with each motion almost to the point when she felt her skull was just about to crack from the inside. Another low laughter was heard in the distance and a shadow ran alongside the green ground, mocking her, provoking the black dragoness urging her to follow it. Gritting her teeth Cynder done what she was told, whoever is taunting her will get what's coming for him.

She ran after it for some time but suddenly she was out of breath, Cynder leaned again on a nearby hunk panting heavily as she tried to regain even a slight portion of her strength. Another laugh reached her, raising her head and looking in the direction it came from Cynder began her chase once more. This time however she couldn't really start running as everything swirled before her eyes, she lurched for quite a while following the sound bumping into every rock, tree, wall and who knows what else. Sometimes a very close object with a blink of an eye seemed to appear farther away while a distant object was just about at paw's reach. Cynder couldn't really tell how much time has passed but eventually she found herself pressing against a cold stone wall with a familiar opening in it, a powerful feeling of dread ran through her when she was about to reach the cave's entrance. Without really caring for her own safety she entered, looking around the cave with her blurry eyes.

Cynder's focus returned instantly when she set her eyes upon a strange being standing near Spyro. It was a pitch-dark unsubstantial creature its body covered in dust, it looked like a living shadow. It turned its head towards her, a pair of completely white eyes met her emerald gaze, Cynder stared at it completely frozen not wanting to provoke it but just then the creature raised its arms above its head while staring at her all the time, it was holding something. The moment she looked at it her eyes went wide, the thing the creature held had the same shadowy structure, it looked like a weapon, a sword to be more precise.

"Spyro!" Cynder yelled at the top of her lungs and dashed towards the shadow. She saw Spyro shifting as he was slowly waking up, the creature seemed unconcerned slowly turning its head to look at the purple dragon laying on the ground at its feet. Cynder felt she was running as fast as the wind when she saw the sword heading down ready to be thrust deep into his back. Just when the dark tip was about to reach his scales she jumped, momentarily Cynder found herself close enough to the creature, it was time to strike. She slashed with her claws reaching the shadow, a howl of pain echoed in the cave as the creature dissolved into a black mist. The moment her paws touched the ground Cynder couldn't stop herself thanks to the speed she gained making her to stumble over something, She landed on her belly and slid on the ground for a while.

"Cynder? What's gotten into you?!" Spyro shouted and hissed moments later

She quickly pulled herself up " Spyro you should really sleep with one eye open I barely made it, how is it possible that you didn't feel a thing? It should wake you up!" Cynder shouted back at him with concerned anger

" Next time shake me when you try to wake me up" Spyro touched his back with his wing.

Cynder furrowed her brow "What are you tal-" she didn't finish the sentence when she saw him raising his wing stained with fresh blood. Momentarily she felt that her paw was damp, Cynder raised it to get a good look at it. She gasped when she noticed her claws, crimson blood dripping from them.

Her expression turned to that of anxiety and worry " Oh no, Spyro" she muttered and ran quickly towards him. He watched her with surprised eyes as she looked him over, Cynder gasped once more when she saw some cuts on his back exactly the size of her claws, she touched the wounds with shaking paws just as if she tried to heal them " We...we need to patch you up, there...there has to be something here " Cynder said with a wavering voice and turned around, trembling.

Just when she made a step he grabbed her tail " It's ok Cynder" Spyro said caringly

A tear formed in the corner of her eye when she felt his touch, she spun around quickly and hugged him, squeezing him so tightly almost making his eyes to pop out from their sockets "I'm sorry Spyro, I'm so sorry" tears started to flow down her cheeks

"There is nothing to worry about, it's just a scratch" he tenderly started to stroke her back with his wing and paw

" I never wanted... It was... I don't know what happened" she sobbed

"Cynder relax I've been through worse, besides I probably deserved it anyway" he smiled

His little joke made her smile weakly " You did, but I never wanted it to be this way" she raised her paw that was placed on Spyro's wound to look at it, his blood forced her smile to vanish instantly " I'm beginning to see things, I could swear there was something standing just beside you and I tried to stop it, I tried but it was only my imagination. I think I'm going crazy" Cynder hung her head from his shoulder and closed her eyes

"You are not crazy, there has to be a reason for all of this, don't worry we will figure this out" he said with a comforting tone stroking her back even more gently

His words made her feel happy beyond imagination, he was the only friend she had and no matter how many troubles she caused he never thought about leaving her "Thank you" she whispered.

They have spent quite a while in this embrace but after some time Cynder shook off all this bad feelings and with new determination she raised her head, slowly opening her eyes. The moment they were fully opened she gasped when she set her gaze upon the entrance of the cave, there was a clearly visible shadow on the ground which was getting bigger with each second.


	8. Chapter 8

**Found the time, so here it is. **

**Thanks for all the reviews btw, I really appreciate it**

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Chapter 8

Cynder broke their embrace, growling she focused on the exit of the cave, ready to strike if necessary. Spyro was completely caught by surprise, he watched her with confused eyes just to see her nodding towards the opening, he followed her lead. Momentarily he knew what startled her and this time she wasn't the only one seeing this, Spyro jumped next to her and bent on his paws, preparing himself for any kind of attack.

The dragons tails were wagging in anticipation as they watched the shadow on the ground getting bigger and bigger with each breath. Cynder's pupils narrowed as she nervously began scratching the stone floor with one of her claws. Was it real after all? Did it came back? He was seeing the same thing, meaning that she wasn't imagining it. The creature surprised her before almost killing the single friend she had, Cynder won't allow it to happen again. She wanted to pounce at it now, ending its existence once and for all, but she knew it's better not to rush into a fight because sometimes you get more than you bargained for.

Both dragons held their breaths when the shadow finally stopped growing just to see a lone figure stepping out from its cover moments later and blocking the sunlight when it stopped in the entrance.

" Heard you...here I looked... here I looked...feel you...touched...feel..." sounded a raspy voice which was getting louder with each step the figure made towards the young dragons.

The moment the figure came close enough they could make out some of its features. It was a male Cheetah with tan fur with black ringlets on his uncovered arms and legs. He wore only a dirty and tattered dark green coat with its hood covering his head, only the tip of his nose protruded from the darkness the hood created. The cheetah looked like he was traveling for days or weeks without even stopping for a short break. He was leaning against a scary looking, twisted brown wooden staff held in his right hand, with two wooden spines on its top and a green stone magically attached between them. The cheetah was undoubtedly a hermit, who decided to spend the rest of his life in seclusion, dedicating himself to nature, magic that was part of this world and experiments. Their solitude helped them achieve wonders which would be difficult to accomplish in a crowded city, but this knowledge came with a price. Spending years in a cave completely alone made them shy and cautious towards visitors but they still managed some sort of politeness for a simple greeting, not all hermits were like that, some shun people completely, blocking the outside world from their life. The barrier they created most of the time drove them crazy, utterly crazy.

The clicking sound of the staff hitting the stone floor echoed through the cave as the cheetah kept moving closer towards the two young dragons " Close... somewhere... or far?... here I looked... here I looked"

They watched the hermit as he got close and shot quick glances of surprise between themselves as he walked past them without even looking their way. " I hate hermits" Cynder whispered

" Need you... lost you... found you... where are you?... Here I looked... here I looked... feel you" the hooded figure touched the wall of the dais and began hitting it with his clenched fist moments later. " Need you... hear you..."

Spyro threw Cynder a meaningful look, she furrowed a brow then turned her head to look at the feline, moments later she looked at Spyro again with an incredulous expression just to set her eyes upon the cheetah once again. After staring at him for a while Cynder sighted quietly and nodded reluctantly.

Spyro focused on the hermit and cleared his throat " Excuse me?"

The cheetah turned around and started moving his head in every direction while sniffing " A call... heard you... where are you?... I feel you..."

Spyro shot Cynder a baffled glance, she shrugged and made little circles with her claw near one side of her head. Spyro looked at the cheetah and sighed, he started it so he might as well finish it.

"We are over here" Spyro said loudly and waved his paw

The hermit looked in their direction and froze" You? what... what are you doing here?" he looked around confused

" We are sorry, we didn't want to intrude but it was badly raining yesterday so we needed shelter, your cave was only one we found and it looked abandoned, we are deeply sorry" Spyro apologized as best as he could

"A cave...my cave...yes... of course" the cheetah's voice becoming more solid " My cave, impressive is it not?"

" Yeah, you've put a lot of work into it and it really looks like some sort of a cave specially prepared for alchemical experiments!" Spyro continued his conversation with the hermit

A proud white grin formed itself on the feline's face "Thank you very much for noticing, it's so rare this days to see youth appreciating someone's hard work"

" I've heard that hermits can make almost everything even from the simplest ingredients"

Cynder stared at Spyro smiling, it must have been his good- hearted nature that made people actually enjoy talking with him, he always knew what to say without offending anybody thanks to his caring personality, he knew how to speak to satisfy his natural curiosity without boring his interlocutor. People recognize goodness when they see it, it must be this gold heart of his that allows people to trust him instantly or perhaps they felt safe, important when they talked with him because they knew that there is at least one dragon in the Realms who cares about them. It was this gold heart which showed her that even despite her dark past she can be trusted if she really wants it and that was what kept her going, a beating gold heart filling her with its benevolent pace even if it was the only pace in the whole world she heard, it was enough for her.

The cheetah chuckled and coughed " You shame me boy but it's true, some of us specialize in those kind of things, they can make wonders, I've seen with my own eyes how a hermit brew a potion that allowed you to see in the dark by using only herbs!"

" Wow, you must be very happy to be able to create such things from scratch" Spyro said clearly amazed

"You think too much of me youngling I'm not that skilled, you see, alchemy is just my passion, I'm a healer by trade"

The purple dragon smiled " Everyone has to start somewhere"

The cheetah stomped his staff on the floor as to show that they have reached the point of this conversation" Exactly, passions have to be evolved that's why we have them in the first place" The hermit smiled" But as much as I enjoy our little conversation I know that whenever I have visitors they always have some questions to ask, tell me dragon what can this old cheetah do for you? Don't make this old fur keep you, I'm sure you have more important things to do"

Spyro shook his head "Thank you for your offer but we bothered you enough already"

The hermit smiled kindly " Not at all, please tell me what you need it will be my pleasure to help such an intelligent youngster like yourself"

Spyro thought for a moment " Could you tell us how to reach Warfang? We have never been in this part of the valley and we are lost"

The cheetah shook his head sadly " I'm sorry my dear boy but I've never heard about Warfang before"

"Then maybe you could point us in the direction of a nearby village?"

The hermit scratched his nose thoughtfully "There is a village just to the southeast of here, the moment you pass through two big trees leaning against each other turn slightly to the east and head in that direction until you reach a river and then move alongside it until you see the village, you can't miss it, my old friend Meadow lives there and I'm sure he will help you"

"Meadow?" Spyro blurt out impulsively happy to hear a familiar name

The cheetah nodded and smiled "Yes, Meadow, but I see that you know him so I won't keep you waiting, I wish you a safe travel my dear boy"

"Thank you" but before Spyro made a step a thought crossed his mind and a hazy picture of a plan formed itself before his eyes " Meadow's village is the closest one?"

"Yes"

"There are no other villages nearby? Maybe there is one just right past the forest?"

" Past the forest you say? The cheetah had been silent for a while lost in concentration " I don't think there is a village there, but I rarely have guest and my memory isn't as good as it used to be"

Cynder cocked her head slightly to the side as she watched Spyro, he touched his injured back and winced just like he was remembering something, the moment she saw the blood again on his wing guilt filled her heart

" You are sure that there was no one in the forest lately? the purple dragon finally said

The cheetah coughed " I live here for almost twenty years and the only thing I've met in there were wild animals, besides I've just came back from there and I didn't see anybody"

Spyro thought for a while and shook his head " Thank you for your time, we will be on our way now"

"If you ever need anything you know where to find me" the cheetah turned around and began walking towards the dais

"Actually..." Cynder's voice stopped the hermit in his tracks "...there is one thing you could do for us" the cheetah turned around" You see, my friend here is wounded and since you are a healer I thought that maybe you could help him"

"it's not necessary" Spyro protested

"It is" she threw him a look that left no place for objection

The cheetah looked alarmed "My dear boy, you are injured and you haven't said anything?" The hermit waved his hand" Follow me, my eyes aren't that good anymore"

Spyro looked at her with eyes filled with dissent but she just nodded her head towards the feline giving him a clear signal that she doesn't take '_No'_ as an answer. Reluctantly he followed the feline up the dais.

That particular place caught Cynder's attention, it was better illuminated than the rest of the cave, the moment she followed the sunlight she found out why. That big hole above the entrance was the reason, it allowed the rays to pass through it giving light where it was most needed, that way the hermit could make... well whatever he was making more easily. How he managed to create that hole still was a mystery but when you are not right in the head everything's possible it seems, nevertheless she had to admit that it was a clever and useful solution.

The cheetah's voice coming from the dais caught her attention " You younglings always get yourself into all kind of trouble, I can't even remember now how many injuries I've treated when I was still living in a village"

"It's just a scratch" Spyro responded calmly

The hermit chuckled " Of course it is! Whenever I ask It's always a scratch, I know you youngsters are more resistant than oldsters like myself but you keep forgetting that even the smallest wound can get infected. Now then, where is that cut?"

"On my back"

The cheetah made his way towards him and began inspecting the injury " Let me see... My, my those are some really bad cuts my boy and these are claws marks no less. You should stay out of the forest, the beasts there are pretty mean"

Spyro chuckled " Tell me about it but they have some good traits too" he smiled and looked at Cynder. She frowned giving him a "_You have no idea look_" and returned the smile moments later.

"You never know when monsters and wild animals will decide to attack, surprise is the key" the cheetah began to touch the wound really carefully.

Cynder stared at the hermit, he was giving Spyro too much attention for her liking, she can usually tell when someone is acting suspicious and since the hermit is obviously crazy you have to keep an eye on him all the time. It was then when she noticed the hermit turning around towards the wooden table, while he quickly licked one of his blood covered fingers.

"That wasn't creepy at all" Cynder muttered

The feline started to search for something on the table, throwing some stuff down onto the ground and every now and then he picked something from it, examined it just to flick it away, disappointed "There is something around here that I'm looking for and it's close I can feel it.." the cheetahs voice becoming less solid.

That caught Spyro's attention "All you alright?"

" Here I looked...here I looked..found you...here.." the hermit started to mumble once again.

Spyro furrowed a brow "Are you ok? Have you found what were you looking for?"

The cheetah stopped his search, every muscle stopped moving he looked like he just froze "Found you...found it...felt you..felt it...I...I...I NEED IT!" the hermit screamed and turned around quickly to face the Purple Dragon, Cynder noticed as something in the feline's hand reflected the sunlight casting a shadow on a nearby wall. Her heart jumped when she saw it was a dagger which the feline prepared to sink into the dragon's chest.

"Spyro! Watch out!" Cynder yelled at the top of her lungs.

He was caught completely by surprise, there was no chance he could avoid the cold steel now. Seeing this Cynder channeled her elemental powers and released her Siren Scream ability, a sheer, terrifying shriek filled the cave directed at the crazy hermit. Spyro was in the way but she had to do it, there was no other choice.

The moment her cry reached him, it looked like his paws wanted to run as fast as possible, doesn't matter where as long its far away from her, but his upper body protested, it wanted to stay even if it had difficulties to remain calm. Spyro was trembling violently and the dispute between his body parts left him paralyzed, luckily he was used to this feeling, at least that's what he always said. Cynder knew that he lied but one thing was sure, he was able to shake off this sensation faster than anyone else, after all that wasn't the first time he got caught in the radius of her Fear power.

Cynder blinked in shock when her scream reached the hermit, to her surprise the cheetah didn't turn his tail and flee, he only swayed on his legs. Luckily her fear element was strong enough forcing the cheetah to drop the dagger, the moment the weapon hit the ground the feline made some sluggish steps backwards. After a while he stopped and hunkered down while he placed his hand on his head, in that position the hermit began to rock slightly back and forth, mumbling something incoherently under his nose. That was the opportunity Spyro couldn't waste, after all they didn't come here looking for a fight, the clearly barmy hermit seemed to forget about it.

"Just calm down, we don't want to hurt you, there is noth-" before Spyro could finish his sentence the cheetah stood up screaming frantically, the moment he rose the green stone on his staff began to glow brightly. Still screaming he raised his wooden staff above his head just to stomp it on the ground.

The ground below Spyro's paws shook slightly and a powerful shockwave was created when the staff hit the stone floor, the shockwave lifted him from the ground and hurled the dragon into a wall in the far end of the cave. Cynder heard his groan of pain mixed with the noise of chunks of stone falling onto the ground after the impact. Momentarily a rumbling sound of something really thick breaking apart followed, a large crack running from top to bottom formed itself on the dais' wall after the shockwave .

Moments later the hermit jumped from the dais and landed on the ground below gracefully, as for his age he was still pretty agile. the cheetah began walking towards the Purple Dragon with a silver dagger held in his hand.

"Hey!" Cynder shouted at the hermit and prepared herself for the confrontation, to her surprise however the cheetah ignored her, uninterrupted he still kept walking in the same direction.

"Cynder just don't kill him!" Spyro yelled from the far end of the cave

"Hey! You are not forgetting something?" she shouted ironically at the cheetah once again but just as before he ignored her completely, only this time he seemed to walk a bit faster.

"Hey you nut-job! I'm over here!" Cynder tried once again to gain his attention but the effect remained the same

"Please just listen to us, we don't wa-" Spyro's shout was interrupted by the cheetah's menacing scream, there was a flash of green light when the hermit pointed his staff at him.

Cynder swayed on her paws when suddenly everything began to vibrate, a rumbling sound just like something tried to dig its way through the stone floor was heard. Cynder was thrown back when the ground was torn finally, there were some huge thick roots protruding from it, almost reaching the ceiling, her eyes traced their whole length just to notice some small pieces of the stone floor heading her way.

She jumped backwards and covered herself behind her black wings when the piece hit the ground with a loud thud and broke into many small chunks that were sent flying everywhere, some of them hitting her magenta membranes. When the last one bounced off her wings Cynder lowered them just to see a blinding green flash. When her vision returned she saw the roots stretching toward Spyro. The roots reached him in a blink of an eye, they wrapped themselves around his paws, one of the bigger ones wrapped itself around his belly and back blocking his wings, another one embraced his neck while the last one muzzled him.

Spyro started to jerk trying desperately to break free from their iron grip, but the roots held him tight there was no chance they will budge. The hermit screamed frantically once more while he pointed his glowing staff at him, seeing that Spyro was defenseless the cheetah charged. He was fast, extremely fast as for an old guy, it seems that craziness unlocks some buried deep down vigor.

" Oh no you don't" Cynder muttered angrily and began channeling her wind powers, a sensation similar to a refreshing breeze filled her body as she opened her mouth moments later and unleashed her Cyclone ability. She directed a powerful gust of wind at the feline, it was so strong that it blew the hermit from the ground and sent him flying towards a wall, maybe this impact will bring back his senses.

Some small rocks fell from the wall when the cheetah hit it, everything was silent but surprisingly the roots still held Spyro in place, the dragons exchanged puzzled looks between each other, the hermit wasn't getting up so they couldn't understand why the roots didn't retreat. It was then when Cynder thought about the staff, it was clearly their source of power and since the roots remained in the same position it must still emanate some magic. Just as she prepared to take a step Cynder heard the noise of stone grinding on stone. Soon the creator of this noise came into view.

It seems the impact must have stunned the hermit for a while, but unfortunately this small period didn't help the cheetah, in fact he looked angry, almost furious. The scream that filled the cave confirmed her suspicion, the feline didn't waste time, with both weapons pointing at the Purple Dragon he charged once again. This time however the glow on the staff's stone intensified, Cynder found why soon enough.

Muffled scream and groans caught her attention, she knew instantly who created that sound. Cynder's heart jumped when she set her eyes on Spyro, the roots started moving slowly tightening their embrace on the dragon's body. They will strangle him for sure crushing every possible bone and organ in the process. If somehow strangulation wouldn't kill him internal bleeding surely will and she won't allow any of those scenarios to happen.

Cynder channeled her elemental energy once again, this time focusing on her Shadow powers. A dark, sinister yet somehow addicting feeling coursed in her veins. Cynder pulled a shadow below her paws that seemed to pulse with its own life. While she concentrated the shadow began to devour her until she vanished completely. The fast hermit was really close to Spyro, he clenched his fist firmly around the dagger's hilt as he prepared to strike helping the roots in ending the dragon's life. The cheetah was so consumed with the vision that he failed to notice a shadow stopping on the nearby wall.

When Cynder popped out from it she instantly thrust her blade-like tip into the hermit's chest, he gasped but he still pushed forward sinking her tip deeper and deeper into his body. The cheetah kept moving until he finally felt that life was escaping him, with last ounces of strength he powered his staff, the green stone began to glow even brighter. A loud muffled scream was enough for Cynder to act, she forcefully slapped the staff with her wing, the blow was strong enough to release the green stone from its magical clutches. The moment it was sent flying it began to shine with a blinding green light eventually releasing a ray of the same color directly at the ceiling.

The sound of cracking wood caught her attention, she turned around just to see the roots retreating, the moment they left him Spyro fell on his belly coughing terribly. Cynder was near him in seconds as she began to look him over with a racing heart, she couldn't stop thinking about the roots and how badly they might have injured him.

"Are you alright?" Cynder asked with a glimmer of fear in her voice, after all she could kill that hermit sooner.

Spyro coughed " I'm...I'm fine even despite the fact I've been almost choked to death" he coughed once more " Did you ever heard the sound of your bones crushing? I did, and I must tell you that I won't forget it" he chuckled and coughed again

She smiled " I can imagine and hey, I might not know much about alchemy, but helping you is the only thing I'm actually good at"

"Thanks Cynder"

"Don't mention it, that's what-" a loud rumbling noise coming from above interrupted her, they both looked up just to see some small rocks falling down from the ceiling, and just in front of them a crack was forming on the wall that was getting bigger and bigger with each second. The whole cave began to vibrate and a huge boulder fell some distance away on the ground with an audible thud, Cynder realized instantly what's happening.

"We have to go, NOW!" she shouted with a demanding tone wrapping her tail around one of Spyro's front paws and tugged him. It must have been her strong pull, or the vision of being buried alive under the many stones, or both, that forced his mind to use its powers to fuel all of his limbs with additional energy instantly . Whatever the case may be, he got up quickly completely forgetting about the pain.

They only made a few steps and had to stop as a big rock hit the ground not far from them. Both dragons hid behind their wings, deflecting the pieces that broke off from the stone after the impact. When the chunks stopped flying the wings returned to their natural position. They swayed on their paws when an another strong shake ran through the cave accompanied by the sound of many splitting stones. Both dragons concentrated on the stone in front of them, they could simply avoid it but they had wasted enough time already. The rock crumbled, lucky for them not entirely, seeing this both dragons decided to try a different approach, after all every second counts.

Cynder took the lead and ran towards the rock, the moment she was close she jumped on it just to leap from its rough surface soon after. Unfortunately luck played a trick on her, instead of a solid ground ahead there were many small rocks packed closely together looking like small balls. When her paws touched the rocks Cynder slipped and was unable to maintain her balance sending some of the stones into the air while the others were thrown aside. Cynder hit the ground and being dragged by the stones she involuntary turned on her side just to start rolling sideways. She eventually stopped, ending on her back, Cynder gasped when her eyes looked at the ceiling, a stalactite was heading her way with its sharp end directed at her chest.

When luck fails friends step in, Spyro was right behind her and the moment he noticed the stalactite and Cynder laying on the ground his heart hit the chest that held it forcefully. Nevertheless Spyro kept a cool head, panic is the worst thing that can happen. He lowered his head so his horns would be the first obstacle every stone meets. Spyro leapt just in time, his horns made a direct contact with the stalactite smashing it to pieces. He landed with his paws at both sides of her body trapping Cynder between them, Spyro spread his wings forming a protective umbrella that covered her from the flying remnants of the stalactite, smiling he looked at the black snout below him. Cynder seeing his expression smiled gratefully, thanking him without using words for saving her life, when his eyes met hers Spyro could swear he saw them twinkle for a brief moment.

Cynder's mind returned to reality and her eyes went wide the moment he furled his wings, another stalactite broke off from the ceiling and was heading their way. She wrapped her paws around Spyro and jerked making him gasp faintly as they rolled over with her ending on top of him. They both looked to the side when the sound of a crashing stalactite reached them, it was turned to pieces on impact. Cynder looked at Spyro, he turned his head slowly and watched her with a shocked expression. She winked and got up while patting his belly softly with her tail to bring back his concentration and urge him to follow her.

They began to run once more, jumping sideways, circling some rocks, they did everything to avoid the stones and stalactites that kept falling down. A deafening sound echoed through the cave as something really solid and big crumbled, the dais was destroyed completely and the noise it created made them run even faster just like it tried to tell them that there was no more time to lose. A large gap formed itself on the ground, Cynder jumped over it just to land on the other side completely covered in smoke. She sped up even if she couldn't see anything, her eyes went wide when a huge boulder revealed itself from the smoke. Cynder placed her paws firmly on the ground, sparks were send flying in the air as her claws slid on the floor creating an annoying screeching sound, she kept sliding for a while trying to dispose all that speed she accumulated. The rock was getting closer and closer with each second, she closed her eyes reading herself for the inevitable, it will be a painful collision, but then to her surprise she stopped, Cynder opened her eyes just to see the rough surface of the rock right in front of her nose, she loudly sighed in relief.

A purple tail wrapped itself around her front paw and tugged her. The cave started to vibrate even more forcefully, they had troubles running in straight line as they both swayed from side to side. The rumbling sound got more intense when the ceiling started to cave-in behind them, rocks upon rocks were falling down onto the ground with a loud thud, crumbling into small bits and creating a dense, black smoke. They kept running avoiding everything that got into their way while escaping from the avalanche of rocks behind them that was getting closer. Some barely noticeable sun rays penetrated the smoke giving them a clear sign where they should be moving. With each step the light shone brighter but that was not the only thing each gait dragged closer, the rumbling sound behind them was getting louder. They kept running towards the light that burned their eyes, yet its blinding rays were somewhat appealing, it must have been thanks to the rocks that seemed to hit the ground just behind their tails. They ran towards the growing light until their vision was covered by complete blinding light, it was then when they decided to jump.

Both dragons landed on their bellies and began to cough, a loud rumbling sound forced them to look at the cave. The moment they set their eyes on it the entrance collapsed, now many rocks replaced the opening in the hill. Puffs of smoke shot out from the hole above the entrance blocking the light near the cave. They stared at the cave until they could no longer hear the rumbling sound and the smoke stopped slipping through the cracks, everything went silent.

" I hate hermits" Cynder muttered and coughed

"Why he didn't listen to me?" Spyro mused

" He was crazy, who knows what has gotten into his head"

" He wasn't crazy...well not entirely, he talked with me after all and he sounded quite normal "

Cynder shrugged " He put on a brave face I guess"

Spyro scratched his head " Yeah maybe you are right, but I still don't understand what made him to attack me"

" Nothing special really, it was only your blood" she added with her typical sarcastic tone

" I thought it was something more interesting" he might have said one thing just to play along, but when he looked at her his expression spoke volumes, he wanted to know what she saw

" After he examined your wound he licked one of his blood covered fingers"

Spyro's snout twisted in disgust" But why he did taste my blood in the first place? There is nothing special about it"

" Beats me, but I suppose you have to be a delicacy, not every day a purple dragon wanders into a cave of a barbaric hermit"

Spyro shuddered " Being eaten alive, that vision will keep me awake"

Cynder touched her teeth " Tell me about it" she muttered

He stood up and spread his wings "Come on Cynder let's find those trees"

" Lead on" she pulled herself up

They leapt into the air and with some flaps of their wings they turned around and started to fly southeast . Trees, rivers, ponds and mountains dotted the landscape, in the direction they were heading the numbers of trees were getting lower and lower, and it surprised them, how they are suppose to find a pair of trees when there will be none around here soon enough. The hermit pointed them in the wrong direction probably but they had nothing to lose anyway, they were lost already so what's the difference if they'll fly in the wrong direction? Nevertheless Spyro still kept going southeast, he believed that the hermit told them the truth, after all Meadow was their mutual friend, there was no reason to lie about the location of the village.

They soared for a while and were about to give up but then they flew over a hill and just right behind it was the thing they were looking for. Two enormous trees with no leaves but only twisted and cracked branches were leaning against each other, their bare crowns looked like they were glued together and that position left their hunks bent so badly that it was surprising they didn't break. The trees leaning like that looked like some sort of an arch yet it wasn't curved as a normal arch but nevertheless one could say the trees formed some sort of a gateway if you'd look closely. Nothing surrounded the trees expect some stones forming a circle around it, what really was unique about the stones was that they were of different colors, green, blue, red and many others surrounded the trees. Surprisingly their colors weren't sharp even despite the sunlight, they were shaded just like light never touched them in the first place. It would be quite a trek for anybody walking on foot, the trees weren't far from the cave but the hills, rivers and many other things would really be a pain for any traveler, it would take some days to reach them. Luckily they didn't have to worry about such things since they had their wings, a dragon's best friends when it comes to travel long distances.

"Now those are some really scary looking trees" Cynder stated while she landed next to them and looked them over.

The moment Spyro touched the ground his head had been moving up and down their hunks "Yeah I wonder how they managed to bend like that"

" Don't ask me I have no idea"

"How a tree can reach such a curve? Magic must hold them in place somehow I guess. Cool"

" I don't know, those trees are strange I mean look..." Cynder scanned the surroundings "... they seem kinda out of place"

Spyro looked around, she was right, green ground surrounded them with some broad-leaved trees every now and then, and here was a pair of twisted and barren trees peacefully rooted in the earth " Hey you are right, but maybe someone made them like that on purpose. An unique spot to help any lost traveler to find his right direction"

"Or maybe the hermit lead us into a trap, by stepping into this circle we made ourselves vulnerable and soon his friends will show themselves and eat us" A small smile formed itself on Cynder's snout

Spyro frowned " That's not funny"

" I know"

" Besides I don't feel any magic radiating from them" he touched one of the hunks, his paw itched slightly, Spyro scratched his foreleg and kicked away one of the shaded rocks "Yup, nothing"

He looked at the hunk again and cocked his head " Wait a minute" Spyro rose on his hind paws and tore off one of the twisted branches " Doesn't it look like the staff the hermit carried?"

She looked at the branch "It does, no wonder he remembered how to reach this place"

Spyro looked on the ground " And these stones look like the one that was attached to his staff, I wonder what else he could make from them, if should have asked him about something else when I had the chance"

Cynder's head jerked back slightly just as if something occurred to her " Yeah you really asked him some strange questions, what was that all about?"

Spyro smiled " Alchemy? There was a dragonfly in my village who called himself an alchemist, he could make a potion which changed the color of your scales for a while. I was always curious if alchemists can really make things like that using mostly some...well junk"

Cynder shook her head " No, not alchemy, you asked the hermit about a village that was supposed to be past the forest. "

"Oh that" he scratched his head " I felt that tingle again and I followed it into the forest while you were sleeping, I found a map there"

She jerked in surprise " What sort of a map?"

"Map is a wrong word, it looked like a hastily drawn plan with the location of some villages"

" Where is it? Can I see it?"

Spyro shook his head "You can't, it was destroyed when the apes attacked me"

Cynder reared her head" Apes? So close to the cave? When you were planning to tell me about them?"

He shifted from paw to paw nervously " Honestly? Never"

"WHAT?!" she exclaimed angrily

"Listen! After the fight they were all gone!" he shouted

"Of course they were you killed them after all!" Cynder's voice still full of anger

He shook his head "No, not like that, they vanished, every body, every drop of blood, even the living ones disappeared just like they weren't there in the first place!" he exclaimed

Her anger was gone instantly "Ohh"

"Yeah, ohh! When I hit that tree and nothing came after me I didn't know what to make out of it"

"Nevertheless you should have told me about it"

Spyro furrowed a brow " And what should I tell you? That I was fighting with invisible enemies that I probably created in my head? Or maybe about my new wounds that I probably did myself while _fighting_?"

Cynder nodded "Yep, that would be a start"

He jerked his head slightly, sigted and smiled kindly soon after "Thanks Cynder but I just didn't want to worry you, you have been through enough"

"Hey!" she exclaimed indignantly "Don't worry about me, I can handle it"

Spyro chuckled " Ok then, I didn't want you to know that you are traveling with a crazy dragon"

She giggled " And what would that change? I'm already nuts, but at least I now know that we are on the same boat"

He smiled and shook his head " If we go down we go down together, right?"

"Hell yeah!" she exclaimed merrily " I'm happy that we are going crazy together, I know how that sounds but at least we know that when we will start drooling and mumble under our noses it can't get any worse than that. Besides I'm pleased that I will have someone to talk to since nobody else will understand me"

Spyro laughed " There is always a silver lining"

Cynder giggled "Exactly, but I rather like that moment to come later than sooner so how about we leave those creepy trees behind and find some civilization?" she spread her wings

In agreement Spyro leapt into the air with Cynder following him, a river was their destination now, so following the hermit's advice they flew east, searching for it. It didn't take them long to find a single, crystal clear and quite broad river flowing down. They've made their way alongside its riverbank until they saw a single black smoke rising above one of the tree tops, a smoke that was coming out from a chimney.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Thick wooden wall surrounded the village, a massive wooden gate with more darker wood covering its middle and with two feathers carved on it was tightly shut, sending a clear signal that the village wasn't expecting guests. A couple of cheetahs were lazily walking back and forth on the wall bored to death, while some others kept vigil in their tall watchtowers just beside the front game . This village had simple defenses and would fall easily when some well trained army decided to attack it, but still there was quite a handful of guards here on the watch as for such simple village. Safety comes first even in times of peace it seems.

Both dragons landed quite a distance away from the gate hiding behind some trees, they wanted to take it slow, giving the guards some time to react, showing them that they come with good intentions. Both dragons decided to approach the village politely by stepping out in the open so they could be easily spotted. They could just land in the middle of the settlement but the cheetahs might take that as an insult, even if it seemed normal for airborne creatures like themselves, the felines might think that they barged in. That was the last thing they wanted, after all their last visit here was far from pleasant.

"I'm sure they'll be thrilled to see us" Cynder's sarcastic tone of voice resounded in the air the moment their snouts left their hiding place

"It can't be that bad" Spyro assured her with a small smile.

The guards stopped in their tracks when they spotted two draconic figures heading their way, some felines disappeared from their guard posts and some distant shouts could be heard. They've made their way towards the sturdy looking gate, surprisingly it didn't open. The guards seemed nervous, they have been staring at them intently clenching tightly the weapons in their hands. Most of them at least acted like that, some looked at them with indifferent eyes while some others had indictment plastered on their faces.

The cheetahs living in the Valley tried to remain neutral in the war against Malefor after he broke out from his prison in the Night of Eternal Darkness, it was Spyro who released him in the first place, much to his surprise and displeasure, a dragon who set free the plague he was meant to stop, they didn't care that he was tricked, lured into the Well of Souls by the Ape King Gaul. They have captured Cynder and for Spyro that was the only thing that mattered at that time and The Dark Master knew that. The cheetahs shared much blood for the Realms back when Malefor roamed free all those years ago, and took another share of death when corrupted Cynder soared the skies. it didn't matter for them that it was an unintentional turn of events, a dragon made a mess by releasing The Dark Master a dragon has to clean it up. Nevertheless the cheetahs eventually joined forces with the dragons when Warfang was under siege and helped them later to stop The Destroyer in its path. The cheetahs warriors followed orders even if reluctantly, their leaders eventually managed to see reason even if for the last time. There were of course warriors that didn't share the same views as the other soldiers, they helped the dragons with much pleasure, realizing what's at stake and letting bygones be bygones, but that was only a tiny portion of the army, most of them distrusted their draconic allies with some of their leaders included. If it's fair that was not for the two young dragons to decide, it is what it is and only time will tell if it will have any consequences in the future.

What mattered right here and now was the creaking sound of the massive wooden doors opening in front of the two dragons. A cheetah accompanied from two sides by bodyguards was heading their way, the feline was their leader with who both dragons have already met and it wasn't a friendly acquaintance.

Chief Prowlus was the one in the middle, it was his village in which both dragons found themselves after they have been captured by the cheetahs, not the best way for a first meeting to say the least. He was a strong, strict and fair leader but also leery of practically anything outside the village, he was especially distrustful of Dragons. The Chief sauntered towards both dragons, orange fur with black ringlets covered the top of his head, arms, legs, back and tail mixed with a bit of black on the top of his ears, around his yellow eyes and on the top of the feline's tail, while his chest, hands and paws were completely covered with white fur. He was wearing a leather armor with a amaranthine cape with a falcon feather sewn into it, the cape was pinned to the armor with a gold round symbol with a spear in it, the same symbol but bigger was on the back of his coat. He wore a thick leather belt around his waist with a large emblem in its middle, it looked like the one on his coat. A leather sheath was strapped to one side of the belt, a hilt of the sword was the only thing that protruded from it. Two brown leather bracers with many rivets covered his forearms.

"You two? What are you doing here in my village?" Prowlus asked with his usual strict and angry voice

"We have been traveling for a while and we just wanted to-" Spyro tried to start a conversation but was interrupted by the Chiefs firm tone

" You are in no position to ask for anything, didn't I make myself clear previously that Dragons aren't welcome here?"

"Oh you mean the moment when your men knocked us out and chained to a well? Yeah, that was a very polite way to make your point, we just came here to show you how a proper talk between allies should look like" At the sound of Cynder voice the two bodyguards snorted quietly and the Chiefs eyes flared up for a brief moment

"Cynder" Spyro hissed her name through clenched teeth

" Keep that poisonous tongue of yours in your mouth because the people here still remember you Shadow and if you keep this attitude even despite your so called good deeds we make sure that this time you won't forget us" The Chief patted the hilt of his sword , sending a clear signal that he is not joking

" You have to forgive her, she doesn't have really good social skills" Spyro smiled apologetically

Cynder didn't pay any attention to his words, she was entirely focused on the three cheetahs ahead " We came here with good intentions but if you put it this way I will have to..."

" WE WILL HAVE TO!..." Spyro shouted at Cynder gaining her attention instantly, the moment her eyes met his he gave her a meaningful look and turned his head towards the cheetahs "We will have to ask you If you would be so kind to let us use the Forbidden Tunnel to Warfang one more time?"

" As I said Dragon, you are in no position to ask for anything" the Chief stated firmly

"But-"

"But what?!" Prowlus yelled irritated interrupting Spyro " Just because some call you a hero you expect everyone to bend their knee and fulfill your every request?"

" No, I ask for your help as an ally"

" An ally?" The Chief chuckled " We are no allies Dragon"

"What?" Spyro mumbled

" What did you expect? You thought that every cheetah will follow you whenever you desire? Think again"

" What the hell is wrong with you?!" Cynder burst out angrily " Did you already forget that we fought together? Did you forget the siege of Warfang? Did you forget who tried to stop The Destroyer? Did you forget who fought with The Dark Army? WE DID! Cheetahs and Dragons were on those battlefields fighting alongside each other, dying like a single specie and you still don't consider us as allies? What bond is more important than that of blood?

Prowlus looked at her with burning eyes " You are the last one who should be lecturing me, we followed you into battle only because you helped us previously, a favor for a favor. That is called honor something I don't expect you to understand"

Some small green flames shot out from Cynder's nose " I can't believe what I'm hearing, how is it possible that this mean nothing to you?! You ignorant mother-"

" WE UNDERSTAND!" Spyro yelled at the top of his lungs gaining everyone's attention, he sighed and calmed himself before continuing " Bottom line Chief, you won't help us am I right?

Prowlus scratched his nose "Well you thought we were allies so I'll give you a little advice before you leave" he pointed at Spyro's wings with one of his claws "Use them, you will reach your destination eventually."

Spyro frowned " Thank you for your cooperation, we will be leaving now" both dragons turned around ready to continue on their way

" And where do you think you are going?" before they could make a step a familiar friendly voice came from behind them, when they turned around they recognized its owner immediately.

Meadow approached the group, when Spyro and Cynder found themselves in this village chained to a well for the first time there was no sign of Meadow, he was missing. Prowlus didn't start an immediate search for him, since the missing cheetah liked to take his time collecting herbs outside the village. When he wasn't returning for quite a while both dragons volunteered to go and find him trying to convince the Chief of their good intentions. Injured Meadow was rescued from an ambush of Grublins in a cave behind the nearby waterfall.

That was the past, now he was slowly heading towards them with a strict expression on his face. He was wearing a simple green shirt and a yellow robe with brown stripes on its sides and a falcon feather sewn into it. He has a similar colored fur like Prowlus but a bit darker. Even despite the fact that Meadow was just a simple warrior he had the respect of the cheetahs, many considered him as Prowlus' right hand or a very close friend because even the Chief himself valued his opinion.

"Why didn't you invite them in Prowlus? It's not kind to welcome our heroes and saviors in this way" Meadow placed his hand on the Chief's shoulder

The feline leader snorted " Heroes? I don't see any heroes here besides those that are already in the village"

He released his shoulder " Of course everyone deserves our respect, their sacrifice wasn't in vain but we can't forget who delivered the final blow"

The Chiefs eyes flared up once more " How can you be so blind? They are no heroes, what I see here is a traitor" he pointed at Cynder" she change sides just like we change our clothes, a loyal servant of The Dark Master who enjoyed to follow his every whim, a servant who stabbed him in the back when she realized that there was no chance he could win. Now she travels with this one, she is always around him , ready to follow his orders, even protect him if necessary, acting like a caring friend. But her natural personality follows him just like a shadow, ready to strike when he will be no longer useful..."

Spyro saw as Cynder lowered her head, she blamed herself for everything she had done even if she was corrupted back then and couldn't control herself. The Chiefs words must have rekindled that guilt which filled her heart, Spyro stared at her with concerned eyes " Don't listen to him Cynder, it wasn't your fault"

"...and he " Prowlus pointed at Spyro " A dragon who caused all of this, a dragon who was supposed to bring peace to the Realms, instead of that he gave us Malefor and it doesn't matter that he defeated him, damage was already done. He is no savior, he isn't a protector, he is a harbinger of destruction, wherever he goes Death follows in his wake and this time will be no different, mark my words. He will make a mistake one day and we cheetahs will pay for it with our blood once again."

Meadow stared at him with a cold gaze for a while " I think that you have more pressing matters Chief than to worry about those two, I assure you they won't be a problem" he said with a firm voice, the words leaving his mouth slowly so that Prowlus could understand their resonance

Both warriors kept staring at each other until Prowlus shot both dragons a quick distrustful glance, with an audible snort he looked at Meadow once more and made his way towards the gate accompanied by his bodyguards. Meadow's eyes followed the Chief until he could no longer see him before finally concentrating on the two dragons.

Meadow smiled kindly and apologetically at the same time "I'm sorry, I just hope he didn't cause too much trouble"

" Don't worry we kinda expected that" Cynder spoke with a comforting smile on her snout

Meadow shook his head " He is a very strict and just leader, he values every life that is placed under his command, whenever a soldier dies it leaves a mark on him, that's why the soldiers treat him with such respect because they know that he always has their backs" the warrior sighed " Unfortunately he is also a fool, he lets the past to control him, he fails to see that things have changed, that there are dragons out there that can be trusted. Luckily he has me to remind him constantly of that" a smug smile formed itself on his face

"Thank you Meadow" Spyro bowed his head gratefully "We came here seeking your help, we need to get to Warfang and we thought that you could allow us to use the Forbidden Tunnel"

"Ahh the Tunnel yes, but how about you come in and enjoy this fine afternoon with us? I'm sure you have quite a story to tell, we can talk about business later"

"I thought you never ask" Spyro smiled cheerfully

Meadow chuckled " Ha! It's always important to be in good spirits even despite unhappy circumstances" He stepped aside and extended his arm towards the gate " Please, come in"

The village itself was nothing special at first glance, there were plenty more guards walking on the wooden wall that they couldn't see from where they previously stood. A familiar well was placed in the middle of the settlement, with some female cheetahs and a couple of children running with buckets, every now and then splashing some water on themselves that triggered a loud merry laughter. Houses dotted the village, there were plenty of them ,some were smaller others a little larger but surprisingly most of the houses had their windows tightly shut, only a couple of them allowed the sunlight to illuminate their interior giving a good sight for every inquisitive neighbor who wanted to know what the family next door was doing.

Dirt roads run through the village, the main broad pathway split into many smaller ones, some of them lead to the houses, some of them to the gates, and even other to the workshops. As both dragons walked down the main road they could see that many of those workshops were closed, only a single fletcher was working. Well working was an overstatement, the cheetah was lazily picking a piece of wood, he then started to carve it with some sort of a knife, seconds later he puffed on it sending some shavings into the air. Whatever he was making didn't resemble a bow at all, it took him only a moment to finish his work of art, the moment he placed it on the ground they could see that he carved two circles that were most likely eyes, a nose and a broad smile on the piece of wood. With a grin he looked at it and leaned it against a wall directing its happy expression towards the road before picking another piece of wood, smaller this time.

Near the well was a building with an amaranthine canvas with a big gold round spear symbol hanging down from its roof, that dangled just above the entrance so every pedestrian could see it. Two burly looking cheetahs stood at both sides of the door, completely motionless with their long spears leaned against their shoulders. All of the building's windows were barred with sturdy iron bars, preventing any unwanted visitor from barging in. This was either the Chiefs house or a building where many decisions regarding the village were made or are going to be made. Whatever the case may be the building is an important structure for the village.

Some distance away from them was a huge building that seemed to be anchored to the wooden wall. Black smoke was slowly escaping through the chimney. Windows dotted the walls, there were plenty of them almost one just beside the other allowing as much light as possible so the sun could illuminate its vast interior. For such a big building there was only a handful of cheetahs walking inside, the felines were slowly cleaning the building. They were very accurate, not allowing even the smallest spot to be left alone, it looked like they were preparing the room for something important.

The village was very quiet ,the silence was occasionally broken by a happy laughter, but even the loudest laugh was consumed by the quietness of this place in seconds, allowing silence take the lead once more. That was not how both dragons remembered the village, back then when they were captured and brought here the village was bursting with chatter and all kind of activity. Cheetahs kept running in every direction, they had always something to do, wherever they looked there was always a cheetah going on about his business. Now as they walked there was practically no living soul on their way, there was no sound, only complete silence, there was no activity, only complete stillness. The once loud and thriving village was now only a shadow of its former self, it was lifeless and looked like it was deserted.

"It's been a while since I last saw you, tell me, how life's been treating you Spyro?" Meadow looked at the purple dragon while they kept moseying down the road

" It really put my strength to the test, both mental and physical, the death and destruction I had seen really left a mark on me, I won't forget the past few months for my entire life I suppose" Spyro replied wincing as the fresh memories ran through his mind

"War" the cheetah huffed thoughtfully " It pushes us to our limits, and unfortunately not everyone is able to keep up with its fast pace"

" Good thing that Malefor was not a very talented runner" Cynder joined the discussion with her typical sarcastic and witty behavior

"Ah Cynder" Meadow smiled " It's always good to have a personality like yours around, pushing down all these bad feelings while replacing them with some good news served with a dose of sarcasm to help a burdened heart forget about its problems even for a brief moment. A very useful skill indeed"

"Whoa" she exclaimed " I had no idea I have a skill like that, are you sure you are not taking me for someone else?"

Meadow's smile grew even wider " My point exactly" he coughed " But humor aside, was it difficult to see your former Master when you no longer felt his touch shrouding your mind?"

Cynder gasped faintly as an image of that unavoidable meeting flashed before her eyes " To be entirely honest I was terrified"

"Why?"

She furrowed a brow "Why?, It was Malefor, the leader of The Dark Army, the dragon that controlled..." she turned her head to a side "... I mean he was the most dangerous opponent that used his serva... I mean m... because he was a powerful dragon"

The cheetah watched her intently " A battle with a dangerous foe always fills every warrior heart with fear, but to be terrified? I mean you have to understand my surprise, you have experienced your share of battle and yet you were there almost paralyzed with fear. He was undoubtedly a better warrior than your previous opponents but to be terrified about someone's fighting skills when you are a talented warrior is new to me"

" His fighting skills weren't the reason" she stopped walking and stared at the ground " As you said he was my Master, a Master that I hated and despised, but..." Cynder sighed "...but there was a part of me that adored him, a part that couldn't wait to be reunited with him once more. I was afraid that this whole time I've been fooling myself that I've been free of his influence but in truth it was still in me. Or it had nothing to do with influence, I wondered if that was just me, maybe when Spyro defeated me all those years ago he brought me in some sort of amnesia blocking that dark side of mine that was awakening in Malefor's lair."

" In the end it turned out that you were in fact corrupted and nothing that happened when you were soaring the skies as a Malefor's general was your fault"

Cynder stared at ground in silence for a while " Yeah" she muttered " tell that to all the people I've slaughtered"

Meadow narrowed his pupils " Why I hear guilt in your voice?"

"Because It was all my fault!" she exclaimed and looked at the cheetah with teary eyes " I killed every single one of them and I didn't want to stop it because I liked it, I loved the sight of their eyes while I took their life"

" It seems that dark magic intensifies the vile feelings in us, but now you know that, and you still feel responsible?"

She looked directly into his eyes " I do"

"No!" Spyro shouted "You are not responsible for anything! That wasn't you, that was Malefor!" he looked at the cheetah with anger in his eyes " What's the point of this Meadow? She has nothing to do with it!"

The warrior raised his hands" Of course, but Spyro listen to me-"

"No!" his eyes flared up "You will listen to me! Malefor wasn't her Master, a master allows his servants to have some free will and she had none. She was a slave who was never given the chance to chose whether she wants to follow him or not, hell she didn't even know what good means since Malefor forced her to commit all those evil things from the very beginning!"

The cheetah opened his mouth but Spyro cut him off" You will stop your subtle accusations, she can't be held accountable for things that she couldn't control!" he looked at her and the anger vanished instantly. Concern, pity taking its place with a slight commanding tone in his voice " And you will stop blaming yourself for everything that has happened, I can only imagine how you feel Cynder but trust me on this one, it wasn't your fault"

She stared at him with grateful and watery eyes, Spyro was the only one who understood her, he was the only one who never mentioned her dark past while talking with her, just like it never existed. He was the only one who did everything he could to lift her from her despair, he was the only one who cared. She couldn't wish for a better friend. Meadow observed them in complete silence, his eyes jumping between both dragons and he just couldn't stop feeling content. The silence lingered here for far too long, it was time to break it.

" Forgive me Cynder" the cheetah bowed his head apologetically

She blinked several times before looking at him " No harm done"

" Let's just forget about it, ok?" Spyro asked determined to end this unpleasant moment

All of them exchanged looks and nodded in agreement before they continued their walk down the road. As Meadow observed the two dragon tails swaying in front of him in a rhythmic motion with their bodies the corner of his mouth twitched into a smile.

" So Cynder, how it feels to be a hero?" The cheetah started another conversation while they moseyed down the path

She scoffed "A hero? Me? I'm no hero Meadow, I didn't do anything special, I've just fought and everybody could do that, but I suppose nobody was stupid enough to go on a suicide mission" Cynder looked at the azure sky above her and sighed " But I'm glad that it paid off and it feels great just to think that it's finally over"

" I understand, there is nothing that could beat the feeling of a victory when everything seemed was lost"

Cynder looked at the wagging purple tail in front of her and huffed " Oh, I can think of a thing or two"

He followed her gaze and just when he looked at the purple dragon ahead of him he noticed some cuts on his back that were slowly healing themselves " It looks like you had quite a difficult journey here"

Spyro jerked back slightly when he heard those words, he knew instantly what Meadow meant by that and since those were Cynder's claws marks he would rather not remind her of that, yet impulsively he touched his back with his wing and winced when a stinging pain ran through his body" Your right, we had some adventures before getting here after the battle, well not to mention the fight with Malefor it was pretty-"

" Oh no, no, no" Meadow interrupted him quickly " Spyro don't say anything about the fight with Malefor because I'm not the only one who likes to hear it"

He turned his head and gave the cheetah a puzzled glance " As you wish, anyway after the battle we resurfaced here in the Valley, we played for a while just to end on a tall slope with all those trees and bushes. Then a rain came just out of nowhere and it was pretty intense so we decided to find some shelter and since the weather brought with it a powerful wind and complete darkness, it was impossible to fly so we had to walk and trust me it was no simple thing"

" It looks like your life has to be filled with some kind of adventure all the time Spyro"

" Yeah it never gets boring around him, he is jinxed I tell you" Cynder added with a quizzical smile

"I've never heard you complaining" Spyro remarked her

"Loudly you mean" she snickered" Somebody has to keep an eye on you otherwise you will end up drowning in a puddle of water"

He looked at her just to see her wink, Spyro smiled and shook his head " Anyway we kept walking until we reached a very steep terrain from which we both slid, eventually Cynder reached a ramp that threw her off the cliff while I crashed with that huge ancient tree. Luckily-"

Meadow clapped his hands startling both dragons " A huge tree! Was it arched from an edge of that hill? Did it had thick, long roots and an extremely big crown?"

" That's the one, why?"

The cheetah laughed merrily " We for sure now know that you are not jinxed, look" Meadow turned around and pointed at something. They followed his hint and squinted to , there was a barely noticeable form of a tree ahead that was arched from an end of a tall slope. A tree they both were very familiar with.

" That was no coincidence that you found yourself there. Every cheetah village is built with one thing in mind- to be able to spot the tree from the settlement. Because you see, the tree is important for us cheetahs. It's a symbol of protection, hope and good fortune, we call it..." Meadow clapped his hands once more " I have a better idea! We trade stories, you will tell us about your fight with Malefor and I will tell you all about that tree when we get there"

Spyro cocked his head " Get where? You never said where we are going"

Meadow chuckled " Patience Spyro, patience we are almost there"

Spyro shrugged " Ok then" he looked around the village and every time his head moved his natural curiosity was getting the upper hand " There is one thing that bothers me though, where are all the people? This place looks deserted"

" That's because almost all of our warriors, crafters and many other cheetahs are staying in Warfang helping in rebuilding the city"

" Really? I'm surprised that the Chief agreed to that"

Meadow sneered and scratched his nose " In fact he didn't"

Spyro jerked back in surprise "How so?" he smirked " You tricked him, didn't you?"

" I would never do such a thing" they stared at each other for a while and chuckled simultaneously moments later " We are allies whether he likes it or not so when he was not looking I told our warriors to stay in Warfang and help the dragons since we owe you that much." Meadow's smile grew wider " When Prowlus found out about it we had a little talk but I won't quote what he said because I have some good manners, let's just say he didn't agree with me"

Spyro couldn't stop smiling, it wasn't nice but he was actually happy that someone cut The Chief down to size. With a shake of his head he threw away all that glee and focused anew" How is Warfang doing?"

"I don't know, I had no news from the city for a while"

Spyro looked around the walls, seeing many cheetahs walking back and forth on them " There is quite a big number of guards here"

Meadow sighed resigned "Prowlus' idea, his distrustful nature made him place every free warrior on the wall"

"Have you been attacked lately?"

" We didn't, that's the whole point, I'm sure we would hear from Warfang if the Dark Army decided to advance"

"Better safe than sorry they say" Spyro quipped

"Ha! I agree, but we should have some common sense, we are-"

"Cynder" the sound of someone calling her name rang in her skull blocking every sound. She stopped just to see Meadow and Spyro walking down the road like they never heard anything. From what she could say they were still talking but she couldn't make out any words, it's not like she cared anyway, the sound of her name coming from one of the side roads was far more interesting.

With the last glance ahead she decided to leave them to their conversation, she'll catch up with them later. Determined, Cynder scuttled down one of the side roads, the sound of her name still pounding in her head. Rows of buildings stood at both sides of the road, most of them closed, she kept walking through some sort of a living district if you can say that a village has one in the first place. One thing was sure though, the cheetahs here kept together, the houses were close to one another and neighbors just could peer through a window just standing safely in his own four walls. The houses were so close that one could say that the cheetahs lived here like a one big family, everyone knowing everything about everyone yet not spreading any false rumors around, respecting each other's privacy and private life.

"Why always me?!" a high indignant female voice reached Cynder, it bounced from wall to wall down the road leaving a barely hearable echo behind it. The sound instantly got her attention, she started to walk towards it without even a moment to think about it. She turned and walked down another side road that ran between the houses just to round a corner and find herself on another path, even when there was no sound reaching her now Cynder had a hunch that she is going in the right direction, her instinct the only guide she ever needed.

" Those are the rules!" another noise reached her, this time however it was a high male voice that seemed to admonish the female one. Cynder sped up, the sound only confirmed that her instinct was right once again and from the looks of it she wasn't very far from the source of this noise. She rounded a corner, and dashed down a path just to turn on an another corner, it was then when she finally found the source of this noise.

Cynder stopped next to a building with her eyes fixed on the image ahead. She found a small green patch of land between the houses, what really interested her was the sight of a small group standing on it. There were three children talking with each other, one of them was a petite female dragon hatchling. She had very bright azure scales, two tiny fawn horns protruding from her temples forming a lateral spiral, two small azure wings with fawn membranes, a tail with tiny aquamarine spines on its end and a tip of the same color that looked like the triangular tip of a sword.

Two cheetah cubs accompanied her, their fur was mostly still white since in this age it lacked the typical sharp orange color. One of them wore a green shirt, light brown pants and shoes of the same color, while the other had a dark grey with specks of brown shirt, green pants and brown shoes. Their garment was pretty common but those were kids they couldn't care less what they were wearing. The cheetahs differed in some other ways also, the cub with the green shirt had a quite big black spot in the middle of his forehead, there were many others spots around but none of them was so conspicuous as that single one. The other cub however had an extremely black fur around his eyes that looked like a pair of ink stains against the white background of his fur.

Many branches were scattered all around them, some were bigger than the others but all of them were quite thick without any sharp edges. Three cloaks laid on the grass, a yellow and a purple one were quite small yet they would fit perfectly on kids just like those two cheetah cubs here. The third cloak however was completely black and a bit larger than the previous two. Some leather bracelets littered the ground, not far from she could see two small leather helmets with some holes in them. The children were prepared for whatever they were doing pretty nicely.

"That's not fair!" the blue petite dragoness exclaimed irritated

" It is!" shouted the cub in green shirt

She snorted " Nu-uh! You cheat!"

The cheetah with mottled grey shirt burst out laughing "Hahahaha! You are stupid Az! Stupid, stupid, stupid! We don't cheat!"

" You are stupid! You cheat because you would loose hahahaha!"

The cheetah with the big spot on his forehead pointed his finger at her " Az is going to cry, Az is going to cry!" the cub kept repeating mockingly the same words

" Shut up Dot!" the dragoness shouted even more loudly " You should be dead , I killed you with my poison breath!"

" No, you didn't, Sparx healed me!"

"He can't do that!"

"Yes I can!" the second cub yelled "That was one of my secret powers!"

The azure dragoness burst out laughing" Since when you have secret powers Black eye?"

"I had them in this fight!"

" Then you should be dead because I used my super shadow breath!"

The cub named Dot frowned " You can't use your super powers cheater!"

The dragoness hissed angrily "Why?"

"Because you get super powers after four wins, those are the rules!"

"You never told me about that rule before!"

Black eye laughed" You are stupid Az, we told you about them but you never listen"

"Those rules are stupid! I don't want them anymore!"

"Az is going to cry! Az is going to cry!" Dot mocked the dragoness once more

The petite hatchling roared" Dot, shut up! You wouldn't defeat me without your super powers!"

Both cubs laughed hysterically "Yeah right"

Cynder observed the arguing children with a broad smile, three friends shouting at each other practically for no reason, yet for them it was a matter of honor. She wished she had their problems, everything would be simple then, even if they looked angry they seemed happy and innocent, enjoying each other's company and the time they spent on playing, after all that was all that mattered during childhood.

_Childhood _this word rang in her head and Cynder's smiled vanished completely when realization struck her that she was stripped of her childhood. She didn't knew what argument means since from the very beginning she was taught that the decision of her Master is unquestionable, she didn't knew what playing means since she never touched a toy in her hatchling years. She didn't knew what friend means since she never had any, she didn't knew what innocence means since she killed from the moment when her eyes opened. Cynder felt as a void filled her guts, she felt empty just like something was stolen from her that should never been moved in the first place, something that can't be returned. Only emptiness remained in that place, an emptiness that can never be filled even if she really wanted to.

"Fine!" the hatchling exclaimed indignantly "I've lost, but this time I want to be someone else and I will have super powers too hahaha!"

The cub with the big spot on his forehead frowned "You can't be someone else! Those are the rules!"

"No! Those rules suck, I don't want to be Cynder! the dragoness stomped her paw on the ground in protest

Cynder cocked her head at the sound of her name, she was completely surprised that she was a topic in a kids argument but nevertheless curiosity roused in her. Even if the children were only playing she still wanted to know what role she had in their little game, yet she didn't want to intrude . There was a battle going on inside Cynder's head between her carefulness and eagerness,and it was a fierce one. Sometimes her caution got the upper hand and she decided to leave the children alone, maybe she doesn't want to know anything about it in the first place.

She took a few steps back slowly hiding behind the wall of a house, it was then when her curiosity counter-attacked making her stop. Cynder scratched the ground nervously with her paw as her emotions battled in her head in a last final confrontation. "Screw it" Cynder muttered and felt as her curiosity struck a decisive blow making its enemy vanish completely, she retraced her steps and just when she was about to round the corner she craned her neck just to make sure the children were still there, they were. Driven by her eagerness she rounded the corner and made few steps closer towards the kids so she could hear everything.

" You have no choice Stupid!" the cub with mottled grey shirt shouted irritably

" I don't want to be Cynder!" the dragoness shouted back at the top of her small lungs

" Then who do you want to be?"

" I want to be Spyro!"

Both cheetah cubs burst out laughing making the dragoness turn red from anger " You can't be Spyro!" yelled Dot when he managed to catch some breath

"Why?!"

" Because I'm Spyro! The rules say that only the winner can change Spyro for someone else if he wants to"

The hatchling hissed angrily "Ok so I will be Sparx!"

Black eye laughed again " You can't be Sparx because the rules say that when you save someone you can't leave this character"

No! I don't want to be evil Cynder again!"

" Those are the rules Az!"

She roared " Those rules are stupid!. I know! I'm going to change them!" the dragoness exclaimed happily

"You can't change the rules of the game!" Dot admonished her

"Why not?!"

"Because..." the cubs looked at each other in confusion, they gawked at their faces before turning towards the dragoness "...because they are the rules of the game and they are unchen.. unachen.. they can't be changed! You must be the ugly Cynder!"

"No! I don't want to be her" the hatchling stomped her paw on the ground once again

"Az you want to play with us or not?" Black eye said, clearly tired of this argument

There was a moment of silence as the dragoness was fighting with her thoughts "Fine!" she finally exclaimed " I'll play this stupid game, I'll follow this stupid rules and I will be this stupid Cynder! Just don't cheat!"

Those were the words all of them were waiting for even if not everything was as one of them thought will be. The cubs threw the cloaks on them pinning the capes to their shirts, the petite dragoness uncomfortably threw the black cloak onto her and tied it under her neck so it won't fall down. Black eye wore the yellow cloak while Dot had a purple one, he also wore a leather helmet with two branches protruding from it. Az put the seconds leather helmet on her head and wrapped two leather bracelets on her two front paws. Afterwards she stuck a branch into one of the helmet holes, it was a perfect fit. She kept putting branches into it until there was five of them protruding from her helmet. With everything on its right place she looked meaningfully at the cubs.

Black eye frowned " How many times I told you that Cynder had four horns"

"She had five!" the dragoness exclaimed

"Nu-uh!"

"She had five that way she looked more ugly and scary"

" I tell you she had four!"

" Nu-uh!"

" Uh huh, four!"

"Nu-uh, five!"

They kept arguing until they heard the sound of a female voice" Actually..." Cynder made her way towards the hatchling"... she had six" with that she picked one of the branches and stuck it into the helmet

The azure dragoness ran her claw across her six wooden horns and grinned "I've told you she had six!"

"Liar!" Black eye exclaimed " You said she had five!"

"And you said she had four! I was closer to the truth, who is stupid now?!"

"Whatever, they don't do anything anyway"

Az laughed wryly "Do nothing?! With my new horn I'm even more scary than before, now I don't need any super powers to win!"

" I don't know, you still look the same to me" Dot stated unconvincingly

"Yeah right, if a real Cynder was here you would run away, crying"

The cub frowned " I wouldn't run away!"

The dragoness smirked " You would"

"Yeah? And what about you? You would run away I'm sure of it!"

Az snorted " Me? Never. I know how fear power works and with this new horn I will never lose!" she looked at Cynder grinning proudly" Thank you"

She giggled" No need to thank me I'm just happy to-"

"CYNDER!" the sound of a familiar male voice calling her name caught her attention

"I'm coming!" she yelled loudly before returning to look at the kids again. All of them stared at her with huge eyes and their mouths dropped open. Cynder smiled at them kindly and prepared to ask them a question, however the moment she opened her mouth and exhaled some air the kids screamed at the top of their lungs and scattered in every direction squeaking as they did so. Cynder surprised eyes followed one of the cheetah cubs, she saw as he ran as fast as he could until he reached a female leg, Hiding behind it he started tugging the skirt mumbling something quickly and gesticulating towards her, when Cynder's eyes met with the female cheetah the feline gave her a scornful look, the look of an insulted mother. When she saw that look Cynder's eyes went wide as she suddenly felt guilty, bending on her paws and with her tail between her legs she turned around quickly and dashed towards the male shout just like a child who did something wrong and wanted to ran away just to avoid punishment.

"Where have you been?" Spyro asked with a palpable surprise in his voice when she emerged from a side road

"What?" Cynder blurt out ironically " A girl can't have some privacy?"

He smiled shyly " I was worried, with everything that was happening lately I thought...you know"

" I'm fine, but I appreciate the concern" she smiled charmingly

They stared at each other before continuing their walk. They found themselves in the centre of the village, a familiar well only confirmed their assumptions. Both dragons kept walking ahead until they noticed Meadow standing near the door to a big building with many windows and a black smoke rising from the chimney, he waved for them to come closer. When they did, Meadow opened the door and invited them in with a nod of his head and a friendly smile.


	10. Chapter 10

"Spyro, Cynder would you like to join us at the table?" the feline asked politely

"Of course, it would be our pleasure" replied Spyro

"Excellent, but you will have to excuse me I have some final preparations to attend to. Make yourself at home" with that Meadow pointed at one room while he disappeared into the other

They've stood in a small hallway, the walls were made from some kind of reddish wood, probably the whole interior was covered in the same pattern. A small brown carpet laid on the wooden floor and ran through the whole hallway. All kind of weaponry hung on the walls, wooden round shields with reinforced strips, silvery swords of different sizes and hilts, some daggers and a staff every now and then. Two entrances were located on opposite sides of the wall, one leading to the room where Meadow went, while the other to the room where they should supposed to go.

They entered a salon and a huge one in fact, many windows dotted one of the walls allowing the light to properly illuminate the whole room, red curtains were drawn back allowing the sun to do its job, if necessary they were ready to block the sight from prying eyes. Just like previously some weaponry adorned the walls but this time they had company, some pelts from different animals hung from the walls, and carvings depicting a falcon feather embellished the columns that stood in the room supporting the ceiling.

One of these columns consisted a fireplace, a single female cheetah was taking care of it, she was hunkered down by the fire slowly picking up a piece of wood just to place it into the fireplace. She stared at the fire for a while, clapped her hands several times, got up and turned around. The cheetah looked like she just reached her adulthood, her fur had a sharp brown color with a black tone around her eyes and on her pointy ears, her fur was also covered in many small black spots, the brown color was turned into white on the inner parts of her legs and arms, the white fur also covered the lower part of her jaw, ran down her neck, covered the end of her tail and most likely covered the feline's chest, her black mane covered her forehead. She was wearing a simple white shirt and brown shorts reaching her knees, a silver circlet with three blue stones decorated her head.

She was walking towards them with her eyes focused on the floor while scratching her head, the cheetah's moves were full of grace and completely silent as she walked across the room with no boots on her paws. After a while she gave her raven mane a solid blow flinging it from her forehead and raised her head, her shining sapphire eyes widened a little when she noticed a purple dragon ahead, she kept walking staring at the draconic figure all the time, his head was slowly moving towards her and the moment their eyes met she gave him a saucy smile and walked past by him.

A couple of other cheetahs were walking around the room, some of them were occupied with a huge wooden table with both of it opposite ends slightly rounded standing near the windows, it was extremely wide it looked like it was suited for the whole village. They were arranging the chairs all around the table, while others were making the final cleaning preparations while the last part of them was already picking seats. The table was empty but it looked like it won't be like that for long.

The smell coming out from one of the rooms only confirmed it, both dragons sniffed the aroma, it was the scent of a cooking meat, a smell that they were quite accustomed with so they already could tell that a delicious dinner is being prepared, almost ready to be served. Their stomachs rumbled with need, the sound was so loud that they immediately looked at each other and giggled when their eyes met. They sniffed once again deeply inhaling the air while closing their eyes, the delightful smell invaded the dragons nostrils, tickling them and sending another signal down to their bellies that they should fight for the meal with all their might. Both dragons moaned loudly and their tongues hung from their mouths when they exhaled the air while opening their eyes that were coated with a strong craving which blocked the surroundings leaving only the sight of a single room and the smell that escaped from it. Dragons don't have to eat daily, in fact they can survive for weeks without food, but why torture oneself when a better opportunity presents itself? An opportunity that every hungry carnivore can't allow to slip.

" Hello? Is anybody there?" Meadow asked with a broad smile on his face

Both dragons blinked and shook their heads drawing back their tongues and bits of drool with a loud slurp " Meadow?" Spyro mumbled " what's... what's the matter?"

The cheetah chuckled " I've thought that I lost you there"

" We...we were just looking around" Spyro scratched the back of his head

" I can tell that you were quite concentrated on the details and I'm not the only one who noticed it"

Spyro instantly looked around the room, at first glance nothing changed, there were still cheetahs walking back and forth going on about their business, but whenever a cheetah looked at him while Spyro kept gawking at the feline the cat giggled. Spyro blushed instantly as he realized that they must have froze in that position for quite a while

Meadow burst out laughing " There is nothing to be embarrassed of, everyone has to eat, that's why I brought you here"

" And that was a very good idea" Cynder licked her mouth" If your surprises look like that then I don't mind to be startled sometimes"

Spyro's focus returned and he shot a quick glance around the place as he felt his curiosity boiling inside of him " This doesn't look like a dining room"

"Because it isn't" Meadow stated " This room is used as a meeting place when the Chiefs from other villages or some other guests arrive. Now as you noticed we turned it into a dining room of sort, since most of our warriors are in Warfang there is only a handful of us left so we decided to make one huge place where we could all meet and talk about practically everything, It brings us together, after all we are like a family, problem of a single cheetah is everyone else's problem"

Spyro turned around and looked at Meadow " This place is huge, it seems that you meet here quite often"

"Luckily we don't" the cheetah sighed like he just remembered some bad moments from the past "There were times when this room was bustling with activity..." as he spoke Spyro noticed the female cheetah in white shirt returning, she was carrying some pieces of wood in her arms which were closely held near her chest. The moment she was right behind Meadow she looked at the Purple Dragon giving him the same smile as earlier.

"... I remember how this place was crowded during Malefor's invasion and when Shadow shrouded the skies. Not only there were war leaders gathering here but also civilians that lost their homes and there was nowhere to place them" the cheetah looked around the salon wincing as he did so " Those were dark times indeed, pain, misery and fear, these were the feelings that walked with that time side by side. Whenever people looked at this building they knew something bad was going on and they have to stay alarmed, that's why we wanted to change it's bad reputation and the only way to do that was to overcome the horrors from the past"

"It looks like you did a fine job but if you want to keep it that way you should quench every alarm and we can help you with that" Cynder grinned while rubbing her chest.

Meadow chuckled " I believe you are right we should get to it right away" the female cheetah was walking behind the warrior once again but this time Meadow grabbed her arm and pulled her closer " But to do so we will need some assistance"

" How can I help you?" the female cheetah patted her mane coquettishly without even looking at the male cheetah or dragoness, her sapphire eyes focused only on the purple drake in front of her

" Inform the rest of the village if you don't mind, it is time" Meadow released the feline's arm

" Is there any other way I can help you?" she said with a seductive tone while staring at Spyro and delicately biting her finger

"I'm-"

"He's fine" Cynder retorted coldly cutting Spyro off

" If you think of something I'll be here" the cheetah winked and turned around running her feline tail across Spyro's jaw as she began walking towards one of the rooms swaying her hips

Spyro watched her with wide eyes and slightly opened mouth, her move caught him by surprise but it seems that the whole world saving thing will draw some attention to him even if he didn't want it. Spyro smiled, his brother would love the additional attention, he would take advantage of the situation boasting about some things he supposedly done but in fact they never happened in the first place. Spyro chuckled and shook his head, he could only guess what his brother would say but it would be most likely something extremely stupid.

With that thought in his mind he looked at Cynder wanting to throw some stupid joke about all this. His smile vanished instantly when his amethyst orbs focused on her. She was staring at him with fiery eyes which he could swear were flashing with murderous intent, When Spyro noticed some green tiny flames coming out from her nose he gulped. He did something wrong again, she seemed pretty agitated and just like on the slope he has no idea why. He was certain of one thing though whatever he did made her furious which means he is in trouble.

A loud ringing sound just like someone hit a bell reached them catching everyone's attention, Spyro sighed, salvation came just in time.

"It's going to begin soon, but before we take a seat there is one last thing to do" Meadow patted the purple dragon's shoulder and made a meaningful motion with his hand "Spyro, walk with me"

They made their way towards one of the bigger columns " What is it Meadow?" Spyro asked surprised

The cheetah lead him behind the column almost hiding from the other felines walking around the room "Don't worry it's nothing serious, it's about your wounds" he slid his hand behind his robe and removed a small satchel " The dinner is almost ready and guests will arrive soon with children and we don't want them to see you bleeding, good memories you understand"

Spyro took the satchel and furrowed a brow " You lead me here just to hide from children? Sorry but I'm not buying it"

Meadow looked around like he wanted to check if somebody is listening " I'm not lying about the children, if they see blood they won't stop asking questions and since you are their hero I'm afraid they would hurt themselves just to be like you" he scratched his head and looked at the satchel " and if Prowlus would find out that I took it I'd be dead" the cheetah chuckled " I know the Chief better than anyone else, I'm sure he has spies around here"

Spyro took a peek inside the satchel and jerked back in surprise " Why he would be mad about this? They are worthless for cheetahs"

" I know that's why I think it has something to do with his attitude towards your kind, I don't have to remind you how stubborn he can be" Meadow's ears flinched when the sound of many footsteps reached him " We don't have much time"

Spyro plunged his paw into the satchel and removed a red gem from it. Spirit Gems while most likely valuable don't have any special properties, every specie living in the Realms considers them just to be simple treasure , expect for dragons. For them Spirit Gems are a gift from the Ancestors well at least that was what Ignitus always told Spyro. One thing was sure though, they are also undoubtedly the life force of all dragons, with the Dragon race known to draw strength from these Gems. They are separated into four colors.

Red Gems are able to heal a wound that a simple poultice couldn't treat properly, a less serious injury is healed instantly. However as powerful as they may be there are unable to heal mortal wounds or will fail to help with life threatening wounds without the assistance of a healer. Blue and Green Gems restore the dragon's elemental energy while the first one also empowers the breaths slightly. Sometimes they can help to turn the table in the worst circumstances. Purple Gems are the rarest and most powerful of them. They help to reach a point where the most devastating attacks can be unleashed.

The dragons call it Fury, Fury attacks are the most deadly strikes that very few enemies have even the slightest chance of surviving. Those attacks are similar to Convexity but weaker. Theoretically every dragon can reach a point where Fury powers can be unleashed, mostly it is reached while fighting, the adrenaline fuels that power, but sometimes it can be released just by concentrating . Practically only the most talented and willing dragons are able to master this ability, that's why it is also called The Ultimate Sacrifice by some of the more devoted drakes, whenever dragons use Fury they sacrifice a portion of themselves a portion that some of them believed came from the Ancestors themselves. Nobody knows if it's true but one thing was sure, the unleashed power drains the dragons energy making them extremely weakened and only the most powerful are strong enough to commit such a sacrifice. Good riddance too, there would be nothing left of this world probably if every dragon could use his Fury powers.

Spyro looked at the Red Gem in his paw, it was glittering with a sharp red light. The gem seemed to block all the sun rays not allowing them to even reflect from its smooth surface, the only light it ever needed swirled inside its structure, it was the Gems light and it won't allow anything to touch it. Spyro concentrated on the Gem, his paw was getting warmer and the light inside the Gem swirled faster and faster just like it wanted to be free. Moments later it fulfilled Spyro's wish, the light penetrated the smooth surface just like it found some cracks it, seconds later the whole Gem glowed and released its prisoner. When the intense red light reached Spyro he flinched slightly, whenever the powers of the Gems struck him he felt the strength of a thousand suns pass through his body. The light was as soothing as it was powerful, it left a refreshing chill on his body, closing every wound instantly. When the bright light subsided there was no sign of the Gem, it looked like the precious stone became that light, flashing and using its powers when they were needed and dying when it has served its purpose.

Meadow watched the whole scene with wide eyes " I'm beginning to understand Hunter, Spyro you truly are very special"

Spyro shrugged "There is nothing special about this, it's just what we dragons do"

"For you maybe it's nothing but for a cheetah like me this is very impressive" the noise in the salon got louder " We better get going" with that they left their hiding place.

Cheetahs filled the room, in a corner Spyro saw a familiar feline in white shirt placing a hammer and a bell on one of the shelves, some cats were walking aimlessly around the room and plunged into a conversation when opportunity presented itself. Cynder remained in the same spot they had left her, but she wasn't alone, some cheetah cubs and a single female dragoness stood not far from her. They were shouting something between each other while they pointed their small claws at her. It looked like she had enough of being treated like some sort of a scary exhibit so every now and then she twitched making the children squeak and jump in horror.

When the cheetahs spotted Meadow heading towards the table they followed in his footsteps, both dragons did the same thing as well. Meadow took a seat on the farther side of the table. Cheetahs surrounded the table and started to take their seats, it went really smoothly just like they have done this for quite some time know, Both dragons made their way closer to the table, obviously they can't seat in chairs so Spyro grabbed one of the chairs pulled it away and sat on his haunches, with his nose slightly above the table. Cynder decided to take a seat just next to him but the moment she started to pull away the chair a young female cheetah with a black mane sat on it. The feline grabbed the chair and dragged it closer to the table while she winked at Spyro, Cynder watched her with a frown and a boiling anger inside her, but after a while she decided to give up, she doesn't want to start a fight about such thing. One other chair was taken instantly, only after the second try Cynder managed to pull away a free chair and sat in its place, the moment she sat on her haunches Spyro craned his neck to look at her apologetically , when she met his gaze Cynder gave him an irritated look and snorted quietly moments later when she looked at the female cheetah. A male cheetah took a seat next to Cynder giving her a full of disdain look before he turned around and whispered something to his neighbor, the second cheetah repeated the same move, another one did the same and so on. Even from here she could tell that she is not very welcome here.

Some quiet conversations were running around the table, but they died out when the cheetahs from the room that was most likely the kitchen entered the salon carrying silver platters with food on them. The moment the long plate with many different kind of cooked meat landed in the middle of the table both dragons craned their necks and started to drool. Lamb, beef, venison and chicken laid in front of them, the meat looked delicious and the fantastic smell it emanated made their bellies rumble. Only good manners prevented them from wolfing it all down. Many different types of fruits followed soon after, apples and raspberries were in high demand it seems since they were in majority. Fruits and meat were already present on the table, the last thing that was missing were vegetables, salad and carrots the most common types. With all the platters in the middle of the table and in front of the guests, water, wine and some juices were added to the dinner, with them every guest received a mug next to his dish.

Seeing that everything is in order and ready Meadow slightly nodded his head, sending a signal for those who know what to look for. A couple of cheetahs that previously put all of the food on the table grabbed a bottle of each drink and started to walk all around the table. The children mugs were filled with juice while the adults had a freedom of choice. Some decided to drink water, other just like Spyro and Meadow received a mug of wine, the moment the cheetah carrying the bottle reached Cynder she extended her paw with the mug towards the feline but he only gave her a scornful look, snorted, placed the bottle on the table and walked away.

_"Ok Cynder, it seems you are on your own"_ she thought to herself while grabbing the bottle of wine and pouring some of the red liquid into her mug.

Picking up the mug filled with wine Meadow stood up and cleared his throat gaining everyone's attention " I welcome you all here, it's always a pleasure for me to see you all in this room, enjoying this dinner with the rest of your neighbors. Even if this is not the first time we eat together it always warms my heart to see you all gathered here, after all we are a one big family. To you!" with the last words exclaimed Meadow raised the mug and took a sip accompanied by a cheerful commotion.

Licking his mouth he continued "But we can't forget that we wouldn't be here if not for the happy turn of events. As we all know The Dark Master seemed unbeatable, it looked like he would destroy everything and we can't do nothing to stop him. But we prevailed! Some might say we were lucky, some might say we cheated destiny but I say that they are wrong. In every dark times heroes rise to defeat the evil and it has nothing to do with destiny, it's just the way it is." Taking a breath he looked across the table " And that's why we have to remember those who did the impossible, because if not for them we wouldn't be here and It's my great honor to see them at the table with us" He raised his mug " A toast to Spyro!" Meadow exclaimed.

Every cheetah raised his or her mug and exclaimed happily Meadow's last words, it was so loud that it made the whole platters jump on the table slightly. Spyro sat there completely dumbfounded and embarrassed , every eye was staring at him and he felt so small, it didn't matter for him that he managed to save the world. He blushed slightly when he received the much unwanted attention, he never wanted to be a hero, he never wanted to be considered a savior, it was a very uncomfortable feeling for him. He looked around the table, every cheetah was bowing their head slightly in a dignified manner when they noticed that he was looking at them.

The first thing that looked differently was a smiling black snout, Cynder had to notice his uneasy expression, he has to look really stupid since her smile wasn't disappearing. Despite her cheerful expression her emerald eyes were betraying some other feeling, they were shining with sincere pride. He knew her very well, she liked to tease him and this was the perfect opportunity to do so. He was right, Cynder seeing his troubled snout straightened up and bowed her head grinning despitefully, Spyro smiled shyly after that motion. The second thing that looked differently was the female cheetah next to him, she had the mug pressed against her lips, her blue eyes were staring intently at him. It was no ordinary look, they were radiating with passion or maybe something else? Whatever it was Spyro felt intimidated, his cheeks turned red and he quickly averted his gaze.

" A toast to Cynder!" Meadow exclaimed before he took a sip from his mug.

The full of happiness noise died instantly just like somebody would turn off a switch that was responsible for the joyful atmosphere. The cheetahs exchanged surprised looks between themselves while throwing some scornful and full of hate glances towards Cynder, it looked like they hadn't been expecting her to be mentioned as one of the heroes after everything she had done. It was enough for some of the felines as they sat down and placed their mugs onto the table with a loud thud. Some remained standing and started reluctantly drinking the mugs contents, just like they wanted to follow Meadow's courtesy even if it was despite their judgment. Cynder observed the cheetahs, she knew that there is nothing she can do to change their minds about her, but that doesn't mean she can't irritate them a little, after all she can't make it worse than it is already. It's not like they are going to kill her for an innocent tease, at least she hoped so, but even this thought didn't stop her.

"May she live forever!" Cynder exclaimed raising her mug.

All of the cheetahs looked at her with disbelief plastered on their faces which later turned into sheer anger. She looked around and saw Spyro shaking his head with an amused look on his snout. There was a loud thud, Cynder turned her head and noticed one of the cheetahs sitting down and throwing her a furious glance. Soon all the other felines followed in his example, as they took their seats they began grunting something incoherently between themselves, the cheetahs near her slid their chairs across the wooden floor just to be some inches farther from her, just like she was leprous. Only the female cheetah in white shirt didn't seem to be bothered by her tease. The grunts created quite a noise as every cheetah began whispering something to his neighbor ears. Cynder didn't really care what they were saying but judging from their eyes and frowns it looked like her little tease worked, she could tell that those were no sweet words .

"_This is going to be a fine afternoon"_ she quipped in her mind and began drinking the red wine with a sly smile on her snout.

* * *

Meadow cleared his throat and sat down, wanting to quickly disperse the awkward atmosphere " With that out of the way let's begin the dinner shall we?"

He didn't have to repeat himself, the irritated grunts were gone only to be replaced by a slight and cheery commotion as every cheetah reached for the platters on the table. Slices of meat, fruits, portions of vegetables were disappearing when the felines placed their paws on the closest thing they could reach. Spyro observed as paws were running in front of his eyes, dragging the platters farther away from him. His stomach clenched with a powerful longing just as it could feel that the much needed treat was running away from it. Nevertheless Spyro didn't make a move, he is a guest here so he decided to wait politely for the dishes especially the ones with the meat on them to get closer.

The female cheetah next to him giggled " You have to be really brave to put your patience to the test like that"

Spyro jerked slightly, the female voice startled him a bit, impulsively he turned his head to locate the source of it, even if he already knew to whom this voice belonged to. The moment he set his eyes on the young brown face he was greeted by a loving smile.

" I can wait," Spyro mumbled "I'm not so hungry anyway"

The feline giggled once more " If you say so"

Spyro concentrated on the table once again, the cheetahs were talking happily while chewing the cooked pieces of meat. His stomach rumbled once more, he could see how they were eating the different types of meal and judging from the looks on their faces the meat has to be good. Spyro sniffed the scent of the cooked food again, the moment the smell invaded his nostrils he could tell that the meat wasn't good, it was delicious! His mouth began to water, he could feel its taste even if he never took a single bite. Who knows how long he was staring at the eating cheetahs and the platters, but one thing was sure, Spyro never made a move, all this time he restrained himself.

" Can I tell you a secret?" the female cheetah asked with a tone of amusement in her voice

Spyro nodded "Sure"

She leaned closer " You can sit like this even the whole day but the thing you are waiting for won't be coming. They will only notice you when there are only leftovers on the platters"

Spyro sighed "I'm a guest here I'll wait for my turn, they deserve this more than I do anyway"

The feline giggled "How noble of you! But you know how it is with carnivores, when we are hungry and there is meat just at paw's reach we can't think straight"

Spyro felt confused " I can't just take the meat for myself, that's not right"

The female cheetah shrugged "Perhaps, but this is how it's done" she sighed " My parents always told me to fight for the things you are interested in even if you might get burned in the end" with that she leaned from her chair trying to reach for something on Spyro's right side, as she did so she brushed his snout with her arm and gave him a saucy look " Seize the day" she whispered ravishingly, and she did it in such a way that Spyro instantly felt choked up. The feline arched a bit forward delicately sliding her flank across Spyro's nose, this move and her scent made his heart race, he felt like he was burning and even if he couldn't see it he knew he was completely red by now.

The feline slowly backed down, sliding her flank once more time across Spyro's nose as she dragged a silver platter across the table. When the plate stopped just in front of him she looked at Spyro and giggled "You are so cute" with that she slid back into her seat delicately sliding her claw across his completely red cheek "Enjoy"

He swallowed hard and looked at the platter, it had a quite a big piece of beef meat on it, with disbelief and embarrassment plastered on his snout he looked at her just to look at the food again moments later before throwing her another glance just to end finally on the meat in front of him "T...t... thank you" Spyro stammered

"It was my pleasure" she winked

"B..b...but..w..what about you?"

"Don't worry about me, I'm full"

Spyro knew instantly that she was lying since he didn't saw her eating anything. He looked at the portion of meat in front of him, it was big, big enough to satisfy his growing hunger, but not big enough to satisfy it fully. The needs of other people come first but he knew that she most likely won't accept the whole portion so he decided to split it. He thrust his claw into the meat and with a couple of swift moves severed the food in half, Spyro quickly grabbed a nearby empty plate and put the piece on it before sliding the dish across the table until it stopped in front of her.

"Enjoy" he smiled kindly

The cheetah giggled "You are so cute!"

* * *

Cynder didn't notice what was happening a couple of seats next to her as she was only focused on the plates moving across the table. Her eyes were especially staring at the platters filled with meat and the longer she did that she felt the rumble in her stomach intensifying. She was enthralled by the smell and the sight of the deliciously looking meat, Cynder was so charmed by it that she unconsciously opened her mouth. With her maw hanging slightly open a bit of drool started lolling out from her lower lip as she observed the moving platters just like she was hypnotized.

After a while one of the plates stopped moving and that was the signal her mind waited for. Cynder blinked several times snapping out from her trance, she stared at the meat, her emerald eyes almost devouring it. Cynder looked around it seemed that no cheetah was interested in this particular platter, the meal is hers and hers alone , a delicate lean forward is enough to grab it. Licking her mouth and with rumbling anxiety in her stomach she reached for the delicious food, time seemed to slow down as she extended her paw closer and closer towards the meat, her claw scratched the meal, soon, very soon it will be in her grasp and finally she will silence the longing of her belly.

Cynder bit her lip while clenching her paw, the final move, the last effort before she will get hold of the luscious meat. Cynder gasped and her green eyes widened when her claws tried to catch the air instead of the food, her head jerked back in surprise as she noticed the platter sliding farther away, being dragged by a feline paw. Cynder's paw fell onto the table and she unclenched her claws as she observed the sliding platter with terrified eyes. If her emerald orbs could speak they would be yelling "_Nooooooo!"_ just like she would see someone very dear to her falling down from a ledge because she wasn't strong enough to pull him up.

Cynder observed the platter until it stopped near a feline form, then her eyes followed the piece of meat that was being raised by a orange paw. The cheetah was having a nice and joyful conversation with his female friend, Cynder's mouth dropped open in horror as she saw the meat slowly being moved towards the feline's mouth. The moment his teeth clenched on the food she winced just as if in pain, she hissed and kept jerking whenever she noticed him chewing the piece of meal.

Cynder remained in that position hoping that the cheetah will notice her pleading expression but the feline paid her no mind, the last thing that kept her hope lit was the another piece of meat laying still on the platter. The moment she noticed a feline paw reaching for the meat Cynder's eyes sparkled, they took pity on her and she will finally satisfy the craving of her stomach. With every move the feline paw made towards the meat Cynder arched her head higher and higher, licking her mouth in anticipation as the paw was getting closer to the meal. Her eyes went wide in shock as she saw the meat being raised by the paw, not towards her but upwards until it was at the height of the female cheetah face. The moment she took a bite Cynder's forehead landed on the table, sighing in defeat she made her way backwards along the table and sat in the previously occupied spot.

Cynder felt resigned, it was so close but someone was faster than her and it was even more depressing since there was no other plate with meat in close vicinity. If she would be welcome here the only thing she would need to do was just ask someone to move the food closer, but unfortunately she wasn't. The cheetahs would most likely ignore her or throw some snide remarks before... well, ignoring her. Cynder cursed her bad luck, she is around not very friendly people and the one single moment of pleasure slipped just right from her claws. Patience sometimes pays off, the only thing left was to wait for a nearby cheetah to ask for a plate of meat so she could snatch it before it reaches the feline.

Some time has passed and unfortunately for Cynder no meat was heading her way, her stomach rumbled in disappointment. However there is always a bright side in every chagrin, her longing green eyes caught the sight of a nearby platter with vegetables. That wasn't the thing she really wanted but with nothing interesting around it has to suffice. Cynder arched forward extending her paw for the plate, she bit her lip in anticipation as her claws were just a few inches from the dish. Her eyes widened in surprise and she gasped faintly as the plate was pulled away from her when she was just about to grab it. Cynder's eyes traced the cheetah, just like the previous one he was lost in a conversation, completely ignoring her, it seems luck tricked her again. Sighing in defeat she hit the table with her forehead before returning to the previously occupied spot.

After a while her hungry eyes noticed a plate filled with fruits, they won't satisfy her screaming belly but they would serve as a perfect snack before she will get her paws on some meat. Cynder licked her mouth imagining the sweet juices caressing her palate and extended her paw towards the plate. Her eyes widened and she gasped faintly once again when the platter has been pulled away from her. Cynder scanned the cheetah responsible for this, the feline was having a conversation with her neighbor, just like the previous ones. Cynder sighed and her head was dropping down to land on the table once more, but just when her forehead was about to hit the top she stopped and frowned. Cynder raised her head to look at the cheetah once again, she was still talking with her neighbor. Cynder looked around focusing on the places where she was trying to reach the dishes, the cheetahs responsible for the theft were still there, nothing changed, the felines completely ignored her as they were lost in a conversation. Cocking her head slightly to one side Cynder returned to her spot.

She scanned the surroundings thoughtfully watching the cheetahs and the plates with still some food on them. Cynder extended her paw to reach for the nearby platter, just as previously it was dragged away before she could reach it. Frowning she threw the next talking cheetahs an angry glance before she returned to her spot. Cynder reached for an another plate but once again it was dragged away from her. As she returned to her spot Cynder immediately reached for another plate just to see it being pulled away from her. She repeated the same move a couple more times with all of them ending in the same way, after a while Cynder returned to her spot and looked around.

There were groups of cheetahs talking where she tried to grab a plate, all of them ignoring her. Cynder put two and two together just to realize that it has nothing to do with bad luck, the cheetahs made it on purpose, preventing her from satisfying her hungry belly. Cynder watched them with angry eyes, they must have planned this from the very beginning , they must hate her stronger than she firstly thought. As Cynder's eyes were running from feline to feline one of them looked at her just like he heard her thoughts. The moment their eyes met the cheetah smiled mockingly just like he wanted to confirm her suspicions before continuing his happy conversation with the other cheetahs.

"This is going to be a fine afternoon" Cynder muttered and took a sip from her mug without even the slightest smile on her snout.

* * *

"If not for you I would never have the chance to see my mate and children again. Thank you" a male cheetah said with a wavering voice while holding Spyro's shoulders and staring at him with watery eyes.

Spyro's heart jumped, he felt sympathy for the feline, he could only imagine how it is to fight without knowing if you will have a chance to see your family again, he didn't like the attention but nevertheless it warmed his heart to see the cheetah reunited with his loved ones.

" You don't need to thank me, I did nothing special"

The cheetah chuckled while wiping a tear that run down his cheek " Modesty even after everything you have done" the cheetah coughed " I also want to thank you in the name of other warriors that couldn't be here, it really makes your heart scream in joy when you see your friends reuniting with their families" the feline sobbed

A tear formed itself in the corner of Spyro's eye " I...I was happy to help"

"Thank you once again" the cheetah stood up, wiped the tears from his eyes and smiled "But I better go now, I don't want my children to see me in such state, I'm a proud warrior after all" the feline chuckled " Best of luck to you Spyro" with that he looked in his amethyst eyes for the last time and bowed his head gratefully before turning around

"Likewise" Spyro smiled and watched the cheetah walking away towards one of the chairs on the opposite side of the table where two cubs and a female cheetah were sitting. The moment he arrived he hugged his children tightly and kissed his mate softly.

"It feels good, doesn't it?" Meadow's soft tone of voice reached him

Spyro observed the family and as he did so he couldn't stop smiling "Yeah..." he huffed "...yeah it does"

" Now this is only one of the many people you saved, one of the many children that have a future thanks to you. You assured all of them a safe world to live in, you are a hero Spyro."

This little scene and Meadow's words made Spyro to think, he never really gave it much thought but they did it, they averted the total destruction. They did it for someone, for the people here and not just one of the families but all of them, every specie living in the Realms was saved and it's thanks to them. His heart jumped, as he realized that everything depended on them, every life hanged in the balance and only their action prolonged those lives. Spyro felt no pride, no glorification for his deeds, while he looked around the table and saw the happy faces his heart pounded at his chest with joy and...fear. He was a bit scared, they both did something nobody thought was possible and that only will draw attention to him, attention he was uncomfortable with, attention that every hero receives and that is what he was afraid of. People will consider him a savior now, they will look at him for guidance, they will look at him for protection. He shuddered, they put on him a great responsibility, responsibility that he never asked for, responsibility that terrified him.

"I'm no hero Meadow, I'm just a normal dragon who fought a battle everyone else could fight if they were given the chance" Spyro said with a glimmer of fear in his voice

The warrior smiled " Yes you are Spyro, no one could have accomplished what you did. I myself don't believe in destiny, but does the prophecy not speak of a Purple Dragon who will bring peace to the Realms? I don't know about you but I can see such a dragon, the whole thing makes me reconsider my point of view sometimes" he quipped

Spyro remained unconvinced " Heroes do everything alone, they defeat their enemies all by themselves and I had help, people seem to forget that. If not for Cynder I wouldn't even be here"

Meadow shook his head " That's not true, heroes need help just like anyone else. Be it fate, luck or something else but for some reason Cynder was there to help you in one of the most dangerous battles of your life and trust me she will receive the honors she deserves one day, just give all of us some time" the cheetah looked directly into Spyro's amethyst eyes " Malefor wasn't the greatest enemy, he was only a trial before the final battle. The whole world was shaking and the purple flashes coming from The Dark Master's lair were enough to say that the decisive battle was just taking place. It was you who fought the impossible and triumphed! You mended the world itself and there was no one else who could have done it. You might deny it but you are a hero Spyro and people will look at you as their leader"

Fear gripped Spyro's heart, the thought of people following his command scared him " I can't be a leader!" he exclaimed quietly and gulped " I mean... I will be a terrible leader trust me this role is not for me"

" Not yet, but you have that spark in you, it is burrowed deep down I must admit but everything in due time." Meadow smiled kindly " You have also one extraordinary trait Spyro, you have a golden heart, you have a sincere care for everyone, even for those who were condemned by everybody"

Spyro sighed "Then I suppose I should keep that spark burrowed down as long as I can"

Meadow nodded " I agree" a male cheetah whispered something into his ear" Spyro you will have to excuse me" with that he began talking with the feline

Spyro stared at the window in front of him completely lost in thought. A leader, he never imagined someone would call him like that but it seems that he is or will be one in the future with every specie counting on him. Spyro begged the Ancestors in his mind to move away that future as far as they could, he is not really devoted but it looks like the living already made their decision so the only thing he could do was to convince the dead of his inability.

"You are interesting" a clearly amazed female cheetah stated

The voice startled him "What?"

"Where is your confidence? You saved a whole world and you act like nothing ever happened. If you ask me saving a world is no simple feat and in my book that counts for a lot, you should be proud of yourself"

"There is nothing to be proud of, I just did what had to be done"

She jerked back in surprise " Amazing, the...people I knew always boasted about their deeds and they had every right to"

Spyro shrugged " I'm not one of them"

She furrowed a brow " I can see that, they call you a hero, you can have everything you want and you have problems asking for a stupid meat?" the feline chuckled "Remarkable"

"It's wrong to take advantage of people just because I did something they consider to be special, besides I don't need anything"

"There is always something"

" Nope, I'm fine"

Her ears flinched " Oh I assure you there is" with that she leaned closer looked him straight into the eyes while placing a paw on his chest "You just need to ask the right questions" she said with a ravishing tone

She began delicately rubbing his chest every now and then scratching his scales with her claw. The moment she did that Spyro was instantly out of breath, his heart jumped to his throat and he began to feel very warm, Spyro could tell he was blushing. The sight of her saucy shining sapphire eyes and her female scent weren't really helping him to calm down "Wha...I...I..." he mumbled incoherently

She scratched his scales passionately "You are pretty muscular and good looking for one of your age and I can tell you that there are some cheetahs here who would like to get to know you" she moved her head forward rubbing her cheek against his "Inside out" she whispered seductively and planted a soft kiss on his red cheek

Her breath and tender lips on his snout almost forced his racing heart to jump out from his chest. Spyro with a corner of his eye saw some female cheetahs watching him and giggling, that and the brown feline caressing his chest made him quite embarrassed "We...we are...not alone and I-" he huffed

"Let them watch" she cut him off with a firm tone " That's none of their business" her paw moved lower down his chest in a circular motion while she lowered her head down towards his neck breathing rapidly as she did so, the warm air she exhaled made Spyro to shiver " Tell me my hero is there any way I can repay you?" she whispered with the same ravishing tone before tenderly biting his neck

The moment her razor teeth sank into his scales Spyro twitched, her breath, teeth, lips, damp nose and tongue were bewitching him. However as good as it felt Spyro couldn't shake off the feeling that this is wrong, he didn't know why but something told him that he can't fall for that charm. He felt as his heart was torn apart, part of it wanted the attention, it desired it, but the second part sent warning signals that were quite strong.

"L...listen there is something..." he gasped as she bit his neck again "we shouldn't..." Spyro thought for a moment, the red light in his head won making him to back down from this pleasurable moment. Nevertheless Spyro couldn't tell her that, it may be stupid but he didn't want to hurt her and by telling her directly to leave him alone he would most likely do that.

"I've been wondering if you-" the cheetah moved her head upwards caressing his scales with her breath and lips

"Ask" she said with the same ravishing tone while looking directly into his eyes.

Her passionate sapphire orbs drained the remains of his confidence in seconds " I...I...I just want to ask you if...if..." he was lost for words, Spyro didn't know what to say. Impulsively his eyes traveled across the table and widened as an idea crossed his mind. Spyro took a deep breath " Do you have a taste for vegetables?" he finally blurt out.

She reared her head back in surprise "What?"

"Because I do and believe me or not but I've never ate a carrot before" his voice becoming more hectic with each word

"I...I-"

Spyro cut her off by babbling thoughtlessly "They say that carrots have some vitamins in them that make your sight better"

The cheetah stared at him with her mouth slightly opened, she was speechless with disbelief plastered on her face.

"Not only carrots are healthy, basically all vegetables have some vitamins in them" as he kept chattering Spyro noticed the feline frowning "Everyone should eat vegetables to stay healthy" Spyro looked at her "Would you like some?" he finally asked using all of the little air left in his lungs.

"Yeah..." she sighed "...yeah why not" with that she slid back into her chair.

Spyro instantly leaned forward grabbing the first plate with vegetables he could put his paws on. With the platter in his claws Spyro dragged it closer before putting a portions on his free plate while the rest landed on hers. Spyro immediately began eating without even looking at her.

She stared at the vegetables in front of her for a while before turning her head to look at the Purple Dragon next to her "You are an odd one" she retorted

* * *

Cynder's been making little circles with her claw on the surface of the perfectly clean plate before her, completely lost in her dream world. In that perfect world her plate was filled with deliciously looking meat, with some vegetables added to the meal and some fruits nearby just in case she wanted something sweet after the dinner. She could also choose from many types of food, enough to satisfy even the most demanding belly. Cynder's eyes watered at the sight, she licked her mouth ready to devour the food before her, just as she clenched her teeth to take the bite the meal disappeared.

Cynder's mind returned to reality when a cheerful laughter startled her, she impulsively looked around just to see the cheetahs still lost in their joyful conversations. She looked at the table with many different kinds of food laying on silver platters, they were so close yet so far. A male cheetah grabbed a piece of meat just like he heard her thoughts, envy and anger filled her as she saw the feline taking a bite, it looked innocent but something told her that he did it on purpose, just to taunt her.

Cynder looked at the empty plate before her and sighed in defeat, her rumbling stomach constantly reminded her of that failure. As she stared at the plate Cynder winced every time she heard someone chewing some food in his mouth. The noise was so loud that she couldn't think about anything else, it was infuriating.

" I swear that was the last time I ever teased someone" Cynder mumbled resigned under her nose.

She shook her head trying to quench those annoying feelings but her rumbling belly reminded her who calls the shots here. A laughter caught her attention,, the moment Cynder followed the noise she noticed two familiar cheetah cubs and a petite azure dragoness, the children were playing happily without even caring what is happening around them. Cynder looked around the table, every cheetah was smiling broadly as they were talking with their neighbors.

Incoherent words and happy laughs surrounded her, they were exchanged between cheetahs that didn't even threw her a quick glance just like she never existed in the first place. As she observed the felines Cynder began to feel lonely after all she didn't exchange with anybody even a single word. As she sat there and observed the working felines she began to feel bored, everyone else was doing something while she was sitting near the table completely forgotten.

After a while she couldn't stand it much longer , Cynder began leaning close towards one of the talking cheetahs, she had enough of this silence.

"I tell you, the Chief will lead our armies when the times comes" one of the male cheetahs stated with a confident tone.

"You still think that after everything that happened there is still a chance we will go to battle?" a second one replied clearly surprised

"Of course, we are warriors battle just follows us around"

" Besides the leaderless Dark Army there is nothing out there that can threaten us, well maybe the Dragons but for the time being they will be quiet, they suffered many loses, just like we did"

"Evil always finds a way my friend"

"Hi!" an cheerful female voice reached them

"Speak of the devil" one of the cheetahs whispered making the other one chuckle

" How are you doing?" Cynder asked with a smile

The cheetahs looked at her with disgust in their eyes without even saying a single word

Cynder ignored it " It's a beautiful day there is no reason to be angry, sometimes I have so stupid ideas" she looked them over with the same happy expression " There is no reason to worry about the Dark Army, without their leader they are no threat. As for dragons I assure you that we mean you no harm, it's not like I'll go on a rampage again I've learnt my lesson" she chuckled

The cheetah's eyes flared up and they growled after her comment. It was then when Cynder realized that this was a very stupid joke, they still remember her as one of their worst enemies and reminding them of that wasn't really a good idea . Cynder caught " So how's the food?"

One of the cheetahs smirked from ear to ear "It's delicious, I've never ate anything better, isn't that right?" he gave the second cheetah a meaningful look

The same smile formed itself on the second feline's face " Absolutely, the meat is so well cooked that every bite releases some new flavor, the vegetables are so well prepared, a true delicacy I must say, while the fruits are so fresh that they caress your palate in the most delicate manner. I've never had a dinner in my life such as good as this"

Cynder's belly rumbled so loud making both cheetahs chuckle, she knew they teased her but that didn't prevent her from licking her mouth as she imagined how the food tasted " Good...good" she mumbled and shook her head, it's better not to give them the satisfaction. Cynder chuckled nervously " The whole thing reminds me of something, once I found a basket of fruits laying on the ground, you have to imagine my surprise when I found out that-"

" We are not interested in your stories" one of the cheetahs cut her off with a firm tone

"Yeah it's a stupid memory anyway, hey maybe you have some cool stories to tell?"

" We are not interested in talking with you Shadow" the second cheetah replied angrily

"But-"

" I said we are not interested" the feline replied louder this time, gaining the attention of the nearby cheetahs. They all looked at her with furious eyes and clenched their fists tightly demonstrating that this discussion is over.

Cynder frowned, she wanted to tell them what she thinks of this whole situation, she might deserve it but it still made her angry when people treated her like trash. Her eyes focused on every cheetah that stared at her, a one snide remark would be enough to stir this whole company, but then she thought better of it, they hated her after all and most likely a little nudge was enough to start a fight and that's the last thing she wanted, besides she's a guest here.

With a snort she began retreating from the felines "Assholes" Cynder muttered irritably under her breath. When she reached her typical position she looked around and spotted a couple of cheetahs talking not far away from her, they looked more friendly than the previous group. Still craving for some company she made her way towards them.

"Hi!" Cynder greeted the group in a cheerful manner

Their friendly expressions changed drastically, now they looked like they have just spotted something that they never expected to see. It was only a matter of seconds when the surprise plastered on their faces turned into indictment and disdain and Cynder immediately knew who caused this quick change in their appearance. After a short moment one of the felines burst out something angrily in a foreign language, she might not understand the words but Cynder could tell she was the topic of his angry outburst. Momentarily every cheetah that was in this group started shouting at her while gesticulating acrimoniously.

Cynder winced " I think I've got the wrong address" she retorted and scuttled towards her seat before things got ugly.

As she prepared to sit down Cynder threw a quick glance towards the only drake around this table that she knew for sure liked her. Spyro was laughing with a couple of cheetahs around him, as much as she needed to talk to someone she didn't want to ruin his afternoon, it's good that at least one of them is having a good time. With a resigned sigh Cynder began making another circles on the plate with her claw, returning to her imaginary world once again.

"Wow, you are really ugly" a high female voice reached her

Cynder blinked when the unexpected sound broke her trance. With a shake of her head just to bring her mind back to reality she looked around and her pupils grew slightly when she noticed an azure, petite and very young dragoness staring at her. Cynder recognized the hatchling, she was the dragoness who the cubs called Az.

" Have you always been so ugly and scary?" the dragoness asked excited while trembling slightly

Cynder sighed " Sorry kid I'm not in the mood"

" I bet you were! Only ugly people do nasty things!"

" Great now get..." Cynder's voice trailed off as a thought crossed her mind. This might be her only chance to talk to someone, even if this was only a child Cynder knew it won't get any better. Her heart jumped in joy, an opportunity arose which will end her loneliness once and for all.

"Come on, I'm not that ugly" Cynder replied happily

" Yes you are!" the dragoness exclaimed "but I don't know why"

"Because I'm a special dragoness"

The hatchling's eyes widened "Special?"

Cynder nodded " Yes special, the more nasty things I did, the uglier I got"

The young dragoness curled her nose in disgust "Ewwww, I'll never do any nasty things, never"

Cynder smiled " Good for you"

The young dragoness eyes sparkled "Oh I know! That's why you are so scary now!"

"If I am so scary then why are you talking with me?"

Az grinned proudly "Because my uncle is a strong warrior and he would kick your ass if something happened to me!"

Cynder chuckled " You are really brave"

"Ha! You bet! I'm the bravest dragoness around!"

A high laughter was heard " You are not brave Az, you were the first to run away remember? a familiar cheetah cub retorted with a big black spot on his forehead, he was accompanied by the second familiar cub, the one with dark eyes.

Az frowned " I wasn't running away, I looked for a better place to stand and fight!"

The cubs burst out laughing " Of course!"

The dragoness snorted " Yeah? And who did hide behind his mother? Hahaha!"

Dot scratched his head " I.. I was just...ummm..." he frowned " I ran to her because she called me!"

The dragoness laughed wryly "Yeah right!"

"You are not that scary" Black eye cautiously touched Cynder

The moment she felt his claw on her scales she twitched forcefully and emitted a stifled scream making all of the children jump and gasp in horror "Sorry, just a reflex" she smiled wryly

Black eye shook his paw just like it was electrocuted " Why your scales are so black?"

Cynder shrugged " I don't know, I was born that way"

Az gasped " Oooooh, you were doing nasty things as an egg too?"

She looked around, more children gathered around her, with a sigh she focused on the azure dragoness anew " Maybe I was just like that because my..." she thought for a bit"...parents were nasty"

Cynder twitched as she heard someone biting an apple "That's not true" she heard another childish male voice, she turned around just to see a cheetah cub chewing on an apple. Cynder licked her mouth and her belly rumbled with need again.

The moment he swallowed a piece of the apple the cub continued gesticulating with his paw just like a true scientist would " Eggs and children basically are a product of love"

Dot jerked back in surprise " Love? I love my parents and they don't seem to have any more children"

Cynder chuckled, oh the ignorance and naivety of youth

The cub took an another bite " That's not entirely the kind of love I'm talking about"

Az furrowed a brow " What do you mean by that Smarty?"

"You see" the feline child swallowed" When a boy likes a girl and I mean really likes her and she shares the same feelings towards him they eventually show that affliction just like our Mothers demonstrate their love to us. "

"You mean they KISS?!" the azure dragoness exclaimed

"Precisely"

Az looked at Dot while he looked back at her, both children curled their noses in abhorrence "Ewwwww!"

Cynder's eyes widened while she listened to the cub's deduction, as much as she was surprised about the way he talked, she couldn't stop smiling when she heard the other kids reaction.

Smarty cleared his throat " Boys differ from girls in more ways than just the tone of voice, we have specially designed parts of our body that allow us to procreate"

Black eye scratched his head " What means procreate?"

The cub took a deep breath " When you really like a girl you eventually get to the point when you make love. Procreation is the scientific definition of it, basically it means you are making a baby thanks to our different sexual organs"

" I don't see how can I use mine"

" You put it into hers, thrust to be more precise"

All of the children looked at the cub with wide eyes " That's disgusting!" every single one of them exclaimed

Smarty unconcerned by the sudden outburst took an another bite before giving Cynder an arrogant look " That's how you've been created and that's how you do it when you want children of your own"

She stared at him with her mouth slightly opened for a while before coughing, shaking off the shock" Yeah, thanks for the tip"

Cynder twitched when she felt a small paw running up her back until it stopped on her shoulder " Wow, these are cool" Cynder turned around " Did you make them yourself?" Dot asked clearly excited

She knew instantly that he was referring to her white markings " Maybe, I don't remember"

The azure dragoness eyes sparkled " Do they give any special powers?"

" None that I know of"

Az gasped and pointed her claw at Cynder's neck " It's so pretty, what is it?"

She followed her claw just to see it pointing at the silver necklace in the shape of a snake, Cynder raised the bauble to get a good look at it " It has nothing to do with beauty, this is a necklace that Malefor created"

" The Dark Master?!" Black eye exclaimed

Cynder nodded " The one and the same"

The cub gasped " What does it do? What does it do? "

" Now- nothing, thanks the Ancestors, but when Malefor was still in power it created a magical chain between me and Spyro, almost binding us together. We could stay only a few steps away from each other without the risk of choking"

" Ooooooh, can I have it please? Please? Please?"

Cynder frowned when she looked at the necklace, she would never give it to anyone even if it is powerless. " Even if I wanted to I can't, it maybe has no magic in it now but it's still unbreakable, I just can't get it off"

Dot frowned " Spyro can't be a prisoner he is too cool for that! I hope Malefor got what was coming to him!"

The children emitted a cry of joy after Dot's words, they must have been taught that he was very nasty as they call it. " Wish I knew how he was defeated, I bet Spyro used some super powers!" Cynder heard one of the kids yelling louder than the previous ones. The cubs words only intensified the shouting

" He di-" Cynder twitched as she felt a paw touching her tail

"I want a tail like that!. How do I get one?" Az exclaimed happily while rubbing her blade-like tip in awe

Cynder chuckled "You see to have one like that you have to use some super powers..." and Cynder replied to every single question heading her way. The kids curiosity was unquenchable, question after question was thrown her way but she didn't mind at least someone was willing to talk to her and it was enough to make her happy.

* * *

"Of course" the female cheetah in white shirt huffed

Spyro swallowed a piece of meat and raised an eyebrow ' _What is she up to now?'_ he wondered

" It must feel great to know that your actions saved millions of lives" she said and took a sip from her mug while watching him with a corner of her blue eye

" It's ok I guess"

"It's ok? That's it?" the feline focused entirely on him " You are a hero for them, you should be proud"

Spyro shrugged " I'm not and stop calling me a hero please, we were just lucky"

Her ears flinched " I see that you always use 'we' whenever you talk about it. Have it your way then but to them you are a savior and no matter what you say it won't change anything." A corner of her mouth turned into a smile " It must have some advantages"

Spyro sighed " I don't see any"

"Come on, girls must go crazy over you"

Spyro turned his head to a side while blushing " They... they...I mean I don't know"

She smiled slyly " Stop pretending, I'm sure you've noticed, they would surround you if you would show some initiative. I would do anything for my savior if you only asked, so what's stopping you?"

His scales turned even more red " I...I"

"Suit yourself" she slid back into her chair and took another sip from her mug " Do you have a mate?"

Spyro chuckled nervously " Me? No"

"What about her?" she nodded her head at the black dragoness while giving him a curious look

Spyro's eyes widened " You mean Cynder? We are friends"

"That's it? She's just your friend and nothing more?"

His eyes focused only on her black silhouette, she was there barely visible through the group of children that surrounded but that didn't prevent him from seeing her smiling. Spyro imagined he heard her laugh, oh how he liked to hear her laugh " No...no...we...we are just friends" he whispered

The corner of the feline's mouth turned into a charming smile while she shook her head slowly " Does she feel the same way about you?"

Spyro cocked his head slightly " What do you mean by that?"

" From the stories I've heard you were the one who saved her from corruption or even death. You were the one who always stood on her side even when most people distrusted her. And finally you are probably the only one who never said a wrong word about her, she's pretty hated around here if you didn't notice. If there was a guy who saved my life, who protected and always stood by my side as the only person in the whole world, I would surely developed some other feelings towards him than just simple friendship"

"Like what?"

"Love?"

Spyro jerked back in surprise "Love?! " he laughed nervously " You mean that Cynder loves me? That's insane! She's independent" he shook his head confidently " No, as I said, we are only friends"

" Whatever you say" with that she leaned back in her chair while taking a sip once again.

* * *

Cynder emitted a resigned sigh after she answered another question. She kept replying to every question thrown her way, she was doing it for quite a while but the children's curiosity was unending. Firstly she was the most interesting topic, the children asked about every detail of her life, also they were very curious about her silver bracelets. Secondly questions regarding Malefor were asked, about his life, army and especially about the battle in his lair but she could never answer this questions since the moment the fight was mentioned the kids started shouting and pretend to be Spyro, those guys were making even more noise than all the rest of the adult cheetahs combined. They even got to the point where she had to explain while the sun shines and why the sky is blue and not purple. As much as she liked it Cynder couldn't stand it any longer, she was tired and bored and she felt as she had enough company for all eternity.

"That's why flowers grow, right?" a female cheetah cub asked

Cynder sighed "Yes"

" Did you ever touched the sky? a different kid asked

"No"

" Did you catch a falling star?" another cub asked

"No"

" Did you see a flying cheetah?" a second female cub asked

Cynder sighed, she had enough, the kids will kill her. They are even worse than the hunger and she wondered if that was an another way to tease her, if so it was working. Cynder looked around hoping to find something to help her escape, her eyes widened when a thought ran through her mind the moment she looked at the unused plate. Her plan was cruel but she didn't had any other choice.

Cynder answered another question while she discretely grabbed the plate with her tail and hid it under the table. Clenching her teeth she ran her iron blade-like tail across its surface creating an annoying sound that caused a slight commotion between the children as they began shouting while covering their ears. Cynder had to repeat the move two more times before the children ran away screaming. With a victorious smile she placed the plate on the table and began staring at it. Who could have thought that she will miss the silence after all?

Cynder kept making little circles with her claw again until she felt something stopping next to her paw she looked at the object, it was a red apple. She picked up the fruit and looked at it, the rumbling in her stomach reawakened and it was so strong now that it almost hurt. Cynder moved her head closer to the fruit and closed her eyes as she prepared to savor its sweet juices.

"Give me back my apple!" a high familiar male shout reached her.

Cynder's eyes were slowly opening as her mind was brought to reality "Wha...Wha..." she mumbled incoherently

" GIVE ME BACK MY APPLE!" a loud squeaky and angry scream echoed throughout the room.

Her eyes snapped open just to see Smarty standing before her breathing heavily but that was not the only thing she found strange. The whole room went silent, Cynder impulsively started to look around and to her surprise every eye was focused on her and most of them weren't friendly. She giggled nervously "Look what I've found" she extended her paw towards the cub with the apple sitting on it. Cynder winced when Smarty snatched the fruit with a fast move, the cub took a bite, snorted angrily and walked away. She swallowed hard as she began to look around, almost all of the cheetahs gave her a threatening look but luckily all of them returned to their earlier occupation without causing any trouble.

Spyro leaned forwards to look at her with concern in his eyes, and as if feeling his gaze Cynder began to turn her head, the moment their eyes met she smiled shyly and shrugged. However their eyes didn't stare at each other for long as she craned her neck forward and upwards a couple of times as if she was trying to take a glimpse of something, eventually she did since Spyro saw her staring at something with her mouth slightly opened. He followed her gaze and noticed that she was staring at his plate with a large piece of meat on it, Spyro frowned and looked back at Cynder, as he did that he noticed that her plate was completely clean, it struck him then that she probably haven't eaten anything yet, her pleading eyes only confirmed this.

As the female cheetah said, Cynder is pretty hated around here so it had to be a plan of the other felines to leave her hungry throughout the dinner. Spyro wanted to get up and tell everyone what he thinks about this but he thought better of it, there is no sense in making this situation worse than it already is. He stood up, waited for the right moment when the cheetahs weren't looking his way and hid his plate under the table, he then impaled the meat on his gold tip, took a few steps back and extended his tail towards Cynder almost rubbing his female neighbor chair.

She figured out what he was up to instantly, just as she noticed him hiding the plate she already made a few steps back wagging her tail impatiently. As she noticed him extending his tail with a swift move of her own tip she impaled the meat and quickly returned to her position around the table, putting the meal on her plate she gave Spyro a grateful smile.

" I knew you had it in you" the female cheetah said seductively while touching his side with her ears flattened against her skull

"That's not...what you think it is" he mumbled when he sat down blushing as always

"Don't be so shy" she nuzzled him " So how about we go somewhere more private? she whispered ravishingly

"Listen that's-" he was cut off when her claws stung his side "I...I can't..."

" You may change your mind about this whole hero thing" he was straightening up as she kept stinging his scales down his side " After all you don't have a mate" she said the last part with a smug smile on her face

Cynder was enthralled by the sight before her eyes, the meat smelled wonderful and looked even better, and what a meat it was, it was a cooked piece of a chicken, it was huge even for her standards. She couldn't stand the smell any longer, the rumble in her stomach only confirmed it, licking her mouth she opened her maw widely and prepared to devour the food, however just as she was about to reach it she stopped. Cynder looked around, the cheetahs were still doing whatever they were doing while paying her no mind, she cleared her throat loudly gaining the attention of the nearby felines. They looked at her first with angry eyes but then their expressions revealed their surprise, quiet whispers began circling around the table as they wondered how she could get her paws on the food. Cynder smirked, they tried very hard to prevent her from eating but in the end they failed, not only she won the battle but also sowed doubt amongst them as they undoubtedly wondered who betrayed them.

Licking her mouth again she forgot about the cheetahs and focused on the meal before her. Cynder wolfed it down without caring for any kind of manners, she kept chewing and chewing until she finished with the meal in a couple of seconds, you never leave a carnivore hungry. Cynder emitted a happy sigh as she finally quenched the alarm in her belly, but she knew she couldn't have done it without help. With a blissful expression she turned her head to thank her savior once again, her heavenly look was gone instantly when she saw her hero. Cynder noticed Spyro sitting there stiff as a poker, it didn't take her long to figure out why, there was a female cheetah leaning close to his snout while moving her claws up and down his side.

Cynder's eyes flared up with fury, anger boiled in her, especially for the feline but there was still a portion that Spyro stirred since as far as she could tell he wasn't protesting. " You really like that don't you? I'll give you happy" she hissed furiously and began to get up, but then she thought better of it, she won't make a scene like a jealous girl.

" Jealous" the dragoness snorted, she is not jealous but protective.

Cynder decided to try a more subtle approach " Who wants to hear Spyro telling how he defeated The Dark Master?" she exclaimed loudly

She heard a cry of joy when every kid that was in the room screamed, the sound of someone mentioning the purple dragon's name and the slight commotion forced the feline to slip back into her chair. The female cheetah wondered who might have caused it even if something told her that she already knew the answer. She didn't have to look long for the culprit since a black dragoness was staring at her with fiery eyes.

The feline giggled "Cute" and took another sip from her mug while smiling

The children began to surround the Purple Dragon " Tell us Spyro! Please! Tell us!" every single one of them kept yelling the same words

" Yes Spyro! Tell us!" Cynder exclaimed frowning angrily

He looked around in horror, Spyro never saw so many kids around him, he never saw so many eyes staring at him " I don't know where-" he didn't finish the sentence as many small paws dragged him towards the center of the room. When he stopped the children released him and ran to the same spot so he can clearly see them before sitting on the ground in a crossed leg pose and focusing their young filled with anticipation eyes on him.

Spyro stared back at them, the children looked like they were expecting him to say something. That wasn't his only problem, even if he didn't see it he could feel that probably all the adult cheetahs were also watching him. Being in the centre of attention made him very nervous. "Maybe... maybe I'll start with explaining why we had to fight Malefor in the first place." he mumbled

He cleared his throat " M...Malefor was very powerful, as a purple dragon he could wield four elements, but to be able to master them he had to go through a very hard training. Days after days he trained, in the first day he practiced his fire element and if you all know fire is a very tricky element since mostly its fueled by anger and our impulsiveness. Did you know that fire is considered an evil element by some thanks to its destructive power?"

The children didn't answer, they still stared at him with the same eyes. Spyro continued while standing in the same spot completely still " In the second day he practiced Ice. I found out that Ice is a very comforting element, its cold and somewhat refreshing powers must be the reason. I always wondered why people consider Ice as a more friendlier element than Fire, I mean this element covers everything in...ice making everything die on spot, almost sucking the life out of it. It is just as destructive as Fire in my opinion but people consider it more friendly only because they identify flame with destruction because... well because it's fire. Curious right?

The children threw some puzzled glances between themselves and shifted just like the ground felt uncomfortable. Spyro didn't seem to notice it since he continued " In the third day he trained Earth, now this element..."

Some time has passed and Cynder couldn't believe what she was hearing and from the looks of it the children couldn't either since a part of them began silent conversations of their own while some other kids were yawning, that was not what they expected. She couldn't blame them, instead of hearing about the battle they got a talk about different elements. Instead of making a little show about the battle he was standing in the same spot completely still while lecturing the kids, Cynder knew that Spyro was very curious about many things and it made him happy to share his feelings with someone but for children uninterested in those kind of things that meant only boredom that could even lead to death if he continues. Then something struck her heart as she realized that this was all her fault, Cynder knew how he didn't like to be in the centre of attention, she knew how it made him uncomfortable, nobody can't blame Spyro that he tries to beat it clinging to his natural curiosity. Guilt filled her heart when she realized that she wanted to punish him for a stupid flirt, he is not her lover, he is not her mate he can do whatever he wants and she isn't in the place to prevent it. What kind of friend is she? The guilt only intensified when Cynder looked at her now dirty plate, he had helped her when she needed it, he was there when everyone else ignored her and she repaid him by throwing him in a situation he was afraid of. Cynder's eyes sparkled with determination, it is time to make things right.

Another yawn escaped the group of children as Spyro continued his 'story' "... unfortunately Malefor had an uncontrollable lust for power that made him-"

"Evil and corrupted!" Cynder exclaimed when she jumped out from the ground in front of him, spreading her wings and showing many pointy teeth as she craned her neck closer to the group of kids, every single one of them arched backwards and gasped in horror

Spyro watched her with a confused look, when she turned around and noticed it she gave him a charming smile and winked " He was unstoppable, with almost all the power in the world within him Malefor felt he could control everything, felt he could destroy everything" Cynder said while she kept walking towards the table dragging a shadow behind her that made all of the children gasp in awe.

With a swift move she jumped on the table, raised on her hind legs, spread her black wings while creating a large shadow on the wall behind her that darkened the whole room " I AM INDESTRUCTIBLE!" Cynder roared with as low tone as she could muster to at least sound a bit manly

Some of the children covered their faces with their hands, some shivered with fear while some other stared at her with their mouths opened. A corner of Cynder's mouth twitched into a smile when she noticed their reaction. She began slowly walking back and forth on the table wagging her tail in an almost mocking manner " I can have everything I want, I can destroy everything I want and there is nobody WHO CAN STOP ME!" she roared once again while throwing Spyro a quick glance

He just stood there staring at her completely dumbfounded. Seeing his expression Cynder continued " I will destroy this WORLD!" she roared again " Is there anyone who can stop me?" she breathed a little gust of wind towards the kids making them shiver while quickly dashing towards them making the children gasp in fear " Nobody?" Cynder looked into every cub's eyes smiling mischievously, all of them averted their gaze quickly.

Cynder turned around and as she did so she threw Spyro a meaningful look as she noticed his still confused expression. In a couple of seconds Cynder was back on the table " I'll ask again" she raised on her hind legs and roared " IS THERE ANYONE WHO CAN STOP ME?"

Spyro frowned as he realized what she's up to " I can" he said confidently

Cynder smiled charmingly for a brief moment before adopting the previously evil look "You?" she laughed mockingly " And just who do you think you are?"

He took a few steps towards her "My name is Spyro and I'm here to stop you"

Cynder cocked her head " So you are the one the prophecies spoke of" she looked him over " You don't look very impressive, just what can you do exactly?"

Spyro concentrated and an insubstantial shape of a boulder formed around him " I'm prepared for any surprises"

Cynder laughed menacingly "This is supposed to scare me? But I see you are serious so I accept your challenge however we will fight on my terms. Face me in my lair if you dare" with that Cynder dragged a shadow just below the table so the moment she jumped from it she vanished into the shadow just like it was some sort of a hole.

Spyro turned around and saw that every child was staring at him, following his every move. With his head up high he began slowly walking forward " To reach The Dark Master's hideout I had to defeat many enemies and cross almost impassable barriers but eventually I reached my destination. I arrived at Malefor's lair knowing that a difficult fight awaits me" with that he stopped moving.

A shadow covered the floor in front of him and soon after Cynder jumped out of it much to the kids surprise. She caught adopting the best low tone of voice she could manage " We meet again Spyro but this time I won't be so nice"

" You will pay for your crimes Malefor!" Spyro exclaimed angrily

"We will see about that" Cynder hissed threateningly

Spyro lowered his head and charged, delicately of course, Cynder dodged his attack with ease by stepping sideways. The moment his back was facing her she breathed a tiny ball of dark flame that looked like a fireball but in fact it was Shadow Fire. Spyro blocked the attack with his wing and immediately released a very small earth missile. Cynder pretended to be surprised as she allowed the bolt to strike her, she swayed on her paws and roared angrily after the impact.

With a faked fury Cynder charged him while deflecting with her wing another missile. When she was close enough she jumped on Spyro making them both roll on the ground much to pleasure of the gathered children. Some of them were more curious than the others, they stood up instantly to have a good look on the ongoing battle while chanting Spyro's name.

Spyro and Cynder struggled while standing pretending to exchange blows, one of those blows threw Spyro onto the ground with a groan of faked pain, with her looming over him. Cynder roared and made a move with her paw just like she wanted to thrust her claws in his underbelly. The children held their breaths as her black paw was descending upon Spyro. She was moving slow, so he waited as her claws will be right near him before rolling on the ground to a side avoiding the usually deadly strike. The kids screamed in joy when Cynder's claws hit only the wooden floor, with renewed determination they began chanting the purple dragon name once more.

Spyro quickly got up and swung his tail sending barely noticeable icy sparks from his gold tip. Cynder allowed the tail to reach her. The strike was pitifully powered so instead of leaving a painful cold dash on her chest, it created a cooling and enjoyable frost mark on her magenta scales, but she couldn't focus on this pleasant sensation, she had a role to play.

Cynder placed a paw on her chest just like she tried to stop the bleeding before taking a couple of shaky steps backwards while loudly groaning with pain. Cynder lowered her paw to look at it uncovering the icy mark on her chest that made all the children yell happily.

"You will pay for this!" Cynder roared and charged.

They kept exchanging blows. Claws, wings and tails were being used in this game with very weak elemental strikes as an addition. The children didn't mind however, this was enough to set their imagination in motion. For them this was a real battle between Spyro and Malefor and they were a part of since they cheered whenever Spyro struck Cynder while groaning and shouting angrily when it was the other way around.

"You can't stop me, I will destroy this world!" Cynder shouted after some time while panting heavily pretending to be wounded and tired

"You won't because it's time to finish this" Spyro growled.

Cynder roared and raised on her hind legs spreading her wings and covering the ground below her in shadow. The children held their breaths again when they saw the scary image. Spyro didn't even flinch just like any hero would, focusing he used his electricity element by directing a weak shock pulse at her chest. The kids gasped when it struck Cynder, her eyes widened as she placed a paw on her chest just like she tried to grab her own heart while spinning around on her hind legs, she made only a single turn before falling on her back. She laid there with her head slightly moved to the side and her tongue hanging from her mouth. It was over, Malefor was defeated.

The children stared at her for a while in complete shock before slowly turning their heads in the same time to look at Spyro. The moment the kids set their eyes upon him they jumped from the ground screaming loudly as they began to surround him. Spyro was greeted with words of admiration like "Wow! You are awesome!"," Spyro you are a real hero!", " I must say that it was a very interesting spectacle" and questions like " Was Malefor really a girl?", " Can I be a purple dragon too?", " To be able to wield so much power must be exhilarating , to be a master it is required to spend tremendous amounts of energy on improving your abilities. Correct?"

Spyro's eyes traveled from kid to kid as he was bombarded with questions, the moment he tried to answer to one of the kids another curious child spoke making him only gasp faintly as his head moved from side to side. The children were making quite a noise successfully blocking every other sound. It took a while but eventually Spyro could hear a noise that sounded like many clapping hands.

Cynder opened one of her eyes just to stand up moments later, with clear surprise on her snout she made her way towards Spyro and the now silent group of children. Both dragons looked around completely speechless when they noticed every single cheetah clapping their hands, it seems they appreciated their effort to entertain their children. From the group emerged Meadow walking slowly towards them, clapping his hands and smiling from ear to ear.

" Now that was quite a story, everyone's happy?" the cheetah warrior said while giving the children a quick glance. With a loud cry of joy all of the kids confirmed that it was a very satisfying show, they were completely lost in their happiness so it took them a moment to start jumping all around Spyro and Cynder again.

Meadow chuckled " Now, now I know how much you would like to get to know them better, but remember children that everyone needs a break, even heroes and villains" Seeing that the children were stepping back Meadow waved for both dragons to follow him.

They returned to the table, Spyro sat in the same spot while Cynder was granted a seat next to Meadow judging from the look on her snout she didn't expect it. The children scattered all around the table, returning to their parents.

" Pleasing such a demanding crowd is no simple feat, I'm sure it will open the eyes of some sceptical cheetahs, maybe they will finally realize that Dragons aren't as bad as many think so." Meadow said with a smile while carefully eyeing both young dragons

"We were happy to help" Cynder returned the smile

"My, my "the female cheetah in white shirt stated with a tone full of awe "Not only good looking and powerful but also has a knack with children. Who would have thought so"

" I wouldn't make it if not for Cynder" Spyro replied

She shrugged "Perhaps but that doesn't matter" She smiled slyly " Many girls will be impressed"

_"There she goes again" _he thought to himself. He had no experience but probably some other males would be glad for such attention, but he wasn't one of them, her constant advances made him uncomfortable. As much as he hated it he had to do it, it was time to tell her that this won't work Spyro had difficulties whenever it came to declining other people offers whatever they may be, since most of these situations ended with the other side being offended. Spyro sighed, he will push her away but there was no other way"

"Listen-"

Meadow slapped his forehead cutting Spyro off " Where are my manners. I almost forgot about our deal" he waved for the children to come closer

Spyro took a deep breath " "Listen there is something we need to talk about"

"Yessss?" she smiled seductively

" I thought about it and decided that this has to-"

Spyro was cut off by Meadow once again " I think children that it is your turn to entertain our guests now"

Spyro focused anew " As I was saying, I'm sorry but his-"

" Tell us the story about Avalar"

The female cheetah's ears flinched but that didn't prevent Spyro from continuing " This has to-"

"Shhhhhh" she quieted him

"But-"

"Yes I know, now be silent" with that she leaned over the table just to be closer to the group of children leaving Spyro with a dumbfounded look behind her.

Dot cleared his throat " A long, long time ago there were cheetahs just like now, but they've spoken in that funny language-"

"Ancient" Smarty retorted

"Yeah ancient, they walked, eat and talked but they were no cheetahs, I mean they were but they not normal-"

Smarty sighed " What he's trying to say is that there were cheetahs walking upon this earth, however they were no ordinary cheetahs like you and me, they were blessed"

Dot frowned "Hey cut it out, I'm telling the story!" he exclaimed before clearing his throat " The Blessed Ones looked like normal cheetahs but someone once told me that it was possible to know which of the cheetahs was Blessed but now we won't notice the difference because we are stupid"

" Not stupid but ignorant"

Dot shrugged "Whatever, anyway it is said that these cheetahs could do magic! Now only our druids or hermits or how else you call those old guys with staffs can do magic. But the Blessed could shoot sparks from their hands just like that, no staff and raspy voice needed! They had super powers!"

Smarty shook his head " It has nothing to do with super powers. Back there magic was a part of one's existence, magic was nothing extraordinary for the Blessed just like lungs are nothing special for us lesser beings. I have a thesis that they were granted this gift from birth, the real questions is why and who gave it to them?"

"That sucks! Super powers are way better!" Dot protested

Black eye didn't hesitate when he smelled his occasion to take a part in this story telling " The Blessed were powerful but that didn't prevent their enemies from attacking them! The battles were messy, blood and heads were flying everywhere while-"

" Spare us the details please" Meadow admonished the cub smiling kindly

"Sorry! Anyway the battles were pretty messy but The Blessed kept fighting and fighting killing many, many enemies but the bad guys cheated and kept killing the good guys, because there was no chance they could kill a guy with super powers!"

Smarty frowned " I've already stated that this has nothing to do with super powers" regaining his composure he continued " The Blessed fought valiantly cutting through enemy ranks with ease, however the enemy had numbers while there was only a handful of The Blessed. The opponent just wore them about before overwhelming them completely, it has nothing to do with cheating. A simple war tactic triumphed, nothing more, nothing less"

"I still think they cheated!" Black eye cleared his throat "The bad guys were winning destroying and killing everything in their way that's why The Blessed decided to save us before the enemy wiped out the whole cheetahs race! They would have impaled our heads on sticks! And take our eyes! And-"

Meadow coughed silencing the boy instantly

Smarty sighed " Unfortunately The Blessed were losing and there was no chance they could defeat their enemies using conventional means, they had to make a sacrifice."

" One of those Blessed was Avalar" Dot took the lead " We only know about him, the rest must have died, anyway it was up to him to stop the invasion. So he found the tallest hill, made it to the top before using his super powers to save us all!"

Smarty cleared his throat " Avalar was the last Blessed One, however I think there were some others but we just don't know about them, but I digress. Avalar reached the top of the tallest hill for a reason, he felt betrayed. The moment he reached its steep top he screamed to the sky so the wind could carry his voice throughout the whole land-"

"He did that to get the attention of his creators, he blamed them for his power, he didn't understand why they gave him magic when he can't defeat his enemies with it. Avalar wanted to save our race so he asked the creators to help him and BAM! he was a tree"

"Close" Smarty frowned " He went up that hill to blame his creators for everything, he didn't understand why they bestowed on him the gift of magic when he can't use it to defeat his enemies. He asked them for help, he wanted to serve his land and his people, he wanted to give us a cause to fight on, he wanted to save us from a gruesome fate, he wanted to watch over us for all eternity. Whoever made Avalar granted him his wish by turning him into a tree. The hunk was created using his inner strength, enemies became the leaves, the long thick roots reassembled the tiresome path he had to undertake, the lianas were created from his wild emotions."

"Yeah!" Black eye exclaimed " He stands there to this day, arched from that hill always watching and serving us and the land since he is a tree and trees make air!"

Smarty nodded "Avalar became a symbol, the tables have turned back then and we knew who gave us this luck. But we have to remember that there is always a difficult path of us, that one has to use all his energy to hold back the crown, that the destination to reach our goal is ever-changing just like lianas blown by the wind. However as long as the tree stands there we know that somebody is watching over us and that we have a future ahead of us."

"The end!" the children exclaimed simultaneously

"Wow, I never knew about that, this is one hell of a history" Cynder said with a clearly admiring tone

"Is it really true?" Spyro asked excited about this whole thing

Meadow shrugged " Who knows, you have your Ancestors we have ours and just like dragons cheetahs are quite devoted. It is kept in secret that's why you never heard of it because this is a very important symbol for us as you have already heard. That's why we named the tree The Fortune, as long as it stands we know that no matter how dire the situation looks we will prevail."

Spyro noticed the female cheetah sliding back into her chair " What do you think about this? You believe it?"

She threw him a quick glance before taking a sip from her mug, lost in focus " There is always some truth in fairy tales I guess"

The dinner was nearing its end, they all drank, ate and chattered before there was nothing left on the table and some of the cheetahs left the room to go on about their business. Most of them stayed, cleaning the table and the dishes, Spyro and Cynder helped them in any way they could, they were invited here so it was just a gesture of politeness to help their hosts. It took them a while but everything was cleaned eventually and they were ready to be on their way.

" Thank you for the invitation Meadow, but we best be on our way" Spyro gave the cheetah a grateful look

" Spyro didn't give any sign of life for a while I'm sure they are going crazy in Warfang" Cynder smiled wryly

" You won't mind if I come with you?" Meadow asked while rearranging the falcon feather on his robe with great scrupulousness " I need to take care of something there"

" Sure, come on" with that Spyro lead the way.

Just before they reached the exit Spyro noticed the female cheetah standing in the corner watching him closely " You two go on I will catch up with you later" with that he made his way towards the feline. Cynder shot him a quick glance just to focus on the female cheetah for a brief second, with a sigh and her head hanging low she continued towards the exit.

" Best of luck to you hero" she gave him a charming smile when he got close

" Likewise" they stared at each other for a while in complete silence, with only smiles plastered on their faces " You know I've never got your name"

Her sapphire eyes sparkled " They call me Hope"

"it was a pleasure to meet you Hope, but still this is an unusual name for a cheetah. No offense"

She shrugged still smiling " Name like any other"

Spyro looked at the window and saw Cynder and Meadow standing near the building waiting for him " I better be going, until we meet again"

A cagey smile appeared on Hope's face " Careful what you wish for" she chuckled and waved him off as he made his way towards the exit.

Still in a sunny weather they made their way towards the wooden gate, the guards wished them a safe journey before closing the gate behind them. They continued onwards leaving the pretty abandoned village behind their tails, fully concentrating on reaching The Forbidden Tunnel since it's the shortest way to reach their goal. Just beyond it Warfang awaits.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

They walked along the road that led out of the village, their pace was slow but filled with the sound of happy chatter, every now and then they stopped for a quick break, after all there is no rush, it's not like the city is going to vanish. They continued down the road until they've noticed a base of a mountain coming into view, the sun illuminated its jagged structure with a bright light.

Near the base just at the brink of the road many trees were growing on a greenish ground, they stood next to each other forming a quite dense twiggy barrier. However the sight won't drive away a traveler who knows what he is looking for, Meadow took the lead and made his way towards the thick obstacle with the two dragons closely following him, the cheetah pushed away the more annoying twigs from his way while he ventured forward.

After a while they were reminded that the thick some might say impassable barrier of tress is just an illusion for all those clueless travelers. Soon they emerged right into a quite empty piece of greenish ground with trees standing at both sides leaving only the middle for a comfortable walk, just like it was some sort of a path.

Road or not the empty space was quite big allowing even a fully grown adult dragon to pass through freely without worrying about the many thick branches scratching his scales. They made their way down the greenish piece of land until there was nothing left in front of them besides the base of the mountain with many different sized stones protruding from it and even more smaller rocks laying on the ground near the base.

The small group made its way alongside the mountain until they reached a wall from which two almost triangular stones protruded leaving a quite big jagged space between them. For an inexperienced and lucky traveler this would just be a common wall with nothing interesting on it, it was quite the contrary for the three of them. Meadow slid his paw across the wall's surface for a couple of seconds before he pressed his paw against the wall, muttered something in a strange language under his breath that were most likely some magical incantations before he took a couple of steps backwards.

Firstly nothing happened but after a while a rumbling sound could be heard accompanied by a noise that sounded like stone grinding on stone, while the wall began to shake slightly. Moments later a shape in a form of the nose emerged from the rocky wall, soon after eyes showed themselves, mouth and two horns. Out of the wall emerged quite a big rocky dragon snout which stared at them with its empty eyes.

They stood near the entrance to The Forbidden Tunnel, both dragons remembered when they saw this scene for the first time, just like now they arrived here from the cheetah village but back then the rocky snout startled both young drakes before trigging Spyro's curiosity. It was then when they found out about the Tunnel's purpose, it served as an escape passage from Warfang if things would go poorly for the city during a siege. However the entrance to it was located not far from the familiar cheetah village, one could notice the smoke coming out from one of the chimneys if the dragon snout wouldn't focus all the attention.

The relation between Cheetahs and Dragons wasn't really very good that's why the Tunnel's entrance was created near the village closest to Warfang so when things would go drastic for the cheetahs they could evacuate their people to the Dragon City, hence the huge salon in the village, the survivors had to be accommodated somewhere before the evacuation. This whole thing strengthened the bond between the two races. To avoid abusing of the Tunnel only a chosen few could open it. Meadow, Prowlus and a single Chief from every other cheetah tribe could open it, as for the Dragons only the Guardians had the power to command the door. It was done on purpose, to save all the innocent people at least one of the leaders from both races had to live so he could open the door, preventing both species from becoming leaderless, a key to survive during a war.

Meadow placed his paw on the rocky snout's nose, he closed his eyes and lowered his head before chanting another magical incantation. Moments later the snout's eyes flared up with a red light, Meadow took a couple of steps backwards as another rumbling sound could be heard. The snout began opening its maw, it looked like it was pulling in the stone itself, soon the wall was gone together with the snout revealing the entrance to the Tunnel.

The moment they've entered everything went dark instantly as the stone wall formed itself behind them. The darkness didn't last for long since moments later a torch hanging on the wall just next to the entrance ignited itself, soon another one on the opposite side did the same thing, and that was only the beginning. Soon another torch lit itself just next to the previous one, another followed soon after, then another and another, it didn't take long before all the torches on the wall were burning, they formed some kind of a circle surrounding the whole interior. Just after every torch was lit on the wall a couple of columns which were facing each other showed themselves in front of them, and just like the wall they had a torch on them that began igniting itself until the light from the flames illuminated the path in front of them and revealed a stone wall on the far end of the Tunnel.

They were standing on a quite wide marble bridge that span over a huge chasm with a familiar stone wall on the other end of the bridge. How deep the chasm was nobody knows and honestly no one ever cared to find out, but judging from the complete darkness below it was quite a fall. The Tunnel is pretty vast and empty, only distant walls surrounded the bridge with torches and some barely noticeable carvings depicting what looked like dragons. The bridge they were standing on was pretty clean with only some pairs of columns standing on the opposite sides of it. The bridge was obviously created by the Moles, since only they are capable of doing something that requires a good technical mind. Moles weren't working alone, this place was also created using magic, the rocky snout's proved that, together with the marble bridge which ran over the chasm with no visible support preventing it from falling down, it seemed like the bridge levitated in the air with magic holding it in place. The self igniting torches also served as a good example, it was hard to decide what contributed more to the Tunnel's construction.

The group didn't really care about such things since they began moving forward the moment the light illuminated the path ahead of them. Shallow breaths and the clicking of claws on the marble floor were the only sound which could be heard in the Tunnel.

Meadow chuckled " Whenever I use this tunnel I always recall how difficult it was for me to convince Prowlus to teach me the magical incantation. He always turned me away until one day I fell on my knees in the centre of the village begging him to teach me his little secret and I did it in front of the whole village. He had no other choice, with all the eyes focused on him he finally whispered the words. I'll never forget the look on his face"

" I bet he really was a thorn in your side after that" Cynder added

The cheetah chuckled once again " You can't even imagine. _You want to be a leader? I'll make you one_. He said. You may say many bad things about him but he keeps his word. Every night I've spent on improving my skills with a spear. The lessons were so intense that sometimes I've felt asleep leaning against my weapon and every time I did that he woke me up using a bucket of cold water_. A leader never surrenders he is the first on the battlefield and the last one to leave it_. Prowlus always repeated this words whenever my senses returned to me"

Spyro sighed sadly just like he remembered not a very pleasant memory " It really reminds me of my training session with Ignitus, I couldn't rest either"

Meadow nodded " It was difficult but it paid off in the end. Every time a new day dawned I tried to convince myself that it won't be so bad, every single time I was wrong. _A leader never rests, he is always available for his people_. He greeted me with those words the moment the first sun rays reached the ground. Every single day I've been walking around the village with Prowlus asking the people if they need anything. I had to take down a child's toy from a huge tree, some other time I had to clean every single house on my path and let's just say that they were far from clean. Of course that's not everything but I don't want to bore you with the details"

" How long has he been torturing you?" Cynder's voice reached him.

The cheetah shrugged with a smile on his face " After some time I've stopped counting but it has been some very long months" the cheetah chuckled " It would be even longer if not for a friend of mine who had a gift of persuasion. Dale was his name, took him a while but eventually he convinced Prowlus that a leader must have also the ability to help his people in more ways that just simple fighting . He was an alchemist you see, and he taught me some of it, but I don't have a knack for it so one day I've been brewing a potion that I thought was a healing potion but it turned out to be nothing more than some volatile and extremely flammable substance. I've been doing the experiments in Prowlus' house so you can guess his reaction when he saw his burnt down home"

Cynder smirked " Serves him right"

Meadow smiled cagily " He would disagree with you" he coughed " After that accident my training sessions were over since I was more trouble than it was worth. As for Dale... well he got kicked out from the village so he could experiment away from civilization, I wonder how is he doing" Suddenly Meadow stopped in his tracks " Wait a minute, did you meet him by any chance?"

Both dragons shook their heads " Sorry but we didn't meet anyone named Dale" Spyro said

"Are you sure?"

"Yep"

" He lives in a cave near The Fortune, he usually walks around wearing a green coat. I haven't seen him for a while and I'm wondering if he still lives in that cave". Both dragons looked at each other with shock filled eyes, it didn't escape Meadow's notice as he furrowed a brow when he saw their reaction " You look troubled, what's the matter?"

Cynder scratched the back of her head " Ummmm there might be a problem with the living part"

" You want to say that he left that cave?"

She shook her head " No, no, he's still there... sort of"

Meadow's eyes narrowed " Cynder what do you mean by that?"

She looked him directly into the eyes " I killed him"

"YOU WHAT?!" the cheetah exclaimed, the sound of his voice echoed throughout the tunnel

" Meadow he attacked us!" Spyro exclaimed " He wanted to kill me, it was self defense"

" The Dale I knew wouldn't hurt a fly! Alchemy was his only obsession" he clenched his fists in anger

Spyro lowered his head " I'm sorry Meadow so very sorry but he gave us no choice, I wish there was another way, I really do" his voice was filled with genuine sadness

The cheetah watched the dragon and Meadow could tell that he was feeling regret. Impulsively he unclenched his fists, his anger was beginning to fade just by staring at him only to be replaced by sincere compassion " I know Spyro I'm sure you did everything you could" he uttered before throwing Cynder a quick glance

She narrowed her eyes " You won't get any apology from me, he tried to hurt Spyro so I killed him and I would do it again without hesitation"

" Cynder" Spyro hissed

Meadow waved his hand in a comforting manner " It's okay, I respect honesty and as a warrior I understand your motives, after all it's our sacred duty to protect our friends and loved ones" He sighed " To tell you the truth Dale has been acting really weird, I visited him some weeks ago just to see him talking to himself before he noticed me."

Spyro nodded sadly " Yeah... he was already like that when we met him. Any idea why he acted like this?"

" Years of solitude had to take their toll eventually, not to mention magic"

Spyro jerked back in surprise "Magic? What has magic to do with anything?

Meadow scratched his chin " Magic is as dangerous as it is beautiful, if you are unprepared you can't cope with its power. We cheetahs aren't born with your elemental energy so we are unprepared to withstand the energy the magic unleashes whenever you cast a spell. Hermits aren't born crazy, they are just the fruit of the magic's side effects."

" You want to say that everyone who has magic powers becomes crazy in the end?"

The cheetah shook his head " Not necessarily. I've met many hermits and every one of them showed different symptoms like dementia, exhaustion, insomnia..."

Spyro frowned " Hallucinations?"

" Among other things" Meadow narrowed his eyes " Spyro is everything alright? You look troubled"

" I'm fine, it's just that...I mean..." he sighed " No it's not alright. Lately I've been seeing things that couldn't be there, they felt so real but they turned out to be hallucinations. I'm not the only one who experienced this, Cynder has the same problem"

Meadow remained silent for a moment while scratching his chin thoughtfully " I'm no expert but I wouldn't worry about that"

" Not to worry?" Cynder blurt out incredulously " We are going crazy and you say it's ok?"

" You are not going crazy don't worry" he gave the dragons a reassuring smile "As I said you have elemental energy running in your veins meaning that you have a natural resistance to the magic's destructive influence. However I think that it doesn't protect you fully, Spyro I don't know what you did to save our world but I suspect that it had to be some powerful display of magical power and the moment it was unleashed you were caught in its radius. I believe that this power broke your resistance causing you this minor inconvenience, you just need some rest."

Cynder remained unconvinced " You think that a simple rest will solve our problems?"

" You wouldn't believe what tricks a tired mind can play on you, give it some time to adjust and I'm sure everything will return to normal."

Cynder shrugged after a brief pause" Maybe you are right"

Meadow smiled and renewed his walk" There is nothing to worry about" he said confidently

Both dragons followed him, as they walked the Tunnel was filled with the sound of ongoing conversation. They've kept joking and talking as if trying to discard all the bad revelationsa until they reached the stone wall on the other end of the marble bridge. Just like previously Meadow placed a paw on the wall and began chanting the same magical words and just like previously the stone wall disappeared, this time however the sound of a fully awakened city reached them.

Warfang also known as the Dragon City is a city that had been built by the Moles in honor of their friendship with the dragons, before Malefor, Dragons were quite revered. The first thing that catches the visitor's eyes are the many landmarks including many dragon statues and an extremely powerful cannon in the shape of a dragon head on Warfang's front wall. Despite its name there are not many dragons living here, the city is mostly populated by the Moles.

Warfang is a three leveled city, the levels are connected by many stairs that run through different alleyways. The Dragon City is constructed purely from brownstone, the buildings are huge so they can house even the largest of dragons. Tall and sturdy watchtowers with a circular dome dotted the city. Some of them stand between many different buildings while the others are a part of the wall. The watchtower's top is quite wide allowing a dragon of considerable size to fit so he or she can hurl fireballs at incoming enemies from above. If there is no drake around he or she can be easily replaced by moles with different war machines in their hands.

The north end of the city is protected by a natural tall mountainside while the other parts are surrounded by extremely thick brownstone wall, it would have to take some very well placed catapult shots to breach through its layers. Since dragons don't need doors to leave the city, the Moles constructed only a single gate at the front wall. Just like the city the gate was created using thick layers of stone with a dragon head with its mouth widely opened shaped in the middle. Instead of teeth the head had three pairs of rims inside its mouth, just at the edges of the gate were three long iron bolts held in the rims of their own. During a siege the bolts are pulled inside the rims in the dragon's head mouth, the moment they are locked in place its maw closes trapping the bolts and reinforcing the gate at the same time, a battering ram would need some additional time to break it down.

In front of the gate was a marble circle created with patches of green grass on its edges, inside the ring on the stone a pair of draconic wings was shaped so the visitors could be reminded where they arrived. Through the whole city in specially created cavities ran streams of crystal clear water from the fountains that were located throughout the city. It didn't only please the eye but also allowed the patches of green ground, flowers and trees thrive in the usually crowded and stony city.

The lowest level of Warfang consisted of a single marketplace to which almost every possible stairs led. The marketplace was located between the gate and the Forbidden Tunnel so the trading caravans can reach it quickly when they pass through the front gate and if during a siege arrive in Warfang by the secret passage so the supplies could be distributed quickly throughout the city. There wouldn't be much use for a marketplace if not for the many workshops constructed here which supply it with their wares. Most of the houses were located on this level with some guard posts every now and then to ensure safety.

By crossing the marble paths and climbing some stairs the traveler arrived on Warfang's second level. Just like on the first one there were plenty houses here with guard posts placed all around this floor. This level held a bit more important buildings for the inhabitants than simple workshops. One could discern a hospital with an empty bed and a red potion next to it shaped just above the hospital's entrance so the people won't take it for something else.

In the centre of the level was a fountain resembling a coiled form of a dragon with water flowing down from its opened mouth. The water fell into a cavity surrounded by marble floor and flowed in every direction through many other smaller canals . On the right side of the fountain a road lead to the already mentioned hospital surrounded by many common buildings with one more larger and wider than all the others which seemed to be connected with the hospital, some dragon statues stood on the path to the hospital. On the north end stairs to the last level could be seen, while to the left stood another important building for the residents.

It was a huge temple with two extremely big towers on the opposite sides of the building. A red triangular roof covered the entire temple with a large white statue standing in the center just right between the two towers which resembled an adult dragon standing on his hind legs with his wings opened and balls of flame formed from his moved to the side opened front paws. A very clean marble path lead to the temple which was surrounded by fresh green grass with many trees rooted into the ground which granted a shadow over any traveler or pilgrim walking down the marble floor. For the more devoted people living here this temple was even more important than the buildings located on the last level.

The first thing that caught the eye of everyone who arrived on the third level of the Dragon City was an extremely wide, tall, basically huge building, both ends of the building started to create some sort of an arch. The entire structure was dotted with many windows which only meant that there are rooms to house guests located inside the structure and judging from the balconies they had quite a good look at the city. This building was a City Hall where the Guardians held meetings and solved Warfang's daily problems. The right arch of the City Hall was connected with the larger building near the hospital. The other end wasn't connected with anything , it ended just mere inches from an another building. The other building was nothing more that the main Guard post or barracks as it was called by some people. Whatever its name is the building is a place of meeting for the guards and their captains on duty and a resting place for those who have a break. It also contained some cells for the more troublesome inhabitants. Warfang is truly a magnificent creation, with its thick walls, houses, fountains and green patches of land it invited people to live in it.

However this is how the city looked like in the past, now it's devastated. The tall watchtowers collapsed blocking off entire stairs and alleyways with rubble filling the streets. Roofs and walls of the many houses had big holes in them, some had slight cracks while the other homes were completely razed to the ground. The wall surrounding the city was slightly damaged in some places while almost completely destroyed in others, however no sign of a breach could be seen. The gate took a solid beating, even if it was pure stone the gate was almost tore off from its holding place. In some places there were holes in the ground surrounded by some tall poles to prevent anyone from falling down while repairs are being done. Even the buildings on the upper levels weren't left undamaged.

Spyro and Cynder's first visit to Warfang was far from pleasant, the moment they arrived from the Forbidden Tunnel they found the city under attack. Massive forces of The Dark Army laid siege on Warfang, breaking the walls and knocking at the front gate with their battering rams and trolls. It was a very bloody siege, the enemy unable to break through the wall used ladders and siege towers to gain control of the ramparts, the allied Realm forces held tightly even if they were under fire from the enemy catapults and flying creatures. After some time the allied forces managed to push the Dark Army from Warfang's wall making the enemy to fall back much to their surprise.

As it turned out it was only a slight pause to catch a breath since a Golem emerged from behind the enemy ranks. It was a giant lava monster that headed straight at Warfang's wall, just when it was about to reach it the creature burrowed underground just to emerge right in the city tearing down a wall as it did so. The breach allowed the Dark Army to pass through while the Golem itself rained havoc by hitting every possible building inside the city and killing swiftly every defender that came to close.

The battle was fierce, with the allied forces occupied with holding out the Dark Army from advancing farther into the city it was up to the dragons to stop the Golem. The drakes attacked the monster with all their strength but it still managed to try to end Spyro's and Cynder's life, it was then when the Guardians defended both young dragons from the Golem but were soon defeated. However Ignitus showed Spyro and Cynder a small bump on the Golem's head by breathing fire on it, indicating that the main dark crystal that controls the monster is hidden underneath. Spyro and Cynder tore the bump off and destroyed the crystal inside. With the dark crystal destroyed, the Golem died and hit the ground, blocking the breach in the wall as a result.

With the Golem and their war machines destroyed the Dark Army retreated, leaving Warfang to its fate. The siege, constant bombarding, the Golem, not to mention the earth splitting damage left the Dragon City in ruins. But the Realm forces didn't worry about that, the walls can be reinforced, the buildings rebuilt but the lives that would be lost if they had failed couldn't be given back.

As the group emerged from the Tunnel's entrance which was covered by the same two stones first thing that caught their attention was how this part of the city was left defenseless, no wonder since the siege was over and The Dark Master defeated. Another thing was the sound of constant shouting, talking, rumbling of stones and some strange sounds the odd machines which were created by the Moles made as they helped carry some bigger boulders to places where even a dragon could have difficulties reach. No one was paying them any mind as every soul that walked down the pretty destroyed streets was entirely focused on repairing the damage. A cheetah pushing a cart with debris could be seen there, a mole operating one of the cranes here, some other cheetahs and moles walking on the many scaffoldings accompanied by the ringing sound of a hammer hitting a stone wall. A dragon with a pole strapped to his back with two big buckets hanging from both sides of his body that were filled with rocks walked slowly through the streets. Now they know why Meadow ordered the cheetah warriors from his village to remain in Warfang, the city is being rebuilt and the moles and dragons need all the help they can get.

As they walked down one of the streets they reached a structure formed like an archway, a mole was walking carrying some stones towards them constantly looking around for any sign of debris. The clicking sound of claws gained his attention as he turned his head to see who is the creator of that noise. The moment the mole set his eyes upon the group he froze and dropped all the stones on the ground which created a rumbling sound the moment they hit the floor. He rubbed the goggles which he wore on his long nose just like he tried to make sure he isn't seeing things.

Spyro smiled and prepared to greet the mole but the moment he opened his mouth the little rodent made a quick turn and ran deeper into the city screaming "HE'S BACK!, HE'S BACK!"

Cynder smiled sarcastically " I guess they are happy to see you Meadow"

The cheetah chuckled " That would be something" he coughed " Anyway I won't hold you any longer, I have some business to attend to. See you and good luck" with that he exchanged meaningful smiles with Cynder and slightly bowed his head in a goodbye manner before making his way towards one of the other streets.

Both dragons continued onwards passing under the archway, surprisingly everything went silent, no footsteps could be heard, no hammers hitting the stony walls, no shouts, even the strange machines the moles were using stopped moving, it looked like the whole city froze in place. The young dragons continued their slow walk, after a while some quiet noise caught their attention it was some distance away so it was hard to say what caused it. They made only a few steps before the sound became louder, both dragons stopped and listened intently, the noise was getting louder and louder with each passing second. Cynder made a few steps backwards and observed Spyro with a smile on her snout as he tried to figure out what was causing this noise.

" What is this?" Spyro asked thoughtfully " If I had to guess I would say it sounds like-" a single mole popping from behind a building cut him off, soon after another group of moles showed themselves followed by some cheetahs and dragons, all of them headed directly at him " Oh no" Spyro muttered with a glimmer of fear in his voice.

This was no small group, second after second more people popped from behind the building, Spyro's eyes went wide when the sound of many footsteps intensified just to reveal a quite big mob behind it which was headed straight at him. The first ones who got to Spyro began surrounding him instantly, asking questions, congratulating, thanking and many other things which he couldn't really hear since the cheerful noise was almost deafening.

"Listen guys there is no reason to be happy-" he didn't finish since a mole grabbed his head, Spyro gasped when the rodent pulled him, making him slide on the stone floor sending tiny sparks in the air as his claws scratched the ground below him. The mole didn't care about such things since the moment Spyro's head was close enough he hugged him tightly almost choking the young dragon. Someone patted his head, someone delicately punched him in the side in a friendly manner, he couldn't tell who it was since he was still being held by the mole.

"It's good to see you too" Spyro mumbled with a muffled voice while he patted the mole's back. The rodent feeling his touch released the grip and looked directly into the dragon's amethyst eyes. Spyro smiled kindly when he looked at the mole, the rodent stared at him for a while and shook his slightly before dragging the dragon for another hug. Spyro's eyes almost popped out from their sockets when the mole squeezed him.

The mob was getting bigger and bigger, everyone wanted to get as close as possible to Spyro just to be able to touch him. "Guys-" he couldn't finish a sentence since he was pulled from every possible direction. Mole, feline and draconic faces were flashing before his eyes as he was almost spinning around thanks to the many paws reaching for him. Some more clever dragons descended from the sky and landed near him, replacing the more unfortunate souls who were pushed away by the gust of wind their wings created.

Cynder stood a few steps away from the mob, she observed the scene in complete silence and with a broad smile on her snout. Even if she wanted to she could do nothing to stop them, they were lost in happiness. She really liked to see Spyro in such uncomfortable moments for him, of course if she isn't the one who caused this uneasiness in the first place. Cynder really liked this innocence of his, even despite all the things they've been through he still couldn't muster enough confidence to say '_no_'.

She observed the scene for a while now, the mob was jumping all around Spyro and the sight of his terrified snout staring at her made her giggle. Moments later the crowd began to move dragging him with them, Spyro had to realize what is happening since she could hear him calling her name. A slight opening formed itself, a purple snout emerged from it soon after. Cynder kept smiling and just waved him off when she saw Spyro staring at her. He was calling her name as the crowd dragged him, he continued doing so until the mob disappeared around the corner.

Cynder stood in the same place and her smile was fading the longer she stared at the empty street ahead. There was no one here to greet her, no one to thank or congratulate her, she was completely alone. Not that it surprised her, she was a murderer for them after all. Cynder is a black dragoness, one of a kind really, there is no other dragon with the same scales color in the Realms. She was born the same year Spyro was, in fact her egg was in the same Dragon Temple Spyro's egg was. Unfortunately she wasn't as lucky as he was, Ignitus only managed to save a single egg, all the others were destroyed expect for hers. Malefor needed a dragon to free his essence from his prison in Convexity and it happened to be her. The Ape King Gaul stole Cynder's egg just to ensure she was born under the Dark Master's influence, she was was being corrupted by his dark powers the moment she hatched, and that corruption transformed her into a monstrous horrific adult dragon brainwashed to do Malefor's bidding.

That transformation led to many deaths, she became the general of Malefor's army, Cynder led the Apes in the war against the Dragon race and the Guardians, it goes without saying that it was a very successful campaign. She became a killer for the cheetahs, a destroyer for the moles and a traitor for the dragons, she slaughtered everything that stood on her way, even those who didn't still couldn't hide from her shadow. Cynder was concerned only about her Master's return, every other life was worthless. The memories sadden her and fill her with a such strong guilt that if not for a single purple dragon she would probably be crazy by now.

Cynder blinked and shook her head as a loud sound reached her accompanied by many startled screams, soon after shouts of anger and confusion could be heard. However that was unimportant since moments later a purple shape emerged from behind a building which was getting closer towards her.

" Cynder!" Spyro shouted "Now's our chance let's get the hell out of here" he stopped in front of her panting slightly

She giggled " How did you manage to get here? From the looks of it they weren't really keen to release you"

" Sparx helped me, you have no idea how difficult it is to breathe, they are just so happy that I can't even concentrate on one thing since soon after someone else squeezes me"

Cynder stared at him with a cheerful smile, her eyes traveled across his purple snout until she noticed some damp spots on his cheeks " Some even more than happy"

Spyro noticed her nodding towards his snout, he impulsively touched his cheek and blushed momentarily " No..that's...that's" he stammered while he kept rubbing his scales.

Cynder giggled " So tell me, where you want to run?"

" As far as possi-"

"There you are!" an excited shout cut Spyro off making him wince, he turned around just to see a cheetah grabbing his horn, the feline tugged the dragon behind him.

Cynder just shrugged when he threw her a quick resigned glance with a corner of his eye, that is the price a hero has to pay, whether he likes it or not.

Just as he was about to reach a quite big crowd ahead a glowing shape flew just above him " Sparx!" Spyro shouted irritated " You said you got it covered!"

The dragonfly hovered in the air as he turned to look down to see his brother being surrounded by the crowd " I can't believe you still fall for that." Sparx shook his head " I've done my best, seriously but they drive a hard bargain" he waved a little red apple that he held in his hand

"You sold me for an apple?!"

Sparx shrugged " Dude I'm hungry what else could I do? Besides you worry too much bro, it's not so bad, believe me I've been through this"

Spyro managed to slip away from the many paws for a while " Maybe for you it isn't but all this is really bad for me!"

" Chill, it's going to be fun" the crowd trapped the purple dragon below him " Roly there is quite a live one" a mole jumped towards Spyro wrapping his paws around his neck and dragging him on the ground " Have fun bro" with that Sparx flew away.

Cynder observed the crowd ahead but what really caught her attention was a glowing yellow shape heading her way, and only one guy she knew emitted such light. Sparx is a dragonfly who is a sidekick and a brother to Spyro it doesn't matter that they are from different species. Sparx lived in the Swamp with his parents Flash and Nina and a purple dragon who the family adopted when they found his egg and raised him as one of their own.

Even if they are not from the same blood they are like siblings sharing the same day they were born. Sparx and Spyro stick together from the very beginning, even the passing years didn't change that, they both still remained inseparable. Sparx accompanied Spyro from the moment he left his home, the adventures they've been through intensified the bond between them. There was only one thing that they really disagreed upon and it was her. The moment Cynder was freed from Malefor's control Spyro always tried to help her any way he could while Sparx showed his distrust towards her and always repeated that she is still evil. That really caused some bad blood between the dragoness and the dragonfly.

Sparx looked down at her " And who do we have here? Isn't this the cause of my nightmares?"

Cynder kept staring at the crowd in complete silence

" Just when I thought the day can't get any better you show up and ruin everything" She was still standing in the same position

Sparx furrowed a brow " I've even lost my appetite" he threw the apple into one of the pile of debris before moving to hover just at her side " But when you are liked it can happen right?"

Cynder remained focused on the crowd

He cocked his head slightly in confusion before coughing " And who I am talking to? You have no idea about this, you have to play for the good team to understand"

She was still motionless

The silence irritated Sparx, he touched her side to gain her attention " Hello? Are you there?" he flew along her body just to stop inches above her head before patting it "Are you deaf or what?" when there was still no reaction he made his way towards her snout to hover just in front of her eyes and started to flail his hands just like a lunatic "Hello?!"

Cynder reared her head back and widened her eyes " You?!" she exclaimed with a faked surprise " What are you doing here? I hadn't seen you coming" she smirked

Sparx frowned and folded his arms around his chest " Very funny smartass"

"Honest, I really didn't see you coming, I thought it was a wind or something"

The dragonfly snorted and started flying around her head " You stare at that crowd and they even don't see you, after all this time you show up and they ignore you" he shivered " That's gotta sting"

Cynder threw her head to a side and closed her eyes just like any offended lady would do " Pffff" she snorted " I'm way too important for someone like them, they are not worth my precious time" she looked at the dragonfly with one of her eyes while a corner of her mouth twitched into a smile

" Ha! You wish!" Sparx exclaimed wryly " I tell you something sister, people here appreciate only the good stuff"

Cynder's eyes shot wide open as she looked at the dragonfly " What did you call me? Sister?" she curled her nose " Ewww that's disgusting"

Sparx cleared his throat nervously "Sister?!" he snorted " I've said trickster, boy you sure are deaf" he delicately poked her forehead with his finger several times

She focused her emerald eyes on him, her pupils moved to the sides of her orbs so they could form a good image " Now I'm going to have nightmares"

The dragonfly quickly flew away, she smiled kindly when she saw him doing so. Sparx waved his hand dismissively " If you don't believe me, fine, I don't care anyway" with that he started to fly towards the crowd " I'm going to find some better company, besides I can't let Spyro steal all the attention. People!" Sparx exclaimed loudly " Your hero is coming!"

Cynder watched the glowing shape getting smaller and as she did so a kind sincere smiled formed itself on her snout " You're welcome" she whispered

Sparx always hid behind a mask, he always uses his sarcasm and wit to hide his true feelings, this time was no different and Cynder knew that, after all she exactly know what wit and sarcasm is. Over time the bad blood between them faded since Sparx learned to trust her when she and Spyro were tethered together during their journey. However that didn't stop them from throwing sarcastic remarks at each other, sometimes even snide ones. After some more time the relationship between Sparx and Cynder became far more friendly and the moment before the final battle proved that. The dragonfly had Cynder promise him to take care of Spyro when Sparx couldn't accompany the two dragons to the Burned Lands to face Malefor. Cynder knew that Sparx cared only about his foster brother's safety and this little talk they had was a thank you, dipped in the typical witty and sarcastic tone of course but she understood it without problems.

Cynder winced when something hit her head and broke her train of thought. She opened her eyes just to notice a little rock with its side covered in fresh crimson blood rolling on the ground. Cynder touched her head and lowered her paw just to see blood on it, she impulsively looked up. Her eyes widened as she noticed a big slab of stone heading her way that would turn her into a pulp if she would stand here. With her survival instinct kicking in Cynder quickly jumped forward and landed on her belly, the moment her magenta scales touched the floor, the slab hit the ground behind her with a loud rumbling noise. The impact broke the stone into many smaller pieces and created quite a thick dust hanging in the air. Cynder coughed several times and pulled herself up to look at the debris with shock filled eyes and a ringing sound in her head.

"Is everyone alright down there?" a low male shout came from above

Soon after a dragon descended from the sky and landed near the cracked slab of stone. He was fairly in his adulthood. The dragon has a powerfully built body, well formed muscles were protected by thick malachite scales which turned into a pewter color on his underbelly, chest and on both sides of his tail, his membranes were of the same color. Bladelike bony plates sprout from his chin, bony plates but without any blades covered the back of his head. A single horn is projecting above his nose. On either side of his tail are sharp, bladelike extensions. A pair of grey eyes scanned the surroundings.

" A warning would be welcome!" Cynder exclaimed angrily

The dragon looked at her with innocent eyes " I did yell _WATCH OUT_"

She narrowed her eyes " Strange, I didn't hear anything"

" I'm not surprised, it's hard to concentrate with all this noise down here "

Cynder observed the dragon, she couldn't shake off the feeling that he isn't entirely honest, however he had a point, it is really loud here thanks to the nearby crowd. She decided to not dwell on it any longer " Be more careful next time, you might actually kill someone one day"

She noticed the dragon smirking for a brief moment, but the smile disappeared as quickly as it appeared " I would never hurt anyone" he replied firmly

" Did we got her?" an excited male shout came from above. Moments later a group of dragons landed close to the debris. There were three of them, all males. One was a fire dragon about Cynder's age or one or two years older, the next two were earth dragons slightly older than the malachite drake. The group looked around grinning and clearly excited, just as their eyes found Cynder their expressions turned to that of disappointment.

The malachite dragon gave them a scornful look " Luckily nobody is hurt" with that he turned around to look at Cynder with eyes filled with guilt " You have to forgive them, they are quite clumsy but they have good intentions. My apologies" as he lowered his head Cynder noticed as he threw her a quick glance and smiled wryly under his nose for a brief moment.

Cynder narrowed her pupils as her eyes traveled from dragon to dragon until they stopped on the malachite one " Wouldn't hurt anyone you say" she hissed threateningly as she had seen through his deception

He raised his head grinning menacingly " With some exceptions of course"

" If you have a problem with me say it straight to my face instead of playing dirty. Cowards" Cynder growled

The three other dragons snarled " You should be the last one who speaks of honest fights Ligtbane!" one of the earth drakes exclaimed

She bent on her paws " Then maybe you should teach me some manners" her tail began to move slowly back and forth

The malachite dragon adopted a defensive stance " Tempting" he growled

"Cynder!" a scared familiar male shout came from behind her which she ignored, she was entirely focused on the group of dragons ahead. "Cynder are you ok?" Spyro yelled with a terrified voice

Seeing that the purple dragon is getting close the group of drakes relaxed "What happened here!?" Spyro exclaimed while looking at the debris with wide eyes.

The malachite dragon looked at him with guilty expression " It was an accident, thanks the Ancestors nobody was badly hurt" he threw Cynder a challenging look "Isn't that right?"

She growled quietly with her yes intently focused on him "Yeah…yeah it was just an accident"

The other three dragons stared at her for a while just to look at Spyro moments later "Capro" one of the earth dragons said "We should get back to work"

"You are right" Capro nodded " We apologize for any trouble" with that the group took to the sky. When he was in the air Capro threw Cynder one last malicious glance

Spyro sighed in relief " When I heard that noise I thought…" he shivered "Good thing that everything ended well"

Cynder kept staring at the departing group of dragons " Yeah…very good" she muttered

Spyro looked at her with concerned eyes " Cynder are you alright? How are you feeling?" he asked with a soft tone

Her heart jumped when she heard the only voice that cared about her. She blinked and forgot about that whole bad situation in an instant " I'm fine now" Cynder smiled lovingly and began to turn around "You left the party already? That's not-"

Spyro gasped the moment she looked at him "You are hurt!" he exclaimed with fear in his voice

Cynder forgot about that blood on her paw but his startled shout made it all come back to her. Her head began to sting a clear sign that she is wounded. Cynder also started to feel as a streak of blood was running down her forehead " That's just a scratch, nothing to worry about " she closed one of her eyes as blood started to flow down her eyelid

"We have to find a healer!"

" Spyro relax, th-" she gasped when he wrapped his tail around one of her forelegs and tugged her "Spyro listen!" Cynder exclaimed to get his attention but with no luck " Spyro I'm fine!" he didn't budge " Ok you win, I'll go, just release me!" he kept pulling her behind him making Cynder jump on her three free paws "Spyro!"

As they reached the crowd every single person was stepping out of their way, all of them however stared at the purple dragon and the screaming black dragoness behind him with wide eyes. Only a glowing shape emerged from the mob and headed towards the young drakes.

" Bro I'm proud of you!" Sparx exclaimed happily " You finally decided to get rid of this burden" he clapped his hands and cleared his throat " The Big Guys want to see you"

" Later" Spyro replied firmly

They left the crowd behind them and made their way up some stairs, eventually they arrived on the second level. Cynder stopped protesting after a while, it had no sense, he wasn't listening from the beginning so there was no chance he would now. With a sigh she jumped behind him in complete silence, after '_walking_' past by many shocked residents of this city, their destination came into view, it was a building with an empty bed and a red potion next to it shaped right above its entrance.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The hospital is a very vast building with many rooms to accommodate patients who suffer minor or grave injuries with some special rooms to house those who had perished before they could be transported to a burial ground or cremated. This is not the most welcoming of places.

They stood in a quite big room with its ceiling high above their heads, the floor was made of stone probably because it doesn't require much effort to clean the stains of blood from it. The brownstone wall was created in such a way to prevent making any sharp edges, giving the whole building a round structure.

There were no decorations hanging on the wall, only torches and windows with red curtains dotted the room, the curtains could be pulled to hide the interior from the residents and spare them any unwanted gruesome view. Some wooden desk with closed drawers stood all around the room with shelves attached to the wall over them which were filled with different kind of potions, poultices, bandages, gems and many other equipment at paw's reach.

A construction like that allowed to treat the minor wounds on the spot while the worst ones could be tended quickly to save a patient's life before he could be transported to a room for an appropriate treatment. White sheets laid folded on the desks and many stretchers leaned against a wall behind them could be seen, they differed in size and structure. Some were small, others somewhat bigger allowing the smallest and medium sized patients to be transported.

However there were also some more peculiar ones near the wall. They didn't look like the typical stretchers one was accustomed with, they looked like an extremely big and wide sheet, scratched to its limits and reinforced with wooden poles on the edges which also run below the sheet and ended on some sturdy looking machine with four pretty big wheels on its bottom, two wooden handles ran from its back.

It looked more like a cart than a stretcher but one thing was sure, it was used for transportation. Even if they could carry any kind of creature they were designed especially for adult dragons, the healers needed something to help them to transport such a big pile of muscle. It was an uncomfortable ride for the patient no doubt with the poles plucking at his or her body, but when someone is trying to survive comfort is best pushed aside.

The room they were in was completely empty, no healer could be seen, it shouldn't be surprising, with the war over the hospital didn't see much traffic, it seems everyone was committed in rebuilding the city. Good riddance. Many wide corridors run from the room, on their brownstone walls many doors were attached on the opposite sides. The hospital was prepared to receive plenty of wounded residents, hopefully both dragons won't never see it fully occupied.

"Hello? Is anybody here?" Spyro shouted but was only greeted with complete silence

"See? Nobody's home, told you it's going to be a waste of time" Cynder replied with a glimmer of hope in her voice

" My friend is injured and she needs help!" he yelled once again but as previously only silence answered him

" He's just joking!" She yelled soon after " I'm feeling very well so don't bother coming here, we are leaving anyway!" Cynder looked at Spyro with fake excitement " Did you hear that? They said there is nothing to worry about" she nodded towards the door " Let's get out of here" with that she began turning towards the exit

Spyro didn't even look at her, the moment he felt she was slipping away, he wrapped his tail around Cynder's leg and tugged her behind him, a female gasp was everything he heard. " We could really use some help!" Spyro shouted and dragged Cynder behind him, soon they reached one of the desk and his amethyst eyes traveled across the medical equipment, there was everything he needed on them. A turmoil was going on in his head, part of him wanted to take these thing and help his friend but the other said that stealing is wrong and especially the theft of supplies from a hospital was something sinister.

The other part had won, with a sigh he left the desk alone and headed for one of the corridors "Hello?" Spyro shouted again

"Spyro come on" Cynder sighed resigned "There is no one here, just let's go"

He didn't listen, soon he reached one of the corridors, one the wall he noticed a silver plate with OFFICE and PATIENTS written on it with gold letters. Spyro craned his neck " Can anyone help me?" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

Nothing could be heard, just when he was about to emit a resigned sigh a muffled shout reached them "I'm right here!"

Spyro threw Cynder a thrilled look " I knew someone would be here"

" Oh goody!" she exclaimed with faked pleasure

He rolled his eyes and dragged the black dragoness behind him.

" Don't be shy I don't bite!" another muffled shout reached them

Spyro followed it just to arrive near some closed wooden door with a blank plate attached on them. With determination he raised his paw and knocked.

" Come in!" a female voice yelled from behind the doors.

Spyro pushed the door open which revealed some sort of an office. A big window with red curtains covered the end of the room which allowed the rays to illuminate the whole office. Below the window stood a dresser with two flowerpots and a curiously looking casket on it. Bookshelves adorned one side of the wall with a door between them, only a handful of books were about medicine, some were about history, others about alchemy and even some about magic. All of the books had different colored covers, filling the usually dreary room with some colors.

A huge painting depicting some sort of an ancient tree arched from a ledge hung on the other side of the wall, it looked like the tree which the cheetahs called The Fortune. Below it was some sort of a cabinet with many different herbs in pots, potions and many more medical supplies standing on it. A simple single bed could be seen in the corner which was probably for the patients who didn't have enough energy to stand.

In the middle of the room just in front of the big window a desk was placed with a gold unlit candlestick sitting on it, which illuminated the many papers laying on the desk in the darkest hours. Next to the papers a bottle of ink with a quill stuck into it could be seen with a small hourglass next to it. A simple wooden chair was placed behind the desk which was currently occupied.

The moment Spyro entered the room a female cheetah greeted him with a kind smile, she had quite a nasty looking scar just above her right eye. She was wearing a white apron with a simple grey shirt below it, it was a typical doctor's gown without any regard for fashion. A single silver earing with a tiny emerald in its socket pierced her pointy left ear. Her fur lacked the typical sharp color, it was mostly white, some might say even that it was grey. The brown color of her fur and black ringlets were faded, a clear sign that she is quite old.

Though the feline's body was frail nobody could say the same thing about her eyes, the cheetah's brown orbs were focused and full of life, just like they accumulated the slipping energy from her body and stored it within themselves. Wiliness wasn't the only thing the feline's eyes showed, they were also radiating wisdom, wisdom that only people who lived their share of life gained. Besides it a good watcher could notice something strange in her eyes just like she burrowed something below the clearly visible kindness.

The feline put down a white paper she was holding on the desk and crossed her fingers in front of her face " I've told them they were wrong" the feline grinned

"Excuse me?" Spyro cocked his head

She waved her paw dismissively and giggled "Oh don't mind me, I'm just jabbering it comes with age" she smiled kindly " However I'm glad that my intuition doesn't fail me yet"

" We need your help Miss"

The feline lowered her paws and stood up with an alarmed look on her face " What's the matter my boy? How can I help you"

Spyro quickly shook his head " No, no, no I'm fine. It's about my friend, she's hurt." He looked behind him " Cynder get in here" Spyro hissed

The cheetah cocked her head "Cynder?" she muttered with disbelief in her voice

" There is no need for that, my wound healed itself!" an almost sincere excited female shout came from behind the door

" I won't repeat myself"Spyro hissed threateningly

" Spyro just check for yourself, I'm fine"

He looked at the cheetah and chuckled " She loves jokes, I assure you that she can't wait to see you Miss"

The feline giggled " I've noticed"

" Hey" the same female voice came from behind the door " That's not true, I can think of more interesting things than-" Spyro quickly wrapped his tail around her foreleg and pulled her inside the room "Hello Miss!" Cynder exclaimed hastily " I couldn't wait to see you" she forced a fake happy smile on her snout

The cheetah grinned " It's a pleasure to meet you too" her expression became more serious after a while " Your friend told me you are hurt, can I take a look?"

Before Cynder could say anything Spyro stepped to the side revealing the black dragoness behind him with a streak of blood running down her forehead and closed right eye " On her head, it's bleeding badly" he said

The feline waved her hand at Cynder " Come closer, my eyes aren't as good as they used to be" she stepped from behind the desk

Cynder looked at Spyro who just nodded his head towards the healer. With a sigh she moved closer to the cheetah.

When Cynder got close enough the feline gasped " Oh Sweetheart" she grabbed her head and began examining it " My poor thing," she huffed just like a caring mother" Wait here, I'll be right back" with that the cheetah disappeared into the room near the bookshelves.

Momentarily she returned with a bowl filled with water and a white sheet hanging from it. Placing the bowl next to Cynder she dipped the sheet into the water and began cleaning the blood from Cynder's snout.

Spyro quickly jumped next to them " Is she going to be alright Miss?" he asked with a palpable worry in his voice

The feline dipped the sheet once again and renewed her work " The wound is bleeding profusely but there is nothing to worry about" she dipped the sheet once again and started to clean Cynder's forehead " And please don't call me Miss, my name is Amela"

He bowed his head " Pleased to meet you Amela, I'm Spyro"

She shot him a fleeting glance and gave him a knowing smile before returning to her work

" But you already know that" Spyro huffed

Amela giggled and dipped the sheet once again before looking at Cynder " So are you going to tell me how did you get yourself injured like this?"

Cynder moved her pupils upwards to look at the feline " Oh nothing serious, just a falling stone hit me in the head that's all"

"Nothing serious?!" Spyro exclaimed "It was only a little piece from a bigger slab, you are lucky to be alive!"

She shrugged " Same thing, it's over let's just forget about it"

Amela narrowed her eyes while watching the black dragoness " You should stay clear from the inner city, there are a lot of dangerous places there with the repairs going on"

Cynder recognized that tone of voice, the old cheetah figured out that she is hiding something, nevertheless she decided not to admit to anything " We will be more careful"

"They had to finish some repairs there since it all happened near the entrance to the Tunnel" Spyro said cluelessly.

Amela dipped the sheet with a frown on her face "They are working fast" she started cleaning the wound " Tell me who is so careless so I can scold them the next time I see them"

Spyro shook his head "There is no need for that, accidents happen and the bunch of dragons who were responsible apologized"

The cheetah threw Cynder a quick knowing glance "We all make mistakes" with that she made her way towards the cabinet with the medical equipment and started to search for something " Accidents happen after all" she picked up a small closed flask and turned to look at Spyro "Darling I can't find my scissors, I'm sure I left them in one of the rooms, could you look for them?" she asked with a kind smile.

"Sure, no problem" Spyro turned around and dashed towards the door.

"And Spyro!" Amela exclaimed stopping him on the doorstep " Search very thoroughly, I have a tendency to place things in the strangest of places and keep the door open my hearing isn't very good these days" she smiled kindly once again.

Spyro nodded and left the office.

The cheetah returned to Cynder observing her carefully " Accidents huh? It seems that even in the most well-constructed city like Warfang you have to be very cautious"

Cynder stared at the feline as she hunkered down near her " From now on I'll keep my eyes open"

" You should" Amela said with a caring tone and opened the flask

" What is it? Cynder asked cautiously watching the cheetah's every move

"This" the feline raised the flask to look at it " this are some special herbs which will speed up your regeneration process

" This is the moment when you poison me or something?"

Amela froze for a moment, her eyes sparkled destroying all the kindness in them. After a while she blinked and her eyes returned to their normal state " Why would I do such a thing Sweetheart?" she asked with a soft tone

Cynder averted her gaze " I'm sure you have your reasons, almost everyone else does" she whispered with a glimmer of guilt in her voice

She smiled kindly " I don't, besides do you really think I would attempt to kill you when Spyro is so close?" she plunged her finger into the flask just to remove it moments later, it was covered in some kind of greyish paste, It was very sticky and felt like a glue when she smeared it all over the wound on the dragoness' head

Cynder sighed " You wouldn't be the first one, and I wouldn't blame you, I deserve it, all of it" she lowered her head

Amela looked at her and narrowed her eyes "Vengeance is not an option, it always does more harm than good, never fight evil with evil, remember that Sweetheart. Unfortunately not everyone understands it" she moved her hand under Cynder's jaw and raised her head so her emerald eyes met with the feline" so it's very important that you never let your guard down"

They stared at each other for a while, until Amela couldn't stand no longer Cynder's painful expression " Stop blaming yourself for everything Sweetheart, the guilt will kill you" she said with a soft tone

"It's not that simple" Cynder sighed

Amela smiled kindly "That's how it supposed to be, it means you have a conscience and even if it stings that's a good sign"

"I can't find them!" Spyro's shout reached both females

"Keep looking Darling I really need them, these teeth and claws aren't as sharp as they used to be!" the cheetah exclaimed while shooting a quick glance at the opened door

Cynder smiled wryly " You are cunning"

Amela shrugged while smiling innocently " When you will be my age you will understand that brain is your only weapon"

Cynder giggled in understanding

The feline looked at the black dragoness with a serious expression on her face " You are aware that it is forbidden to do any repairs where you've been? Basically it's forbidden to do any repairs near the gates"

Cynder nodded " I am"

"Then why you didn't tell him about this?"

Clearly visible guilt showed itself on her black snout " Because I'm a burden, I've been a problem since the moment we defeated Malefor and he deserves some peace" she sighed " besides I don't want to make his life miserable"

" Oh Sweetheart" Amela huffed caringly " You are too hard on yourself"

"I'm not, I'm just giving Spyro one less thing to worry about"

The cheetah caressed her black head gently " Have you ever heard him complaining?"

Cynder paused for a brief moment " No…but-"

"But…" Amela cut her off "…he is your friend and from what I've seen he dragged you here forcefully just to make sure you are safe"

" I know and that's what worries me the most"

"Why Sweetheart? You have a friend you can count on, Spyro will do anything in his power to help you, why keep him in the dark?" she kept stroking Cynder's head

She thought for a moment "Spyro is very protective of me, if I would tell him about all of this he might do something that might ruin his reputation"

Amela giggled " If you keep protecting each other you won't achieve anything, being overprotective of each other only means that you are doing nothing at all. You don't have many friends here Sweetheart, value the ones you have"

Amela's words rang in Cynder's head, the old cheetah may be right about Spyro and his commitment but that was her mess and she needs to clean it herself " I can take care of myself" Cynder stated firmly

"I don't doubt that" Amela reached for a drawer in her desk from which she recovered a bandage and silver scissors " This is only an advice from an old cat" with that she cut a small strip of bandage with the scissors and tended to the wound. Thanks to the greyish paste the bandage glued itself to the wound.

Moments later Spyro barged through the door "I'm sorry Amela, I've searched all of the rooms but I couldn't find those damn scissors"

The cheetah exchanged with Cynder some knowing smiles before concentrating on the purple dragon "Don't worry Darling" she said with the usual kind tone "they are right here" she showed him the scissors " I'm very forgetful sometimes, it has to be my age"

Spyro's eyes sparkled with happiness as he quickly jumped towards his friend "How are you feeling?"

Cynder's heart jumped in her chest when she was once again reminded how much he cares about her well-being " Told you it was just a scratch" she smiled lovingly

Spyro looked at the cheetah with grateful eyes " Thank you very much Amela"

The feline smiled and returned to her seat behind the desk "That's why I'm here"

" Thanks for the help but we have to go" Cynder said "we won't meet in the same circumstances again" with that all three of them exchanged nods before the dragons left the room.

Amela picked up the white paper from the desk and began examining it "Let's hope so" she sighed

* * *

Spyro exhaled with relief, with the most important thing taken care of it was time to visit the Guardians. Even if he wasn't a member of the City Watch or a soldier it was still his duty to report to the leaders of the Dragon Race, as all dragons do. However for him friendship and safety of his friends had priority over duty. Not to mention that that he didn't really want to meet with them after what happened to Ignitus, he was their friend after all and Spyro didn't know how he will tell them that he is dead. However he is in Warfang now, there is no turning back, what has to be done has to be done.

After a short uneventful walk they reached a fountain and just on the right they saw the stairs which led to the City Hall. Spyro stopped near the stairs, took a deep breath and made his way up with Cynder walking right next to him.

There it was, the Grand Plaza, perfectly clean shining marble pavements ran through the greenish ground with lanterns, trees and small dragon statues adorning it. The path split into three intersections near a small pond with colorful fish swimming underwater. The Moles know how to build cities and even despite the debris littering this level it was still a breathtaking sight. However they were only interested on the central path which led to their destination.

Soon they arrived near the City Hall, two huge perfectly intact dragon statues stood at both sides of the small stairs which led to the main entrance. The statues were extremely imposing, they depicted a male and a female dragon in full battle armor. The agitated expressions shaped on their stony snouts triggered a feeling of awe, they showed that whoever is entering this place has to know that he is just entering the home of the leaders of this city and has to remain respectful. For both of them and probably for the whole city, well maybe not for the moles these were only statues. Spyro knew the Guardians , they are far more friendly than these two stony drakes. It was a different story for a complete stranger, after all fine feathers make fine birds they say.

Both dragons stopped in front of a huge solid looking door, golden unfolded draconic wings adorned it which were carved on the surface of the door with tiny glowing sapphires on their edges The wings spread through the whole door reaching both its ends. The corners the wings didn't cover were embellished with small views from Warfang just like somebody would take pictures of the city from four different directions. West was in the lower left corner, south on the opposite side, east in the right upper corner and north above west.

Three opened dragon maws with a handle inside each of them protruded from the middle of the door, each of them differed in size. On the bottom was the smallest one, allowing the shortest creatures to open the door, creatures like moles for example. The middle one was for creatures like the cheetahs and the highest one for adult dragons. All you need to do is to push the handle and the door open, no matter how much strength you have. Nobody knows how the moles managed to do that but it works perfectly. Spyro pushed the handle at the bottom and the door swung open revealing the most important interior for the city.

It was a tremendously huge dome-liked building with a high ceiling, burning braziers dotted the interior, they were burning intensely illuminating and warming the City Hall. A long wide brown carpet ran through the middle of the room with the same golden wings depicted on it but without the glowing stones.

Rows of dragon statues stood on both sides of the room, all of them were standing on their hind legs with their front paws extended above their heads with their paws touching the ceiling in places where it was the lowest, just like they've been holding the dome from falling down. Every now and then a tall column stood in front of the statues with a shape of a coiled dragon carved into it which wrapped the whole column in its stone body just to end with an open maw with fire burning inside its mouth.

In the far right corner of the room there was a flight of stairs visible which led to the guests quarters on the upper levels, they've been there a couple of times already, it was nothing more than long corridors with many rooms dotting it waiting to accommodate some special guests. Near the stairs there was an entrance in the right wall leading into a corridor lit by the same looking braziers, one side of it led up to the guest quarters while the other slop downward towards the Mass Hall. On the other side of the huge room was another entrance which lead to the training grounds for the guards and soldiers, both dragons visited it once or twice and for Spyro those weren't really pleasant memories.

At the far end of the room in the middle just between both entrances stood an extremely big wooden table with some chairs surrounding it and a candlestick sitting on its top. This was a City Hall after all, so it was common to see things like that where the leaders may discuss important details regarding the city. Just right past the table on the wall a big dragon snout was carved into the stone, it really resembled the stony snout that served as the door into the Forbidden Tunnel. Its eyes were lit with a bright red light which perfectly illuminated the table below. Just below it were some massive door which led to the Guardian's quarters.

Just above the snout were four different banners hanging from the stony wall and a completely different symbol carved into each of them ,each of these symbols represented a different element. The banners were all quite similar but they had some differences. The element of Fire was represented by an orange circle with four smaller ones, two of them were located on the bottom left and right corner of the bigger circle, one was directly in the middle and the last one just above it. A orange arm in a form of a sickle protruded from the bottom right corner and encircled the small middle circle. The banner has a reddish background, it splits into two smaller stripes with a dark marking on them which hang from the bottom circles. The main orange orb was adorned with a greenish hue on its upper part.

The second banner represented Earth, it looked like the previous one but instead of a reddish background and a sickle it had a green hue and an arm which looked like a claw that protruded from the hoop of the main orb, next to the upper circle just to encircle the middle one. The Ice banner has a blue background and an arm protruding from the left bottom circle in the form of an edged spike while the Electricity banner was yellow with an arm in the form of a shock pulse which started from the bottom left hoop of the main orb, encircled the middle small one just to end on the upper small circle.

The last symbol had no banner, it was just a white swirl of wind on a background of gray-blue, it goes without saying that it stood for Wind. The elements were not only represented by banners but also by Guardians who were sitting just behind the table, due to recent events only three of them were still alive.

Terrador is the Earth Guardian, he is an old but still pretty powerfully built dragon, he has green scales that are covered with patches of brown hue on his shoulders, sides, thighs and tail. He has claret-colored wings with brown membranes, the same colored fins run from the back of his head and end on his tail. A small patch of claret hair covers the sides of his snout and the bottom side of his jaw, a beard and sideburns to be more precise. His tail ended with a claret spiked club. The spikes had a peachy hue, just like the single spike on the end and middle of his wings with two similar spikes on their thumbs. His underbelly, four little horns protruding from his head and two extremely big horns running from the back of his head had the same color. A pair of maroon eyes observed the world.

Terrador is a battle-scarred warrior and the most militant of the Guardians. He is dedicated and focused on the practical art of battle. He speaks in a low, militant baritone voice.

Cyril is the Ice Guardian, just like Terrador he is quite old. He is covered in cyan scales thanks to the shining color it looks like his whole body is made out from ice. Spines of the same color run from the back of his head just to end with a small cluster of spikes on the tip of his tail which spread just like a blossoming flower would. A cluster of spikes protruded from his shoulders, with some smaller ones on his hooks and elbows. A diadem of icicles adorned his forehead, three smaller icicles protruded from the bottom side of his jaw and a single one projected above his nose. From the upper side of his cheeks projected a couple more of these spikes which ended on the bottom side, the interior was covered in a violet hue. The membranes of his cyan wings had the same color, just like his underbelly, two long straight horns protruding backwards from his head and both sides of his tail while the middle of it had his natural color. A violet streak started from the back of his head and ran through the whole upper side of his body. Little shining white diamond looking markings adorned the cyan scales on his tail, thighs and both sides of his neck. A pair of blue eyes scanned the surroundings.

Cyril is a coldly confident and predominately prideful dragon, who constantly brags about supposedly royal ancestry, claiming that his lineage is that of some long forgotten yet great dragons.

Volteer is the Electric Guardian, the same age like the two previously mentioned dragons. Amber scales protected his body, little fins protruding from his cheeks, a slight mane and a tiny spike projecting above his nose had the same color. Saffron markings covered the sides of his neck, back, upper arms, thighs and tail. The same colored membranes were attached to his wings which had an amethyst hue just like his underbelly, sideburns, beard, two horns running from the back of his head which were curved on the end just like a claw, fins on his hocks, elbows and the ones which ran through the whole length of his body which ended on the tip of his tail in the form of two-tined spear had the same color. A pair of amethyst plates protected his shoulders and a pair of the same colored eyes watched the world.

Volteer is the most intellectual of the Guardians, well-versed in lore and legend of the dragons of old. His quick and spectacular speech can sizzle any sound sensor, thanks to his sympathetic nature he is a friend and fellow to all.

However before both young dragons could approach the Guardians a pair of male cheetahs blocked their way. One of them was Meadow and the other feline was called Hunter. Hunter has blue eyes and a yellow fur with white hue on the bottom side of his jaw and cheeks. The white fur also covered his neck, bottom side of his arms, hands, torso and parts of his legs just below his knees. Black ringlets dotted his fur, the same colored fur covered the ends of his pointy ears. He is wearing a hooded brown coat with a dark reddish cape pinned to it with a yin-yang symbol, just below the symbol a falcon feather could be seen. A bow and a filled quiver colored just like his cape were strapped on the feline's back. He wears two reddish ankle bands and similar bands protected his forearms.

After the Night of Eternal Darkness, Hunter was sent by Ignitus to find Spyro and Cynder when they didn't return to the Dragon Temple.

Three years later, the cheetah warrior secretly followed a group of Grublins through the ruins of the Mountain of Malefor where they led him to the place where Spyro and Cynder were encased in a crystal. Hunter escorted both young dragons to Warfang despite Prowlus' scolds when they involuntary stopped in the Cheetah Village. He possesses a lot of faith in Spyro and even trusts Cynder despite her dark past since Ignitus had faith in her as well.

Hunter's ears flattened on his skull and a grin formed itself on his face as he approached both young dragons " Your kind will never cease to amaze me" he hunkered down in front of them " Dragons are fascinating creatures" the cheetah sighed in true awe " Welcome back" he solemnly bowed his head.

" Hunter!" Spyro exclaimed joyfully " It's good to see that you're alright"

" I wouldn't be if not for you" he looked at Cynder " Both of you"

She shook her head " Oh no, no, no" she nodded towards Spyro " He's the hero, leave me out of it" Cynder smiled

Spyro threw her a meaningful glance "Now I'm the only hero?!" he blurt out with faked indignance " What happened to _I don't want to brag, _huh_?"_ he smiled

Cynder shrugged "I don't know what he is talking about" she winked

Hunter chuckled "It's good to see that you haven't changed"

Meadow grabbed the feline's shoulder " Hunter let's not hold our friends here, they have more important things to do than waste time on two cats" he winked

Hunter stood up " The Guardians wish to speak with you, see you later" they exchanged brief goodbyes and the felines were on their way, but after a few steps Hunter stopped and turned around " And guys" he gained the attention of both young dragons as they turned around to look at him " I never got the chance to say that it's been an honor to fight alongside you" Hunter bowed his head

Both dragons returned the gesture " Likewise Hunter" Spyro stated and with that the group split

"Spyro! Cynder! You are here!" Volteer exclaimed happily the moment they got close " You can't comprehend just how effervescent my old heart had become when my eyes conceived this fortuitous yet very blithesome sight!" the words came out from his mouth just one after the other, without even a moment to catch a breath

Both young dragons smiled " It's good to see you too Volteer" Spyro replied

"We all are glad to see you both alive and well" Terrador's low voice reached them " let's just say that some of us can't show excitement just like the rest" he looked at the Electric Guardian with a corner of his eye

Both young dragons chuckled

"If you two would ever listen to what I have to say you wouldn't be surprised" Cyril scolded the two other Guardians with his cold gaze " Spyro perfectly accomplished my tutelage and no mere vile dragon could stop him, after all royal blood runs in my veins, blood from dragons who wielded great power and Spyro proved that he is capable of wielding this power. A true match for my family."

Volteer rolled his eyes " Cyril don't bore our friends here with your perennial boasting. I've frequently stated that there is no lore in any of my books that would say anything about paramount Ice dragons who were supreme than any other species. I'm solicitous to admit but these dragons are nothing else than a figment of your own imagination"

Cyril narrowed his eyes on the Electric Guardian and an icy mist escaped his nostrils " Than you should try actually reading a book that has some value"

Volteer's eyes sparkled " Value of a tome is a relative term. For an intellectual mind facts about the emanation of magic around our world would be the most substantial matter while the more pragmatic ones would seek information about more empirical topics. Investigation is the most crucial thing"

Cyril frowned " I've heard that the weather will be nice this day, you should investigate, quickly"

" I will in due time. However the sun is a very-"

Terrador snorted " Will you two finally stop!" he scolded them with his maroon eyes

Cynder giggled " Some things never change"

When the room went silent Terrador emitted a loud sigh and shook his head " It's more difficult than a war" with that he concentrated on the purple dragon and smiled " Spyro I know that you want to help any way you can, but the city will be rebuilt without your help, you've done enough. You could have visited us the moment you arrived, you two deserve some rest"

Spyro furrowed a brow " Terrador what are you talking about? Even if I wanted to help I couldn't"

The Earth Dragon jerked back slightly in surprise " That's strange, when Sparx said that you are taking care of some trash we thought that you are cleaning the debris"

" Bro and there I thought that you finally became smart" a yellow glowing dragonfly approached the dragons

Cynder frowning observed the circling dragonfly above their heads "Hilarious" she retorted

Sparx hovered in front of her snout spreading his arm "I'm a genius, what can I do?

Cyril completely ignored their little dispute as he concentrated on both young drakes" Tell us about the fight with The Dark Master, I'm anxious to hear how the powers of my royal lineage helped in the destruction of great evil"

The Ice dragon words gained immediately the attention of the other Guardians, all of them craned their necks so they could understand clearly what both dragons have to say.

Spyro and Cynder exchanged quick glances between themselves before they started the tale. This story however differed from the one in the cheetah village. The story was kept in a more serious tone without a single joke and role playing. They've described every detail, from the moment they've entered Malefor's lair through the actual battle with the description of the powers The Dark Master wielded. Their explanation made the Guardians throw some of their own observations every now and then, only a single voice that belonged to an amber dragon accompanied them throughout the whole tale. Their story ended the moment Spyro used all his power to mend the world, leaving a stunning impression on all the Guardians.

"… The dragon constellation that was created in the sky on that day was astounding" Volteer continued his excited speech after the young dragons finished their tale " the power unleashed, it was something unprecedented. Spyro your unequalled heritage granted us an cognizance which we can marvel upon, there are no traits in any lore about this omnipotent display of magical potency. It can take years to elucidate this abstruseness. Study is essential, we have to distinguish what we are dealing with. It could mean a breakthrough in aggrandizing the elemental power of dragons. It's unpretentiously riveting!"

Sparx stared at Volteer with a dumbfounded look on his face " I don't understand a word"

"We-are-shocked" Cynder pronounced each word slowly, her voice was dripping with sarcasm

The dragonfly shot her an irritated glance before he focused on the Electric Guardian "Dude, seriously you need to breathe sometimes"

Volteer opened his mouth to speak but a low baritone voice interrupted him " It sounds like that was quite a battle" Terrador noticed that the amber dragon closed his mouth and sighed in relief quietly " I'm amazed you survived it with nothing more than a few scratches. You two are the most talented warriors I've ever met, you saved us all."

Sparx folded his arms" You're not forgetting something? If not for my awesome guidance Spyro wouldn't be here, someone had to get him off from that Swamp"

Terrador rolled his eyes and sighed " Yes Sparx if not for you nothing of this would be possible"

The dragonfly grinned with pride " That's more like it! Someone who finally appreciates and listens to me!" he flew near Cynder " Did you hear that Naughty? I'm important!"

Her eyes widened and she shook her head when he flew before her " You were saying something?" Cynder asked with fake confusion

Sparx snorted

Spyro chuckled and shook his head " Some things never change"

Cyril observed the cheery group with an emotionless expression "Ignitus?" he asked icily

Every dragon and dragonfly looked at the Ice Guardian with wide eyes, the cheery mood was gone instantly, an awkward moment of silence took its place. Both young dragons stared at Cyril for a while before both their heads dropped down. Grief, regret, shame and anger boiled inside Spyro when an image of his Mentor being devoured by the flames flashed in his mind. Guilt, a guilt so strong filled him entirely, he couldn't bear the thought that he failed The Fire Guardian, but what troubled him more was that he failed the Old Dragon's friends. Tears welled up in his eyes " He…he… didn't make it" Spyro sobbed

To his surprise nothing happened, there was no screams of grief, no mourning, no shouting and blaming him for all of this, only silence. The Guardian's heads were hanging low, but they didn't say a word. The silence became unbearable for Spyro, he didn't know what to make out of it but a feeling of misgiving told him that this is just the calm before the storm.

He was even more shocked when Terrador rose his head and spoke with a calm yet filled with sadness voice " That's what we feared" he sighed " When he told me to get back to Warfang because the people here will need a leader I knew what he was up to." The dragon sadly shook his head " There was no one who could stop him, Ignitus knew that, I knew that, we all knew that." He frowned angrily " Stubborn bastard"

Spyro looked at the Guardians with watery eyes " I could, I know that, if I just told him to stop, if I just said that I can make it, if I just…" his voice trailed off, he felt a wing wrapping his back and soon Cynder showed herself next to him with her concerned emerald eyes focused on him telling him that it was not his fault "… He would be alive" Spyro sobbed once again

" Spyro you just batter yourself contemplating on this harrowing recurrence of Ignitus' passing." Volteer's quick words reached him " Our compunction constantly acquaints us whenever our companions distresses us with their actions. Procrastinate from hearing its hail, although not under any condition obliterate it absolutely"

" Why didn't you say so earlier?" Sparx exclaimed with faked irritation and enthusiasm

" That conscience" Cyril started speaking with his cold tone " was the reason that we made a proper funeral ceremony for you and Ignitus" he snorted, an icy mist escaped his nostrils " I hate to admit but it fooled also me, but you have to understand after two weeks without any sing of life from you we thought that you perished together with The Dark Master"

Terrador bowed his head apologetically " I'm ashamed for issuing such an order"

Spyro smiled weakly " No harm do-"

"Wait a moment!" Cynder exclaimed gaining everyone's attention "Did you say two weeks?" she furrowed a brow

" I knew you're deaf!" Sparx exclaimed and hovered next to her gesticulating angrily " It took you two long weeks to get here"

Cyril furrowed a brow " Why are you so surprised?"

Spyro frowned thoughtfully " Cynder's right, it's impossible that two weeks have passed"

"Why is that?"

" Because it took us a day to get here"

Cyril shook his head confidently " Impossible, you might still be dazed from all that power you released, after all The Dark Master was a powerful foe"

"Or…" Volteer joined the conversation completely excited " …it may mean that-"

" It's irrelevant" Terrador cut him off with a militant tone " Spyro and Cynder are here, the world is saved, Malefor is defeated and the Dark Army is gone from our city. This is no time for questions it is time for rest and both of you need it, but before you lay down I would advise to get rid of the last thing that reminds us of The Dark Master's influence" he pointed at the necklace in the shape of a snake on Cynder's neck "One of the blacksmiths should help you with that" Terrador grinned " Now get out of here and enjoy the rest of the day"

Both young dragons nodded and turned towards the exit.

" And where do you think you're going? Sparx asked indignantly " You think that I will leave you with her?" he quickly shook his head " No way, someone has to keep an eye on her, she's crazy" with that he hovered next to Spyro

"I'm not crazy, I'm special" Cynder grinned

Spyro smiled weakly " Great to have you on board again Sparx"

With that the two young dragons and a single dragonfly left the City Hall, a new age was dawning upon the Realms and for the first time in history it looked like it will be a peaceful one. There is nothing to threaten it after all.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The city didn't change much after Spyro's and Cynder's meeting with the Guardians. Debris was still covering the streets, the wall still had cracks in them, some of the buildings still laid in ruins. Even the noise in Warfang didn't change much. Hammers were still ringing on the stony walls, cranes were still grinding in effort as they carried massive stone blocks from one place to the other.

Shouts of annoyance, orders, grunts of pain and exhaustion bounced from wall to wall, just like this noise wanted to inform Warfang that it's doing everything in its power to help the city reach its good or even better shape. The residents were running, walking or flying through the many alleyways as they looked for the best suitable place to start their work.

Only one thing changed, in between the typical sound that accompanies every building site a cheerful, excited and even curious whispers could be heard. All of them were about Spyro and Cynder's great return. Gossip traveled through the city at the speed of light, which told about Spyro's gold heart, Cynder's evil personality, the adventures they had, or the mending of the world. Even more bawdy whispers could be heard by the more nosy inhabitants which involved the already mentioned young dragons.

Amidst the sound of repairs and running denizens a pair of two familiar male cheetahs could be seen descending some flight of stairs.

" Now I understand why you haven't contacted us for so long" Meadow said as his eyes followed a young yellow dragon running past by him.

" The last days were a nightmare, we were working all day and night to repair the damaged walls" Hunter replied as he stepped aside making room for a group of cheetahs who were carrying a cart up the stairs.

Meadow curiously looked at his partner " Do I hear your instinct talking?"

Hunter looked at the greenish ground just beyond the wall which could be seen from their position " Partly yes" he blinked and averted his gaze " I have to stay vigilant no matter what the situation is"

" The Dark Master is no more, can The Dark Army still be a threat?" Meadow narrowed his eyes on the feline next to him

" They are always a threat" Hunter replied confidently " You saw that with Malefor's disappearance the siege ended abruptly." he looked at the wall " The Dark Army will be back someday, that's why we can't allow ourselves even a moment of inattention"

Meadow chuckled " You sound just like Prowlus"

" That's an insult" Hunter smiled weakly " If I like it or don't he did manage to teach me a few things when I've spent most of my time in the village. Speaking of which, how is it faring?"

" It's quiet, it hadn't been like that for a long time, some of us are still adjusting to this serenity. Only the Chief remained the same" Meadow smiled weakly

Hunter nodded " That's good to hear"

" You should come back to our village" Meadow focused on his partner, a sly frown formed itself on his face " Some new cheetahs joined our little homestead"

Hunter scratched the falcon feather strapped on his brown coat " I don't… " his voice trailed off when he noticed a fairly empty alleyway " I need to talk to you" he opened his paw with his claws pointing at the previously mentioned alleyway. Meadow followed his lead silently.

"I've been thinking…" Hunter continued when they stopped between some buildings " The war, the siege, the Destroyer, and many other things revealed that I've been walking down a wrong road"

Meadow rearranged the feather falcon on his robe " Your fascination with the dragons is so overpowering?" he gave him a knowing smile

Hunter's ears flinched while he furrowed a brow in surprise " It's so obvious?"

Meadow laughed heartily " It's harder to spot Prowlus's angry expression"

" Then why did you tell me once that you didn't understand what is causing me to act as I do?"

Meadow looked at Hunter with a serious expression " Because back then I didn't and honestly I only understand it only partially today"

Hunter knew instantly when he took a glimpse of his eyes that he is waiting for answers. He sighed in awe " Dragons are magnificent creatures, they can harness every strand of magic just like our lungs accumulate air. We felines are simple, some bones, fur and claws without any potential for spells. Dragons however look like they've been weaved from magic itself"

Meadow stared at the feline in front of him in silence and with eyes completely lost in deep thought.

Without any interruptions Hunter continued in the same tone " I thought that I've seen everything, the absorption of Spirits Gems is still a mystery for me but I've learnt that forcefully pursuing things that seem to elude you on purpose leads nowhere" he looked behind his shoulder it seemed like his sight pierced through the wall of a nearby building just like he wanted to take a glimpse of something beyond it " Even if I believed that they both were special I was still astonished how they achieved their goal"

Meadow followed his gaze " They are full of surprises, aren't they?"

Hunter nodded and turned to face him " They are, and I feel that there is more of that to come"

" Perhaps" Meadow huffed and met his gaze with knowing eyes

Hunter looked at his friend with determination in his eyes " And I would like to experience it first hand when the time comes" he reached for his coat and tore off the falcon feather, he then extended his paw and presented the tuft of bird to the feline " I finally found the road I want to walk"

Meadow looked at Hunter's opened paw just to take a glimpse of his face before returning to his paw. With a smile he took a few steps and reached for the feather, he placed his paw on the tuft of bird but instead of taking it he reached for Hunter's fingers and clenched his fist. Meadow looked into his eyes while holding his clenched paw " No matter how far you will go from the intersection you are standing on right now, remember that in time of need your legs will always find a shortcut to the place from where you started and that place will always be in the same spot" his smile grew bigger before he released his paw

Hunter stared at Meadow with a confused look while his extended arm fell backwards just next to his side and his ears flattened on his skull " I don't understand, you accepted my decision so calmly, you are acting just like you…" he narrowed his eyes on the feline while his ears sprang to life once again " You knew the reason why I wanted to talk to you, didn't you?"

Meadow chuckled " I had my suspicions, the moment a dragon traveled through our village all those years ago you couldn't stop talking about him. Your recent assignments for the Guardians only confirmed my suspicions."

"You are not angry at all?"

Meadow shook his head confidently " Of course not, I'm proud of you actually, it's about time you pursued your fascination"

Hunter smiled gratefully " I'm glad I've talked with you, if I went to Prowlus directly… well let's just say that an another fight is the last thing I need"

" Probably you are right…" Meadow shrugged "…but that's the way he is. I'm sure however that The Chief will miss you in his own way, I'm sure I will, the rivalry between you two was most interesting" a corner of his mouth twitched into a sly smile

" He was never my rival"

"Literally maybe not, but you two grew together, you always competed between each other, one of you always wanted to be a step ahead than the second one. Eventually it led to a peculiar ending, Prowlus remained loyal to tradition while you took a more bizarre path for a cheetah. It was a very interesting dispute between two entirely different world-views."

" Don't understand me wrong, but I'm glad that it ended"

"I understand" Meadow smiled and placed his paw on Hunter's shoulder " Tell me, what a cheetah who found his calling will do now?"

Hunter looked around thoughtfully " First and foremost we need to finish rebuilding or even improving Warfang and that's going to take a while. After that…" he shrugged " I don't know really, maybe they are going to need a scout or a guard. We'll see."

" As long as you are happy I guess it doesn't matter" Meadow squeezed Hunter's shoulder " Make us proud and remember that you are always welcome in the village."

Hunter bowed his head " Thank you Meadow" as his head returned to its natural position he looked at the sky " This is where we have to say goodbye, my shift is starting soon and there is a lot of work to do"

With that both felines exchanged farewells and headed their own separate ways, As Hunter was slowly walking towards some flight of stairs he couldn't stop smiling. His wish is going to be fulfilled, he will stay here in the Dragon City. Even if it means hard work from the very beginning, he was content with it.

* * *

"… and that's when I showed them how it's done" Sparx flew right next to Spyro grinning proudly

" And they believed you just like that?" Spyro furrowed a brow as he threw an incredulous glance at the dragonfly

" Dude I'm a hero, when you were gone playing with that big evil dude, I've been working hard to keep my reputation"

" Your reputation?

Sparx hovered in front of his nose and spread his arms and moved them in a circular motions just like he tried to encircle the whole city " All of them were knocking at my door for an autograph, and the Great Glowing One has always time for his fans"

"Oh boy!" Cynder exclaimed with faked excitement " I didn't know that imaginary fans were so persistent"

Sparx frowned " Your good jokes are imaginary" he flew closer to Cynder and looked her straight into the eyes " Not my fault that I'm intelligent and good looking and find new friends easy. What about you? You have any or you already ate them?"

" Still one of them left" she stared at the dragonfly and licked her mouth

He quickly dashed towards Spyro and gulped " Bro, did you hear that? She wants to eat me!"

"Relax Sparx she's just joking" he gave Cynder a meaningful look " I think" he muttered

"Of course I'm kidding, I would never touch you, I still have some self-respect. Just thinking about you gives me the creeps, not to mention eating you…" Cynder shivered

"Yeah right!" Sparx exclaimed irritably " You would want to get your paws on The Great Glowing One, I can see it"

After a while the group descended the stairs with the same tone of conversation accompanying them until they arrived at the familiar fountain. However before heading lower Spyro impulsively looked to his side and noticed the huge temple " Sparx was there really a funeral when we haven't returned?" Spyro asked quietly while staring at the temple.

Sparx twitched for a brief moment but then regained his composure " Yeah there was, why do you ask?"

Spyro stared at the temple for a while in silence " There is something I need to do" with that he began moving towards the temple. Cynder and Sparx exchanged surprised looks between themselves before shrugging and following the young dragon.

Despite the overall debris scattered all around Warfang this particular landmark was mostly clean, only small remnants of rocks remained but they were tended to by some dragons already. The marble path was littered with dragon statues, every single one had a proud pose, a clear sign that this place should be respected. Between the statues stood gold poles, their top resembled a flat dish, a magically lit fire was burning on them, during the night the lanterns gave a strong glow illuminating the path and giving the marble statues an intimidating look. Some tress were rooted in the ground close to the road. Every now and then there was a gem placed in one of the sockets in the marble path in a crosswise manner, a triangular amethyst, emerald or sapphire was shimmering slightly from below one's paw.

Four side roads protruded from the main path, two were located just at the beginning, while the other two were near the end. Crystal clear water was flowing in the canal just below some small bridges which were created on the side roads. They all lead to small ponds with a pair of wooden benches placed on both its ends. Small gardens surrounded the temple's courtyards with different colored flowers growing in them, some cheetahs tenderly helped them to thrive. The colorful fish in the ponds, different flowers in the gardens, the statues and many other things created a striking feeling of tranquility.

A couple of steps down the marble road led the group to a round sturdy looking door which protected the temple from the havoc outside. The door just like almost everything else in the city were quite big. The border of the door was reinforced with gold rivets. Just like the road the surface of the door also contained some of the gems. Their flash was more visible thanks to the shadow cast by the huge statue looming over every visitor.

" I'd like to go inside alone" Spyro said quietly while staring into his own reflection in one of the gems

"You sure?" Cynder asked with uncertainty in her soft tone of voice " Maybe you'd like some company?"

"Sure bro go right in, we will wait here" Sparx said confidently.

The tone of his voice created a frown of surprise on Cynder's snout as she turned her head to look at the dragonfly "What? Did you just say that he can go inside ALONE?"

Sparx nodded " Yep"

She craned her neck forward " Alone, as ALONE?"

" Yep"

Cynder stared at him with her head slightly cocked to a side before she shook off a part of disbelief " Let me spell it out for you A-L-O-N-E"

" Boy" Sparx sighed " Your wit is amazing, no wonder Spyro keeps you around" he rolled his eyes

She ignored his sarcastic remark " You must understand my surprise"

He frowned " No, I don't"

" Oh come on, you must admit that you always want to be everywhere so everyone could see you tagging along with Spyro"

" I don't do that" Sparx folded his arms on his chest " and even if that was the truth so what? I'm always a helpful hand"

" More like a fifth wheel" Cynder smirked

He snorted " Whatever, but at least I know when to back down"

" Exactly!" she exclaimed " You never know when to back down"

" Crawl into some bush and die, will you?"

Cynder frowned " If you think that-"

" Thanks" Spyro icily cut them both off and pushed the door open using its silver handles

Just like in any other building in Warfang the temple's interior was huge. The first thing everyone noticed after entering was the colorful column of light illuminating the center of the temple. Following the stream of light upwards led to its source, there was a colorful stained glass inserted into the roof above, it depicted a flying dragon in a cloudless day. Many other stained glasses dotted the temple's wall, however they were much more smaller.

The floor was covered in the same marble road just like the courtyard, however this one had no gems inserted into it. On both sides of the interior there were long cavities carved into the floor which were filled with lazily flowing crystal water. The cavities started just on both sides of the entrance and ran through the whole temple until they disappeared into the far end wall of the building.

Similar braziers to the ones in the City Hall illuminated the interior, however for a building so big there was only a handful of them hanging on the walls and some columns. Instead of a blinding flame just like in the City Hall the fire here was weaker giving this place an atmospheric glow, the glow of peace, serenity and respect.

On both sides of the temple a pair of doors could be seen, Spyro didn't know for sure but if he had to guess he would say that they led to the two towers. A blue curtain with crosswise tied gold strings covered one of the entrances that could be seen on the far end of the building. Stairs were located behind it which led up to the living quarters of the temple caretakers. In the corner of the building was another entrance, this one however was wider than the previous one, a carved headstone in the stone wall above it was a sign that this is the final destination for every resident whose spirit decided to leave this world, willingly or not. This was the way to the Catacombs.

All those thing however were unimportant for Spyro, the dragon statues standing near the wall on both sides of the temple was what really interested him. All of them were made out from pure marble, the white color was almost blinding, they weren't made by amateurs either, one glimpse was enough to notice it. Every grimace, every small detail was carefully shaped so the visitor could feel that he is actually standing before a live dragon.

The dragon statues depicted drakes whose deeds were far more greater than that of a common dragon. Below every statue there was a slab of stone inserted into the floor with the name of the deceased written on it and many burning candles standing on the slab's top. By lighting up a candle visitors paid respect to the dead. Spyro knew just like any other dragon that this was a very special place for his kind, however he never felt the urge to be in here, it was sad of course that the dragons which the statues represented were dead but their names were unfamiliar to him, so he didn't understand how lighting up a candle for a dragon you never knew would help him. For him one should pay his respects because he feels he needs to, not because somebody else tells you to do so.

However after the recent events Spyro felt the urge to come here, he needs closure and this is the best place to find it, at least he hoped so. With uncertain steps he made his way towards the only statue he recognized from afar. It took a while but eventually Spyro sat before the artificial dragon, with his head hanging low. The shame and guilt he felt didn't allow him to rise his head, even if he tried to ignore these feelings Spyro couldn't force himself to look into the statues lifeless eyes. The writing carved with gold letters on the slab's surface which read _Ignitus, The Fire Guardian_ were enough for him to say that he found the right dragon.

" Hi Ignitus" Spyro said with a wavering voice, his gaze was still fixed on the ground. " I've just came here to say hello and… " he sighed sadly "…I don't know what to say" his voice trailed off

After a while of silent staring at the ground Spyro continued with the same hurt tone " You always said that when dragons die they join The Ancestors and become part of this world. That's a good thing right?" only the gentle sound of the flowing water in the nearby canal was his answer " So if we really become a part of this world after our death then that means we are not really dead, right? So it means that you are still alive, watching me right now and probably laughing happily" Spyro smiled weakly but momentarily his smile faded " Who am I kidding?" he muttered to himself

Another moment of silence surrounded him, Spyro's own slow breath was the only sound that echoed throughout the temple " You've taught me everything I know" he sighed sadly " and from all the lessons this one is the hardest… and…and " he sobbed " I don't think I can do it" a single tear fell from his snout, and Spyro's amethyst eyes followed it until it splattered on the ground below.

_Water splashed on the young purple dragon's snout obscuring all the view for a brief moment, he didn't mind however, with a happy laugh he spun around splashing the water using his tail in front of him. A low chuckle could be heard after his move, then soon after another splash of water hit the young drake's snout. _

_When a red paw prepared to strike again Spyro quickly jumped on his belly, only his gold horns remained above the shallow water, the moment he felt another splatter of water pass above his head he jumped quickly on his paws dragging his purple wings behind him, the simple move allowed him to splash a larger amount of water towards his opponent. A gasp of surprise confirmed that his unexpected strike was successful._

_Spyro shook his head making drops of water fly everywhere before he bent on his paws, narrowed his amethyst eyes on the red dragon ahead and grinned proudly. The red drake shook his head to get rid of the water from his snout while chuckling and smiling approvingly under his nose. The red dragon's eyes flared up for a brief moment when he noticed the challenging glare in his young pupil's orbs._

_Even if this was just a game the old drake allowed his temper to take control for a second which created a smirk on his red snout. He stomped his paw creating some ripples on the surface of the water which seemed to distract the young dragon. The moment he noticed that the old drake used his second front paw and a single wing to splash water towards his young pupil._

_Spyro glittered with pride, he knew exactly that Ignitus is stomping his paw just to distract him, the surprise back then was nothing more than an act and it looked like he managed to fool his mentor once again. Before the water could reach him Spyro was already out of the way by sidestepping quickly. While he moved to the side he dragged his tail alongside the bottom and swung it when he was a safe distance from the incoming water, this move created quite a big splatter that was directed at the red dragon._

_Spyro didn't see it but Ignitus nodded his head slightly just like in approval. The water splashed on his snout and a victorious cry could be heard moments later. The red dragon shook his head while smiling with _gladness_. " You are challenging life, toying with fate. It's a very curious and fascinating path Spyro"_

_The purple dragon snickered haughtily " I don't care about fate, I do what I want!"_

_Ignitus adopted a more serious look " You might ignore it, you might elude it, but eventually fate will catch up with you and it will announce itself in the most painful manner"_

_The old dragon closed his eyes much to Spyro's surprise, however that was the least of his worries. The ground below his paws was getting warmer together with the water. It wasn't long before Spyro's eyes widened in shock as he noticed that the water began to boil. Soon the heat slightly stung his paws but it was enough to make him jump, he kept jumping until the water felt a bit cooler. _

_With a completely shocked expression he looked at his mentor but instead of seeing the red dragon he noticed a quite large portion of water heading his way. It was too late, Spyro only managed to gasp before the water reached him and pinned the young dragon to the ground._

_Ignitus moved closer to his pupil who was laying on the ground, dripping wet and coughing " This is destiny Spyro" Ignitus said with full of awe voice " It's unavoidable, attempts to trick it may have the most unwanted consequences"_

_Spyro shook his head " I don't understand" he coughed " if destiny works that way then it means that we have no freedom of choice?"_

_Ignitus smiled kindly " We are not slaves, it's only up to us how we reach our destination. Fate is not cruel, however it can be brutal."_

"_Then why it punishes us for ignoring it?"_

"_It's not a punishment but a test, you must be able to withstand the difficulties it presents before you"_

_Spyro averted his gaze and began to stare at the water below him. After a while he frowned " No, I don't agree with this" he looked at the Fire Guardian with fiery eyes " we are nobody's playthings. If destiny wants to control us then I will find a way to stop it!" he exclaimed confidently_

_Ignitus nodded his head admiringly " A noble cause but an impossible one to achieve, everything that begins has to end, you can't stop time forever. Look" Ignitus pointed at the stream of water flowing from one side of the river to the other " Imagine that this is our line of life which can be longer or shorter for every one of us but it always ends in the same way. Just like a river"_

_Spyro got up and began following his mentor's claw with his eyes._

_When his pupil stood next to him Ignitus continued "This is a perfect destiny, it starts from one point and ends on the other without anything interrupting it. However life doesn't work that way" the dragon stomped his paw, creating ripples on the surface of the water " Life is bumpy, our fears, happiness, sadness, basically all our emotions make life more interesting for better or worse" _

_Spyro cocked his head " Then to make our life easier we just need to stop worrying about things?"_

_Ignitus chuckled " To make it possible you will need to tear off your heart. I'm old but I never met a person who was still breathing without his heart" he coughed and adopted a more serious look soon after " However this leads to our next step" he dragged closer a couple of stones using his tail and placed one of them in the water which split the stream in two directions " Without our heart we wouldn't be able overcome obstacles on our path"_

_Ignitus picked up a nearby leaf and threw it into the water which started to flow with the stream " Everyone reaches a point in his life where he will have to rely on his feelings" the leaf stopped on the rock " Spyro one day you will have to make a decision which might affect the world and everyone else around you. Your heart will be your guide, listen to it carefully because there is no turning back"_

_Spyro gulped " That sounds important I…I don't want to make such choices" he said with a glimmer of fear in his voice_

_Ignitus placed a couple more stones into the water and pushed the leaf to a side so it started to flow again before he looked at the young dragon with eyes of a caring father " Unfortunately you will have to. Spyro the prophecy spoke of you and as our savior you will need to make more of these choices than everyone else" he began to maneuver the leaf through the stones " Some of these choices will be good" he moved the leaf down a path with a small number of stones on it " or bad" he pushed the leaf down a path where the number of stones was higher " You have to carry on, no matter what happens. Everyone make mistakes, nobody is perfect."_

_Spyro swallowed hard and nodded reluctantly_

_Ignitus looked at him with concerned eyes " Don't be afraid Spyro, you are not alone" he dropped some smaller leafs into the water " As I said, destiny has a plan for every one of us and sometimes…" he pushed some of the leafs near the first one "…sometimes our paths intertwine. If fate wishes it you will meet on your journey companions who will follow you no matter what, helping you to overcome the more difficult obstacles"_

_Ignitus' expression became more serious " Now I want you to focus" he said with a firm tone " this is the lesson I want you to remember for the rest of your life" he picked a stone " As you remember some destinies are shorter than the others, your companions have fates of their own and sometimes you are the reason for their demise" he dropped the stone_

_Spyro followed the falling stone just like in slow motion and the moment it splashed into the water squashing one leaf below it he jerked back " No!" he exclaimed angrily " I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me!"_

" _You have to understand that-"_

" _No!" Spyro cut off the Fire Guardian " I'm sorry Ignitus but if that's the price then I don't want to have anything to do with the prophecy"_

_The Fire Guardian watched his pupil with fatherly eyes and waited for him to calm down "You have to understand that sometimes it's not your decision to make" he said softly_

" _I won't allow anyone to sacrifice his life for me!"_

" _Sometimes it's necessary"_

" _It can't be necessary, I would help them!"_

" _Sometimes you cannot"_

" _But…but…" Spyro stared at the leafs below him in complete silence for a brief moment until a resigned sigh escaped him " How am I supposed to live with such a guilt?"_

" _You have to stop blaming yourself" Ignitus replied firmly_

" _I can't just simply forget"_

" _We are warriors, death is our stalker, there is no escape from it" the red dragon threw Spyro an apprehensive look " You can't swim upstream, allow the tide to carry you, otherwise the guilt will eat you alive" he craned his neck forward " Do you understand?"_

_Spyro nodded_

"_I want to hear you say it, don't repeat my mistakes. Do you understand?" Ignitus asked resolutely_

" _I understand" the young drake blurt out breezily_

" _Good" the Fire Guardian smiled " Obstacles aren't the only things that you will meet on your path. Fate can be also generous, it will present you an opportunity to help you fill that void which you will feel after a loss. It's up to you to notice it and grab it. Remember that." _

_Spyro nodded once again_

_Ignitus smile grew wider " But let's forget about the future for a while and concentrate on the present. I believe I owe you something" with that he splashed some water on the young drake's snout._

Spyro stared at the ground while another tear fell from his snout and splattered almost in the same place. He sighed sadly " I'm sorry Ignitus but I can't do it, I'm just so sorry" he took a shallow breath " If not for me you would still be alive, there had to be an another way. Why did you push me ahead when you knew that we wouldn't make it. Why did you leave me alone, why?…" his voice trailed off

Tears started to flow down from his eyes, but these weren't entirely tears of sadness, he felt depressed but also anger boiled inside of him, anger so fierce that it practically blocked all other emotions. Spyro was mad on Malefor, on himself and especially on the Fire Guardian, he just couldn't bottle up the resentment any longer.

Spyro looked at the statue with fiery eyes " Why have you left me?!" he exclaimed loudly releasing all the anger in one single shout " Why did you make such a stupid move?! I need you, you hear me?! I need you! How am I supposed to live with this guilt?! Answer me!" he looked around " If you are there, answer me!" no voice could be heard

" That's right don't say anything just leave me alone" Spyro looked again at the statue " You know what? Screw your lessons and screw you too, if you want to stay silent, fine! I'm going to remain here blaming myself for everything! We will see how you like that! Ha!"

He kept staring at the statue but after a while Spyro lowered his head and sobbed " I didn't mean to… I'm sorry, it's just that… Ignitus I need help" he sighed " I can't do it" he looked at the statue" Where is that opportunity you spoke off? How am I going to find it? What can possibly replace you?"

" There you are" a familiar female voice came from behind him

Spyro looked behind his shoulder and winced " Cynder? What are you… Why aren't you outside?"

She kept walking towards him and shrugged " I've got bored"

" I've said that I want to be alone" he replied indignantly

" Yeah?" Cynder sat next to him " Sue me" she gave him a challenging look

Spyro rolled his eyes and shook his head " Why you never listen to me?"

" Guess Grumpy"

" Cynder I know we are friends but you worry too much about me"

" Worry?" she snorted " Don't flatter yourself. The Great Glowing One is getting on my nerves, some minutes longer out there and your parents would call you their only child"

Spyro chuckled, even smiled despite the sadness " That's Sparx what can you do? I'm surprised that he didn't come with you"

Cynder shrugged " Dunno, he probably didn't find a window to squeeze through. Good riddance"

He kept watching her and the longer he did that he started to realize that he treated her too roughly when she came here " I'm sorry Cynder you are my friend I shouldn't treat you like that"

She smiled lovingly " No harm done"

" And thanks" Spyro said with a grateful tone

Cynder giggled " Don't mention it" she looked around " What is this place? I've never been here before"

" Me neither, but Ignitus mentioned something about this temple once. This is a place where people can pay respects to fallen dragons, but not any dragon mind you. Only the most special of our kind, the ones who did something exceptional for the world or our race are honored here."

Cynder nodded and looked at the statue " Sorry Ignitus for interrupting, but it's not my fault that you haven't taken care of our most annoying member. They would build a monument for you after that."

Spyro smiled weakly " He won't answer"

She looked at him " But that doesn't mean he can't hear" Cynder's eyes widened for a brief moment when her eyes noticed something behind him " You don't recognize any other dragon here?"

Spyro shook his head " Nope"

" You sure?" she nodded her head towards the way she was looking

Spyro furrowed a brow but followed her lead. He gasped when he noticed the same thing she did " What?" he asked with disbelief in his voice and got up quickly

What got their whole attention was an another statue, but this one was different than the others, it looked like the rest of course, stone and all that but it depicted a still living dragon instead of a dead one. The inscription on its pedestal spoke volumes _Spyro The Savior._ Just like any other statue this one was also made by a talented sculptor, every grimace and every muscle could be clearly seen just like Spyro would be posing before the artist right now. The statue had a proud expression on its stony snout, a look of victory.

The artificial Spyro had one of his front paws placed on a round block that was carved and shaped so it resembled the head of a golem, it looked like the head of The Destroyer. Its stony wings were widely spread and just under its membranes one could see different carvings which pictured the most recognizable landmarks of the Realms. For example Warfang was represented by a single building which looked like the City Hall and a wall protecting it with a tiny form of the cannon placed on top of it.

There were many candles burning below the statue, no other statue had so many. All of them looked like they were just lit, it seems that all of the city residents paid their respects to their hero and to show just how indebted they are they don't allow any candle to die down.

Spyro stared at his stony twin with wide eyes, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. It didn't surprise him that his statue was here, he saved the world and was considered dead after all. However a feeling of dread filled him just by looking at the statue and the candles below it, people here consider him to be a hero, their savior, this and Meadow's words back in the village made him realize once more just how high expectations are placed on him. It was enough to make him gulp in fear.

Cynder threw a glance at the statue, then quickly looked at Spyro, just to return to the statue moments later before finishing at Spyro while cocking her head and furrowing a brow " Just how many children do your parents have? Because we just found your twin brother" she looked back at the statue " He's a little rough around the edges and quite stiff but I still like him better than that little glowing annoying brother of yours"

Spyro didn't answer he was staring at the statue in complete silence

Cynder looked back at his friend " Why the long face? It's a family reunion you should be happy"

" Thanks for trying" he replied coldly

She sighed, she knew him well enough that a single glance was enough for her to figure out what he was thinking " Spyro you should be proud" her voice was soft this time

" Proud?" he blurt out contemptuously "Of what? Of the constant praising? Or the high expectations?"

" What about saving thousands of lives?"

Spyro sighed, it wasn't pride but despite everything that single thought made him feel at least a bit more happy " I'm glad that our actions saved lives but… but Cynder I've never asked for this. Why they can't just simply… forget about everything?"

Cynder smiled lovingly " You want to say that they should forget about the one who saved this world? Protected their children?" she chuckled " Try again"

" Ok, maybe I did something special but that doesn't mean I want to be their hero or a leader, I just want to be myself without the reputation or crowds standing at the temple door waiting in line to light a candle in my name"

" Spyro I don't understand you, I know that being someone's role model might be a little overwhelming but you have people who will remember you after your death. People who will tell stories to their children about the purple dragon who mended the world. Some…" she looked around sadly "…some of us won't even get that"

Spyro understood the tone of her voice perfectly, he looked at her with concerned eyes " Let them talk, we both know the truth"

Cynder sighed sadly " The truth lies in between they say. I can live with the taunts and angry looks directed at me I deserve it anyway but… but it would be nice to know that people will light a candle for me out of their own free will"

" Cynder you deserve to be here more than I do, there would be no Spyro if not for you"

She smiled weakly " We both know that's a lie" her smile disappeared " It may be stupid since I will be long gone by then but a thought of someone noticing my name inscribed somewhere which would trigger even a tiny bit of sadness in that person is a comforting thought"

" So let's show them just how important you are" With a smile Spyro started to scratch the stone next to the statue with his claw. While he was doing it Cynder watched him in complete silence. It took him a while but eventually the scratches formed a sentence which said: _Cynder The reason of my existence. _After that Spyro placed a couple of the fresher candles above the inscription.

Tears shone in Cynder's eyes as she looked at Spyro " Thank you" she whispered before she turned her head to look at the candles. Watching the dancing flames in complete silence was how they've spent their time.

* * *

Sparx dashed towards the slowly opening temple door "Finally!" he exclaimed in relief " You took a nap in there or what?"

" Sorry about that " Spyro replied " Why haven't you joined us?"

" Dude you said that you wanted to be alone so I stayed, besides I needed to take a break from your Second Tail"

Cynder closed her eyes " This is a fine day, Fifth Wheel is not here" she opened one of her eyes and looked at Sparx before closing it again " This is a fine day, Fifth Wheel is not here" she repeated the same move several more times

Sparx clapped his hand " Great everyone is happy so how about we get out of here?" he quickly turned around and began to fly away.

Just as they were traveling through the courtyard a dragoness wearing clean white robes was just passing them " Ancestors guide you" she bowed her head

" Ancestors guide you " both dragons replied and repeated the gesture

The caretaker looked at Sparx " Will you be joining us today?"

The dragonfly jerked back in surprise " Me? Why?"

" Haven't you visited us recently?"

" I have no idea what are you talking about, sorry." He looked at the pair of young dragons " Remember what the Big Guy said? Let's go" he flew away

Both dragons shrugged and exchanged another nods with the female dragoness and followed the dragonfly. It was time to get rid of the last thing that reminded them of The Dark Master.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The sun had enough, after hours of hard labor it was beginning to feel sleepy, it yawned when it hid behind a cloud only to emerge soon after. However it couldn't pretend to be alright, its weak rays betrayed it just like tired eyes betray an exhausted person. With an another yawn the sun slowly began to retreat to its safe haven behind the horizon much to the sky's displeasure, however where one takes a break another takes his place, the moon was waking to take over the duties of his brother. The sky rejoiced, offering the moon many smaller glowing colleagues to keep it company while it graced the sky with its majestic presence.

The same lethargic atmosphere has befallen on Warfang just like the Dragon City wanted to keep up with the things that had been happening above it. The alleyways were slowly becoming gloomy as the sun's rays were slowly leaving Warfang's marble paths and brownstone walls. Many residents decided to follow the yellow beam's advice, the city was slowly becoming quiet as the workers began leaving their tools in a safe place. It was one of these hours when the city's streets were becoming crowded with different species, however this time the streets echoed with happy conversations and sighs of relief, instead of orders and grunts of pain and exhaustion.

There were also those who resisted the sun's luring call, they kept slamming their hammers on the walls while some others were dragging carts filled with debris across streets. If some stranger would see this picture he or she would never believe that the city was slowly retreating for the much deserved rest. Two young dragons and a dragonfly listened to the workers rather that the sky above them, and they were not the only ones, judging by the crowd located on the first level there were also many others who remained deaf to the sky's call.

Despite the fact that it was getting dark the first level of the city was still pretty crowded, especially the thick brownstone wall attracted the most attention. Even if the war was over, the past events taught the people of the Realms that an attack may come in the most unexpected moment, hence the increased number of soldiers on the wide ramparts.

Besides the guards there were also many civilians walking back and forth from the marketplace or visiting the still opened workshops. The group had one goal in mind- to find someone who can remove the silver yet still slightly magical necklace from around both young dragon's necks. Following Terrador's advice the best place to find such a person was to find a smithy. Warfang didn't change much after both dragons visited it for the last time, however during the war some workshops were abandoned or relocated to some other places. Knowing that it would take them a while to find a blacksmith they decided that the best way was to let Sparx take the lead, after all the dragonfly was here longer than they had so he definitely knows about a shortcut or two.

As they walked the streets Cynder kept looking around, but she was not interested in the debris, or the ongoing repairs, what really interested her were the many glances which the inhabitants of Warfang threw Spyro. Their looks were full of gratefulness, happiness, hope and pride, however their expressions changed drastically when they noticed her following the purple dragon. Cynder could see that all of these good emotions vanished instantly just to be replaced by sheer anger, hate, disdain and insolence. Part of her was in pain when she had seen those faces which only reminded the black dragoness of her dark past and the horrible things she had done. However the angry faces not only woke her guilt but also stirred Cynder's fighting spirit which demanded that she will face these taunts. And that was exactly what she had done, with her head held up high she walked slowly down the street behind her friends much to the crowd's displeasure.

Thanks to Sparx' guidance they've located the blacksmith with much ease. It was a simple building with a single door which were wide open and some windows. During colder seasons all the work regarding the creation and selling of weapons and armor is done inside while during the warmer times all the blacksmithing is done outside. A small wooden fence surrounded the store which prevented some more clumsy residents or children from hurting themselves. It was a necessary precaution since the outer place of the store was filled with everything that a good blacksmith needs like: a barrel of water, a furnace, a grindstone and an anvil. Not to mention the many tools and other sharp finished and unfinished pieces of weaponry hanging above the furnace or lined up against a wall.

A warmer climate has reached this part of the Dragon Realms that's why all the work was taking place outside the store. The anvil was tended by a burly looking mole who was currently busy forming a sword. Expect for the typical goggles and short yellow pants the mole wore absolutely nothing, he had to adapt to the heat somehow. The blacksmith was different than the other male moles Cynder saw, even if his back was facing them she could see how his muscles bulged under the black coat on his back as he worked. It was strange since most moles were slim and looked quite frail, no wonder since most of their lives they dedicate to study and invention, but this particular mole looked like he has spent his entire life near an anvil. With such powerful muscles this blacksmith might as well be able to lift a young dragon above his head such as herself or Spyro.

" Told you that I'll find it!" Sparx grinned with pride

" No wonder you remembered where this place was, it's not that hard to miss" Cynder replied with dumbfounded voice as she stared at the mole with wide eyes

" Thanks Sparx, you are the best" Spyro patted his brother on the back before he approached the blacksmith " Hello, could you help us?"

An incoherent grunt from the blacksmith was all that Spyro managed to get

" You see, we have a problem and we've wondered if you have the right tools to help us"

The mole replied in the same manner

Cynder craned her neck towards Spyro " He could probably rip this necklace with his bare hands" she whispered

Spyro looked at her with a corner of his eye before concentrating on the smith " Terrador told us that you might know a way how can we get rid of this necklace"

Another incoherent grunt could be heard

Cynder looked at the dragonfly " Sparx get over here!"

The dragonfly flew closer with a surprised look on his face " Yeah?"

" You will be our translator"

"Me?"

Cynder nodded " Yeah, that guy over there makes no sense, so seeing that you have a thing in common I thought that you might be able to help us here" she smirked

Sparx burst out with a faked laughter before looking at the dragoness with an angry frown " Hilarious"

Spyro chuckled and shook his head before focusing on the blacksmith again " So at least could you show us who might be able to remove this from our necks?" he slid a claw under the necklace and arched it forward so the mole could see what he is talking about

The blacksmith grunted once again but this time he pointed at the opened door with his free hand

Spyro followed the mole's lead and headed for the door " Hello? Is there anyone-"

"I'm coming! Please wait!" an excited shout came from the interior of the building

Soon another mole emerged from the store, however he wasn't dressed like the other moles they met so far. Instead of the typical goggles he wore a single reading glass on his right eye, a stroker hat with a silver feather on top of it could be seen on his head. What was more peculiar- the mole didn't wear the usual outfit workers or blacksmiths do, a quite expensive looking red shirt with silver buttons and a slight neckline covered his chest, below it a white vest could be seen. Pants of the same color protected his short legs which ended with a pair of golden boots on his paws with some holes in them so the mole's claws could easily protrude from the shoes. The outlines of his shirt and pants were covered with gold fringes. The mole looked more like a merchant than a laborer or a blacksmith for that matter.

" Who do we have here?" the shopkeeper asked while rubbing the single glass on his nose " A customer!" he exclaimed excited " and one of great renown no less! Dear friend ask, ask and I'll provide!"

" Umm… we already asked your friend over there if-"

A sudden outburst of laughter cut Spyro off " Asked you say?" the mole coughed and rubbed the reading glass on his nose before regaining his composure " Hogger there is not a mole of many words but the things he can make by using that hammer " he sighed in awe " Simply brilliant"

" I don't doubt that, however we are only interested in-"

The mole clapped his hand startling Spyro " In the best things of course! My friend you've came to the right place!" the merchant exclaimed loudly gaining the attention of the nearby passers-by before he disappeared into the store. He momentarily returned carrying a piece of armor with him " This particular piece of draconic armor would suit you perfectly!" he ran his paw alongside its surface " Pure achromantine with a delicate layer of silver. See how it shines? That's because my dear friend achromantine is no ordinary metal. it can be harvested, yes harvested. not mined! Only in the most brightest places in Munitions Forge, it grows in the deepest parts of the mountain where the walls are the most jagged. That's why it is so special, I don't have to tell you that light is very difficult to come by below ground. that's why my friend say thanks to your Ancestors for the lava, without it this beauty would never exist."

Spyro managed only to open his mouth and the mole continued his story " Not to mention that it looks like glass. Why the layer of silver you ask? Because my friend this magical metal is quite frail that's why the smiths add silver so it won't shatter after a powerful blow. Not very useful for common soldiers but for dragons…" the mole inhaled deeply " It's made for dragons! You are airborne creatures and this wonderful piece of work deflects arrows and spells with ease! The most famous wind dragons wore them, don't believe me? Just ask Volteer!"

" No, you don't understand, we-"

The mole clapped his hands once again cutting Spyro off " You are right of course! A single armor is of no use, we need a complete set!" the mole dashed inside and soon returned with a helmet " Do you see the clearly thicker upper part? Steel, steel and once again steel mixed with adamantine. This two metals make the upper part of the helmet extremely tough, its ideal for diving from the sky and wreaking havoc among the enemy ranks. However such a heavy piece of armor would overburden your neck."

The mole pointed at the bottom and the inner side of the helmet " That's why the lower part of this piece is made from a different metal. Now we never found the proper name for this metal but its popularly called feather. Extremely light and for a metal quite flexible. This kind of alloy presented it the helmet allows the user to ram his opponents with these two powerful horns with ease while granting a good protection from the incoming strikes and allows its wearer to move his head freely without any encumbrance. Commonly used by the War Dragons during the recent battles, so as you can see my friend this helmet is only for the best!"

" That's very interesting but-"

The merchant repeated the same move again " My dear friends!" he exclaimed loudly " We've got here a dragon who knows what he is looking for! That's the spirit! A good customer knows when he is satisfied! Moment!" the mole dashed once again into the building, when he was gone Spyro looked at his friends with tired and pleading eyes but they just shrugged simultaneously. Soon the merchant returned with another piece of armor.

" Since dragons don't use weapons we invented this special 'gloves'. As we know claws are your swords and to make use of them you need to raise your paws, powerful but leaves you vulnerable. But no worries my dear friend, we found a solution for this inconvenience! This plate 'gloves' will fit your paws perfectly, they are also reinforced with the previously mentioned feather at the most crucial joints where they meet with your shoulders and waist. We also added some extremely sharp spikes on its ends, an enemy tries to hold your paw or is trying to bring you down? No problem! Just yank your foreleg and he will be gone in no time!"

" Remember the claws we mentioned? Look at this" the mole pointed at the bottom side of the 'gloves' where a bunch of dark plates were protruding which looked like claws. " Hematite my dear friend, an iron ore melted with obsidian, a difficult combination to achieve but Munitions Forge is renowned for its great smiths! Tough and thanks to the magical potential of this world sharp as the most deadly blade! One slash, one slash my friend and your enemy will be rolling on the ground trying to hold his guts from falling out! It goes without saying that this masterpiece was used in the war right? It doesn't need any better advertisement!"

"I'm sure they are all very useful but listen-"

" But that's not everything! I hear you! A moment please!" the mole once again disappeared into the shop and returned carrying yet another quite thin and long piece of armor " This particular piece will suit your tail perfectly, the same alloy like in the upper part of the previously presented helmet was used to create it, however as you can see there are added some extremely sharp spikes on the top of the armor and some blades at both its sides, for those dragons who don't have natural spines. And these babies are sharp as a tip of a spear, rings a bell? Of course it does!" he traced his claw delicately across the armor's surface " The same alloy that was used to create our claws plus the alloy that was used to create the upper part of the helmet allowed to achieve a most deadly combination! Ideal for those battles when you have to face multiple fast enemies who just can't wait to stab you in the back, a perfect protection for those expected…" he threw Cynder a quick glance "…and surprise attacks" the mole focused his gaze on Spyro " One swing of your tail will be enough to teach these dirty fighters to never try such a move again! A famous artist created a painting on which Ignitus himself, may he rest in peace, defeats overwhelming waves of enemies with this beauty on his tail. True story not a fiction! If you don't believe me just seek out the artist, he will tell you everything"

The mole clapped his hands obviously content with his monolog " So my dear friend, anything that catches your eye?" he grinned

Spyro sighed in relief, the introduction is finally over " These things look really, really great but we need something of umm… less militaristic value. We-"

" Life and soul of the party I see!" the merchant exclaimed loudly cutting Spyro off once again " And what a dragon of your stature is looking for? Distinguished armor to impress the ladies? Or perhaps a crown which will intimidate the honorable Guardians themselves?"

Sparx' bored eyes sparkled with interest " A crown you say?" he approached the mole " Is there a one which would fit me?"

"Sparx" Spyro hissed with a rather scoldful tone

" What?" the dragonfly blurt out indignantly "I would look great in a crown" he adopted a proud posture

" You know, to be a leader you need respect and be well…" Cynder looked the dragonfly over " quite bigger" she winced " Nobody needs a king who looks like an insect"

Sparx turned to face the dragoness with an angry frown " You know what would be the first thing I would do as a king? I would lock up every evil looking and big- headed dragoness."

Spyro rolled his eyes " Cut it out, both of you" he focused on the merchant " Don't listen to him, he's just kidding about the crown"

"Perhaps, but I would support his first move" the mole muttered to himself while eyeing Cynder

"Hey!" she exclaimed angrily "I've heard that!"

Sheer anger filled Spyro when the mole said that, but he had to bottle it up for the time being, he might be the only one who can help them with their problem " Anyway, we came here to ask for your help" he arched the necklace forward " Can you remove it?"

The mole clapped his hands " Why didn't you say so earlier my friend? I wouldn't waste your time" he took the necklace in his hands " Another lock got stuck probably, let me take a look and we will take care of it" he began running his claw alongside its surface " Now where are you… wait a minute " he rubbed the glass on his nose and began inspecting the necklace more closely " This is no ordinary jewelry. Hogger get over here!"

The burly mole left the already finished sword on a nearby table and approached the merchant

"Look" the shopkeeper arched the necklace towards the blacksmith

The muscled mole took the necklace in his hands, began inspecting it and grunted something incoherently

" Clearly magical"

The blacksmith grunted something again

The shopkeeper jerked back startled leaving the necklace in the other mole hands " You are right!" he exclaimed and took the amulet into his hands again

Sparx furrowed a brow " This actually works?" with that he began flying in circles around Cynder while grunting something incoherently

" Will you shut up already?" she hissed angrily after a short while

" Hey it does!" Sparx exclaimed happily

" Dark magic" the merchant huffed in awe " Faint but still dark magic "

The burly mole grunted something while releasing the amulet before he returned to the anvil

The shopkeeper looked at Spyro curiously " What did you do to earn this prize?" the moment Spyro opened his mouth the mole waved his hand dismissively " Don't answer I don't want to know" he shook his head " I don't envy you my friend, to be shackled and see things that you would never like to see must be horrible"

Sparx looked at the black dragoness next to him " I know something about this"

Cynder frowned and poked her tongue at the dragonfly after understanding his sarcastic remark

" I know this is not your usual line of work " Spyro said apologetically " but are you able to remove it?"

The mole clapped his hands in excitement " My dear friend for everything you have done for us I would even figure out a way to move a mountain if you just asked. Normally we wouldn't be able to remove the necklace but today is your lucky day my friend! I have the right tool for the job! Moment!"

The mole as always jumped into the building and returned seconds later but this time he was holding a red simple hand axe. " Behold!" he exclaimed loudly with palpable excitement, drawing the crowd that surrounded the store a bit closer.

Cynder jerked her head back in surprise " An axe?"

The mole shook his finger at her " This is no ordinary axe, don't let it mild appearance fool you, this is the most destructive weapon ever created!" he touched the tip of the axe admiringly " This is my dear friend a metal known as orichalc, it is also called a Fire Shard. I agree that it doesn't make a good first impression but orichalc is the most destructive metal our Ancestors discovered. It cuts through everything steel, iron, magical, non-magical, stone, you name it! It's unstoppable!"

The merchant started to examine the axe " As much as it is dangerous it is also very fragile, a couple of swings and this thing breaks" the mole shrugged " You can't have everything" the merchant cleared his throat " You know the reason why I said that you are lucky is that the orichalc is considered depleted, nobody saw it for thousand of years."

The mole sighed sadly " Our Ancestors also made mistakes, back then they didn't know that orichalc flourishes only in handful of places all around the world, they believed that it could be found in every mine, you just need to dig deep enough. The moment they discovered its properties they began mining the metal relentlessly until they exhausted all of its veins. Normally nothing's wrong with that, when you exhaust a vein you just need to give the stone some time to regenerate, but it was a different story with orichalc. You see I believe that it isn't called a Fire Shard for nothing, I think that when our Ancestors exhausted the veins they extinguished the spark within them, killing the stone in a way as a result."

The mole grinned " You have to understand my shock when I found a chunk of it laying on the ground where the mine once was. You know that orichalc was found in caves below the volcanos? They have been dormant for years but I think that they erupted for the last time when the spark of the Fire Shard was extinguished, destroying the mines in the process in revenge."

Spyro stared at the mole with wide eyes " Wow" he sighed in awe " That's very interesting, I didn't know such metal existed myself" he looked at the axe " So you say this can solve our problem?"

The merchant nodded confidently " Precisely" he patted a single slab of stone laying on the ground " Just put your head here and Hogger will take care of the rest.

"Sure"

"Now if you'll excuse me" the shopkeeper gave the axe to the burly mole and went into the store

" Wait" Cynder whispered as she quickly jumped towards Spyro " You sure about this?"

Spyro threw her an surprised look " What's the matter Cynder?"

" I.. I mean… Just look at the guy" she nodded towards the blacksmith who was swinging the axe in the air just like he tried to get accustomed with it " He doesn't strike me as a mole who cares about safety"

He chuckled " You think what? That he is going to chop my head off or something? He will probably just cut the necklace delicately"

" Ohh I don't think that he knows what delicately means"

Spyro smiled comfortingly " Cynder relax, he knows what he is doing"

She snorted quietly " Yeah, easy for you to say, you won't get beheaded since you are the hero and all, but me…well as we both know people here are not my biggest fans, he might _accidently_ miss"

Sparx approached them with a wicked grin on his face " Owwww our little evil dragoness is scared"

" I'm not scared… I'm just taking precautions that's all"

" As always"

" Come on guys relax, as I said he will cut the necklace and not try to chop it off" Spyro scoffed and smiled " Please tell them" he looked at the blacksmith, his eyes shot wide open and his smile disappeared momentarily when he saw as the mole swung the axe vertically and split a huge round boulder with a chain wrapped around it in half, just like somebody would split a melon.

Cynder craned her neck forward " You were saying?"

Spyro gulped " That doesn't mean anything he's just…warming up I'm sure"

The blacksmith inspected the axe and nodded satisfied, with that he stopped near the slab of stone, raised the axe above his head, looked at Spyro and grunted something incoherently while meaningfully patted the stone with his other hand

" You are not planning to swing that thing vertically, right?" Spyro asked with a wavering voice

The mole grunted and patted the slab once again

" Oh I think he does" Cynder whispered

Spyro swallowed hard once more " There…there has to be some other way"

The blacksmith repeated the same gesture but this time his grunt sounded more irritated

" I'm not sure but I'm guessing that he said that there is no other way" Cynder cautiously took a step backward

Spyro chuckled nervously " We can work something out, right?" he looked at the mole pleadingly

The blacksmith has done the same thing but this time his grunt sounded even more irritated than before.

" Let's just get the hell out of here" Cynder whispered

" I hate to say it" Sparx whispered " but she's right. That guy means business. Let's not waste any more time, tactical retreat"

Spyro laughed nervously and started to retreat slowly " You know, now when I think of it" he arched the amulet forward " I've really became attached to it, this necklace reminds me of my past. You see I'm a rather sentimental type"

"Yeah!" Sparx exclaimed " That's the truth, he still collects colorful flowers because they made him prettier when he was younger

" That's right!" Spyro exclaimed thoughtlessly " As we can see there is still a lot of work ahead of me, so…" Spyro nodded quickly " it was nice seeing you but-"

He only gasped when a strong paw grabbed his necklace and placed his head on the stone slab. Cynder and Sparx only yelped while the dragonfly covered his eyes with his hands and Cynder hid behind her black wings when the axe came down. There was a loud cling and then silence, after a while curiosity got better of them and they slowly uncovered their eyes. The first thing they saw was Spyro, he seemed to be frozen in place, he was touching his head and neck with a shaking paw, just like he was making sure that his head is still in the same place.

The blacksmith raised the axe above his head pointed his claw at Cynder and then on the slab of stone while grunting something incoherently, clearly bored and irritated.

She cackled nervously and slapped her forehead" Silly me I completely forgot about it" she gave the mole a wavering smile " I…I knew th…that I had to do something" with every word she made a little step backward " It's a girl thing really, a very important girl thing really, so…..rain check!" she exclaimed and turned around quickly, but before she made a step a firm paw grabbed her necklace and pulled her back making her eyes to shot wide open while she gasped.

Cynder gasped again when her head was forcefully placed on the slab " No, no, no, WAIT!" she screamed and squealed soon after as the axe came down. The surrounding crowd held their breaths, all of the people around the store began craning their necks just to see what the end result is. They saw the burly mole retreating while he tossed the axe on some pile of other weaponry. There was an awkward silence, everybody was shaking in anticipation, soon they saw a black body raising slowly, the dragoness tail bumped upwards, then her black scales on her draconic back were revealed, then a sleek onyx neck with a magenta hue could be seen, and finally…. a still attached head onto it. A loud groan of disappointment could be heard as they noticed that the dragoness is alright, with nothing interesting going on the crowd scattered with their heads hanging low.

Sparx shook his head while holding it in his hands " Wow that's one hell of a brave special girl, that was your warrior's call or something?" he gave his head one last shake " Boy, it still rings inside my skull"

" Shut up" Cynder snapped

" T…Thanks for your help, how…how can we repay you?" Spyro mumbled still shocked from the experience

" Free of charge! Have a fine evening!" a familiar excited shout came from inside the store

Spyro rubbed his neck" Then… then we will be leaving now. T…thank you again" with that he tottered away from the smithy with his friends following him

Sparx flew around both dragons, completely unconcerned, just like nothing ever happened. " I don't know about you but after a show like that I need to grab a bite" he tenderly patted his belly

Cynder frowned " All of this made you hungry? Nothing else?" she snarled at the dragonfly

" Pretty much, yeah"

She growled quietly

He rolled his eyes and sighed before hovering in front of Cynder and placing a hand on her shoulder " Don't worry, that squeal of yours will haunt me for the rest of my days, I'll never forget it" he smirked

Cynder snapped her teeth angrily scaring away the dragonfly as a result

Between sarcastic remarks or other similar comments they decided that Sparx was right, it was time to eat. The marketplace was still welcoming customers despite the late hour, however all of the food stalls were closed. They've learnt that all of the food is transported to the City Hall so it can be later distributed in the Mess hall, the siege resulted in many destroyed buildings, most of them were the homes of the residents, that's why it was decided that food will be distributed in one place, so the inhabitants who lost their home won't feel left out.

As both dragons kept following the dragonfly they've found out that the Mess Hall is nothing more than the wide and tall building which seemed to be connected with the hospital. After a short while they located the big simple door, they have entered the building after a pair of cheetahs.

The building's name spoke for itself, it served only one purpose- feed Warfang's hard working citizens while they spend the time in some good company. The interior was rather simple, only a handful of paintings could be seen hanging around the wall, with some brightly burning torches on the columns and simple lamps on the tables. On the other side of the room a door could be seen which lead to the hospital, that was a good idea, the wounded need food so they can recover their strength. In the corner a wide entrance could be seen, its walls were familiar, it most likely was an underground tunnel which was connected with the City Hall.

As befits a true Mess Hall the interior was filled with tables, nothing fancy, just a simple top with four legs. They all differed from each other, some were smaller others bigger, some curved, others flat. However they all had one thing in common, all of the tables had chairs around them, but there were many free spots around them. After all not every resident requires a chair to sit so he can enjoy the food.

Near one side of the wall another door could be seen, judging by the smell it led to the kitchen. Next to the door a wide counter with a couple female moles standing behind it could be seen. Judging by the looks of it and the many people standing near the counter, they could assume that's where one gets his portion of the food.

All of the tables were mostly occupied, even if cheetahs and dragons weren't on the best of terms, some of the tables were taken by citizens from both species. It seems war brings people together. Only one table in the corner of the room was empty and since they didn't want to intrude on anybody's privacy they made their way towards it.

Spyro looked around the room while he sat near the table " So many people, almost like in the cheetah village"

Sparx hovered next to his brother's head while scratching his chin thoughtfully "If I remember right, this was the idea of one of the kitties, he looked familiar, he had a robe-"

"This was Meadow's idea?" Spyro cut off his foster brother

The dragonfly shrugged " Maybe, I don't remember the name" he clapped his hands " Anyway I'm going to grab something to eat and you should do the same, if you are hungry you need to get it yourself"

So both dragons followed the dragonfly to the counter, they had to wait a little for their turn but soon Sparx received his portion of the food. Since dragonflies don't eat meat, his plate was filled with all different kind of fruits, there weren't many of them, seems like Sparx isn't as hungry as he said he was. He didn't say anything, just waited patiently for the mole to serve him food, it was obvious that he had done it more than once since the mole knew exactly what to serve him.

"Next!" A loud female shout could be heard as the dragonfly prepared to leave.

After Sparx made his way towards the table, it was Spyro's turn to get something to eat. He opened his mouth to order something but the mole only threw him a brief glance and disappeared into the kitchen. Soon she returned carrying a plate of food which she placed on the counter.

"Next!" the mole yelled, ignoring Spyro completely

He looked at the plate, there was a single piece of lamb meat on it and some salad. A SINGLE piece of meat, ok it was quite big but it was impossible to satisfy his hunger completely with it. He won't starve of course but dragons are carnivores and carnivores like to feel full after a meal, and this pitiful piece of meat won't help him to achieve that state. He was still young but if adult dragons also received this kind of treatment he couldn't help but feel pity for them.

"Ummm I don't want to sound rude, but can I ask for some more meat?" Spyro looked at the mole with puppy eyes

"Next!" the female mole yelled again not paying Spyro any attention

"Please?"

"Next!" her voice sounded more irritated

Spyro cleared his throat " Excuse-"

The mole looked at the young dragon with fiery eyes which made Spyro to jerk back slightly in shock " Listen kid, you might be our savior and everything but there are a lot of other people hungry here, waiting for their turn, so MOVE IT!" she snarled "NEXT!" the mole averted her gaze from the young dragon and shouted angrily

"Gosh" Spyro muttered quietly and took the plate in his maw

Cynder emerged soon after when Spyro turned away from the counter. A loud gasp of surprise echoed throughout the Mess Hall when the female mole spotted the black dragoness in front of her. She didn't do anything, just stared at the black snout in front of her for a while before she exchanged shocked glances with the other female moles.

" Is something wrong?" Cynder asked with a palpable dose of sarcasm in her voice

The female mole shook off the surprise and narrowed her eyes on the dragoness "You've got a lot of nerve, showing your snout around here" she hissed " Be on your way, there is nothing for you here"

" The smell tells me something else"

" Whatever you are smelling, I assure you that it's not meant for you"

" I just came here to ask for my food, and I won't bother you again"

" As I said, there is nothing for you here" the mole pronounced each word slowly

" Cynder is there a problem?" Spyro stopped next to the black dragoness while his pupils jumped between her and the mole

The female mole looked quite startled and troubled after the unexpected occurrence " Of…of course not" she mumbled and vanished into the kitchen. Soon she returned with a plate filled the same amount of food which she placed on the counter.

The mole took a few steps back "Next!" she shouted tentatively

Cynder grinned " Thank you" she took the plate and returned to the table with Spyro swaying her tail in a taunting manner as she did so

Both dragons were curious about the recent events in the city, and since Sparx was the only one from their group around back then, all of the questions were directed at him. He kept answering them in his own way, meaning it was hard to tell if he was saying the truth or is he making all of this up. As always Sparx and Cynder found the time to exchange some snide remarks. They decided to leave Warfang for the time being and concentrated on some other topics

" So what are you going to do with your freedom?" Spyro asked and took a bite of the meat

Cynder impulsively rubbed her neck where the necklace was previously. Once she would be thrilled to be free from the shackles that held her in place, once she would scream in joy when she could do whatever she wants without anybody telling her to stop or reconsider. Now, now whenever she thinks about the past it feels like a dream, but not a pleasant one but a nightmare.

Over time her point of view changed, the magical necklace wasn't a chain for her anymore but it began to feel like a bond, a bond she believed was unbreakable. Today that bond ceased to exist and instead of happiness she felt sadness, something created by the most evil creature she ever knew turned out to be the thing that she craved mostly. Oh, the irony.

After Spyro defeated her when she was corrupted and nursed her back to health with the help of the Guardians she felt lost, out of place, hated and unimportant. That magical chain gave her purpose, even if she really tried to deny that fact in the beginning. It allowed her to find destiny, it didn't matter for her that it wasn't hers. A destiny is a destiny- a goal, and that thought allowed her to carry on despite the circumstances.

She couldn't shake off the shock when that destiny became unimportant one day, her focus completely shifted just to stop on her partner. Her vanquisher became her best friend, and that bond between them never allowed them to go their separate ways. Her heart couldn't stop screaming with joy when that friendship evolved into something new for her, into something blissful, into love. She never had the strength to reveal her feelings towards him, but she was happy nonetheless because she knew that bond won't allow him to leave, he will be beside her, he will be hers even if he is oblivious or doesn't share the same romantic feelings.

Now everything was gone, the love of her life can run away, the destiny, her goal vanished, and nothing replaced it. However all the fighting taught her that you can never let go and that's why she won't allow that destiny escape, she will fight to reclaim it and if Ancestors will ever forgive her than maybe they will allow her to be loved by the only dragon she cares about. A fool's dream perhaps but a one that will keep her going.

Cynder's mouth twitched into a smile for a brief moment before disappearing " Oh I don't know, I'll think that I stick around"

Spyro furrowed a brow but she noticed him smiling for a second " What happened to your independence?"

"It's still there but I've got used to following you, old habits die hard you know" she gave him a loving smile

Sparx swallowed a piece of some fruit " Good, because we all enjoy your company" he said with a sarcastic tone and burped after these words

"Sparx!" Spyro exclaimed admonishingly with a chuckle

" Gosh, you are disgusting" Cynder giggled

The dragonfly only shrugged and continued his dinner

* * *

After some happy conversation Spyro felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned around to see a mole with a grateful and full of awe smile standing behind him, watching him closely

"I can't believe that I'm looking at our great heroes" the mole mumbled

Spyro blushed " I'm no hero, just please call me Spyro"

"Don't forget that not all of us have the same objections" Sparx added and took another bite of some sweet fruit

" I just want to thank you for everything you had done for us. I don't know how we will ever repay you" the mole said with the same admiring tone while watching his savior closely

Spyro's cheeks became even more red " No…no you don't have to repay us, really it's no big deal"

"You're too modest" the mole patted his shoulder and looked around the room, stared at something for a while, nodded and looked at the purple dragon again " Would you do me the honor and join us at the table? There are some people who really want to meet you"

"I…" Spyro hesitated and looked at his friends, Cynder just shrugged while Sparx was nodding his head quickly. He sighed, he has to face this sooner or later anyway " Why not?" he got up " Sparx, Cynder come on"

" Hell yeah, fans!" Sparx exclaimed and started to fly around in circles in joy

The mole's eyes shot wide open "Cy…" his voice trailed off as he looked at the gathering of people on the nearby table. Spyro saw with a corner of his eyes as they were shaking their heads quickly. The mole scratched the back of his head nervously " I…I completely forgot!" he chuckled nervously " We arranged a meeting, some other friends will join us soon and the table will be full. Sorry, maybe some other time. Good evening!" the words came from his mouth one after the other, almost Volteer-like, and the mole was gone in seconds.

Sparx hands fell down in disappointment beside his chest and the look on his face quickly turned to that of resignation and utter defeat " Great, with her around we sure are going to meet some fans" he sighed

" Hey, why so sad? I'm sure that was only an exception, if somebody else will approach us I'm sure he will invite us, don't worry" Cynder smirked under her nose

Before they could return to their dinner another mole approached them, grinning from ear to ear" Excuse me, my friends wanted to know if you would be so kind as to join us at the table?"

Spyro sighed " Of course, it would be our pleasure, Sparx, Cynder, come"

"What?!" the mole exclaimed and coughed soon after " I mean…" he looked at his friends with terrified eyes while pointing his claw at Cynder, he didn't even bother to hide what this is all about. Spyro noticed as another group of people were shaking their heads and when they noticed him looking at them, they returned to their dinner just like nothing ever happened.

Spyro turned his head to look at the mole who was staring at him with wide eyes " You know… funny thing… I mean…" the mole mumbled and soon his voice trailed off. After a while he took a deep breath "Bye!" he exclaimed and dashed towards his friends.

"See?" Cynder looked at the dragonfly with a corner of her eye and returned to her dinner completely unconcerned about this whole situation

Sparx stared at her with an angry frown on his face '" Seriously bro, you have to ditch her somewhere, this is not funny"

Cynder burst out laughing " I beg to differ"

Spyro looked at Cynder with concerned eyes " Cynder I'm sure that they didn't mean-"

She giggled " They did and we both know it"

" This isn't right, I have to-"

"No" Cynder cut him off with a firm tone and smiled cheerfully "It's ok Spyro don't worry about it. I can take care of myself" she sighed 'Let's just forget about it, ok?"

She could see him battling with his thoughts but after a while he nodded, even if reluctantly.

They continued their dinner but this time quite loud murmurs could be heard in between other conversations. They didn't have to see the faces to know that the whispers were about them. However it didn't bother them as they continued a cheerful talk of their own.

Spyro stared at his empty plate with hungry eyes " Is there a possibility to get seconds here?"

Sparx raised his hands in the air " Whoa, whoa bro take it easy, you sure that you need any more food? Just look at yourself"

"Seriously Sparx this joke stopped being funny years ago"

The dragonfly snorted " If you are really that hungry just go ask them"

Spyro threw an incredulous glance at the couple of female moles who were serving food " I doubt they will even listen to me, they didn't strike me as the most helpful type"

Sparx shook his head " Not them" he pointed his finger in the direction of the counter " See those door? They lead to the kitchen which is run by the most friendly and caring cheetah you ever met. She will give you whatever you want" he flew closer towards Spyro " But hush, you never heard this from me, if all the people here would know about this you know what could happen?"

Spyro licked his mouth and got up unhesitatingly " Be right back" he followed his brother's advice

When Spyro took a few steps away from the table Sparx grinned mischievously " Watch this"

Cynder cocked her head but she knew Sparx well enough, she could tell that something is going to happen soon. Curiously she turned around to see Spyro disappearing into the kitchen.

At the beginning there was nothing, only the sound of many conversations could be heard. However soon a loud noise came from the kitchen which sounded like an extremely angry shout, whatever it was it silenced the Mess Hall completely. Everyone was staring at the kitchen door. Soon after another noise reached the room, it sounded like something just broke and not once but a couple of times. It wasn't long before Spyro barged into the room through the kitchen door, when the door swung open people could see a frying pan crashing into the wall behind the purple dragon.

Spyro ran with his tail between his legs until he reached his table and hunkered behind a chair, only his gold horns could be seen. Soon an extremely burly female cheetah emerged from the kitchen, in one of her hand she was carrying a frying pan with two indentations which really resembled Spyro's horns. The cheetah stopped at the doorstep panting heavily while waving the pan in her hand in a threatening manner.

" How many times do I have to tell you that there won't be any seconds!" she yelled at the top of her lungs " It's not my problem that you dragons eat for three, go on a diet or hunt something if you are so desperate, I don't care! You won't get anything from me! I swear the next dragon who enters my kitchen will land in a pot and I will boil him myself! You will have your meat then! Oh and if I find the guy who spreads this false rumors about free meals here, I will eat him myself!" with that the cheetah disappeared back into the kitchen.

All of the people stared at the door for a while before all the eyes focused on Spyro. When he raised his head and the residents noticed his terrified expression, the whole Mess Hall burst out laughing, forcing a blush on the young dragon's snout. Sparx couldn't stop grinning mischievously.

" Was this joke better bro?"

" You are such an ass!" Cynder's voice had a squealing tone as she tried to form words between laughs

" She's crazy!" Spyro exclaimed in horror " She chased me through the whole kitchen!"

Sparx shrugged " Who could have known?" he said with an innocent voice

Spyro narrowed his eyes on his brother " You!" he hissed angrily " You've set me up! You…you…"

" Genius?"

" I should…" the purple dragon snorted, after a moment of silence his eyes widened " I know! I'm going to tell her it was your idea, ha!" he smirked

" Go right ahead" Sparx pointed at the kitchen's door with his hand " I'm sure she will listen to you"

One look at the door was enough to drain Spyro's confidence " She's… she's probably busy, I'll talk with her some other time"

Another laugh from Cynder drew his attention. When she noticed his angry frown she coughed " Sorry Spyro but that look on your snout…" she started to laugh again

Firstly it irritated him greatly but after he exchanged some glances with his brother and noticed him smiling he couldn't help it but to start laughing with Sparx joining both dragons momentarily.

Sparx patted his swollen belly after swallowing the last piece of fruit " Now that's what I call a dinner. I'm full how about you guys?"

Both dragons looked at the dragonfly with angry expressions on their snouts " Shut up" they said simultaneously

Sparx only cackled wickedly

" May I join you?" a familiar voice came from behind Spyro

He turned around to see Hunter standing behind him " Hunter! Sure, take a seat"

"Thank you" the feline joined them

He looked different than usual, the brown coat and the reddish cloak were gone in addition with his bow, quiver and red bands. He looked like a typical worker with only one single dirty brown shirt, the same colored dirty pants and boots. The sharp color of his fur was gone as it intertwined with the dust, even the white colored fur was slightly darker. But from the looks of it he didn't mind it at all, he was tired and dirty but he seemed to be overjoyed, with a smile he began eating his dinner.

Cynder couldn't help it but to smile as she watched the feline " You look happy"

" I do?"

"Yeah, I might say that you are even beaming. Something you want to tell us?"

" Well…" he smiled from ear to ear " I've talked with Meadow, about my future"

"You're leaving?" Spyro asked with a glimmer of sadness in his voice

" Quite the contrary, I've decided to remain in Warfang"

Cynder furrowed a brow "You are staying, why?"

"If you are here to steal our fans, not that we have many" Sparx looked at Cynder and nodded " Thank you very much" she responded him only with a smile "Remember who saved the world"

" You can sleep peacefully, I'm not here for fame." He smiled and looked at the black dragoness " To answer your question Cynder, I've been thinking and decided that it was time that I left my village for good, I realized that I don't fit in there "

" But you have fiends there, people who would follow you, and-"

"… the Chief and constant rivalry" Hunter cut Spyro off tenderly

" And legends and symbols" Spyro added quickly

The feline's ears flicked " Symbols?" he thought for a moment " Oh, I see. Meadow's been telling you about the Blessed Ones and The Fortune I presume?" Hunter asked without any emotion in his voice

" You don't believe in them?" Spyro asked surprised " I thought that every cheetah does"

Hunter shrugged " For me it's just a tree, you don't need some mythical ancestors to find strength to push on" he snapped his fingers " Another reason why I decided to leave"

" So what are you going to do here? In Warfang?" Cynder asked curiously

" For starters I'll help to rebuild the city, the walls are almost finished but there are still many homes needing repairs and that's a lot of work"

" How can we help?" Spyro blurt out

" Hey, slow down there dude" Sparx protested

Hunter smiled gratefully " That's very kind of you but this time we will handle this ourselves"

Sparx pointed his finger at the feline " Finally someone who makes some sense!" he exclaimed " Listen to this guy bro"

Spyro ignored his brother, he was entirely concentrated on the cheetah " Are you sure?"

Hunter nodded " Yes, don't worry. Get some rest"

Cynder yawned " Now that sounds like a good idea"

* * *

Three friends made their way to the City Hall through now almost completely empty streets. Even the Hall itself was abandoned, there was only one Guardian sitting behind a table which was illuminated by a single candle.

" Welcome back" Terrador greeted the group " Tell me, what's your opinion on Warfang?"

" The city took quite a beating, I wish we could stop the siege sooner. All these people…" Spyro shook his head sadly

" This is war Spyro, it knows no mercy"

Cynder seeing the poor mood decided to lighten it up a bit " You are doing a great job in rebuilding, the city almost looks like new"

She could see that Terrador has read her intentions, his knowing smile only confirmed it " You are correct, great times await us"

Spyro sighed just as if he tried to forget about the bad thoughts " It's late, what are you doing here Terrador?"

" I've been waiting for you actually, someone has to show you to your rooms. Please follow me" the Guardian made his way up the stairs while carrying a small key ring with him"

The group followed the dragon through a wide corridor illuminated by burning torches with many doors on the opposite sides. The Guardian stopped near one of these doors.

" This is where Sparx stayed when you were gone, so I thought it would be appropriate to house you with your brother, as you haven't seen each other for some time. Here is the key"

Spyro took the simple silver key " Thank you"

Terrador pointed at the next door " Cynder this is where you will be staying, I didn't want to separate you much, I know how fighting side by side brings people together. Here is your key"

Cynder eagerly took the key and bowed " Thank you very much Terrador"

The Guardian smiled " I hope you will like the rooms we prepared for you" he bowed his head " Good night" he prepared to leave " Oh," the dragon blurt out and stopped " I almost forgot, Volteer wants to speak with you, he said that" Terrador cleared his throat " This is prominently urgent matter, because if he is correct, it may distort the way we perceive our universe." he chuckled " Anyway I suggest you visit him, maybe you will be able to finally pull him out from the library" he smiled and bowed his head once again " Good night"

"Good night" all three of them responded

" Finally" Sparx yawned and clicked his tongue when the Guardian disappeared around the corner " That guy likes to talk" he stretched " All right guys it's time for my beauty sleep. See ya!" he waved his hand and flew inside the room through the shutter which was located above the door

Both dragons looked at each other impulsively and chuckled

" So…" Cynder started uncertainty while shuffling her paw along the ground

"So…" Spyro replied her in the same manner

" What a day, huh?" Cynder blurt out nervously " We almost lost our heads today, literally"

Spyro chuckled " Yeah, it would be a shame, I feel quite attached to it"

She laughed " Anyway after all this time it will be great to lay in a warm bed, between you and me I'm tired of sleeping on cold cave floors"

" You and me both, at least I won't have to pitifully make a fire again for a while"

" Yeah that was quite pathetic" she teased him and they both began to laugh, after a while they stopped and began to stare in each other's eyes. Cynder cleared her throat and averted her gaze " Listen Spyro I…" her voice trailed off " I never thanked you for giving me a chance"

"Huh?"

" You know after my corruption and utter defeat, you took a risk by saving me, I mean you had no reason to believe me, I was evil after all." she sighed gratefully " Thank you for that"

" Cynder…" Spyro admonished her softly " You don't have to thank me, there was no risk, I knew from the beginning that you are not evil, I've always trusted you and I will trust you no matter what happens"

Her eyes sparkled " I should really consider making a statue of you in my room" she smiled wryly

" Do that and I'll kill you" Spyro chuckled

Cynder giggled and stared in his eyes for a while before retreating towards her door. " Good night" she whispered tenderly and pushed the door open.

" Good night" he found himself whispering back impulsively and watched her until her blade-like tip disappeared inside the room. With a dizzy mind he entered his own resting place.

The room was nothing special, it was pretty simple really. A single bed stood in a corner, a desk, a closet for those who need it, a bedside table, a bunch of drawers, a couple of paintings and some plants with some candles or lamps here and there. A single glass door were located on the opposite side of this place which led to the balcony. The whole room was illuminated by the silvery light of the moon which looked like it was peeking through the windows, to check what's going on in the City Hall. A loud snoring broke this serenity, it was coming from a single alcove shelving located near the ceiling- Sparx.

However Spyro was completely uninterested, he didn't care about the furniture or the noise, the moment he closed the door behind him, he leaned against it with his tail and smiled, he didn't know why but he felt extremely happy. After a while he pulled himself together and arrived on the balcony, there was a spectacular view on Warfang from here, many streets could be seen which were illuminated by the burning lanterns, besides a shadow passing here and there the city was silent and empty.

He didn't admire the sight for long as his head traveled to the balcony next to his. Spyro's smile only widened when he thought about his friend, even if they just talked minutes ago he felt a sudden urge to see her again, something told him to leap from his balcony, land on hers and enter her room, just like that, spontaneously. Only thinking about such scenario forced his heart to pump blood faster, the unfamiliar awkward feeling returned but this time it wasn't an entirely pleasant sensation, his heart started to ache just like it craved for something. A part of him wanted to tell her about this strange feeling but he couldn't force himself to do it, she would most likely worry about him, and that was the last thing he wanted, she has enough problems with the people here. He decided to shake off the feeling.

Spyro concentrated on the moon instead, after a long time he can look at the sky without thinking about the next day, what will it bring or if he even survives to see another one. For the first time after he left the Swamp he can look at the darkened sky with no worries because when the moon will depart to allow his brother to rule the sky he knows that the sun will bring a peaceful day with it and nothing else.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

A strong wind howled through the trees below and the black clouded sky just like it was carrying a thousand screams with itself. A terrifying roar of nature that would freeze blood in every good hearted creature, however she wasn't one of them. For her it was something else, something she could listen to all day and night, something strongly exciting- a sign of a forthcoming disaster. A disaster she will sow, a disaster that will break the spirit of her enemies, a signal that the ground will taste blood and to satisfy the earth's growing hunger she will add numbers to the already big pile of corpses. They will recognize her as a harbinger of destruction, after this people will surely tremble at the sound of her name. A greatly intriguing vision.

She sat on the outcropping with closed eyes and wings neatly folded on her back, her breaths were deep and slow as she savored the sweet embrace of darkness and the chilling sound of the wind. This is her time and she swore to herself that whatever she will do, it will be unforgettable. This is the moment when she will deprive the people of their last ounces of faith just like the clouds deprive the sky of the glorious sun's rays. She sighed, this is where the remains of the War Dragons took refuge and this is where they will meet their end and there is nothing and no one who can stop her.

A quite bright light poked at her closed eyelids, firstly she ignored it fully concentrated on the howling wind, completely lost in it as she was listening to it's addictive screams. Minutes have passed but the light still bothered her with its presence, with a furious growl she opened her green eyes to check what is preventing her enjoyment. She saw a column of bright light which found a gap in the black clouds defenses,a sign perhaps that there is a way even from the most dire situation. The beam of light infuriated her but when she thought about it, this may turn into her favor, if the column of light is a sign of something good, she will blacken it with her wings, she will steal their hope.

With a smirk she looked down from the outcropping, there was a battle going on, even from here she could hear the shouts, war cries and the clashing of weapons. She observed her army, many apes went unhesitatingly to the fight knowing that most of them won't make it back, it didn't bother her in the slightest, that's why they are under her command after all, to follow her every whim, even if this will be the last thing they will do. She twitched with excitement and anticipation when she looked at her enemies, that force not only consisted frail and weak cats but also dragons, her own kind and that thought, that single thought about slaying her own kin, to rip their scales with her claws, to crash their bones with her jaws, to taste their blood in her mouth, all of those things forced her heart to beat faster. She closed her eyes and shivered, this will be something worth remembering.

She couldn't stop observing the scene below, under the black sky the many flashes of spells or the cones of flames released by the dragons created a perfect scene. Not to mention the screams, oh the screams of soldiers devoured by the magic's destructive nature, that is the music she wants to hear, that is the sound that makes her black heart beat even harder. The flying dragons do a great job in shrinking the number of her soldiers, for every one the apes shoot down they kill at least twenty of them. That's good, it was a reason for her to focus on the battlefield, to find the dragon responsible for the most damage, the dragon who gives her enemies vigor to fight with his small victories. She narrowed her pupils on the winged shapes, if she locates the drake, she will bring him down, announcing her arrival in the most refined way possible.

The battlefield takes places near a mountainside range, behind the enemy lines many openings could be seen, the hiding place of the War Dragons was finally discovered. But the death of these ferocious warriors is nothing compared to the things she will find inside the cave-innocents. Old ones, mothers and children, practically all families were located inside those caves, nothing can be compared to the fading life of an innocent being and the feeling is all the sweeter if she is the reason why the life ebbs away in the first place.

The place where the battlefield takes place is a hilly terrain, many elevations dotted the landscape below, some trees even managed to prevail while some other were burning just like huge torches. All things considered the enemy found a perfect spot to make their last stand, the hills prevented her foot soldier to launch a proper assault, whenever they tried to push on up the hills they were instantly slaughtered by the defenders who already occupied the elevations. However she was prepared for something like this, mercenaries as greedy as they are created some perfect creatures to fight in rough terrain, the Death Hounds scaled the hills easily and thanks to their four legs they gained a tremendous speed while descending the small mountains, tearing a hole through the enemy defenses. Also fliers like Dreadwings prevented the War Dragons from dominating the sky completely.

However Dreadwings need a raider to function properly, otherwise these stupid creatures attack their prey headlong, which usually means that they are killed before they can do any damage, it wasn't enough to take the sky from intelligent creatures like the dragons but it was enough to stall them. It was finally the time, she has spotted a leader amongst the drakes, she could see how he was commanding his troops while sowing mayhem amongst her ranks, a true leader.

With the last evil grin she retreated from the outcropping to prepare herself for battle, pieces of armor were already prepared, they were as black as her onyx scales and had long, sturdy looking spines almost everywhere. Firstly she slid her tail between smooth plates, using the tip of her tail she attached the joints to her body. Secondly she raised on her hind legs and put on an armor which protected her chest, underbelly and back. The obsidian alloy seemed to glisten under the dark sky. She turned her head to get used to the feeling of something bulky encumbering her neck before she landed on all fours again. She put on another pieces of armor, they covered her forelegs and hind paws. They ended with silvery insets which fit her claws perfectly. Lastly she slid a dark helmet on her head, her emerald eyes shone brightly under the dark helmet just like a pair of gems.

She traced her paw down her neck, as if admiring the armor, however after a while she jerked back, her paw stung just like she was electrocuted. For a brief moment she felt horrible about the thing she was about to do, she is preparing for battle with her own kind, for the first time in her life doubt and fear filled her heart. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, just like she expected the pitiful emotions were gone, weakness makes her sick. She opened her eyes, her emerald orbs once again shone with sheer malice, an evil grin formed itself on her black snout, she was ready for a fight.

She returned to the outcropping and looked down, the battle was still raging on below and the dragon she hunted for was still there. She looked at the column of light, and waited until it shone directly on her prey. She smirked, it will be a glorious entrance, spreading her black wings she took a step forward and leapt from the outcropping. She kept making little circles in the air, while she waited for the perfect opportunity, she wanted him to feel a moment of victory, a moment of hope before she strikes him down stealing all the faith in one single attack.

That moment just came, she saw the dragon returning from battle, he took to the sky and roared triumphantly, some other dragons followed in his wake. She laughed bitterly, and looked at the column of light once again before she dived. With her wings close to her body wind started to whizz around her while she sped up instantly, she was just like a quarrel shot from a huge crossbow, a very unexpected and deadly quarrel. Just when she was about to reach the light she spread her onyx wings, all nearby dragons looked up to see what could darken the sky above them so quickly.

Their leader had no time to admire the view since momentarily a black shape enveloped him and brought him down. She used her Shadow element to enhance her silvery claws with the dark power before she sank them into the dragons chest while piercing his armor. They spun around in the air but the firm grip allowed her to control the fall, with one move just like a passionate lover she found herself on top of the dragon. Firstly his eyes were filled with shock and surprise but as soon he took a glimpse of her black snout focused returned to them as he realized what's going on. He prepared his elemental attack but it was too late, they hit the ground.

A loud thud was heard and dust raised in the air from the place they crashed. The impact took out the dragon's breath, he groaned below her but she didn't care, with a couple of swift slashes she destroyed the armor on his neck. The dragon only grunted when she snapped her powerful jaws on his throat, her teeth sank deep, tearing off bits of scales and muscles as she raised her head. Trail of blood followed her as she looked around the battlefield chewing the bit of flesh at the same time, the battle seemed to freeze for a while as every soldier, from both sides, stared at her with shocked filled eyes. She thrust her claws into the throat of the wriggling dragon below her, ending his struggle forever. She swallowed the bit of flesh and looked at her troops with fiery eyes, she spread her wings and roared so loudly that the ground began to rumble and the remaining trees began to shake.

The brief moment of awkward silence was over, her troops emitted a war cry like they have never before, making the opposite army hesitate for a while. The battle was renewed, both sides charged each other once again and as she was caught between a rock and a hard place, she couldn't shake of the feeling of complete surprise when some cats and a bunch of dragons charged her completely blinded by rage, she laughed, it seems stupidity has no bounds.

Even if her ego told her to stay and slaughter them all, the common sense of a seasoned warrior told her otherwise. As much as it hurt her she listened to the latter, no need to risk getting an injury from a furious mob, not to mention the angered dragons above her. She left the carcass and began to run, run as far away as possible from the light, the roars of the troops and dragons both from the ground and air told her that they were right behind her tail. It didn't bother her however, her graceful body allowed her to move swiftly, cleverness and speed dominate over strength and agility is her most known virtue.

She was about to leave the repulsive light and enter the darkness, her own element. She felt as the shadows were embracing her, inviting her for a dance and she was flattered by it, she swirled in the darkness, letting it to take control over her until she became one with it and melted within its embrace. The onyx armor and her black scales allowed her to disappear into the shadows, she was just a blurry shape for everyone brave enough to pursue her.

The soldiers who chased her hesitated, she seemed like a monster to them, the one the children speak of, the monster from the closet. This time however this comparison was correct and the blood freezing shriek that came out from the darkness only confirmed this. Most of the soldiers started to flee at the sound of it, while some other were completely paralyzed, those were the ones who saw a pair of demonic green eyes before everything turned black just like somebody would turn off the light.

Her blade like tip cut through them with ease, they began falling one by one just like trees cut by lumberjacks. There was no time to focus on them now as she could hear dragons descending towards her and even felt the surge of power when most likely every possible elemental attack knows in this world was heading towards her. She smirked, when the magical strikes and the dragons were close enough she used her Shadow ability and sank into the ground.

The attacks hit an empty ground in a show of different colored sparks, soon the descending dragons arrived, they had to make a turn near the ground to raise into the air again or else they would crash. That was the moment she waited for, that was the opportunity she couldn't squander, she popped up from the ground just like a shark jumps from the water, the momentum she accumulated allowed her to head straight for a dragon who was the last in the line.

Amongst the sound of armors grinding against each other, grunts of struggle and angry roars, she managed to get a hold of the drake using her shadow empowered claws. They began to twist in the air gaining the attention of the nearby dragons, but she didn't care she was only focused on her prey, she even ignored the stinging pain when one of the spines on the drake's armor accidently managed to find a chink in her armor. They swirled in the air and the moment their eyes met she used her Poison Breath ability and spit a boiling glob of lethal venom onto the dragon's snout. He stopped his struggle immediately as he began to choke, cough and sometimes even scream when the poison hissed and burnt through his scales and down his throat.

They hit the ground with her standing victoriously on top of the dragon who was desperately trying to cling to life using his last sparks of strength. She spit contemptuously on the struggling drake and left him alone, she enjoyed watching him suffer. The group of flying drakes began to charge her again, however the moment she looked at them an evil grin formed itself on her snout and she began to laugh mischievously. The chaos she created made the dragons lose their concentration and her troops didn't linger and took an advantage of this opportunity. Every flying dragon was tackled by a Dredwing, the bat-like creatures hissed and barred their poison filled fangs while they attacked the drakes. Their riders were barking orders, or even attacking themselves accompanied by the sound of many painful shouts, roars and grunts. They have dominated the sky.

She sniffed the air, between the typical scent of a bloodshed she could smell something different close by, didn't take her long to realize that she was smelling a cat's fur. She spun around, just in time in fact since a sharp spear tried to stab her, the warrior who was carrying it couldn't shake off the feeling of surprise after his miss. She didn't worry about such things, the moment she set eyes upon the arrogant feline she opened her maw wide open and snapped her teeth moments later on the cat's body cutting him in half. She spit him out, ripped of the armor and devoured him in front of the next wave of attackers, she made sure they noticed him vanishing down her gullet.

Pure hatred painted itself on their faces after her little show, without hesitation they charged, yelling loudly as they did so. She licked her snout, and began a charge of her own, she was a good fighter but they had numbers, no matter how agile she was, it was impossible to dodge every strike, however she had a few tricks up her sleeve for situations like this. After gaining some speed she jumped and channeled her Wind powers, with the elemental energy flowing through her body she began to spun around. She made faster and faster turns with each passing second, and as her momentum increased so did the sound of the roaring wind, it looked like the wind was screaming all around her, just like it wanted to be near the black dragoness.

With each spin, she not only gained speed but also dragged the debris from across the battlefield towards her, she used the Twister ability, meaning that she transformed into a swirling tornado. As she adopted the form of one of the nature's reapers, she went straight at the charging wave of attackers. Not only she tossed the soldiers in every directions just like rag dolls, but also tore apart instantly those, who were unfortunate enough and found themselves in the middle of the twister, they just exploded, sending streams of blood everywhere. Bodies were not the only thing that were tossed in all directions, her tornado form also hurled debris everywhere, weapons, pieces of armor, rocks and many other things were thrown at the approaching soldiers, making life harder for those who managed to avoid the swirling dragoness.

She turned and turned and turned, making her way through the enemies lines with ease, she could see their frail forms flying everywhere and that was the sight that kept her going. She will continue her attack until there is no one left standing, she will kill them all, but that pleasure was taken away from her. She hit something solid, something thick and indestructible. The wind stopped howling, and all the debris fell onto the ground instantly.

The impact made her dizzy, she quickly shook her head to regain her senses and the moment they returned to her she saw a huge and thick stone wall in front of her. Earth. The enemies seeing that she lost her power began their charge, however she didn't need to budge since her own troops managed to catch up with her, a battle was commenced between the two armies, allowing her to find the one responsible for stopping her fun.

It didn't take long to notice a big earth dragon towering above the fighting soldiers, judging by the armor he wore he was quite a strong drake. It didn't bother her in the slightest, because she knew that some pitiful common dragon won't stop her, however that didn't prevent him from trying. The stone wall shook and started to collapse towards her, she quickly jumped out of its way but to her surprise the moment the wall crashed on the ground it exploded sending small rocks directly at her.

It caught her by surprise, she wasn't fast enough to block the debris with her wings, some small chunks of rock managed to find a way through her defense, cutting her just below the left eye. She impulsively touched her wound and the moment she lowered her paw she saw blood on it, with an furious snort she flicked it away. The moment she looked at the dragon something struck her chest, bending her armor as a result, when the projectile exploded into many small chunks of stone she knew that it was an earth missile.

She growled, enough is enough, it was the last time when the drake could feel that he has a chance in this fight, oh he couldn't be more wrong. The drake stomped the ground and soon the terrain below her started to shake, she instantly jumped backwards and as she did so a large spike burst from the ground in front of her just to hide down the earth moments later. The shaking didn't stop so using her natural grace she started to run directly at the dragon, it wasn't an easy run, she had to dodge every spike on her way, she was even forced sometimes to leap into the air but whenever she did so she had to return to the ground since the drake sent an earth missile every time she was in the sky. She continued her charge on the ground, only jumping when it was absolutely necessary, she flapped her wings once or twice before returning on the ground, that way no earth missile could harm her.

With an angry roar she pounced on the dragon, they began to roll down the small hill, snapping their teeth and slashing with their claws at each other until they finally stopped rolling. The dragon was stronger than her, she ended below his firm paws, she tried to pull up but only managed to arch her upper body upwards a little before he forcefully slammed her onto the ground. He lowered his head to make a bite on her throat, her eyes flared with pure hatred, just when he was about to reach her neck she yanked her body forcefully making the dragon totter a little, but that was enough for her to puncture his cheek with the blade claw on her wing thumb.

The drake roared painfully, and as he opened his maw a bloody blade claw could be easily seen inside his mouth. In an act of vengeance he slammed her wing with his own, pulling out the claw from his cheek in a stream of blood, when the black wing moved away from his body he slashed it with his claws. She cried in pain below him when the dragon's claws cut her membranes, blood started to flow down instantly from the deep lacerations. Wasting no time, she slammed her tail against his ankle, her tail was in no position to cause any serious damage but the spines on her armor found a chink in the dragon's protection.

The drake hissed while his hind paw bent under the blow making him lose balance. She took advantage of the opportunity and kicked him off of her, as the dragon was thrown away she prepared an elemental attack but couldn't finish channeling the energy since the dragon's tail tip which resembled the end of a thick hammer struck her in the chest, knocking the breath out of her. The impact forced her to release the energy she accumulated so far, it wasn't much but it was enough to stagger her opponent even if for a short while.

She quickly pulled herself up on all fours, she was grateful for the armor, the onyx plates quelled most of the force but she could still feel her bones throbbing with a dull pain. She charged the dragon before he could get the chance to use his own breath, she gracefully dodged under the dragon's tail, sidestepped quickly to avoid his claws just to strike him with her blade- like tip, damaging his armor and drawing some blood. They exchanged blow after blow, she mostly focused on speed while her opponent concentrated on raw strength.

After a while she retreated and decided to try a different approach, this particular dragon was getting on her nerves, it was time to end this. She immediately used her elemental energy to cover herself in a coat of poison before charging. Her opponent acted just as she expected, unsure about her true intentions the dragon thought that she once again is trying to charge him so he decided to play it safe. Just to keep her as far away as possible he once again began creating the spines.

Good, he had bought her bluff, but that doesn't mean he wasn't dangerous, however with her natural agility she had no problems dodging the two first spines. Instead of avoiding the next one she jumped at it and wrapped herself around it. The dragon's eyes shot wide open when he saw as the spine hid below ground with the dragoness wrapped around it. His shock was so great that the two adjacent spines which protruded from the earth in front of him remained above ground since he stopped channeling his elemental power to fuel the attack.

She was lucky that many of her foes didn't know yet what Shadow powers are capable of, that's why the dragon remained in the same position just as she hoped he would. A shadow created itself below the dragon's paws and moments later she jumped out of it like from some kind of portal. The power she put into this trick lifted the dragon vertically high into the air, a loud gasp was a proof that he didn't expect such a move. She quickly maneuvered with agile flaps of her wings to place herself above the raising dragon while delicately pushing him forward with her tail.

Just when she gained enough altitude she spun around and extended her front paws so they were directed centrally on the dragon's belly. It was then when she began to fall pushing the dragon down with her. The blowing wind and the speed forced his wings to spread wide open, and those were the reason behind his agonizing roar since the moment he was pushed down, the two remaining spines pierced his membranes. The wound became deeper with each inch as he slid down against the artificial thorns, leaving a trail of crimson blood on their surfaces.

He roared until he finally dropped on the hilly terrain with the two thick spines piercing his wings and pinning him to the ground. The moment he hit the earth he emitted a one last deafeningly loud scream of pain. She gracefully landed on top of him and slid down moments later so his body was trapped between her paws. She could end his suffering here and now but she decided not to. With a swift move she ripped off his armor from his chest and thrust her claws deep into his scales, tearing them off when she forcefully removed her claws, trickling red blood followed them.

The dragon cried in pain and screamed even more louder when she lowered her head towards his chest and began to rip his scales and devour his flesh while he was still conscious. She kept chewing and chewing while listening to his beautiful painful screams which inspired her even more. She kept going and going until he finally couldn't take more of this sadistic torture and expired.

* * *

The battle was over, bodies littered the ground and blood flowed down the many elevations in streams. The last of the War Dragons have fallen, the hunt has cost her much, most of her troops were dead and even more were wounded. She couldn't care less, they are just meat, cannon fodder which can be replaced easily, she had all the gems in the world and the world is full of greedy cutthroats. The openings in the mountain ahead told her that it was worth it, within them were riches that only the most cruel beings would value, she was one of them.

She landed near one of the upper caves, just when her paws silently touched the ground she could hear quiet whispers and steps coming from inside. She purposely scratched the stony floor with her claw and just as she thought the barely hearable noises died instantly. She grinned and ventured into the cave wondering if life can get any better than this.

" Hello? Is anybody home?" she shouted with certain amusement and malevolence in her tone. All the noise in the cave died instantly at the sound of her voice.

She chuckled quietly and began to venture deeper into the dark cave whistling a calm melody that echoed throughout the whole den. To make things interesting she placed her paws on the ground in such a way that her claws emitted a loud _click_ on the stony floor as she walked. An amused rumble ran through her throat when she imagined what these defenseless creatures could be feeling right now, they were trapped in this cave, with nowhere to run and the increasing sound of her voice and steps was everything they could hear.

As she walked down the dark corridor she saw a flicker of a dim light ahead that disappeared moments later, just like somebody would kill a torch. The smile on her snout grew wider, she was getting close. Despite the thick darkness she could feel that she arrived in one of the larger places in the cave, the walls weren't now scratching her scales and the ceiling seemed to be much higher.

Even if she didn't see anything she could feel that this is the place where the innocents are hiding, she could smell their fear, she could feel their fast beating hearts. She stopped walking and whistling, she stood there motionless, listening to the addictive noise and inhaling the most wonderful scent, she closed her eyes and drifted away.

With a deep sigh she opened her eyes and instantly released a shadow fire high in the ceiling, the breath illuminated the whole cave instantly. Terrified screams and cries filled the place, for a blink of a second she could see all these scared snouts and faces before the flame died down and the cave was covered in darkness once again.

Something bumped into her foreleg, she grabbed it between her claws and lifted the thing up. Judging by the horrible trembling, squeaks and little wings, she was holding a little dragon hatchling in her paw. She could barely hear the child thanks to the terrified screams of the nearby cats and dragons.

" Let's all calm down and talk like civilized beings!" she shouted angrily and silenced the crowd momentarily.

" I'm holding a kid here, I suspect that he is one of yours?"

"No!" a wavering female shout came from the darkness " Please, he is just a child!"

" Relax" she tried to calm the dragoness who was most likely his mother with a soft tone " Light up the torches so we might actually see something. We don't want him to get lost do we now?"

" Please!"

" Light up the torches" she replied coldly

There was a moment of silence and hesitation, but eventually the torches began to burn and light filled the cave.

The group wasn't as big as she expected it to be, a couple of withered cheetahs were huddled up in a corner, three young female dragons were laying on the ground. Not all dragons are born fighters, some choose a more peaceful life. Three young and small snouts were visible from below the dragonesses wings, with the one she was holding that made four children in total.

" There you go" she smiled kindly and looked at the child with caring eyes " Be good, little one, and run to your mother, ok?" she kissed the child on the forehead, and as she did so she heard a muffled scream which came from one of the dragonesses. With a mischievous smile she put down the hatchling and as soon as his paws touched the ground he scuttled with the speed of light and hid under his mother's wing, squeaking in fear.

She smiled wryly " Now when we all are here let me introduce myself" she touched her chest " I'm Cynder, you might have heard of me, if not you can always call me…" she scratched the silver choker on her neck thoughtfully " Damn I need a nickname" she shook her head and focused on the group again " Anyhoo, I have some good and bad news. The good news is that I have won, but you probably figured it out already since I'm standing right before you, duh. Even if you expected it, a little applause won't hurt, come on, don't be shy!" she exclaimed happily.

The group remained silent

"Come on!" she urged them some more with the same cheerful tone

As previously there was no reaction

Her eyes flared up with sheer anger " I need an applause!" she roared

The cornered civilians yelped in dread and began clapping instantly in a very hectic manner

" There you go! It wasn't that hard, was it?" she started to bow her head " Thank you, thank you, you are too kind. What have I done to deserve such a welcome?" she stomped her paw playfully " Oh, now I remember!"

She cleared her throat, dropping the cheerful mood and silencing the group as a result " Now it's the time for some bad news, mind you that they are bad for you not for me, that's a very important detail since no bad news follow me around. As you may know, your fathers, friends, mates or whatever won't be coming to visit you. They all are…"

She scratched the choker again " How to put it mildly?" she muttered to herself and shook her head "I've slaughtered them all, I've painted the ground with their blood and decorated the walls with their guts and all they could do was to beg me to spare their mates and children while I disemboweled them" she snorted " Bunch of whiners"

" You will pay for this!" one of the female dragons yelled, while streams of tears flown down from her eyes, with all emotions released in a single shout, she sobbed and hid behind a rock.

She rolled her eyes " Yeah, yeah, you know how many times I hear that line? Come on people, be creative!"

" Thou shan't find peace and fall under the weight of thy deeds, those who disdain pure life shall become its prey" a rasped feline voice reached her.

She pointed a claw on the old cheetah " Now that's what I'm talking about!" she looked at the withered cat with an amused gaze "Hate to ruin your perspective Old Guy but I don't believe in those curses and the like" after a moment of silence she scratched the choker on her neck again " But let's say that you are right and karma will kick me in the ass someday, will NOT killing you satisfy karma?"

She stirred a slight commotion amongst the group, they began whispering and muttering something between themselves, just like they wanted to make sure they heard her correctly.

She held her paw in the air in a dismissive manner " Ok don't bother, I already know the answer" she sighed " Yes, I've never wanted to kill you, in fact I've planned to leave you here"

" You…you…w…will…le…le…leave us a…a…alone?" one of the female dragons stammered

" A shock right? I'm not that cruel as you may think"

Happy murmurs filled the cave, no one of them could believe what's happening.

" Ok then" she blurt out " I'll leave you here" with that she disappeared into the dark corridor

Silent screams of joy, loud sighs of relief and many other happy emotions were shared amongst the fragile group after the black dragoness left them. The cheery mood was interrupted by a black snout with green eyes emerging from the shadows.

" Did I say how long I want you stay here?"

"No" everyone in the group replied with a wavering tone.

" Let's see…" she scratched the choker once more " Today we have…tomorrow is…this war will end…" she looked at the group and smiled " Forever" with that she breathed a strong gust of wind at the ceiling.

It was so powerful that the corridor caved-in instantly. An avalanche of rocks blocked the cavern where the civilians were hiding. Some muffled terrified screams were the last thing she heard before the only way for them to leave this den was obstructed by a pile of rocks.

She patted one of the stones in admiration, this was the first time she kept a promise, they will remain in that cavern forever, even after their deaths which will come soon thanks to the lack of air, they will still be there, well at least their bones will, but for her it still counts. When the dust began to sting her eyes she turned around and made her way towards the exit.

" It's time to find me a nickname" she muttered to herself when a soft breeze of wind caressed her snout.

* * *

Once the mountain was the hiding place for all those who couldn't fight, a safe haven even in this difficult times, a sign that there is always hope, always a time for some normality even during a war. Now the caves weren't a beacon for all those seeking refuge, now they were graves, mass graves, where people were buried alive. Every single cave was collapsed, their entrances blocked by piles of massive rocks. Only dust hung in the air, a sign that the times have changed, her chest swelled with pride when she realized that is was her actions that turned the world upside down.

"No, no, no, no, no, no" she repeated irritated while withdrawing her bloody claws from one of the cheetah's chest. The broken corpse fell lifelessly to the ground, with a stream of blood flowing from its mouth as it hit the ground, it landed next to the body of a freshly killed cub.

She sighed in boredom " People be innovative, just look at them" she gesticulated with her paw at the line of bloody and broken corpses, there were plenty of them, females and children, both dragon and cheetah. " You really want to join them? I doubt it, so start thinking!" she exclaimed angrily and sighed tiredly before pointing blindly a claw on the trembling crowd of females and children who had troubles catching breath thanks to the choking fear.

"Next!" she yelled and rubbed her forehead, this whole thing got her a headache. After a while of silence she rolled her eyes " Do we every time have to go through this?" as no one from the group reacted to her commanding shout, she had to approach them herself. " You two, come here" she pointed her claw at one dragoness and her single child.

A pewter dragoness and an adolescent green dragon with small bladelike plates on his chin hesitatingly stepped out from the crowd.

She emitted a bored sigh " Ok this is the last time when I repeat the rules so pay attention." She pointed her claw at the female " Your job is to find me a nickname, something that I would like, something out of the ordinary, be innovative!" she looked at the dragoness with emotionless gaze " I'll punish you for every name I won't like, I'll break a bone here, make a cut there and so on and so on until you will be barely left alive, just then I will slaughter your brat. You will see how I rip him to shreds before you die, after all everybody needs some nice memories."

She emitted another bored sigh, clearly tired from repeating the same thing over and over again " If by any chance you will think of a nickname that I will like, I will stop torturing you and release your kid so he can spread the word. A fair deal right? You can take your time, there is no rush, but don't think for too long, my patience has its limits" her eyes sparkled with joy " Everything's clear. Great, now let's begin" she began walking around the dragoness waiting for her answer.

" Vanquisher" the female muttered after a moment of silence.

She stopped and considered the answer " Nah, to common" she slashed her claws, creating a long deep cut on the dragonesses side, the female groaned in pain. The young dragon couldn't bare the sight, he covered himself with his wings.

She waved her paw around " Go on, go on" she urged the dragoness

Another moment of silence has passed as the female fought with pain " Bloodwing" the dragoness finally hissed through clenched teeth

" Bloodwing, Bloodwing…" she muttered while scratching the choker thoughtfully " Nah, it sounds like a bird name to me" with that she swung her tail and cut the dragonesses left paws making her fall to the ground with a painful scream.

" I want a nickname…a nickname that people will associate with me and only me, something special. Think" she wiped the blood from the blade like tip on her tail and started to circle the female once again.

The dragoness groaned in pain, using every free second to slow her rapid breathing and to prepare herself for another surge of an almost unbearable pain if the black dragoness won't like her answer.

"Doombringer" the female finally hissed

She stopped in her tracks and considered the answer, after a moment she began to nod her head approvingly " A good one, a really good one, but a little too pregnant" with that she hit the female making her spit blood. Then she ordered some of her men to spread the dragonesses wing as far as possible and hold it still. She flapped her wings and raised into the air, after she reached the desired altitude she spun around and dived. Just when she was getting close to the ground she prepared to land however she didn't really focus on slowing down. Instead of aiming on solid ground she headed directly at the female's opened wing, the speed and her weight was too much for the wing. Some bones shattered completely after she landed on the it, while some others pierced the female's scales creating an open fracture, the wing was completely broken.

The pewter dragoness agonizing shriek echoed throughout the mountains, the shriek was soon replaced by horrible screams as the pain pulsed through her body. The moment she moved her wing some more bones snapped sending another surge of anguish through her, the intense pain squeezed tears from her eyes and soon she began to cry.

She was unmoved by the female's rapid breathing and weeping, she stepped from the wing and began to circle the dragoness like nothing ever happened. " When people see me they know that I'm their end. My name should say that I'm not only going to steal their lives,,," the column of light could be seen behind her, however her big form prevented it to illuminate the surroundings.

"… but also something else, something that gives them will to fight, a symbol of hope. I want to show them that they can't count on it when I'm around, I want to show them that I will even steal something like this from them."

When she noticed a shadow on the ground the female lifted her head and looked at the black dragoness that blocked the light in front of her with watery eyes. " Lightbane" she sobbed

She froze in place while her eyes shot wide open, soon she began to nod her head " I can't believe I will say this but we have a winner!" she exclaimed and pointed a claw at the young dragon " Kid you should be proud of your mother"

He ignored her, his mother took all of his concentration, he started to approach her, to hug her and somehow ease her suffering.

She blocked his path with her tail " No time for cuddling, you have a job to do. You will spread that name in every place you visit, I want people to know about it. I'm giving you two months, if you will be a good boy I'll let you live and I will even leave your mother alone. If after two months I won't hear my new nickname, then…well you know what's going to happen. As you see time is of the essence so of you go!"

The young dragon stared at his mother, he would most likely ignore her order if not for a single nod from the pewter dragoness. He sobbed and after a while turned around and started to fly away.

She stared at the disappearing shape of the young dragon in the distance " Lightbane" she huffed and swung her tail, not paying any attention to the sound of cracking bones behind her.

"Lighbane" she repeated the word in a full of awe voice and swung her tail again

" I like it" she stated with full satisfaction, completely ignoring the pewter female head rolling down from the elevation.

* * *

Cynder gasped and opened her eyes, another one of those strange dreams struck her, she was sweating and breathing rapidly, once again she had to calm herself down. She was laying on her right side on the soft bed, staring at the gloomy wall of her room ahead. It would be completely dark if not for the moon sending its light through the windows and the big glass door. She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling while rubbing her forehead, the dancing moonlight on the ceiling helped her to calm down. She rolled onto her other side, to look at her gracious friend. The moment she looked at the glass doors, her eyes went wide open, there was a purple dragon standing on the balcony, his tail was swaying slowly as he observed the sleepy city.

" Spyro?" Cynder muttered to herself, his visit surprised her.

She rolled from the bed and began walking towards the door " Spyro? What are you doing here?" she asked but this time quite louder. He stood in the same place, it seemed he didn't hear her. She wanted to open the door but to her surprise they were locked, she knocked on the glass instead " Spyro?"

His tail stopped moving and after a while he slowly began to turn around, she gasped when his brown eyes looked at her, she jumped back when he pressed himself on the window, the blood flowing down from the deep wound on his chest started to cover the door.

She winced when she heard three knocks " Let me in!" he shouted in a raspy voice

Cynder began slowly taking some steps back while staring at the figure ahead " You are not real! You are not real!" she yelled back in fear

Another three knocks, this time however they seemed to be coming from inside her head, her paws bent under her at the sound. " Cynder, let me in!" he yelled again and began to scratch the window with his bloody claws.

" Get out!" she screamed while still moving backwards.

Three knocks again, they were so strong that she fell on the ground " Let me in!" he roared and started to chew the glass, his teeth began to shatter as he did so.

" You are not there!" she yelped in pain

Three knocks once again, these seemed to be pounding at her brain from inside her skull, just like something was inside her head and swung its hammer just to strike her brain, sending surges of pain through her skull, just like it was about to explode. " Let me in!" he roared again and jumped on the window to scratch the glass with his paws, just like a cat who really wants to get inside a house.

She pulled herself up and ran behind the bed, she dropped to the ground covering herself with her wings and placing her paws on her pounding head, she began to sway like a cradle while wincing from the agonizing pain.

" LEAVE ME ALONE!" Cynder roared at the top of her lungs.

There was silence, an addictive and most welcoming silence. She blinked her eyes, the pain has faded and the blood freezing sounds were gone. She uncovered herself and pressed herself against the side of the bed, taking a deep breath she began slowly to crane her neck upwards. Her heart pounded faster and faster when her eyes were just about to reach the top of the bed, and when finally they did she sighed in relief. There was nothing there, no scary looking dragon, no blood or scratches on the glass, only the calm silvery moon could be seen in the distance.

After a while of staring at the door she pulled herself on the bed and rolled on her back to look at the calm moonlight on the ceiling once again, it was so pleasant to look at that, it helped her to drift away into a blissful sleep. A strange sound has stirred her awake, it almost sounded like somebody was eating, not far away, the chewing sound came from ahead of her.

Cynder opened her eyes just to see the broken body of a purple dragon standing on her, her eyelids went wide open when she saw bits of black and magenta scales protruding from his blood covered mouth before they disappeared down his gullet. The dragon lowered his head and her eyes impulsively went after it. The moment her eyes went down she saw her belly completely torn open, some of her own guts stood out from the deep red hole and blood flown down from her torn belly, covering the white sheets in dark red hue.

She screamed and began to thrash when the dragon took another bite, tearing bits of her own flesh as a result. She kept shrieking and screaming but couldn't move, something was holding her paws. She looked in panic at her stretched forelegs, her paws were trapped, some thick chains were wrapped around them. She began to jerk and crane her neck just to break herself free, but no matter what she did she couldn't reach the chains. She looked at the dragon, he was staring at her with his brown eyes while blood dripped from his chin. She emitted one last terrified shriek when he opened his maw and with a growl reached for her throat.

* * *

Cynder gasped and her eyes snapped wide open, she was laying on the bed on her side staring at the bright wall ahead, the sun perfectly illuminated it with its light. _The sun, _that single thought forced her to roll over on her other side and to look at the glass door. There was nothing there, Cynder quickly slid from the bed and made her way towards the door, she hesitatingly extended her paw and pressed the handle, the door opened without problems. With uncertain steps she stepped onto the balcony and looked around, she couldn't see any sign telling her that somebody was standing here.

Cynder rubbed her forehead " I'm officially going crazy" with that dire statement she left the balcony and closed the door.

She jumped when she heard three knocks, but this time they seemed to be coming from the door on the opposite side of the room.

" Cynder, let me in!" a familiar muffled shout came from behind the door

" Spyro?" she muttered to herself and without thinking ran towards the door. She opened them just to see a familiar snout in front of her.

" You won't believe what just happened!" Spyro blurt out with an excited tone " a guy just arrived in the City Hall, nothing special you will say I know, but if you hear the rest of the…" his voice trailed off and he furrowed a brow when he saw her craning her neck through the doorstep so she could turn her head from side to side as if she was looking for something "Ummm Cynder, is everything alright?" Spyro asked surprised

She looked at him and smiled implausibly " Yeah, I'll be right there, give me a sec" she hid inside her room and slammed the door shut.

Cynder leaned against them and sighed, that dream felt so real, just like the previous one. It left a strange sensation, like she was there personally and not walking in a dream world. She stretched her wing and winced, a surge of pain ran through it. Momentarily her chest began to ache, it was a dull pain but it was there, exactly in the place where the dragon from her dream slammed his tail. Pain was not the only thing she felt, the taste of rotten meat and dried blood invaded her mouth, Cynder instantly began to rub her tongue just to get rid of the taste somehow. She also felt tired, even if she woke up in the morning she felt like she hasn't slept a single hour.

" What is happening with me?" she asked herself with a glimmer of fear in her voice.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Cynder left her room, the last night's experience still lingering on her mind. As she walked the corridor her concentration has shifted, a loud noise echoed through the hallway, it was coming from downstairs. Without a doubt something was going on, her weird dream still bothered her but an opportunity presented itself that might actually help her forget about that excruciating night, even if for a little while.

As she began to descend the stairs, she noticed the reason behind this noise, Cyndor stopped halfway and started to observe the scene below. There was a big crowd gathered in the City Hall, moles, cheetahs, dragons and even the three Guardians could be seen amongst the mob. She couldn't make out any words thanks to the many throats shouting at the same time, however Cynder could recognize some of the voices.

Somehow she wasn't surprised that Volteer was the most active, his fast chatter stood out from the rest. He might be a little eccentric but one thing is certain, usually, when something piques the Electric Guardian's interest, it has to be important. The reason behind this commotion was a single mole, she could see his typical clothes, his typical googles , essentially he wasn't any different from every other mole she met. She didn't understand what made him so special.

"Look who do we have here" Sparx stated with faked excitement while looking at her from the bottoms of the stairs " it seems our Sleeping Beauty finally decided to wake up"

" We girls need our beauty sleep, right Sparx?" Cynder replied while the corner of her mouth twitched into a weak smile

" In your case one night won't help" he smirked

" Nice to see that everyone is in a good mood" Spyro joined the conversation in a sarcastic manner while craning his neck from behind a column which stood next to the stairs.

Cynder started to descend the stairs and greeted her friend with a happy smile " So what did I miss?"

Sparx folded his arms in irritation " Some old guy just came in, made a fuss and was completely surrounded by fans soon after. Can you imagine that they have forgotten about their coolest heroes?"

"Noooo" she smiled wryly " You were turned down?"

" Pretty much" Spyro replied unconcerned

Cynder giggled and joined them as soon as she descended the stairs " I can't believe it"

Sparx snorted angrily " Tell me about it" he accusatively pointed at Spyro " I've told you to go there and fight for our fame"

Cynder looked at Spyro curiously " You didn't ask the guy any questions?"

Spyro chuckled " Crowds scare me lately"

She laughed " I see" with that she turned to look at the noisy mob " Fill me in, who's our new star?"

Sparx snorted incredulously " Star"

Spyro leaned closer to her " He is the guy who designed Warfang, he created the building plans for the city and all that"

Cynder furrowed a brow " Huh? And they are thanking him for that now? That ship has sailed a long time ago"

" They didn't have a chance to thank him earlier"

" What do you mean?"

" He…ummm.." Spyro's voice wavered as he looked for a correct word " he passed away a couple of years ago" he gave her an implausible smile

Cynder frowned " You are a terrible liar. Tell me the truth"

" I just did!" he blurt out half-heartedly

" The truth Spyro" she narrowed her eyes and brought this argument to an end with a firm tone that left no room for objections

He sighed in defeat " He was really dead it's just that umm…" he scratched the floor nervously with his claw and began to stare at the ground " he didn't die of natural causes, he…" Spyro swallowed " you killed him when you were corrupted"

Cynder's resolute expression has vanished as she once again found that he lied only just to spare her the feeling of guilt " Oh"

Sparx threw his arms in the air in agitation "Great! I should have known, whenever people ignore us its always Cynder behind it"

She rolled her eyes" Stop whining"

The dragonfly snorted " You can't do one thing correctly, now even a zombie mole is more popular than us because of you, look, you couldn't even kill him properly!" he waved his hand in resignation " Thank you very much for such an evil dragoness"

"Sparx!" Spyro admonished his brother

Cynder threw the dragonfly an irritated glance " You are terribly annoying, you know that?"

"So are you" he replied bluntly

Spyro sighed and shook his head.

Cynder ignored Sparx and focused on the crowd once more " If I killed him then how come this guy is still kicking?"

" Now that's what I've tried to find out" Spyro said with a clearly curious voice " but then all these people barged in and…you know. Anyway from what I've heard he doesn't really believe he was dead, supposedly he just been walking on of the alleyways and suddenly all these people started screaming"

Cynder thought about it for a moment, and it made no sense to her, however Meadow told them once that magic might have some dire side effects on creatures that have no magical potency, just like the moles, he might got lost all those years ago for all she knew. Amnesia is a very possible outcome from such a situation, he might be delirious as well. Whatever the case there is only one dragon who can shed some light on this, hopefully, and that's the Electric Guardian.

" I don't know what to make out of it, we better wait for Volteer, he will for sure find a way to help us, or him for the instance" she said

Spyro nodded his head " Yup, good idea"

And they've waited and waited and waited, the crowd was getting thinner and thinner with each minute, the noise was slowly fading away, everything was getting back to normal. Only a single amber dragon kept wagging his tongue without even a single break, he kept talking and talking until there was practically no one left around the mole expect for him and two other Guardians, who gave up moments later.

"Cyril!" Spyro shouted and waved to gain the attention of the ice dragon

With an exhausted expression the Guardian looked at him and plodded his way

" I know why you called me" he started with a tired voice " and I'm grateful for it, I have enough of Volteer's rambling for a lifetime"

Spyro smiled " Glad I could help. Anyway that mole, is he really the constructor of Warfang?"

He nodded glumly " I'm afraid so"

Cynder cocked her head " Why are you so sad? He's alive, that's a good thing isn't it?"

"Normally yes, but…" Cyril's eyes sparkled " But we are dragons! We've been revered, we should be revered, and a city in our honor is the least thing they can do for us! After all these years Warfang finally serves its true purpose, we are the most respected and feared creatures in the whole Realms, just like our Ancestors before us! But now" he hissed and an icy mist escaped from his nostrils " Now it's all going to change! Warfang once again will become our prison!"

Sparx hovered between both young dragons and covered his mouth with his hand " The guy is losing it, Cynder are you sure you aren't related?" he whispered

Cynder snorted while Spyro completely ignored his brother's comment, he was entirely focused on the Guardian

" What do you mean? Our prison, how?" Spyro asked with a surprised voice

" Yes prison!" Cyril growled " the mole who just miraculously came back to life, his name is Brill, I knew him for years. He founded this city not to honor us but to protect us!" he snorted "Us! As we need somebody's protection!"

There was a moment of silence as he took some deep breaths to calm himself a little " We were revered back in the days, we were incarnations of perfection for the moles, we were treated almost like gods. That glorification led to the construction of Warfang which main role was to hide us from the outside world so we couldn't get harmed or bruised! We were kept here like a bunch of precious children, always under the watchful eye of our overprotective fathers, far from harm's way"

Cynder scratched her choker " If what you say is truth then it means that I unknowingly saved my race from living under a dome by killing Brill?"

Cyril shook his head " Not quite, some of our kind are less…ambitious than the others, some of us preferred our dome as you have called it. Brill's death created a door for us which some opened without any second thoughts and that path led us straight under your sharp claws. Would it be better if we stayed in our little heaven? We will never know"

Spyro was watching Cynder with caring eyes, she stood next to him with her head hanging low, he delicately nipped her thigh a couple times with the tip on his tail, her emerald orbs shimmered after that simple move also a smile formed itself on her snout when she looked at him with a corner of her eye.

With a smile of his own Spyro focused on Cyril once again " One death changed so much, was Brill…"

" Is" Sparx interjected

"…is Brill so important?"

Cyril sighed " Unfortunately he is, as you already know moles are wild about technology, they greatly value their inventors, constructors, basically everyone who does something extraordinary"

" That's strange, I've met some moles during my travels who created great things like founding a city underground, for me building a city below ground is more outstanding that creating one above it. For me Brill wasn't…"

" Isn't" Sparx interjected once more

Spyro sighed "…isn't that special"

Cyril nodded " You are right Spyro but don't forget who we are or were for the moles. Brill designed everything from the simplest statue to the complex temple, and he did all this for the creatures the moles revered-dragons. After this accomplishment he has gained tremendous respect and authority. There was even time when Guardians were reduced to symbolic role while Brill decided about everything that was going on in the city"

Spyro's eyes went wide open " He was…"

" Is" Sparx once again interjected

Spyro glowered his brother, the whole situation made Cynder giggle.

"…is our leader?" he hissed

"Leader! Bah!" Cyril blurt out angrily " We are dragons! There is no creature in the whole world who can commands us!" he snorted, another icy mist shot from his nostrils, with one deep breath he calmed himself once more " However, the moles treated us with utmost respect, and when I realized what was going on it was already too late, the moles almost began to worship us. We just couldn't turn on our allies like that, so we lived in that little _paradise_ of ours" he growled

Cynde shrugged " I don't understand you, he seems like a nice guy to me, he tried his best to make you feel happy, how could he know that you take it the wrong way?"

The Ice Guardian narrowed his pupils on the black dragoness " He's dangerous" he replied bluntly " Brill is charismatic and very persuasive, sooner or later the moles will follow him again, but thanks to your actions dragons are more feared this day than revered, this gives us time."

" I'm happy to help" she whispered half-heartedly

" Watch yourself Cynder, he died when your reputation as Malefor's General was known all around the Realms, he will most likely recognize you, even if he won't, there are sure people here who will tell him about you."

Spyro instantly looked alarmed " Cynder is in danger?" he raised his voice

Cyril looked at Spyro with unconcerned eyes " Isn't she always?" with that he focused on Cynder once more " Brill is a zealot, he worships us, he almost became the head of Warfang's temple. Keep that in mind, for him you are nothing else than a defiler, you betrayed your own kind, you befouled his incarnations of perfection, and if he didn't change he will try to cleanse that stain and Cynder, you are that taint"

" Then stop him!" Spyro yelled

" We will try, times have changed, now we rule this city but as I said Brill is persuasive, he will convince people eventually that you cannot be trusted completely, not to mention that your reputation will make things easier for him"

" Cynder helped me to save the world, she deserves respect! You cannot allow people to mock her!" Spyro protested vigorously

" Spyro-"

" No!" he cut Cynder off and looked her straight in the eyes " You don't deserve such treatment, it wasn't your fault!" his fiery amethyst eyes stopped on the Ice Guardian " I want to ask you if you c…no…I demand that you ensure she is safe in the city!" Spyro shouted with a commanding tone

Cyril stared at the purple dragon with eyes filled with disbelief that soon sparkled for a brief second with sheer wrath just to return to their normal form moments later " I know that you are upset" Cyril started with a calm voice " we will make sure that Cynder won't be harmed"

A loud shout carrying the ice dragon's name came from the Guardian's Quarters, Cyril emitted an discouraged sigh " I have to go as one of the Guardians I unfortunately have to welcome our new old guest. Watch out for Brill, he is nothing but trouble despite what others may say, also Volteer wanted to speak with you. However I propose you give him some space, with the unexpected appearance he is more jumpy than ever, come back later. Take care" with a nod Cyril has vanished into the Guardians Quarters.

" Just great" Sparx huffed in resignation " from all the dead guys we had to run across the most crazy one. Just our luck."

" What the hell was that Spyro?" Cynder blurt out indignantly

" What?" he exclaimed with an angry voice

" You know exactly what I'm talking about"

" No I don't"

Cynder growled " Stop acting like a fool, how many times do I have to tell you that I can take care of myself?"

" As much as you want to I won't listen anyway"

" Idiot"

Spyro snorted " Call me what you like, I will protect you anyway"

She cackled wryly " Protect me?! I don't need protection!"

" Yes you do!" he shouted " the sooner you realize this the better!"

" I'm not some kind of a damsel in distress, I can defend myself!"

Spyro chuckled in disbelief " Didn't you hear what Cyril said? You may have the whole city on your head!"

" He is overreacting! You really think that one guy can make such a fuss?" she snorted " even if that was the truth I can solve my own problems!"

" Your own problems!?" Spyro laughed and shook his head " You have a friend now, what bothers you bothers me, live with it!"

Cynder roared " You stubborn bastard! I've made this mess and I'm going to clean it myself!"

" Like hell you will!"

" You are insufferable!" she blurt out irritated " Whatever, yell as much as you want, I won't be dragging you into my own mess!"

Spyro's eyes sparkled furiously " Did it ever crossed your mind that maybe I want to be dragged?!"

Cynder snorted, a poison cloud escaped through her nostrils " If you really want to follow me then do it, I don't care!"

" Fine!"

" Fine!"

Sparx whistled gaining the attention of both young dragons immediately " Now when you two finally shut up, what about we go grab a bite and blow off some steam? What do you say?"

* * *

They've returned to the Mess Hall in foul moods, expect for Sparx ,he was flying around in circles always talking, laughing and the like. Both dragons followed him in silence, they've got some other things on their minds than a simple meal. The group arrived at the counter, Sparx hovered in front of the mole and ordered something to eat in a very cheerful manner, finishing his sentence with _ " _My good lady". Another proof that nothing bothered him since they've learned already that the female moles serving the food are an opposite of good.

When Spyro's turn came he didn't think much and ordered the same thing as yesterday, he was completely unconcerned about the things he will eat. The mole returned with the dish and offered it to the purple dragon without any problems, he accepted the gift, not even the smallest smile could be seen on his snout. It was a different story with Cynder, when her turn came the moles once again began to mutter and taunt her, she just stood there silently staring at the females, they've kept shouting towards her to leave since there are many other hungry bellies waiting for their turn. It didn't bother her, she remained still even despite the angry growls behind her, the moles finally gave up and served her the same dish as before, Cynder took it without even the simplest thank you.

As they returned to the previously occupied table Sparx was already there munching his breakfast. Spyro sat next to him while Cynder took a place on the opposite side, they've put the plates in front of them and as they did so they quickly looked at each other just to avert their gazes moments later.

Sparx observed the scene while taking a bite of the fruit he held in his hand " Nice weather, huh?"

Both dragons just threw him a quick glance before they returned to look around the room.

The dragonfly took another bite " I don't know how about you but today I have quite an appetite. Any ideas why?" he looked at both dragons

They were still sitting silently while their heads kept turning just like they were admiring the view.

Sparx snapped his fingers " A good talk during a breakfast always makes my day better" he added sarcastically

There was still no response from the dragons

The dragonfly sighed and put down the fruit " Enough of this" he muttered and using his hand slammed the top of the table making both dragons jump while they looked at him with wide eyes " Either you behave or you go to your rooms!" he shouted angrily.

They only stared at him with surprised expressions

Sparx grinned " I always wanted to say that. But seriously guys stop acting like some offended kids and start eating. I tell you hunger does this to you, no kidding"

Their expressions didn't change

Sparx sighed and shook his head " I see that you don't get it. Watch" he picked up the fruit " Take your food" he moved his hand closer to his head " open your mouth and take a bite!" he bit the fruit. Sparx rumbled enthusiastically when a piece of the fruit disappeared down his gullet " Your turn"

After they averted their gazes they looked at each other, the moment their eyes met they both instantly started to stare at the plates in front of them. After a while they once again looked at each other.

After a moment of silent staring Cynder lowered her head " I'm sorry" she whispered almost painfully

" No, I'm sorry" Spyro answered instantly

She raised her head "It's my fault-"

" I never should have-" Spyro interjected cutting Cynder off

" How could I-" she said before he could finish his sentence

"I shouldn't push-"

" I can't allow-"

"I need to-"

Sparx shook his head while holding it just like he was in pain " Ok that's enough!" he exclaimed " Maybe I didn't make myself clear, my bad but start eating and shut up will you?!" he snarled

They both looked at the dragonfly just to stare at each other moments later, the moment their eyes met they laughed.

* * *

Cynder yawned and with a smile took a bite of her food, she chewed it happily and swallowed it down with even more enthusiasm. Licking her mouth she prepared to take another bite, just when the meat was close to her mouth she stopped. She clicked her tongue just like she would be tasting a wine, something was not right, she smelled the meat and jerked her head back in abhorrence, it stink horribly. Putting down the food Cynder clicked her tongue some more, she winced when the taste of a rotten meat invaded her palate. she looked at her plate, something else appeared there instead of a deliciously looking food. A piece of rotten meat laid on the plate, a grey layer already covered most it while some other bits were already crawling with tiny worms, they were slithering all over the table.

Cynder shook her head and clicked her tongue once again, however nothing helped, the ugly taste was still there " Can we order some juice?" she asked while wincing in disgust

Sparx shrugged " Why not?"

"Ok then-"

" I'll get it!" Spyro exclaimed and dashed towards the counter

Cynder looked at the plate again and averted her gaze quickly when she spotted the form of a worm, she looked around the room trying to think about something else, didn't matter what as long it's not related with food. She tried the weather, the battles, even thought about Spyro and her feelings towards him but nothing helped, her mind always returned to the meat, its look and ugly taste. She jumped when a pitcher landed on the table which was filled with orange juice.

Spyro looked at Sparx " Whoa, it took some convincing but I've managed to get it somehow. There is plenty of juice in there, we won't even drink it…" his voice trailed off as he looked at the pitcher which was now in Cynder's paw. She kept drinking and drinking and not slowly but very quickly, it seemed like she poured as much as possible juice into her mouth and swallowed it, the bulge that was moving down her throat only confirmed this.

His eyes went wide open when she put down the now empty pitcher, not even a single drop remained inside it "…all" Spyro muttered when he looked at her.

Cynder gasped and licked her mouth, completely satisfied that she was able to quell the horrible taste. The eerie silence bothered her however, she looked around just to see both brothers staring at her with wide eyes.

She smiled " Thirsty"

The brothers only exchanged confused glances between themselves and shrugged before returning to their breakfast.

She observed them as they were eating, making sure that she is ok, it seemed she was since she couldn't taste , see or smell anything. With a satisfied nod Cynder looked at her plate and jerked as she saw the familiar ugly sight once more, and the stench, it was even more intense than before. She looked at Spyro and gagged when she saw as he was chewing a rotten piece of meat, dried blood covered his snout and disgusting worms were falling down from his mouth.

Cynder averted her gaze, unfortunately her emerald eyes stopped on Sparx who instead of juicy fruits was eating what looked like rotten still beating hearts. Horribly smelling blood poured from them as he took a bite, to make things worse worms starting to slither from the hole his teeth made. He took another bite but this time he carried a bunch of living worms with him which soon were crashed between his teeth. Cynder felt as her insides twisted and soon she began to retch.

" I'll wait outside!" she yelled, accidently pushing her plate onto the ground as she dashed towards the exit

The door swung wide open when she barged through them, when in the street she started to look around, the awful taste and smell followed her, it was so horrible that it made her sick. Cynder ran alongside the wall of the Mess Hall until she found an alleyway, it wasn't big but it was empty. She entered it, stopped near a wall of a nearby building and started to retch. Cynder felt as everything was raising inside her towards her throat but nothing came out. She began to cough and tears started to cover her eyes, she kept gagging until the horrible feeling subsided along with the disgusting taste and smell.

" Fuck" she cursed under her breath between quick shallow breaths and spat on the ground soon later just to free herself from the faint awkward sensation.

After regaining her composure she decided to return to her friends, just after she rounded a corner she noticed a very muscular malachite drake standing near the entrance to the Mess Hall, the dragon named Capro was looking her way, just like he was expecting her. Without hesitation she approached him with her head held up high.

" We aren't feeling well today?" Capro asked with a wryly tone and mischievous grin

"None of your damn business" Cynder retorted coldly and coughed.

The grin on his snout grew wider " I've heard you from here and I was worried that I've missed the opportunity of seeing you in pain and spitting your lungs out"

" Dream on coward"

The drakes eyes flared " Watch out for that poisonous tongue of yours Lightbane or someone might actually tear it off"

Cynder touched her chest in a theatrical manner " Awww" she said with a fake guilt in her voice " Did I bruise your ego? I didn't mean to, really" she smirked

Capro growled " When the time comes I'll bruise something more than just your ego"

She narrowed her eyes on him " Words alone are meaningless"

He grinned evilly " I couldn't agree more but thanks to the lucky turn of events I've heard of someone who prefers action"

She snorted " You will have to man up since you've heard wrong. I can give you my word"

Capro's eyes sparkled intensively that it was hard not to notice it " Your word means nothing to me!" he roared making all the nearby windows scream in pain.

Cynder jerked back in surprise " Whoa, here I thought that you can control yourself but you are acting like I've killed your mother" she cackled wickedly

He growled, bent on his paws and froze his tail " I'm not going to wait, I'll tear you to shreds here and now"

Just when he was about to pounce at her the Mess Hall door swung open, Spyro and Sparx were in the doorstep with quite a big group of people standing behind them " Cynder what's going on?" Spyro blurt out with a worried voice.

There was a moment of silence, as both the malachite dragon and the black dragoness played a game of stare, they both didn't want to back up but eventually Capro started to laugh cheerfully " And this is how I'll warn you next time, you will hear me for sure"

Cynder thought about it for a moment, and decided to play along, this was her mess after all. She started to laugh " Yeah even if I forget who roared the shaking windows will always remind me of you"

He nodded with fake approvement " Exactly, a warning is necessary, we don't want anyone to get hurt"

" Who would want that?" she asked rhetorically

Capro smiled kindly and made his way towards the Mess Hall " With everything that's going on in the city I'll have no problems in making your life miserable. I promise" he said it with such a tone that everybody would take it as a joke or for an innocent flirt but she knew better and that brief shimmer in his eyes as he entered the building only confirmed that he was serious.

" I can't wait!" Cynder exclaimed in the same seductive tone and wriggled her shoulders flirtouresly

Spyro watched the dragon as he entered the building and the longer he observed him the more he didn't like him, it was odd since he barely knows the drake but he couldn't help it, despise for him grew with every second.

" What was that about?" Spyro hissed when he looked at his female friend

Cynder waved her paw dismissively " Oh nothing important, we were just fooling around" the fake smile still remained on her snout

"Really?" he blurt out irritated " looks like you had a very good time"

"You know, near death experiences bring people closer" she giggled nervously

Spyro chuckled hoarsely " That's right! I shouldn't have disturbed you, it's fun after all!" he exclaimed maniacally

" Dude you are creeping me out" Sparx said with a glimmer of fear in his voice

Cynder jerked back, she was completely caught off guard by his reaction, it looked like he didn't believe or trust her and that made her angry " What has gotten into you?!" she blurt out furiously " Do you…" her voice trailed off as some kind of enlightenment struck her, his reaction reminded her of someone…of herself. She used to feel such anger when she saw that cheetah with blue eyes all over him.

Cynder's eyes shot wide open. She could tell when he was lying and this time he wasn't, his voice reeked of uncertainty perhaps, whatever it was she didn't care. A spark of hope lightened her heart, maybe he feels the same way, maybe… she leaned closer " Spyro is there something you want to tell me?" she whispered in a soft enthralling tone

Realization struck Spyro after her words, it was just like his senses returned to him, he felt like did something terrible, something he should never have done. Spyro looked around in panic, everyone's eyes were focused on him, Sparx was staring at him, the nearby inhabitants were staring at him and what's more important Cynder was staring at him also. A glimpse of her emerald eyes was enough to make his confidence vanish.

His cheeks took on an intense red color " I…I'm sorry, I shouldn't have, it's just…that our fight lately. I… I'm sorry I shouldn't yell at you" he muttered finally

Cynder sighed in defeat " Is that everything you wanted to tell me?" she whispered sadly, however she wasn't completely depressed, he showed her once again just how much he cares about her, even if as a friend. Only as a friend.

" Ye…yeah" Spyro stammered " I keep forgetting that you can take care of yourself"

"No, you were right, maybe I won't be able to handle it myself but if I need help I'll tell you about it, for now just don't get involved ok?"

Spyro stared at her for a while and sighed "Ok" he answered reluctantly

Cynder sighed " I know that I made a mess, we both know that despite what you say, even now sometimes I do things which…" she thought about Capro and his outburst after her words, how could she say such a thing? It was very likely that he lost someone dear to him during her reign and she only rubbed salt into the wound.

"… which I regret later" she finished with a voice full of guilt " I have to redeem myself, please understand this"

Sparx twisted his face in disgust " I'm going to throw up" he muttered

Spyro sighed once more " I understand"

Cynder smiled " You know what will make you feel better? Call me an idiot "

He furrowed a brow " What?"

" I should never call you an idiot since you aren't one. Make it even, don't be shy"

"No"

" Just say: _Cynder you are an idiot_"

"No"

"Just do it!" she exclaimed

" I won't" he shouted back

" I deserve it, come on!"

"No!"

" Cynder you are an idiot!" Sparx yelled loudly and looked at his brother " Was it so hard?!" he exclaimed angrily and placed his hand on his head soon after " And they call me annoying"

Both dragons looked at the dragonfly with shocked eyes just to look at each other moments later, after a while of quiet staring they both began to laugh.

* * *

They've spent some time walking around the city, always accompanied by the sounds of grateful voices whenever Spyro offered a helping paw, sounds of the many taunts as Cynder walked the streets, or Sparx' own voice when he boasted about his accomplishments. It all lasted until they arrived in the City Hall from there they were directed towards the Guardian's Quarters to finally arrive in the library, Volteer's second home.

The library itself was quite small for draconic standards but for a medium sized creatures it still was quite a sight. Chandeliers hung on the dome like ceiling which was covered with dark planks, a big red carpet with different colored patterns laid on the floor. Rows of bookshelves littered the room, the books they were holding were are colorful and sorted in categories, to prevent anyone from misplacing them. On the far side of library a single fireplace could be seen which wasn't used for quite some time, a huge window was inserted into the wall behind it. Near the fireplace stood a single simple desk which was filled with piles of books, they laid one on the top of another creating such big columns that they almost reached the ceiling, they obscured anyone who would sit behind the desk. The group didn't have to see the librarian's face to know that behind all those books seats Volteer, a shuffling on the ground amber tail betrayed him.

" Hi Volteer, you wanted to see us?" Spyro asked as soon as they've stopped near the desk.

The old dragon sprung on his paws instantly just like he had springs in his legs " Spyro, Cynder and Sparx" he started excitedly with his typical high paced speech " You won't conceive how elated I am to see you, so many innumerable engrossing things have transpired!"

Cynder rolled her eyes " Yeah we have heard about the mole"

" Brill is just a sole piece from the whole puzzle, an existing verification of my thesis" he bounced around the room in excitement

Sparx hovered between both young dragons " Tell me again why have you brought me here? He whispered with a tired voice

" Do you recall when I've spoken of the progress? It appears that my deduction was equitable!. Look" Volteer grabbed some books from the desk and presented them to the group " I've researched all of them!" _Space-time flexure, Magic- a two sided coin, _Every prophecy embroiling purple dragons, _Explaining the Unexplained, Where your eyes fail your mind triumphs, Purple dragons- Masters of elements,_"

Volteer dropped the books at their paws " That's not everything!" the Guardian dashed for another set of books

" No Volteer!" Spyro shouted with a smile stopping the amber dragon in his tracks " We believe you…"

"We do?" Sparx interjected

" Tell us what's going on" Spyro continued

"Excellent!" Volteer replied happily " Several of these tomes enunciate about indubitable facts, others are based solely on presumptions while some others are unadulterated fiction. All these books allowed me to unravel this glamorous enigma"

Cynder cocked her head "Mystery? What kind of mystery"

" The enigma you and Spyro shaped!"

Sparx cleared his throat

Volteer shot the dragonfly a quick apologetic glance " And Sparx of course" he added

Cynder narrowed her eyes on the dragonfly " You don't even know what he is talking about" she whispered wryly.

Sparx shrugged " Yeah, so? If people say only your names I know that they are making a huge mistake when they don't add mine to the list"

She grinned " Keep telling yourself that"

" How could we create an enigma? We were fighting with Malefor, everybody knew that" Spyro said confused

Volteer smiled " Spyro you are mistaken, your accomplishment is commendable but what transpired after the quarrel is much more captivating, the puissance unleashed on that day might cause irremediable alterations on our world"

Spyro nodded " It already happened, the earth was melded together

" Magic's potency is unfathomable, it allows the world to thrive in its own unprecedented way, however its very simple to shake the whole foundation, for example dispensing stupendous amounts of energy may spawn such outcome"

"Let's say I've managed to make a hole in that foundation, what happens?"

" I don't know!" Volteer roared happily " I have my suspicions indubitably but I have to be certain. That is the nature of science, you need to endorse your own ideas"

" Come on Volteer tell us!" Spyro urged the Guardian, curiosity gnawed at him intensely

" Such impetuosity!" the amber dragon exclaimed in awe " I guarantee I elucidate everything but to do that I need your assistance"

" Of course we will help! Tell us what to do"

" Join me on my travel"

Spyro nodded unhesitatingly " Gladly"

"When we are leaving?" Cynder asked curiously

Volteer grinned, he had difficulties in hiding his excitement " Now"


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Volteer had no troubles convincing the other Guardians that the mission is important, he must have been quite persuasive since making Terrador and Cyril change their minds is no small feat, that or they could no longer stand the constant wagging of his electric tongue and sent him off to have a short break. Whatever the case may be Volteer has reached his goal, he could go whenever he wants to and what's more important he can travel with whoever he wants to.

They've left the City Hall and immediately took to the air, the grass shifted from the powerful gusts of wind their flapping wings created as they rose to the sky. The Electric Guardian led them south, past the thick walls of the Dragon City, their home, whenever both young dragons looked down they could see some cheetahs, moles or even dragons waving, a simple but a really friendly gesture.

" Volteer will you finally tell us what this is all about?" Spyro blurt out impatiently " This curiosity is killing me"

The Electric Guardian smiled " As you wish"

" Nap time!" Sparx exclaimed while snapping his fingers before he made himself comfortable on Spyro's head, between his horns and a pair of fins

" My thesis was aroused by your…it's exacting for me to concede…" he sighed " by your unforeseen arrival in Warfang, we all thought you had perished"

"Yeah, we have seen the statue" Cynder said glumly

Volteer nodded sadly " That was an arduous stage" after this words his expression changed to that of excitement " But you have returned! And in the most unprecedented circumstances, you arrived in Warfang after two strenuous weeks, even if you esteemed that only a single day has passed. Peculiar isn't it?"

" I don't know Volteer…" Spyro started with a dubious voice " There is a really powerful updraft there, or at least was, maybe it somehow shot us straight into the Valley of Avalar"

The Electric Guardian shook his head confidently " Impossible"

" You of all dragons should know that magic is unpredictable, maybe the draft acted in a way nobody thought was possible?"

" Your theory is correct Spyro, magic is fluctuating, however magic also adheres to specific assumptions which repudiate some possibilities"

" Then how about this… " Cynder interjected thoughtfully while scratching her choker " …maybe we got out, normally, nothing special, just found a way in the ceiling or something and we just don't remember it"

Volteer once again shook his head " The whole lair began to topple, your odds for survival were slim"

" You can say with absolute certainty that there wasn't even a teeny-tiny chance that we were just lucky?" she narrowed her eyes on the Electric Guardian

" Such outcome is feasible, however-"

" Problem solved!" Cynder exclaimed cutting the amber dragon off

There was a moment of brief silence before Volteer's voice could be heard once again " One thing lamentably piqued my meddlesomeness, you frequently used the word _maybe_. How can you not recall what occurred?"

Spyro looked confused " We don't remember anything after the blast, we just popped in the Valley, just like that"

" And you have never queried your inexplicable appearance?"

" We did" Cynder retorted calmly " but Meadow already explained magic's nature to us, and we just seem to be afflicted by some side effects, that's all"

"Preposterous!" The Guardian blurt indignantly

She furrowed a brow "Huh?"

Volteer put on a guilty expression " Forgive my outburst but what just divulged is incontestably a nonsense"

"Magic has no side effects?"

" It has, however its practically unimaginable that a dragon is susceptible to magic's pernicious essence. I've never read in any tome, or heard about a dragon who was sensitive to magic's aftereffects. We are uncanny creatures, the source of our creation cannot maim us"

Cynder turned her head to hide her scared expression " It can't?" she muttered

" If we are immune then how come we can't remember how we got out from the lair?" What happened?" Spyro asked with a troubled voice

Volteer looked at the purple dragon with curious eyes " What's aggravating you?"

" Something really weird happened when I've went to a forest some days ago. Out of nowhere an army of apes attacked me, they appeared so fast that I couldn't believe my own eyes. I fought them and after I've killed their leader something powerful hurled me into a tree. When I've recovered they were all gone, every single ape, corpse and drop of blood! Everything!" he exclaimed the last words nervously

The Amber Dragon watched him with a thoughtful expression " Where did that occur?"

" Close to the mountain, the one with the huge tree the cheetah's call The Fortune"

" Most intriguing" Votleer muttered in awe " If my theory is appropriate then it means… Spyro when you ventured into the woods have you done something unprecedented?"

" I don't understand" Spyro answered confused

" I inquire if you did something exceptional? Something you haven't rehearsed for a long time"

Cynder stooped her flight , straightened up and hovered in the air " That's it!" she blurt out in a commanding voice " I'm not going anywhere until you tell us what's going on"

Volteer stopped in front of her " Utmost aversion fills me whenever I have to convey an information which doesn't hinge on any indication if I'm correct, but if you really want to know then listen." He focused on the purple dragon who was flying in circles around them with a shape of a snoring dragonfly on his head " How are you feeling Spyro?" he asked mysteriously

Spyro chuckled " Don't worry Volteer I'm fine, just flying in circles so Sparx won't fall"

" You misinterpreted my words, are you feeling… condensed?"

" Yeah I feel fine, everything is on its right place" he said slowly, confused " Volteer what are you trying to tell me?"

" You lack one thing, recrudesce back my boy, to the Night of Eternal Darkness and your valiant attempt to save everyone. What has transpired after you have been extricated from the crystal? What was altered?"

" Besides that he took away my freedom?" Cynder interjected with a cheerful sarcastic tone " Nothing special"

Spyro kept flying with a thoughtful frown on his snout " Well, Cynder was chained with me, the whole place was coming down on us, a strange golem attacked us, I've still knew how to fight after all those years, I still had all of my elemental…" his eyes went wide open " Time!" he exclaimed loudly, " I could no longer use my Dragon Time ability!"

Volteer nodded " Precisely"

" But what has that to do with anything?" Cynder asked dumbfounded " He hasn't been using that skill for months, why bring it out now? We managed to get by without it"

" Spyro's competency for hindering the flow of time didn't fade but was dormant. The Time crystal had to immeasurably debilitate his elemental essence. However when you aggregated all of your elemental potency to unchain the world, you also used Time. It obliged you to mend the earth together, such action created repercussions, a void was created in our world's barrier and that led to the inception of Veils"

Spyro jerked back in surprise " Veils? Like some kind of portals?"

Volteer nodded again " Through one of them Brill intruded into our time"

" Yes!" he exclaimed " That would explain everything. The sudden appearance of the apes, the storm we never saw coming. You may be right Volteer! That means I'm not crazy, I just had to stumble upon one of this portals!"

" Good thing that you are alright" Cynder said with a bit of happiness and fear in her voice

" Yes!" the Guardian exclaimed excitedly " My assumptions are presumably equitable. However we have to be sure"

" How do you propose we do that?" Spyro asked impatiently

The Amber Dragon frowned " I've concocted a appropriate strategy, however it might not be enough, in the light of new information the plan needs to be altered. I was considerably presumptuous to think that there will be a single or two Veils, but now we know that isn't the case. Now if we only knew how to determine their substantial positions…" his voice trailed off thoughtfully

There was a moment of silence as every dragon and dragoness was thinking to find a solution to their problem. After a while of quietness Spyro's eyes shot wide open " I've got it!" he exclaimed excitedly, gaining the attention of his friends instantly " Whenever something strange happened I've felt this familiar tingle, an itch I couldn't put my claw on. Now I know that it was Time, so maybe this sensations are a means to locate those portals?"

Cynder scratched her choker " You know, when I think of it I've also felt something when the storm caught us. It was that awkward tingle just like a ghost would go straight through me. I can bet my scales that somehow we went accidently through one of these portals"

Volteer expression spoke volumes, he was in utter bliss " Astounding disclosure!" It resolves the two week gap phenomenon" he looked at the purple drake " Spyro, do you sense any veils nearby?"

Spyro concentrated a bit and sighed soon after " Nope, but I don't know how I even managed to feel the previous ones, it just happened"

" I infer that it was only a flicker of your Time endowment, That's valuable information, it means that your potential isn't absent, it is only dormant, and we have to rouse it"

" The only way I can think of to bring my powers back is to speak with The Chronicler, but he seems to be gone" Spyro huffed with a sad and defeated voice " Even if he was still out there I don't know how to contact him. Our only hope is to wait for him to summon me but he didn't call me for months"

The Chronicler is an ancient, grayish-light blue dragon. He is thousands of years old and contains immeasurable wisdom and knowledge, he is also the dragon chosen to watch over the Books of Time, which have recorded almost every part of history and every dragon has a book dedicated to their lives. The Chronicler began contacting Spyro after Cynder left the Dragon Temple, where the purple dragon brought her after he defeated her corrupted mature form.

The Ancient Dragon summons always made Spyro enter his Dreamworld forcefully which meant that he lost consciousness in the real word which wasn't the most pleasant way to fall asleep to say the least. Spyro was much younger than now when he defeated the corrupted Cynder and he managed to succeed by using all of his elemental energy for that single battle, which left him completely drained afterwards. It was then when The Chronicler started his summons.

The Ancient Dragon led Spyro through his eerie Dreamworld which prepared him for the upcoming days than served as an escape from real life problems. During those tests Spyro's elemental attacks were slowly restored, but The Chronicler not only summoned him for training he also presented him glimpses of the future- namely The Night of Eternal Darkness in other words Malefor's return to the Dragon Realms.

Spyro was convinced that this whole practicing and talks were preparing him for the upcoming battle, he couldn't shake off the shock when he learnt that The Chronicler planned to hide him in the safety of his home. There was a moment when he considered that option, after all that wasn't an ordinary foe he was about to face but The Dark Master himself and Spyro felt that he couldn't do it. However it all changed when he learnt that Cynder won't be able to resist Malefor and will succumb to his corruption once more, Spyro had no second thoughts after that vision, he would save her no matter what.

" Don't fret my boy" Volteer calmed the purple dragon with his typical excited fast speech " From your tale about The Chronicler we could deduce that to retrieve your talents you had to consociate with the aspect of your existence. You are a dragon the essence of your creation cannot be consigned to oblivion nor disinherited, all that is required is to uncover the correct trail. This is an impeccable opportunity to ameliorate my strategy. As dragons we draw our clout from Spirit Gems"

" As far as I know there aren't any gems which restore Time energy" Cynder interjected bluntly

" Your deduction is correct Cynder, however I've determined how we can recreate The Chronicler's concept to restore Spyro's potential. To do that we require gems, not the traditional ones but the unadulterated crystals"

" Where can we find them?" Spyro blurt out, not even trying to hide his curiosity

Volteer smiled " There is only one place where they thrive. Follow me"

That's what they did, both young dragons accompanied The Electric Guardian unhesitatingly, wondering what is the inquisitive drake up to as they followed his swaying amber tail. After flying directly south from Warfang, past some rivers, trees and hills the ground below them started to become scorched, dark and mostly dead, ash filled their mouths and noses. It was a familiar territory for the group, it was a lovely and calm place once, but now the high scary looking volcano and the crumbled structure on top of it reminded them of a completely different time.

Years ago The Dragon Temple was a structure within the Swamp where the dragon elders trained and took care of young dragons, it was located close to Spyro's home. Inside there was a room, called the Grotto, where there was a pool of water known as the Pool of Visions, in which certain dragons, could see visions: the dreams, thoughts, and memories of others and to see what is happening in places far away.

After the war between the Dark Master's forces and the dragons, the Dragon Temple was overtaken by Cynder's Ape forces, but was reclaimed when Spyro eventually drove them out, accompanied by Ignitus and Sparx. It served as a shelter and home to the Guardians, and eventually Spyro and Sparx. The temple took its share of battle, after Cynder left its walls the Dragon Temple was soon attacked and during that surprised attack it was damaged.

However the most tragic moment happened when Spyro, Cynder and Sparx were trapped in the Time Crystal, it was then when Malefor roamed free, it was then when the Guardians lost their hold on the Dragon Temple while fending against The Dark Master, Malefor then raised the temple above the volcano as a symbol of his dominance. It was later destroyed when the Destroyer broke the world apart in a torrent of fire during the final battle between Spyro, Cynder and Malefor, devastating part of the Swamps in the process.

Sparx shifted on Spyro's head " Can you hear it? he mumbled.

There was a moment of silence as the three dragons began to listen intently

"I don't hear anything" Spyro whispered after a while

"Exactly!" the dragonfly patted his brother's head " I can't stand this silence, why did you stop talking?" a broad smile appeared on his face " I had such a great dream" he huffed

" The one where people actually start noticing you?" Cynder smirked

He looked her over " The one where you weren't tagging along with us" he retorted fiercely before he looked at the sky " Such a great dream" he sighed yearningly.

She smiled and opened her mouth to counter the dragonfly with another sarcastic and snide remark but was interrupted by Spyro's tired voice

" Will you two finally stop and start liking each other?"

" Hey, hey, hey!" Sparx replied quickly and rolled from Spyro's head just to hover in front of his eyes " I like her" he looked at the flying black dragoness " Especially when she isn't around"

" I like him too!" Cynder exclaimed happily and looked at the dragonfly soon after " Especially when he is sleeping or isn't talking"

Spyro chuckled and rolled his eyes

" Quiet now" Volteer's cautious voice calmed the rest of the group immediately "We are not alone" he pointed his claw at the ground. A pair of orcs guarded the entrance to the now ruined Dragon Temple.

"Orcs?" Cynder said with a clearly surprised voice " What is The Dark Army doing here?"

" Perhaps they scrutinize the temple for some indication left by The Dark Master showing them what to pursue now, they may feel disoriented after their Master's demise"

" Let's not go there, let's not go there" Sparx started to mutter pleadingly under his breath

" It is essential that we get inside"

" Yes!" he exclaimed quietly " Another life threatening adventure! You have no idea how I've missed those!" Sparx kept shouting with fake excitement

" Such elation is commendable" Volteer replied sarcastically

" We don't know how many orcs are there, barging through the front doors isn't a very good idea" Spyro thought loudly

" I agree, covertness is indispensable"

" This place is a mess" Cynder joined the planning dragons with a serious tone " There has to be a better entry somewhere"

" Stealth isn't really our thing" Spyro retorted thoughtfully

" I know, but we could lure the guards away and lessen their numbers without them knowing, to do that we need someone really unobtrusive"

An awkward silence befallen on the group, it once again bothered Sparx so he was forced to stop observing the temple below and raise his head. The moment he did that he saw three pairs of colorful eyes staring at him

" What?" he blurt out cluelessly

* * *

The once solid rock structure now laid in ruins, stones were scattered everywhere, the ceiling collapsed a long time ago, the doors and walls were cracked or destroyed completely, now nothing remained of the glorious Dragon Temple, however according to Volteer there was still a piece of Malefor's Lair still standing within the volcano where the powerful updraft held some of its remains together.

The temple looked dead, however that didn't prevent The Dark Army from guarding its many entryways, there was at least a pair of guards observing the surroundings at each opening. Nevertheless the small group of friends had to find an entrance to the tunnels which led down towards the Lair and the only way to do that is to get past the guards, preferably unnoticed.

A small ball of leafs hovered above the dark ashy terrain, in front of it there was a small hill where once large door were inserted which welcomed visitors to the famous training grounds for young drakes. Now there was a pair of apes standing under the rocky ceiling watching the world in front of them.

" Why did I agree to do this?" Sparx whined under his breath as he took a peek from his leafy cover. With a sigh he rose a bit higher above the ground and rustled the leafs that covered him. As he did that a light shone through his weak armor that came from the glow dragonflies emanate. It flickered for a brief moment just to vanish moments later as Sparx covered himself once again and lowered himself towards the ashy ground.

That quick flash was enough for the guards, they became suspicious instantly, they both tightly gripped their weapons and cautiously began moving towards the exit, carefulness and perhaps curiosity drove them to investigate that strange shimmer. The apes were leaving the safety of the rocky ceiling and could feel the open sky slowly stretching above them. The guards didn't have the time to admire the scenery nor to investigate the peculiar occurrence since the moment they stepped from their cover a purple and black tail wrapped themselves around their necks and pulled them up.

Sparx rose again creating a window for himself in his leafy cover, the first thing he saw was a pair of apes hovering above the ground, they both were thrashing relentlessly while they kept grunting and trying to pull off the deadly lock from around their necks. Sparx slowly approached the entrance and as he did so he saw as both young dragons eventually strangled the struggling soldiers and pulled their still bodies upwards, eventually the apes vanished from his sight.

" I'll never get used to this" he shuddered

As the dragonfly was about to enter the now free opening a purple snout emerged from above " Psst!" Spyro hissed gaining the attention of the floating leafy ball instantly " You are doing great, keep it up" he whispered encouragingly

" Bro you sure this is a good idea?" Sparx asked dubiously " We should be happily fooling around now, far away from the bad guys, don't you think?"

" Stop whining" Cynder admonished him the moment her black snout showed up just next to Spyro's

" Why do you always have to look for trouble? Let's just go" Sparx complained

" Sparx stick to the plan, we have to get in there" Spyro urged his brother calmly

The dragonfly sighed loudly and shook his head before venturing into the temple

The upper level of the temple was completely destroyed, but the lower one wasn't that far behind, practically nothing remained of the once solid walls which protected the building from the jagged rocks of the volcano's surface. Now stones filled the crumbling hallways, the natural light emanating from the volcano itself was illuminating the corridors. Every now and then a tattered banner could be seen hanging on the wall, it was hard to say what they represented, it was impossible to decipher the leftovers.

There were many corridors here once, now most of them was crumbled or blocked by huge boulders, even the ceiling was barely intact, it wouldn't surprise anyone if a cave-in would happen, removing a single rock would most likely do the trick. Pieces of huge doors laid everywhere, even remnants of some sandstone statues were visible here and there. Cobwebs filled the entire structure, spiders scuttled through the many holes, checking every trap they set up for the unfortunate insects. Only a handful of passages was still intact and all of the led deeper into the volcano towards the lair of the deceased Dark Master, with every step down the air got warmer and the occasional howling of wind intensified.

" Of course we need to get there" Sparx muttered under his breath as he flew down the corridor " We always have to look for trouble and we always end up surrounded by bad guys." He whined to himself " And why? Because it's much more funnier to get killed than sit in a safe city without any worries"

" And you, you idiot" he slammed his forehead " You always have to follow, you always have to keep an eye on him and look what's happening? You could be now sleeping in a warm bed, eating everything you want, but no, you had to…" Sparx shut his mouth in a blink of an eye the moment he heard some incoherent grunts coming from ahead of him.

A pair of shadows appeared on the illuminated jagged wall, more importantly they were growing with each passing second, also the sound of the incoherent grunts was getting louder. Sparx looked around in panic, after all a floating ball of leafs in a volcano's tunnel is not much of a cover. He pressed himself against the wall and began flying alongside its surface looking for a place to hide.

Destruction has its advantages, it offers small creatures like him plenty of places to lay low. After a short while Sparx found one of these places, it was a dark hole in the wall, he fit into it perfectly just like it would be designed for dragonflies only. He waited, time seemed to slow down as he observed the growing shadows, his heart started to beat to the rhythm of the armored boots crunching the scattered tiny rocks.

Sparx held his breath when the shadows completely covered the wall on the opposite side of the passageway, soon a pair of armored orcs walked past by his hiding place while talking with each other. Sparx didn't care what it was about, he just wanted them to go away. His wish came true, the orcs soon disappeared farther into the hallway, he just hoped they won't go too far, after all two of their colleagues are no longer present. However something tells him that he has to hurry.

Sparx had no problems with leaving his hiding place, before he continued onwards Sparx looked behind his shoulder, the shadows practically vanished, he sighed in relief, they won't bother him, at least for a while. He flew closer to the walls this time, just in case another patrol would pop up unexpectedly, there was a complete silence when he made his way through the corridor until he arrived at what seemed to be an intersection.

It was hotter and louder here, this is where all the paths from the other entryways meet which means that he is close to his destination. Sparx had to stop when he approached the intersection, the sound of chatter was extremely high, it only meant one thing- there are far more guards there.

Once again Sparx hid and waited for the orcs to go away, it took some time but eventually they scattered creating a bit of free space. Sparx quickly left his hiding place and dashed towards the single path which led to the lair. He arrived at a wide opening, it looked like there were doors here once but The Destroyer made a short work of them. An eerie glow was coming from that passageway, not to mention the pretty strong gusts of wind that occasionally hit him.

Sparx continued forward, but stopped soon after just when he was about to enter the next room, he began observing his surroundings, one thing was sure though- this are the remains of Malefor's Lair. The room itself was quite wide and high, it was able to house a fully grown dragon. The walls of the lair were mostly crumbled, stones laid everywhere, the ceiling was in no better shape, long cracks ran across its surface, not to mention the many holes in its structure which undoubtedly weakened the construction. Instead of a normal solid floor, first thing he saw was a marble bridge, it was small but still a bridge, it was connected with a huge circular plate which served as a floor.

The plate didn't fill the entire room however, there was an empty space left near the wall which allowed the natural updraft coming from the volcano to pass freely. In the middle of the plate there were plenty of gem clusters, all of them glowed with a bright blue light. All of that was unimportant for Sparx, something entirely different got his attention. Orcs filled the room, The Dark Army was here and in quite big numbers and that wasn't everything, who knows how many of them lurks in the passageways. There was a single creature who stood out from all the rest, Sparx swallowed hard at the sight of it.

It was a troll, one of the strongest enemies in Malefor's former army. Trolls are extremely high and strong, they look like they've been formed from the earth itself. Its body is rough, covered with a green hue, a root- like layers connect the limbs to its body. The irregular form of its flesh really resembled the structure of a torn from the ground bush, with all its roots and the like hanging wildly in the air. Trolls walk just like gorillas, its legs are powerful but small, they end with a hunk-like feet. The troll's arms however are a completely different matter, it has wide and extremely powerfully built shoulders which hold an even bigger arm, it is no ordinary arm however, it looks like an extremely sturdy and huge hunk of a tree, really thick and solid. Even if a troll has a bulky build it isn't slow, it charges it's enemies with ease and if its opponents are far away the troll can leap great distance to catch its prey. The red eyes which are located on the troll's snout add to the malevolence of the creature.

"Ok" Sparx gulped " Let's do it, it's not like something wrong will happ-" He was cut off by a terrible roar coming from behind him, the noise echoed throughout the whole corridor. Soon some others roars followed, an alarm has been raised.

The Grublins which were busy with the gems forgot about them as every single one of them looked alarmed at the entrance from which the sound has come. They didn't see him, but unfortunately Sparx flew cautiously a bit forward when he heard the sound of footsteps coming from the corridor. His timing couldn't be worse, the moment he left the corridor another updraft blew from the bottom of the lair, the gust of wind was so strong that it lifted him upwards, he spun around in the air as he fought to regain his balance. When he finally achieved his goal he sighed in relief, however when he looked at the orcs below he knew something was wrong, they were all staring at him with murderous eyes.

He impulsively started to touch his body, something was wrong, something was amiss " Uh-oh" he muttered with a wavering voice. Sparx looked around, his fears were confirmed when he noticed some leafs falling down to the ground in their swaying movements.

He chuckled nervously " Funny thing" he scratched the back of his head edgily " I wanted to surprise you, you know, nothing wrong with that right? Let's all act like civilized creatures and forget about all of this ok? I didn't see you, you didn't see me, I tell you that's a really funny game" Sparx chuckled once more, however not everyone shared his mood, as he looked once again at the staring group of grublins he swallowed hard once again " Peace" he extended his arm and rose two of his fingers in the most known gesture that accompanied this word.

He winced when a deafening roar filled the cavern, obviously they don't know what _peace_ means. Sparx dashed towards the ceiling and quickly began touching the stone to find a good place for the blue gem he was carrying with himself all this time behind his leafy cover.

" It better work" Sparx said hopefully as he inserted the gem in one of the bigger holes in the ceiling, soon after he removed a loose stone just next to the gem. " Guys! A little help here!" he yelled at the top of his lungs as he pressed his face to the empty space he just created.

Sparx looked down and gasped, he was thankful that as a dragonfly he is quite agile, he dodged the incoming magic projectile just in time. There was a flash of blue light, he impulsively looked up and noticed that the gem was gone. His eyes went wide open as realization struck him, with all the strength he had in himself Sparx started to fly as far away from the ceiling as possible, avoiding as best as he could the incoming magic missiles.

Soon after there was a deafening thud, the place where the gem was just exploded, dust filled the cavern and rocks started to fly in every direction, also the whole ceiling began to shake violently, the unstable structure was about to give up. Moments later the reason for this destruction appeared, from the dust emerged a spiked boulder which was spinning wildly while it headed directly at the grublins below. Two dragons entered the cavern from the hole the earth ball created, momentarily the cavern was filled with electric and poison breaths as the pair of dragons descended at their enemies.

" Watch out for the troll!" Sparx screamed the moment his friends entered the scene

The grublins were caught off guard, they didn't even budge when the boulder landed directly at them squashing some of the orcs at the impact, even those who were lucky enough to avoid the incoming ball weren't that much happy, the shockwave the boulder created when it hit the ground tossed some of the soldiers down the chasm. The troll only swayed on its legs, the moment it recovered its balance the creature roared angrily and furiously slammed the boulder with one of its tremendously huge arms when the spiked ball bounced from the ground.

The boulder was sent flying with a tremendous speed towards one of the walls, the moment it hit it, the surface of the ball began to shake and dissolve, momentarily the earth ball transformed into the shape of a purple dragon. The impact left Spyro dizzy, when his body finally detached itself from the wall, he fell numbly down the chasm.

Moments later Volteer descended onto the ground, the moment he landed a powerful electrical arc was sent along the whole floor, some of the more experienced orcs managed to deflect the spell a bit, the elemental attack only stunned them, however among them were also those who weren't that capable fighters, those orcs were fried instantly.

The troll flung its huge arms upwards and roared painfully when the arc reached it, the agony only infuriated the beast. The troll powerfully slammed its arms on the ground, sending a mighty shockwave through the whole floor, it sent the adjacent orcs flying in every direction, it even forced the amber dragon to totter, however it was enough to distract the drake. The moment the current stopped flowing through the troll's body it roared once again and leapt in the direction of the swaying Electrical Guardian. It swung one of its powerful arms at the mighty dragon which Volteer somehow managed to deflect with his wing, however the blow was so strong that he spun around at the impact.

The moment his eyes focused on the troll he saw another huge arm approaching him, but this time he had no chance to block it. The beast hit the dragon directly in the cheek the force that was put into the blow dropped the Guardian to the ground while a stream of blood gushed from the drake's mouth. Volteer shook his head, regaining his focus instantly, adrenaline pumped through the old dragon's veins when he noticed as the troll was making another swing. He quickly rose on his hind legs just to extend his forelegs towards the incoming arm, he was glad that dragons put on some weight when they mature, he was strong enough to stop the arm in midway. The troll didn't expect such a move, it roared angrily and lowered its head, it's hard to tell if the troll actually planned this or it reacted just by sheer instinct, whatever the case may be it worked.

The creature hit the dragon directly into the stomach with its head, the strike kicked the breath out of Volteer, however he didn't lose his grip. The troll didn't waste time and took advantage of the opportunity, he slid one of its powerful arms between Volteer's hind paws, just to raise it moments later. The quick and strong swing lifted the dragon to the air, the troll moved its arm upwards, meaning that it tossed the amber dragon behind it. Volteer groaned when he landed on his back, just right behind the creature.

Cynder had her own share of problems, archers began emerging from the entrances, what worried her most was that they had already their bows prepared to release the arrows. The arrows were set loose with an audible whizz, the ones which were flying from the front she easily blown off using her wind element. It was a different matter with the ones she couldn't see, relying on her natural instincts and agility she began a dance of her own in the air. The graceful moves of her body allowed her to avoid most of the deadly splinters, however it was impossible to dodge all of them. Some of the arrows whizzed past by her carrying drops of her draconic blood with them. Cynder clenched her teeth and hissed when the arrows left bloody cuts on her body, some even managed to get stuck In her black scales. Soon the arrows stopped flying, announcing that it was her time to strike.

Cynder stopped and hovered in the air just to curl into a ball, as she did so she focused on her elemental attacks. Namely she charged her Phantom Fright power, the addictive dark energy pulsed once again in her veins. The moment she straightened Cynder unleashed her power, a couple of ghastly orbs appeared next to her, without wasting any more time she sent each orb towards a group of archers. When the orbs reached their destinations they've exploded with a concussive force, some of the archers were tossed down the chasm or the corridors while the rest was completely paralyzed. Cynder released her Shadow Fire ability at the couple archer groups while she dived towards the last one, with the paralyze still in effect the orcs suffocated in complete silence. With nothing else disturbing her, she finished the last group of archers easily.

Another updraft has blown from the chasm and as it did so Spyro was blown upwards, he had already his wings spread wide open, he was in full of control of the treacherous wind. The same thing couldn't be said for creatures who prefer walking than flying. The orcs who were throw down the chasm not so long ago managed to survive the fall, however they aren't dragons, the grublins only screamed as the wind was rising them upwards with tremendous speed. Their uncontrollable spinning and terrified screams soon ended, they were hurled into the remains of the ceiling with such a force that loud snaps echoed throughout the cavern when every possible bone shattered.

With no archers trying to shoot him down Spyro controlled the sky, he felt as the power of the single blue gem was still pulsing within his blood, he knew exactly how to discharge that energy. Focusing his electrical element he directed an electrical pulse at the troll which was towering above the laying amber dragon. The creature groaned when the shock hit him, it was electrocuted instantly, the elemental attack was strong enough to stun and injure the beast quite seriously. Spyro would continue his advance if not for a huge rock falling from the ceiling, it headed straight at him so he had to abandon his attack and avoid the deadly boulder. Spyro managed to do that easily, however that was not the end of his problems, the moment the rock hovered in front of his eyes it exploded, he couldn't see what destroyed the boulder but the trail of magical energy that hung in the air told him that it was no accident.

Spyro was caught unaware, the chunk of rocks cut his snout, chest, paws and what's more importantly his wings, nothing drastic but the pain and the force after the explosion shot him down.

He rolled on the plate-like floor, after all it takes a while to dispose all that speed. His concentration didn't fade the moment he stopped rolling, lucky for him since the moment he opened his eyes he saw a magical attack heading his way. It threw everything in the air as it ran through the ground, ripping the floor as it approached just like something would swim below the ground and tear the floor with one of its fins. Spyro fueled his earth element and turned once again into the spiked boulder, he knew that it made him heavier and that it was his only protection against the incoming attack. His boulder-like body only shook when the spell hit him, the strike didn't work as it supposed to.

Spyro pulled himself on all fours and returned to his dragon form, just in time to jump backwards when two spears tried to stab him from the sides, sparks were thrown into the air when the two silvery tips met with each other. The impact has thrown the soldiers of balance, and every fighter takes advantages of opportunities during a battle, Spyro rolled on the ground sideways and as he did so he sank the gold tip on his tail into the orcs chest killing the grublin instantly. As he rolled to the other side to strike the other orc, the soldier already recovered his balance and had his weapon raised above his head just to try to pierce the dragons golden underbelly when he finally stopped just next to him. Spyro grabbed the incoming spear with his paws just a few inches from his belly, the orcs eyes widened when his attack has failed, Spyro seeing his surprise yanked the weapon forcefully tearing it off from the soldiers hands, he had struck the grublin with the wooden end of the weapon directly into his nose. The orc grabbed his nose and tottered backwards as dark blood started to gush from his nose, soon with a furious roar he pounced at the laying purple dragon. Spyro just waited for it, with the sharp end of the spear directed at the orc he run it through the soldier's opened mouth, piercing the back of his skull momentarily.

With the bloody body of the orc slowly sliding down the spear, he cast the weapon aside, after all that was not the end of his problems. Spyro jumped on his paws and the moment he did so he noticed four orcs magicians approaching him, they were prepared for the confrontation, two of them were channeling a magical shield that surrounded the group and protected them from elemental attacks while the two others were waving their weapons threateningly, provoking the purple dragon. Spyro was ready to comply and give them what they wanted but he never got the chance to prepare his attack. Out of nowhere a black shape knocked the orcs down just like a bowling ball, Spyro observed the whole scene with wide eyes.

Volteer recovered from his shock when he heard the troll's painful groan, but before he could strike the stunned creature he had to take care of the soldiers that were attacking him. He rolled onto his belly and as he did so he curled and covered himself with his big wings, the moment he did that he channeled his elemental power. Tiny electrical sparks began to jump on his membranes, however the charging orcs seemed to ignore or just didn't notice it. The grublins surrounded the curled amber dragon, when they were all in position, every single orc soldier roared and swung his weapon at the laying dragon. The moment the spears and swords made contact with Volteer's wings they were instantly thrown away, not to mention that the electrical spark jumped from the weapons onto their owners, there was only a quick flash when the orcs were hurled away just like some kind of rag dolls.

With the attackers gone the Guardian pulled himself up and instantly sank his tail tip which resembled a two-tined spear into the troll's powerful shoulder. He once again channeled his elemental energy but this time he was interrupted when out of nowhere a single magical projectile hit him in the side. It didn't harm him much but it was enough to disrupt his concentration, he decided not to risk it, after all it was only a matter of time before the troll will finally shake off the feeling. Grunting Volteer swung his tail forcefully, he may be old but he still had some draconic strength in him, the troll slammed onto the ground and slid across the plate like floor for a couple of meters.

With the troll out of the way for the time being the Guardian could concentrate on the orcs who prevented him from finishing the mighty beast. There was quite a group approaching him, with one bigger orc than the rest walking amongst it, it has to be their leader. The grublins attacked, elemental projectiles were sent flying while their leader formed a magical barrier around them. With the shield formed around the group and the magical bolts heading his way Volteer had no other option than to take to the sky to avoid the projectiles. He leapt into the air and as he did so the bolts flew below him to eventually end on a nearby wall, he didn't remain in the air for long, he felt as an invisible hand grabbed him preventing him from making any move.

The orc leader moved his raised clenched fist downwards and as he did so the amber dragon was slammed onto the ground, the barrier around the group wavered a bit after that display of magical prowess. Volteer coughed out blood when he hit the ground but no matter how painful the crash was the flicker of the barrier didn't escape his sharp mind. Another wave of projectiles was sent flying towards him, but this time he was prepared for it. Volteer used the Electric Arc ability to freeze the projectiles in midair, however as a master of the Electricity he also knew the improved version of that skill, he focused and released a single pulse towards the arc. The artificial prison exploded in a show of hundred tiny yellow sparks, the magical projectiles were thrown back at their casters.

The shield could not withstand such force, its magical energy was almost depleted, the impact sent the orc leader onto his knees as he desperately held the elemental protection with last ounces of his strength. Volteer's attack surprised the orcs, when they were trying to shake off the shock he once again used the Electric Arc ability to freeze and hurl at them some of the scattered weaponry. Magical shield or not it was unable to protect them from the incoming blades, the weapons sliced and pierced every single orc, including their leader, momentarily all of the grublins dropped to the ground, dead. Volteer had no time to cherish his little victory as a big shadow covered him, he impulsively looked the way it was coming from, and the moment he did that he noticed a huge troll towering above him.

" Take that ugly!" Sparx appeared out of nowhere, and as he began hovering between the troll and the amber dragon he threw a small rock at the evil beast. The stone hit the troll directly into his red eye, with a painful growl the creature stumbled backwards and covered its snout with its huge arms. After a while the troll roared furiously and swung its powerful arms chaotically and the moment it did so a loud painful female groan could be heard.

Cynder removed her claws from the archer's throat and looked down from the slope she was standing on currently, they have never expected to find a troll here and from the looks of it the beast is giving the two dragons quite a beating, no wonder since it's a very powerful creature it would be better for everybody when they would get rid of it as soon as possible. She couldn't prepare the plan for an appropriate attack since she heard quick footsteps behind her, roaring the orc swung his sword trying to strike the black dragoness from behind. Cynder deflected the blow with the blade- like tip on her tail, when the sparks were sent flying into the air she swiftly spun around and slashed with her claws, cutting the orc's abdomen. Dark blood fell on the ground along with a portion of the grublin's insides.

A sword's sharp tip heading her way was the first thing she saw when the body slumped onto the ground, Cynder sidestepped quickly, avoiding the deadly strike. She circled the soldier and rammed into him with her head low, the soldier was sent flying down from the slope in cacophony of terrified screams. Cynder spun around there was quite a group charging her from the tunnel it will be a challenge to maneuver since there isn't much free space here. She ducked and moved sideways, avoiding the strike of a nearby orc who was charging her furiously, that was a reckless move from the grublin since the moment he missed he had to dispose all that speed somehow, he managed to do it but had to fought with his body so he wouldn't fall down the ledge.

Cynder blocked another blow with her wing, making the attacking soldier crash with the nearby wall, just as soon she stunned the closest enemy a huge axe was falling on her vertically, she swiftly jumped backwards otherwise her head would be split in half. The moment the weapon clinked on the stony floor she kicked the orc behind her with her hind paw, sending the reckless soldier down the chasm. She prepared to repel another attack but to her surprise the incoming soldier dropped to the ground, soon she found out why, four arrows emerged from the tunnel ahead. Thanks to her natural agility Cynder managed to avoid two of them but the other two found their mark, they sank deeply into her flesh, only a small portion of the wood and feathers protruded outside.

She screamed painfully, she did that on purpose in fact, there was no chance she would repel such a fierce attack, she had to try a different approach. The orcs fell for her bluff, they roared maliciously as they began their offensive, one of the soldiers swung his sword which she deflected easily, another one attacked with his shield that hit her directly into the snout. Blood shot from her nose after the strike, the orcs smelling a victory sidestepped quickly just to make room for a sharp spear's tip, the weapon found its mark, as it pierced her chest Cynder grabbed the weapon with her paw, tottered backwards and the moment she fell from the ledge she tore the weapon off from the soldier's hands.

All of the orcs leaned over the ledge to check if they killed the female drake and the moment they did that Cynder rose from below and as she did so she thrust the spear into the chin of one of the curious orcs dragging the gurgling body with her as she rose above the ledge. She moved away from the slope a bit, the orcs weren't attacking yet as they were recovering from their shock, that was enough for her. Cynder channeled her elemental energy, momentarily a coat of deadly venom surrounded her, using her Scorpion Strike ability she spun directly into the surprised soldiers. She cut through their ranks while covered in lethal venom, the ones who found themselves on her path didn't even scream as they fleshed melted instantly, the orcs who managed to avoid the spinning dragoness were yelling agonizingly as the venom was hissing on their faces melting the skin and bones away.

Cynder made her way inside the tunnel, and as she arrived there she had to stop or else she would collide with a wall, the dead and the dying orcs surrounded her but she couldn't care less what, mattered to her however was an another wave of attackers coming from the tunnel. There was way too many of them, she won't be able to repel the attack, once more she channeled her elemental energy, this time a soft breeze filled her entire being, with that she released a gust of wind directly into the ceiling. The weak structure couldn't take it, a loud rumbling noise filled the entire tunnel. Cynder seeing what is about to happen quickly dashed towards the exit, she was lucky since she was on the right side, the same thing couldn't be said about the grublins, they only emitted a horrifying screams as the stones started to rain down on them.

Cynder coughed as she emerged from the dust, that was one of the tunnels from which one group of archers arrived, there is a couple more of them like this one all around the cavern. She didn't know if the warrens are connected, as for now there weren't any more grublins on the slopes but Cynder decided not to risk it, better safe than sorry they say. She leapt into the air and using her wind element collapsed every possible tunnel from which enemies could arrive. Landing on the last slope she looked down, she could see as the injured troll was slowly approaching Volteer who was currently occupied with a bunch of orcs. Spyro however was fighting right now with a pair of grublins, she was confident that he can take care of them but that didn't mean that he couldn't use a helping paw with the another group of orcs approaching him.

As Cynder prepared the plan for an attack hissing she pulled out one of the arrows from her body, luckily she removed it intact if any splinter would get stuck inside her they would prevent her regeneration process from kicking in properly. First things first, the troll is a more dangerous enemy, she will distract the beast to allow Volteer to recover, after that she will help Spyro defeat the remnants of the Dark Army. With the plan set in her mind Cynder removed the second arrow and leapt from the slope just to instantly dive towards the troll.

She had to get close to the beast, wounding it is one thing but gaining its attention was a more crucial matter. Cynder furrowed a brow as she descended upon the troll, it suddenly stumbled backwards, the moment she saw a floating glowing shape she realized what happened but it was already too late. With all the strength she had Cynder flapped her wings backwards to dispose herself of the speed, it wasn't enough to avoid the huge arm heading her way.

The world swirled after the troll accidently slammed her, with a groan of pain she was shot towards the ground, before she made contact with the floor she collided with something in the way, the impact with whatever thing that was sent an aching pulse through her entire body but at least the collision slowed her down a bit. Cynder rolled on the ground for a while before finally stopping on her belly, the whole world swirled not to mention that the nauseating vertigo was almost unbearable.

Spyro gasped when he realized that only one dragoness he knows has black colored scales, with a frantic pace of his heart he dashed towards her. As he ran he noticed as the knocked down orcs were slowly standing up, those who weren't badly injured that is. The two magicians who managed to get up on their feet he finished with earth bolts, the one who crawled on the ground just to take hold of his scepter Spyro killed using his claws. With nothing blocking his path he directly ran towards his friend, the fear for her safety only intensified when he saw her lying flat on the ground.

" Cynder!" he yelled with worried voice before he stopped just in front of her " Please be okay" he muttered under his breath as he pulled her up to a sitting position. He gasped when he noticed her snout, blood was streaming down her nose " Cynder how badly are you injured?"

She kept looking around as if looking for the owner of this voice "What is… where… how…" she slurred

Spyro grabbed her head forcing her to look at him " Cynder I'm over here, focus!"

" Bro!" Sparx exclaimed loudly from behind Spyro, the purple dragon only looked at his brother with a corner of his eyes when the dragonfly stopped next to him " You gotta help the Big Guy!"

" I'm not leaving her!" Spyro protested

" Nothing is wrong with her. Look" Sparx positioned himself in front of her snout before placing his hands on both her cheeks " Cynder hey, hey" she kept swaying and turning her head " Hey Cynder hey look at me" Sparx urged her but she was still doing the same thing " Cynder look at me" he yanked her head and the moment her blurry eyes met his Sparx raised two fingers " How many fingers do you see?"

" Ten" she muttered after a while of staring at the dragonflies' hand

" See?" Sparx exclaimed confidently " She's fine, now go get that troll!"

" But-"

" I'll take care of her, go!" Sparx cut Spyro off with a commanding tone.

Reluctantly Spyro pulled himself up and ran off to help the Electric Guardian, the moment he was quite a distance away Sparx shook his head and looked at Cynder " One day he is going to do something stupid because of you"

" What?" she slurred once again

" You are stupid" Sparx retorted bluntly

" Thank you"

He sighed " You're welcome"

Spyro felt horrible to leave her in such a condition but Sparx was right, it was a right thing to do, his friend needs his help. As he ran he saw as Volteer was exchanging blows with the mighty creature, judging from the scars and bruises it was quite a fierce fight. Before Spyro joined the battle he decided to stop near the cluster of blue gems, additional power never hurts, he couldn't miss such an opportunity. Spyro absorbed the gem, it felt differently but he didn't have the time to focus on it now, his friend needs him. Spyro took to the air and as he did so he channeled his electricity element.

He released an electric stream directly at the troll, it roared painfully when it was once again electrocuted. Volteer seeing what is happening released a stream of his own, the combined effort of both dragons was too much for the troll, its heart could no longer withstand the electric pulses running through its body, the vital organ died. The painful roars ceased momentarily, when it happened both dragons stopped their attack to allow the body to fall on the ground with a loud thud. The remnants of The Dark Army were either killed or allowed to flee, the group of friends had won the day.


	18. Chapter 18

**Last chapter of Book I. Thanks guys for your readership**

* * *

Chapter 18

" All these crystals and there is not even one single red gem here!" Cynder exclaimed and kicked furiously one of the stones laying on the floor to somehow let go off the steam " This headache is killing me!"

" Sparx chuckled inwardly " You are more fun when you are drooling and mumbling"

" Shut up Sparx" she snarled " I'm not in the mood"

" What's the big deal?" he shrugged " Anyone can be beaten and humiliated, it doesn't matter that it always happens to you, I mean what can you do right? It's not like that is your fault" he said with a sarcastic tone

She rubbed her forehead " Spyro tell your insufferable brother to stop or I swear I'll gut him"

Sparx extended his arms protectively " Whoa, whoa Cyn relax, I'm just joking. Look I've promised Spyro to take care of you so I will"

Cynder snorted " And what can you possibly know about healing, huh?"

" I've learnt some tricks from my Mom, so what do you say? Wanna give it a shot?"

" No thank you" she retorted bluntly

Sparx shrugged " It's your call, if you don't want to receive at least a bit of relief then be my guest"

She thought about it for a moment, the pain was unbearable, she as well might let him try, it's not like she has anything to lose " Fine, just no sudden moves"

Corner of his mouth turned into a mischievous smile " You are not going to regret this" the grimace vanished the moment he began hovering in front of the black dragoness" Sit and we will begin"

Reluctantly she did as she has been told. He crossed his fingers and with a snap of his knuckles began extending his hand towards Cynder.

She moved her head cautiously backwards " Just what do you think you are doing?"

Sparx frowned irritably " If you keep moving we won't get anywhere, just sit still I need to locate source of the pain" he extended his hands once again but this time touched one side of her head " Does it hurt?"

Cynder winced " Yes" she hissed painfully

Sparx touched the other side of her head " What about here?"

She winced again " Yes"

This time he moved a bit closer towards her forehead " Here?"

"Yes"

Once again his hand ventured a bit closer " And here?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed irritated " Are you going to do something about it finally or not?"

" Don't worry I've got it covered" he assured her, however the little devil on his shoulder couldn't stop laughing " I know from where the pain is coming from, I've located the source, now the most important part, I just need to…" Sparx inhaled deeply " Defeat it!" he exclaimed and slapped her forehead before he quickly darted upwards

Cynder groaned in pain " What the hell are you doing?!" she shouted furiously

" I'm cheating the nervous system! Just ask the Big Guy he will tell you-"

" You are so dead now!" she growled and dashed after the dragonfly

He yelped before starting to fly away as far as possible " Bro help! She's trying to kill me!"

" You started it" Spyro answered absolutely unconcerned, his entire focus was set on the blue gem he was holding in his paw. He eyed it carefully, however he couldn't spot anything special. It was the same size like any other gem, it shone just like any other gem but the moment he absorbed it the crystal washed his body not with refreshing and cooling sensation but with dread and he had no idea why.

" BRO!" Sparx yelled at the top of his lungs while he unexpectedly appeared below him. Spyro gasped and jerked backwards, the gem jumped in his paw. Focus returned to the purple dragon as he quickly tried to catch the gem before it shattered on the ground, the crystal bounced on his paws as he desperately tried to get a good hold of it. After a brief struggle the gem returned once again into Spyro's paw, he sighed in relief after saving the crystal.

Sparx shook his purple foreleg before looking at him pleadingly " You gotta help me, she's crazy!"

Spyro threw him a scoldful glance " You shouldn't have provoked Cynder in the first place"

" Ok my bad, but that doesn't mean-"

He was cut off by Cynder landing just next to Spyro " Got you" she said with a menacing tone

Sparx hugged to Spyro's foreleg " Help!" he squealed

" Volteer's awake yet?" the purple dragon turned around and began walking towards his laying friend, completely not interested in the situation that was brewing around him

" What..." Sparx stammered while he was lifted above ground when Spyro made a step "… are… you…doing?"

Cynder sidestepped every time Spyro moved, she kept walking low on her paws, watching the dragonfly intently just like a lioness hunts her prey

" Sort it out yourselves, I'm staying out of it" Spyro shook his foreleg violently making the dragonfly lose his grasp of it.

" He is right!" Sparx exclaimed quickly just when Cynder was about to pounce at him " We are both adults right? So let's act like adults, we put aside our differences and from now on we keep our heads cool. You in?"

Cynder stopped her advance, she jerked back after hearing his proposition, however she did that on purpose. She knew Sparx well enough and could tell when he is lying just to save his skin. She decided to play along, he will lower his guard sooner or later.

" You are right" she sighed with faked embarrassment

The dragonfly balked " I am?"

" Yeah, just think about it, we fight almost every single time, let's act normally for once"

Sparx furrowed a brow " You mean what? You want a truce or something?"

She nodded " That's exactly what I mean. You in?"

He rested his head in his open palm and patted his chin with his forefinger, thinking " I'm in" he stated after a moment of silent consideration " But I thought that you'll be mad at me after that little joke"

Cynder giggled and waved her paw dismissively " There's nothing to talk about, no harm done"

" Why I don't trust you?"

She sighed tiredly " Listen, I've got a headache and I'm tired, I don't want to chase you all over this cavern. Let's just end it for now, ok?"

Sparx stared at her with his arms folded on his chest " Spyro you hear this?"

Spyro's head rose from behind some gem cluster " Yeah I do" his eyes quickly located the black dragoness" How are you feeling?"

She bit her lower lip and tilted her head " Well let's see…I've got a nose bleed, probably every possible bone broken and my head is pounding" she gave Spyro a meaningful look " I'm fine!"

Spyro shook his head and returned to his previous point of focus, he almost pressed his nose to the glistening surface of the gems. His own purple snout reflected from the crystalline body as he looked over the gems from top to bottom.

" Engrossing aren't they?" a familiar yet quite raspy voice sounded from behind the purple dragon

He instantly spun around " Volteer!" Spyro exclaimed fearfully " You scared me, how you are holding up?"

The Electric Guardian shifted on the ground, he aligned his body in such a way so he could observe the gem clusters" It's perplexing how quickly arduous tasks harrow my body, the lifeline on which I so continually trudge got more mountainous and I find it more and more onerous to subjugate its terrains to my will. The sun has ultimately declared that my warrior's days had come to an end, however my heart beats with acute gaiety after it grasped the sight of youngsters taking what's meant to be theirs"

" Come on Volteer you are not that old"

The amber dragon smiled " Appealing words Spyro but so erroneous"

Spyro felt saddened after his words, he liked the amber dragon despite his wagging tongue, he has a very cheerful personality, the one people look for in the most dire of times. Just thinking that he won't be traveling with him any longer depressed Spyro greatly " So what are you going to do now?" he asked with a palpable anguish in his voice

Volteer pulled himself up from the ground " I presume that our mission requires fulfilment" with that he made his way towards the gems clusters

The moment Volteer's snout reflected from the surface of the crystals just next to Spyro's image, the purple dragon couldn't keep his curiosity from erupting any longer " What's so special about them?"

" I'm assured that you can elicit late Ignitus' words concerning dragons and our demise, yes? As you know we are uncanny creatures weaved from magic itself, the same source spawned the world as we know it now. With every recent entity the mythical vitality of our world is being squandered and to restore that dissipated power we reimburse the obtained energy after our demise"

" That explains why Spirit Gems are called our life force" Volteer continued " After we perish this is what we bequeath for future generations, a section of our own essence cradled in an ethereal sphere"

Spyro's eyes shot wide open " This is Malefor?!" he exclaimed shocked and jumped away from the gems impulsively

" This is the dude you guys whacked?" Sparx asked in excitement while he made his way closer towards one of the blue gems and began inspecting them as soon its surface reflected his image " He isn't that scary"

Cynder smirked " That's because you have to take a closer look" with that she slapped him with the blunt side of her tail, the dragonfly plastered onto the surface of the crystal and slumped down to the ground soon after. She grinned " How about now?"

" That didn't last long" Spyro commented the situation without any sign of surprise in his voice

Cynder shrugged " What can I say? Peace is fragile"

" No" Volteer's voice focused the attention of the group on the shimmering clusters " We shouldn't perceive the Spirit Gems in this manner. The crystals are solely an embodiment of the magical potential from which we are weaved. It is viable that a part of our singularity is perpetuated within the gems however we can't allow this thesis to befuddle our perspicacity, The Dark Master is gone"

Spyro kept staring at the glowing gems Volteer's response answered the question about the awkward feeling of dread behind the crystals. With one question out of the way another ones roused inside his head " Volteer you said that to restore my powers we need pure gems, so if a slight portion of Malefor's life force remained within the gems then how can they help us?"

" The gems sojourn pure only for a month or so after a dragon's demise, in the course of time the magic sustaining our world impairs the gems"

" Then we better hurry and get them to Warfang" Spyro stared at the clusters in silence " but how are we going to carry all of them?" he asked thoughtfully

Cynder looked around the cavern while scratching her choker, her claw stopped moving when her eyes located the laying troll " We could use the troll's tree-like arm to create some kind of bucket, the roots that connect its limbs would be perfect material for a rope of sorts, We put two and two together and voila! The transport is ready"

Spyro threw her a full of awe look " Cynder you are a genius"

She smiled " I have my moments"

* * *

Following Cynder's plan and listening to Volteer's advice, they filled the huge hunk with the required amount of gems, they've harvested almost the whole clusters yet there was still plenty of space left in the arm. With the gems in place they've wrapped the roots around the hunk and themselves creating some sort of a rope, before however they lifted the gem filled arm they've used a part of the troll's second arm to secure the hunk with some sort of a lid. With the goal of their mission in their paws they were ready to return to Warfang.

They've began flapping their wings, rocks started to roll on the ground and dust hung in the air as the three drakes began to raise to the sky, the gem filled hunk proved to be more heavier than it looked. Groaning they've flapped their wings powerfully just to pass the most strenuous part of every weight lifting, After struggling with the heavy load they eventually lifted the hunk from the ground, with it in the air it was much easier to raise vertically upwards and through the destroyed ceiling.

As they gained the proper attitude they've turned around and made their way in the direction of Warfang. The three dragons flew in a triangle formation, with Volteer as the tip and two young dragons as opposite sides of the figure. The hunk dangled in the middle on long roots and arched itself forth when the drakes pushed forward. Their pace was slow, but at least they were moving in the direction they wanted to, accompanied by Sparx, and as he called it, his motivating comments which not helped but annoyed the dragons greatly.

It took them a while to leave the ashy terrain behind them, not only they've left the wrecked ground but also close a chapter in the history book of this Realms, the once glorious temple a symbol of draconic mentality which turned later into a symbol of Malefor's dominance was no more. With it all the bad and good memories were gone, starting from both young dragons birth to The Dark Master's rule just to end with the saving of the world. The course of time made a full circle, Spyro and Cynder were introduced to the world in that temple which brought unforeseen adventures with it soon later, just to push the world they knew into another era which once again was weaved in mystery.

" Let's stop here" Cynder panted when the first stream of clear water came into view

" You are tired?" Spyro asked quite shocked when he heard here weary voice, back in the days they could fight during the day and run during the night just to fight once again the next morning without even breaking a sweat

She swallowed hard " No silly, but just look at me" Cynder pointed at her snout with one of her claws " I can't return to Warfang looking like this" stripes of dried blood ran from her nose just to end on her mouth

" Gosh what's the difference" Sparx blurt out irritated " You are ugly anyway, nothing can be done here"

" I know but at least I want to get rid of the taste of my own blood from my mouth" She smiled and looked at Spyro " So, shall we?"

" A moment of respite will do us all good" Volteer added

Since the group reached an agreement the only thing left was to find a suitable spot to land. They've found a small clearing which could be easily seen from above, a spot of green grass with trees forming a circle around the greenish ground. The landing proved difficult, the blowing wind and the weight they carried that arched in every direction didn't make it any simpler, it was hard to maintain balance for the three drakes but slowly and steadily they were making their way down.

The descent was especially troublesome for Cynder, the adrenaline pumping through her veins during the battle was gone since long, now exhaustion too its place. Panting heavily Cynder flapped her wings with last ounces of strength, during this strenuous effort an idea crossed her mind. She could just stop, give her aching body some rest and just fold her wings, she would drag them down with her just like a rock tied to someone's ankle. Who cares if it would be a rough landing, they would reach the ground, is it really so important how they achieve their goal?

Cynder shook off this hideous thoughts, she is not the one who gives up easily, not to mention that she couldn't risk the health of her friends only because she hit the wall. After Cynder regained her balance the landing went smoothly, as soon the dragons paws touched the ground they've unstrapped the roots that held the heavy load, giving their back a moment of relief.

Panting heavily Cynder slowly freed herself from the burden she had to carry, she was unstrapping the artificial rope clumsily, barely able to catch some breath as she did so. As she kept fighting fiercely with the shackles that held her Cynder could see that Volteer already dropped the bonds that weight on him and was laying already on the greenish ground, relaxing. Spyro was also free, he was busy with talking with Sparx and the Electric Guardian, most likely about their present situation.

She didn't care about such things now, with the last shallow breath and groan the roots finally fell on the ground, crushing the grass below. Cynder had troubles standing on her paws, she swayed for a while before she eventually managed to regain balance, her weak legs barely could hold her feminine body, she could feel like they were just about to snap under her weight.

With her friends busy Cynder as quickly as she could plodded towards the nearby trees, lured by the sound of flowing water. As she kept trudging towards the river she could her between her rapid breaths the sound of snapping twigs, someone was following her and even without looking behind her shoulder she knew exactly who it was.

" Cynder!" Spyro shouted from behind her " Where are you going?"

" I've told you already…I…I need to…wash myself"

" Maybe you need some company?"

Cynder giggled weakly " As good as it may sound I think…that…that I can take care of it myself"

His cheeks adopted an intense red color when he repeated his words inside his head, the sentence sound a bit awkward to say the least " No, no, no, no…" he babbled quickly " I didn't mean…it's just that… I worry about you"

She caught a short breath " You always worry about me" Cynder panted and gave him a weak charming smile " Please Spyro, I need some privacy"

"But-"

" You can't leave Volteer with Sparx he needs…needs someone intelligent to talk to" she panted and grinned faintly.

Spyro was staring at her with concerned eyes, he could plainly see that she is tired, exhausted even and she is trying to hide it, even if she isn't doing a very good job at it. He didn't understand why is acting so mysteriously, he couldn't understand her stubbornness, however she is his friend, whatever is nagging her didn't get out of paw yet so he might as well respect her wish even if reluctantly. With that Spyro nodded and retreated back towards the clearing.

Cynder sighed in relief when his purple tail finally disappeared behind some bushes and trees, she didn't want to bring another problem on him, he has enough to worry about. Regaining his Time abilities and withstanding the constant adoration of people are not some trifle matters.

Soon she arrived near a crystal clear river, some colorful fish could be seen just below the surface of the water. Warfang's neighbouring lands have one thing in common, they are as beautiful as they are serene. Cynder collapsed near the riverbank, as she laid there on the ground her chest was moving up and down is fast motion, after a while she finally calmed her breath and was strong enough to carry on with her mission.

She looked at the water and could clearly see her own reflection, a streak of dried blood ran from her nose and towards her mouth. Cynder dipped her paw into the water and began cleaning the blood from her snout, she had to scrub her black scales to make the blood go away. As she kept cleaning herself she every now and then took a sip from the water to satisfy her growing thirst and as she did so she couldn't keep her eyes open.

Her eyelids were extremely heavy, the earlier fight and the two nightmares the previous nights left her drained, her body demanded sleep and oh how she wanted to give it what it wanted. She opened her eyes once again as she sprayed the water on her mouth not really caring whether she is already clean or not. Cynder jerked back just when she was about to dip her paw once again, either she imagined it or there was something below the surface of the water, whatever the thing was, it was gone now.

Cynder decided to ignore it, she might have been seeing things, after all she is tired beyond any imagination. She once again splashed some water on her snout, with her eyes closed she enjoyed the cooling effect of the water dripping down from her snout. Cynder took a deep breath and opened her eyes as she prepared to dip her paw once more, the moment her emerald gaze fixed itself on the water she gasped, a slim black shape darted to a side below the water's surface.

Cynder quickly jumped on all fours and narrowed her eyes on the swirling shape, it was swimming back and forth swiftly, her emerald orbs had troubles to catch up with it, and just when she thought to herself that this has to be some kind of strange fish that's not even worth bothering with the black shape stopped moving. A swirling black dot darkened the azure water, Cynder cautiously took some steps back, watching the dark dot intently.

She thrust her claws delicately into the earth below her reading herself for a confrontation. The black shape rose from the water vertically, it was a pitch-dark unsubstantial creature its body was covered in dust, it had the same build like the shadow creature she saw back in the cave some days ago. However this creature looked more like a living tentacle with the high of a meerkat than a warrior, it had no arms, ears or whatsoever, it was only a small slim shape protruding from the water, only a pair of white eyes observed the black dragoness. It didn't look scary or evil at all, why it was even quite cute.

Cynder eyed the creature with a shocked frown and her mouth slightly agape, she never seen anything like it, whatever the thing was it didn't seem too keen on attacking her, it just remained there above the surface of the water swaying slightly as it observed her.

" Ummm…Hi there little guy" Cynder greeted the creature awkwardly

It just stared at her with big innocent white eyes.

"What are you? Can you speak?" she asked

The shadowy creature tilted its body as if in confusion and emitted some kind of squealing sound. Even if she could clearly see that the creature had no mouth it was still worth a try, at least she managed to find out that the strange being is intelligent

" You understand me don't you? Just what are you exactly?" Cynder asked loudly and made a step forward to inspect the creature more closely

Seeing her advance the shadowy being squealed and lowered itself down into the water, only its eyes remained above the surface

" No, no, no, sorry I didn't mean to startle you" she tried to calm down the odd looking beast with a soft tone " My name is Cynder and I'm a friend"

It still remained in the same position

" I won't hurt you" she dropped on the riverbank and delicately rippled the water with her claw " Don't be afraid, you are safe"

Her words seemed to work on the critter, it looked more relaxed than just a couple of seconds ago, slightly more of the creature's body appeared above the surface of the water, just like it wanted to show her how it feels.

" That's the spirit" Cynder patted the beast on the back while smiling kindly " Can you come closer? She once again rippled the water, urging the critter to move.

The shadowy creature presented a little more of its body and moved a bit closer, however after a couple of seconds it stopped

" Come, come it's alright, no one is going to harm you, don't be afraid, you are amongst friends"

The creature deciding that she is worth thrusting darted towards the black dragoness and stopped just at her paw's reach

She extended her paw towards the beast " You are quite cute" however just when she was about to touch it her eyes shot wide open when the creature dived underwater

" Hey!" Cynder exclaimed before she craned her neck forward so her head was hanging directly above the water " Come back, I'm sorry I shouldn't have try to touch you" she stared at the water but nothing happened, just when she was about to give up a black dot appeared on the surface of the water which was getting bigger with each second.

Cynder smiled inwardly, the strange creature was coming back, this time she will play it differently, however her happiness didn't last long since instead of appearing on the surface the creature shot from the water. She only emitted a faint gasp when the beast wrapped itself around her neck and squeezed it tightly before it dragged her underwater. Bubbles were coming out of her mouth as she tried to scream while she thrashed just to release herself from the deadly grip. Cynder was gasping for breath in mere seconds, her lungs started to sting, black dots darkened her vision not to mention that she could feel that her neck was almost completely crushed.

The small treacherous creature somehow was dragging her down, Cynder with the last ounces of her fading life started to thrash violently, she kicked in every direction, spun underwater, flapped her wings ferociously, she even scratched the creature with her claws and as she did so a screeching sound could be heard. Cynder did everything she could to free herself and somehow it was working, instead of going down she was raising up, the dancing sun rays on the surface of the water above were enough motivation for her, with one last powerful push of her paws and wings she reached for the enthralling salvation.

Somehow she could breathe the moment she resurfaced, with a loud gasp for air Cynder started to scratch the strange creature around her neck, every time her claws run alongside its slim body the same as previously screeching sound could be heard, like the beast was made of metal. However the critter was far from defeated, it tried to drag her once again underwater but she fought relentlessly, her thrashing creating loud splashing sounds as she fought to remain above the water. Cynder groaned as she tried to pull off the creature from her neck but it didn't want to budge, no matter how hard she scratched and yanked the shadowy being, it just didn't want to move.

" Cynder! What are you doing?" a familiar male shout came from the riverbank

Her heart pounded faster, she knew it was Spyro and he appeared just in time, with his help she will definitely get rid of the creature. She turned around in the water just to be able to see him, he was staring at her with a dumbfounded expression, it seems he was also shocked by the sight before him. Cynder kept scratching the beast but as previously it didn't want to budge " Get this thing off of me!" she groaned as she gave the critter another pull

" I thought that you like that choker"

"Wha-" she mumbled and impulsively blinked, he was still there staring at her, but this time he might have a bigger confusion plastered on his snout than before, however that was not the most crucial thing that changed. Cynder could no longer feel the creature, she looked down just to see her paws on the silver choker on her neck, with one of her forelegs she scratched the necklace while with the other she tried to pull it off. Cynder in utter confusion started to turn around splashing the water in every direction as she did so, to her surprise there was no sign of the creature. It was gone.

" Cynder are you sure nothing is wrong?" Spyro asked with a concerned voice " You sure you don't want to talk about it?"

She balked at the sound of his voice, even if she wanted to tell him about it she wouldn't even know how to start, after all it's not like she understands what is happening. Cynder decided to play stupid " Come on silly" she chuckled nervously " Couldn't you see that I was fooling around?"

" That didn't look as fooling around to me"

" What else can it be? I wanted to clean myself, and do you know any better why to do that than jump into a water? I've decided to go for a swim, can you blame me that I wanted to pass the time somehow? There is no better way to do that than to play if you ask me, wanna join me?" Cynder asked uneasily

" I'm sorry Cynder but we can't lose any more time, we have lingered here long enough" Spyro replied bluntly

" What are you talking about? It's not like I've been here for hours"

" Actually you've been here for three hours, the first time I came here I saw you sleeping on the riverbank so I thought that you deserved some rest after that battle. I would let you sleep longer but Volteer said that time is of the essence so here I am"

" I fell asleep?" Cynder asked perplexed

" Yep, you were really tired Cynder you could barely walk and now look at yourself, that had to be some really special nap" Spyro smiled

" You have no idea" she muttered under her breath. He had no reason to lie to her, it seemed that she drifted away while she was washing herself. That would be the only logical explanation for her unexpected encounter, of course if there is a logical explanation for a tentacle-like creature trying to choke her. Cynder decided to leave it be, there is no sense to dwell on it now, she had more pressing matters on her head right now, the strange dreams can be figured out later.

" Let's get moving" she stated confidently

Spyro nodded in agreement and waited for her as she pulled herself out of the water. The moment both dragons have reunited they've made their way back to the clearing. As they've been walking Cynder looked behind her shoulder, just to check if the creature is there, it wasn't.

"Finally" Sparx exhaled gratefully when both young dragons came into view " What took you so long?" he asked indignantly and pointed one of his fingers at Volteer accusingly "I can barely stand the guy, he never shuts up"

Cynder rolled her eyes " Look who's talking"

" Point taken, but you have to admit that at least I make some sense"

She laughed heartily " You made my day"

Sparx frowned and folded his arms " Shut up"

Volteer approached the three friends " I don't want to disparage this rapturous state of mind but we must make haste, the reclamation of your talent Spyro is receding with each passing second"

Reaching a common agreement the three dragons once again wrapped the roots around themselves and once again they lifted the heavy load from the ground. Cynder had more strength in her this time, that special nap as Spyro called it helped her a bit. She couldn't tell if the sleep itself had anything to do with it but she was quite sure that the life threating experience gave her a new lease of life.

With the crystals in the air the group dragged the heavy hunk towards Warfang, not even Volteer knew when the crystals will lose their special properties but this was no time to be taking risks, they had to reach Warfang as soon as possible. From this moment forth their journey was a quick and an uneventful one, only the grunts of struggle broke the silence.

After a while of calm flight the thick walls of the Dragon City came into view, that sight roused some additional strength in the dragons as they pushed harder than before just to reach its walls as fast as possible. The guards had already spotted them since the whole city was bustling with activity, as they flew over the walls and the many buildings the crowd of people greeted them from below, even from here the group of friends could see curiosity plastered on their faces, after all the sight of three dragons carrying a huge hunk of crystals is not a day to day experience.

They've landed in the courtyard of the City Hall, the moment the heavy trolls' arm was placed delicately onto the ground, both young dragons following Volteer's lead positioned themselves in front of the hunk. With the three dragons in position they began dragging the hunk towards the massive adorned doors which led to the City Hall. The Electric Guardian's excitement grew with each step they made, it grew and grew almost to the pint when it radiated of him.

When the sound of the opening doors echoed throughout the interior of the City Hall both Terrador and Cyril rose their heads from the papers sprawled on the top of the table which they were reading diligently. Both Guardians weren't really keen to welcome Volteer back and question him since they both knew that the Electric Guardian will tell them about everything, in great detail of course. However they couldn't hide their confusion when they noticed a big hunk being dragged across the room.

Terrador rose from behind the table and made his way towards the approaching group, eyeing intently the heavy load they carried with them " Why did you bring a troll's arm here?" he asked with his baritone voice

Before any of the dragons could answer him Sparx interjected, he appeared from behind the hunk and hovered in front of the Earth Guardian " This is a really special troll's arm, which we were able to get thanks to my amazing skills and intelligence, not that I'm bragging or anything. I'm just that good"

" Fascinating" the Earth Guardian replied without any emotion before he focused on the group once again " Volteer can you kindly explain for what do you need this special troll's arm?"

" Haste is required, we will converse later" the Electric Guardian replied with palpable excitement

Cyril's eyes shot wide open " Did I hear correctly? You actually want to talk LATER?" the third Guardian asked using a tone of voice that was full of scorn and amusement

" Correct"

" Someone pinch me" the Ice Guardian cackled

There was no other response from the group as they were entirely focused on the task at hand, this effort required all of their strength which they just couldn't waste on conversation. Seeing their commitment Terrador didn't ask any more questions, he bottled up his curiosity until the group entered the Guardian's Quarters and two young dragons emerged from within its walls soon after.

" Spyro…?" Terrador prolonged his name meaningfully

The purple dragon swallowed and took a deep breath " Volteer needs some time to prepare everything"

" Prepare what exactly?"

" The hunk we dragged in here? It's filled with pure Spirit Gems. Before you ask…" Spyro cut off Terrador just when he was about to speak "…this gems are quite fragile, they get tainted after a while, meaning they can no longer wake up dormant powers of dragons, like my Time ability for example"

" That's not everything" Cynder added " With the help of these gems Spyro will most likely be able to detect the veils that were created after he healed the world"

Terrador tilted his head " Veils?"

" Something like holes in the air that lead to another day, month or year, no big deal really" she winked

" I can't believe it" Cyril exhaled incredulously " The old babbler was right after all"

" As much as the time jumping seems to be somewhat exciting I don't like the sound of it" The Earth Guardian retorted with the caution of an experienced soldier

They have been talking, sharing their thoughts and feelings about the recent events and what the future may hold for them until the sound of Volteer's excited voice called them from the Guardians Quarters. Impulsively they made their way into the library, the draconic instinct didn't let them down, they have found the Electric Guardian where they've expected him to be.

The library looked quite different than before, the bookshelves that once stood in the center of the room were now nicely aligned on the walls, the red carpet that once covered the floor was folded and tossed into a corner, not to mention the wooden floor itself, boards and nails were scattered around the room just like somebody would tear them off from the ground on purpose. A big shimmering blue circle was now in the middle of the room, in the center of that circle wan another smaller one from which many glowing tendrils protruded and connected themselves with the inner ring of the bigger circle. Even from here the dragons could feel the power emanating from the strange mosaic.

" What's that Volteer?" Terrador asked while staring at the Electric Guardian's creation

" Dazzling is it not?" Volteer replied with a happy tone " Basing on Spyro's tale about The Chronicler and his inexplicable restoration of dormant potential I've devised this spectacular Focusing Ring. In the place of the abolished and superfluous floor I've imbedded segments of the gems we retrieved from the cave and forged a point of focus where all the potential of the crystals will accrue. Fundamentally this concept is like a substantial gem cluster, as we conceive our kind is able to ingurgitate only single crystals, that's why it's crucial to fragmentize them. If dragons could correlate with whole clusters of Spirit Gems that would prompt to a situation where-"

" Get to the point Volteer" Cyril hissed irritated

" Yes, naturally, Spyro please stand in the middle of the smaller ring and we will proceed."

Spyro did what he was told, as he approached the circle he kept thinking about Malefor and his essence trapped within these shattered crystals. As he kept walking he noticed that Cynder was sharing his worries, her concerned emerald eyes followed him as he walked towards the circle. With one deep breath he stopped in the middle of the smaller ring, it may be his only chance to recover his lost ability.

" Whenever you are ready Spyro" Volteer said.

Spyro knew what is required of him, this circle reminded him of the ones that The Chronicler created in his dreamworld. He needs only to focus on the gems, just like he would be absorbing a single crystal, however this time thanks to the specially designed mosaic all of the crystals gathered in the room will join with his body at the same time. Another deep breath, well here goes nothing.

Spyro concentrated and soon the whole mosaic began to glow with a blue light that was becoming more intense with each passing second. The whole library was covered in a blue gleam instantly, the intense blue light illuminated the bigger circle and was now moving through the tendrils, behaving like some kind of spark every now and then. In mere moments the shimmer entered the smaller ring, when that happened a column of blue light surrounded Spyro which ended on the ceiling above.

He was lifted in the air while he was in the gleaming prison, as he hovered above the ground Spyro could feel as the gems were making their way through his body, fueling him with their essence and magical energy. It felt like thousands suns passing though his body, the feeling died down and he landed on the floor with shaking paws. Spyro swayed slightly while the world kept spinning around and his head pounded, the awkward feeling of his insides turned upside down was gone after a while, another sensation appeared in the place of the vertigo, one that he was familiar with but quite forgotten. He knew what it was-Time.

" Spyro is our experiment a success?" Volteer asked barely able to contain his excitement

Spyro smiled " I'll show you" with that he channeled his time powers.

Everything slowed down, every noise disappeared, everything seemed to be still, just like something would steal the life from the entire world and cast it into the realm of black and white,. Only on closer inspection one could see Cynder's head slowly turning, Volteer's tongue moving as it tries to form another word, Sparx slowly flapping wings or the Guardians lazily changing grimaces.

Spyro was the only one who moved freely in this timeshift, he left the circle and made his way in front of his brother, he stopped right in front of his nose and halted his little trick. The moment everything returned to normal the first thing that was heard was Sparx's terrified yelp, in sock the dragonfly shot backwards quite some distance away. Spyro only laughed

" You think that's funny?!" Sparx exclaimed angrily " I've almost had an heart attack!"

" Spyro please, please do it again" Cynder begged him in a childish and sarcastic manner

" Our goal is achieved!" Volteer exclaimed loudly " Further tests and observations are required, come" with that he darted through the door.

Everyone in the library threw confused looks between themselves, but seeing that Volteer was right about everything regarding the strange unexplained occurrences it was not the time to doubt him now. With a shrug they followed the Electric Guardian outside.

The moment they left the City Hall the group immediately took to the sky and in silence followed Volteer's quick pace, wondering what's the amber dragon up to now. They have flown only for a short while, leaving some buildings and wider streets behind them just to land in a pretty secluded alley at this time of the day. Nothing interesting was here, just some walls, statues and lanterns. The Electric Guardian landed with the same verve as he had when he took to the sky, the group that followed him reached the ground soon after.

As their claws clicked on the marble road Volteer immediately spun around " Does your eyes perceive something unprecedented Spyro?"

He looked around, there was nothing here that could be accounted as unusual " Sorry Volteer but I can't see anything. I don't even know what I'm looking for"

" In this part of Warfang Brill made his inexplicable appearance. One of the Veils must be here"

" Even if that is the truth I don't know how can I locate it, it might not be here anymore."

" The potential of aggregation is depreciated" Volteer replied with growing anticipation in his voice

Spyro understood his hint, he want him to try so he might as well do what is expected of him, it's not like he has anything to lose anyway. He once again began to look around, there was nothing there, he inhaled deeply, closed his eyes and concentrated. After exhaling the accumulated air he opened his eyes and began to turn his head around again, as far as he could tell nothing changed. He repeated the same move two more times but those attempts also didn't bear fruit.

Spyro began to move around the alley desperately looking for that itch that announced a hole in the world is nearby, nothing like that seemed to be here. He began swaying his tail slowly just to cover more space, and it was then when he felt a small itch on his purple scales. Spyro instantly spun around forcing a slight gasp from his friends, he impulsively began moving his paw back and forth in the air, directly in the place where he felt that itch. As he moved his paw to the right side he felt a slight tug on his claws, he moved his paw to the opposite side, another tug, another side- tug, once again to the left-tug. He withdrew his paw and clenched his fist, there was something there, weak but still there.

Spyro took a short breath and extended his foreleg while also unclenching his fist and concentrating, his eyes shot wide open when the air in front of him rippled slightly, just like he would dip his claws into the water. Only three of his claws managed to pierce the weak barrier, he began clenching and unclenching his fist, moving his claws and paw in every possible direction and as he did so he created small ripples in the air just like he would be rippling the water.

" Can you see this?" Spyro whispered in shock

" Spectacular discovery!" Volteer roared loudly " Spyro I believe that you can not only sense the Veils but somehow also be able to manipulate them"

" Manipulate them?" Terrador repeated his last words cautiously

The Electric Guardian began making circles " I presume that it is attainable to transform the Veils into some kind of doors, a gateway between two equivalent universes but in a comprehensively separate day or even age!"

Cynder scratched her choker thoughtfully " You want to say that-"

" Damn, it's gone" Spyro interjected " I think I've depleted it"

She once again focused on the amber dragon " You want to say that it is possible for us to jump in time?"

" Precisely!" Volteer replied almost feverishly

" So everyone on the other side of the mirror can pass through this portal whenever they wish to?" Cyril asked

" It's too early to state any facts, more investigation in this matter is required, but I believe it is possible"

" And that is what worries me the most " Terrador added while throwing an alarmed glance at the place where the Veil was previously.

* * *

Spyro stood on the balcony of his room, his eyes were jumping from Warfang and the stretching world in the distance and as he observed the scenery he couldn't help it but wonder when things got so complicated. A day before yesterday he was happily living with his parents in his house in the Swamps, day after he defeated The Dark Master with Cynder and saved the world, and when he thought it was finally over today he learned that healing the world had its consequences. This time however there is no one who can tell him about the strange occurrences he is about to face, the unknown terrified him and the feeling of dread only intensified the feeling."

" Big, huh? Sparx appeared next to Spyro

He sighed " Tell me about it"

" And here when I thought that we will finally rest, bam! We are back in business"

" This is different, we don't know what we are up against and it scares the hell out of me"

Sparx patted his shoulder " Bro relax, it's not our first rodeo"

Spyro threw his brother an surprised look " Aren't you worried at all? It might change the world we know entirely"

The dragonfly shrugged " Nope, and honestly I've expected something will turn up eventually, bro face it, you are a magnet for troubles but luckily for you I will be around to assist you with my above average intelligence"

Spyro chuckled " I don't doubt that" his smile vanished the moment he looked at the horizon

" Mystery is as appalling as it is thrilling" Volteer added as he landed on the balcony next to the brothers

" I think we would get along without it just fine"

"There are things known and things unknown and in between are the doors to perception"

Spyro sighed and smiled weakly " It seems we will have to wait and see what I've created"

Volteer smiled " A realm which I deemed was latent"

Hey, hey, hey!" Sparx protested " Remember that some of us are normal and can't understand you. So care to explain what did you create?"

Spyro exchanged smiles with Volteer before he looked at the horizon, lost in thought

" A new world"

End of Book I


	19. Chapter 1 Book II

The Legend of Spyro: Path of Delusions

Book II: No rest for the wicked

Chapter 1

The flipping of the pages eventually stopped at a blank page and the moment it happened the yellow light grew darker as the book was slowly leaving its embrace. There was a sharp tug that ruffled the pages as the book returned under the yellow light, with another flip the beautiful text revealed itself indicating that whatever has started is not about to end just yet.

* * *

_A room where nothing is what it seems, where different landscapes were visible through the many tightly locked windows, where one of the windows showed a city built at the bottom of the mountain while the other kept the empty black void at bay. A room where almost every item looked out of place, items that at first glance where motionless however such revelations are impossible in a room full of paradoxes, what never moves is never still after all._

_A room where only a single pair of doors allowed entrance to the eerie real outside which was surrounded by an empty space with small pieces of rocks hovering in the air, . A single marble bridge ran from the doorstep and into the void leading nowhere else but into nothingness. A single grayish-light blue dragon stood amongst this unnatural scenery entirely focused on the huge tome sprawled on one of the pedestals._

* * *

" _The power bestowed upon the race of the dragon kin is beyond any creature's understanding, Our Ancestors, our Creators they say, granted us that boon, a boon that is capable to twist and shape the reality in ways perhaps that it should never have been molded. We should ask ourselves, if there is a power that can change the entire perception of the current era should it be wielded so carelessly by mortal creatures? Should the power of divine beings be grasped only because it's within a hands reach?"_

" _These questions are simply overthrown by the current denizens of this era, because only the purple scaled serpents can wield such power, it means that they have been chosen by the Ancestors themselves. Even if that is the truth we tend to forget that such individuals are fighting not with weapon wielding enemies but themselves. The eternal dispute between ones heart and mind leads mostly to an unexpected outcomes, mortal creatures are prone to mistakes, with such power in one's blood these mistakes cannot be corrected. This forces us to contemplate once more, bestowing such a gift upon creatures that may have a false understanding between what is good and bad is some sort of a test? Or perhaps the Divine beings deemed worthy the mortal creatures of such power? Or perhaps the Ancestors had nothing to do with it in the first place?"_

" _The gift of manipulating the particles the world is created from is no small feat that can be trifled with. One can only wonder if meddling with the spine of every life's existence has any consequences. For some Time is the beginning and the end, a road connecting one point to the other, some imagine it as a waterfall from which you keep falling and falling until you crash on the rocks below, some picture it as a jump down a deep chasm. It is something uncontrollable, something that is unchangeable. That is the most popular assumption, but what if we could be able to drop a tree onto such road and block it? What if we could halt the flow of water by placing a huge boulder on its path? What if we could tie a rope around our waist before jumping into the chasm? Some individuals are capable of such things, so if they can alter or completely avert the presumably unchangeable current can it still be called Time?"_

" _If death is considered as the end of one's Time, as the final destination, as the unavoidable fate of every living creature, as the eternal rest, knowing what we know now can we say with absolute resolute that Time is really the end? As we already know, using or placing trust in the power of life, power which nobody is capable to fully comprehend is a dangerous thing to do, even if we used that power unintentionally" _

"_Meddling with Time may have unforeseen consequences, what if the purple scaled drakes could not only stop but also reverse the eternal flow and bring back a past era with all its horrors? Are the current inhabitants prepared for such an outcome? I ask again: if death is considered to be the end and we bring a person who already reached that line back without using any restoration magic can we really say that Time is the end of the line?"_

"_What then is Time? If no one asks me, I know what it is. If I wish to explain it to him who asks, I do not know"_

_ Excerpt from the Book of Time  
Legacy of the Ancestors_

* * *

" She tried to cook me!" a terrified dragon's scream filled the entire Mess Hall as soon as the tail of a female cheetah disappeared back into the kitchen.

Momentarily the whole room burst out laughing from another victim of Sparx mischief

" One day they are going to throw you into a pot themselves" Spyro stated smiling

Sparx shrugged " What for? I do it to teach people a lesson, same thing was with you"

" Yeah? And just what did you try to teach me?"

" That my jokes are always funny"

Spyro chuckled " I wonder what that guy did to offend you"

Sparx snorted " Can you imagine that he said that I'm not much of a help and just get in the way?". There was a moment of silence after his words " Something is wrong" he turned his head and saw Cynder sitting on the opposite side of the table with her head hanging low, snoring softly

" That explains everything"

Spyro arched an eyebrow " Is she sleeping?"

The dragonfly whistled loudly, Cynder snapped out from her sleep, she squealed gently and balked instantly at the shrill sound.

Sparx grinned " Nope, she's not"

Spyro threw his brother a scoldful look before he concentrated on his female friend " Cynder is everything ok? He asked tenderly

" Yeah" she muttered while rubbing one of her tired eyes with her paw " I just didn't get enough sleep" she yawned

The dragonfly snapped his fingers " You know what would wake you up? A hot soup"

" I'm not going into that kitchen" she retorted firmly

Sparx threw a blueberry into the air and positioned himself just below the fruit so it fell directly into his opened mouth " Suit yourself" he munched the sweet fruit

" Cynder when you will finally tell me what's going on?" Spyro asked but this time without any hint of tenderness in his voice

Her eyes flared up at the sound of his tone " And just how many times do I have to tell you that nothing is wrong?"

" I'm just worried about you"

" You are always worried about me, just give it a rest"

" If you could just tell me what's wrong then maybe-"

" Stop, just stop" she hissed cutting him off while rubbing her forehead " I didn't sleep well, that's everything, it won't happen again" she winced and began massaging her shoulder

Spyro stared at her, whatever is that she's hiding can't be any good, he wasn't angry at her for lying to him, Spyro knew her well enough, if she has a reason to deceive him it has to be a solid one. For now he decided to keep an eye on her and wait for the right moment to act

" Nothing makes a day better like a friendly talk in the morning" Sparx said sarcastically while munching another portion of his breakfast

" Nothing is better than to get something of your chest during a breakfast with your friends" Hunter who was sitting next to them in his worker's outfit retorted while eying Cynder intently

She understood the hint precisely however she decided to play dumb and gave the cheetah a fake warm smile " Hunter how is Warfang? Still a lot work ahead of you?" Cynder quickly changed the subject

The feline kept staring at her " Warfang is faring better, however the city is vast, it has secrets that we need to uncover, it would be better for all of us" as the cheetah spoke he put emphasis on _secrets_

She narrowed her eyes on him, she understood perfectly the meaning of his words and he knew it " Vast cities are complicated and that's why they have secrets, to make our life easier. If we will relentlessly pursue that knowledge we might find something that we really didn't want to find"

" We are the citizens of Warfang, it's our duty to help the city to reveal its secrets even if dangerous ones because only together we can face every trouble"

His words pushed the right button, Cynder averted her gaze and began to think if she is doing the right thing by deceiving Spyro " Warfang's duty is to protect the citizens and as every protector the city tries to keep everyone out of harm's way and cope with the problems alone. I think that Warfang will reveal its secrets if it will be necessary" she gave the feline a meaningful look

After a moment of consideration Hunter nodded slightly " As citizens of this city we have to respect its wishes"

" Sorry guys but I think you treat Warfang a bit too personally" Spyro replied cluelessly

Both of them gave the purple dragon amused glances before they looked at each other again, the moment their eyes met they both laughed

Spyro jerked back slightly " What did I say?"

Hunter chuckled " Nothing my friend, don't bother yourself with it"

He threw quick glances between the cheetah and the black dragoness, after a while he shrugged and continued eating his breakfast

" Tell me, what do you think about the recent events? The Guardians didn't want to say much, but I could tell they were worried, at least the two of them were" the cheetah put a piece of some meat into his mouth

" It scared me at first if I have to be honest, but I gave it some thought while in bed and I think that we are overreacting, I mean If somebody is lucky and manages to jump through a portal into our time is it really a bad thing? We know now that the veils don't last long, the one Brill came through is gone now so if a bad guy comes through a portal he won't be able to pull his friends with him. Besides we don't even know how many veils are out there, what if only two of them appeared? One is gone already" Spyro replied

" Dude seriously" Sparx interjected "Find a room, we can't sleep together, you are creeping me out"

One of the cheetah's ears flatted on his skull " The Guardians seem to think otherwise"

The purple dragon furrowed a brow " How so?"

Hunter took a sip of water from his mug " The venerable dragons requested that I've sent my falcons to the nearby villages and cities for news of any unusual sightings, the recent events put them on edge, only Volteer seemed to be calm"

" When that happened?"

" Yesterday, Terrador called for me and asked for my assistance, I think some of the birds should be returning today"

Spyro blinked in concern " This can't be good, if Terrador thinks that something is out of place then I was wrong and we might have more troubles then we thought"

" He isn't infallible you know" Cynder added

" He is a veteran, he can smell trouble, tell me when was the last time his instinct has failed him?"

She scratched her choker thoughtfully " Ok I don't remember" she saw Spyro opening his mouth " But that doesn't mean anything!" she cut him off

" Yeah bro, listen to Sleepy head" Sparx pointed a finger at Cynder" She's not very bright but sometimes and I mean sometimes she is right"

She nodded her head towards the dragonfly " Remember bro that Fifth Wheel is stupid I mean always stupid but sometimes he is right"

" Yeah, maybe you are right" Spyro muttered

Both the dragonfly and the black dragoness jerked back with a frown on their faces " Thanks a lot" they blurt out indignantly at the same time

His eyes grew wider when realization struck him " No, no" he blurt out " That's not what I've meant" Spyro muttered quickly

Hunter just chuckled and shook his head before taking another sip of the fresh water

* * *

Quiet murmurs could be heard all around Warfang's streets, rumors spread like fire it seems, as they walked down the marble roads they could tell that people were worried, curious or even excited. Some of the words reached their ears as they walked, some were making sense and were almost accurate like they knew exactly what is happening, some however were completely misguided, they could only wonder if imaginations of a mind has any bounds. Even if they wouldn't hear the words they could tell that people smelled something is going on since as they ambled through the streets the inhabitants threw them quick curious glances, when they wanted to look at the gossipers they quickly averted their gazes and pretended like nothing ever happened.

It seems that people didn't know or didn't care that some stones are better left unturned, ignorance is bliss they say. The three friends knew better however, and the inhabitants seemed to feel it, none of them dared to approach them to satisfy their curiosity fully for which they were very glad they don't know what exactly is happening yet themselves, spreading uncertain news would only sow panic. As they were slowly returning to the City Hall to meet Hunter and the Guardians and wait in anticipation for the news from the nearby settlements, Cynder unexpectedly took a turn near the now familiar fountain and directed her friends towards the building with a shape of an empty bed carved just above its entrance.

The hospital wasn't empty this time, it wasn't crowded either but there were some patients in the main hall waiting for their turn to get patched up, cheetahs and moles were the only species inside the building. The reconstruction of Warfang like any other worksite sometimes punishes the most unfortunate ones, accidents happen after all. The injuries that the workers filling the room suffered were nothing serious, a bloody scratch here, a minor laceration there, nothing that a simple treatment can't handle. It wasn't surprising that no dragon was present in the room, the draconic kind had the natural ability of regeneration so it was pointless to visit the hospital and drain its valuable supplies when time takes care of any minor wound on dragon scales.

Some of the desks were occupied by mole and cheetah nurses, every single one of them was quite busy. Patients waited in lines for their turn to be treated, the ones who already received help were leaving the hospital with bandages covering injured parts of their bodies. Since the wounds weren't drastic, bandages were in high demand, only when the injury happened in a uncomfortable place the patient was offered a poultice to speed up the healing process. Even if Cynder could find the thing she was looking for here she led her friends, much to their surprise towards the once used corridor and knocked on the familiar door.

" Come in!" a familiar female kind shout came from within

Cynder opened the door and saw the female cheetah doctor arranging the frame of the only painting in her office " Hi Amela!" she exclaimed a happy greeting

The cheetah averted her gaze from the painting and looked at the black dragoness with a warm smile on her face " Hello Sweetheart it's good to see you alright, how is your head?"

" The wound healed, thank you, that paste or whatever it was made wonders"

The feline nodded smiling " I'm glad"

" Hi Amela!" Spyro's joyful shout came from the corridor

The cheetah leaned a bit to see behind the black dragoness and waved her paw in a greeting manner the moment she spotted him behind the opened doors, the kind smile never disappearing from her face " Oh, hello Darling!"

Cynder frowned and tilted her head slightly at the sound of his voice, with that she forthrightly slammed the door shut with her tail, much to the surprise of the doctor and Spyro himself " He won't be joining us, he is afraid of needles, the last time he was here he almost fainted, you know how it is" she gave the feline a sarcastic smile

She folded her arms and narrowed her eyes on the black dragoness " I see, phobias are not to be trifled with" she responded with the same sarcastic tone and made her way behind the desk " What's on your mind Sweetheart?" she asked the moment she sat on the chair while placing her chin on her crossed fingers

" I need some sleeping pills"

The cheetahs ears flinched" Sleeping pills you say? You can get those easily from the nurses at the main hall, why come to me?"

Cynder scratched her choker " Umm… I need some really strong pills, ones that would knock me out off my paws"

"Why?"

She cleared her throat " Why? I can't sleep obviously"

Amela straightened in her chair " Sweetheart the medicine you are asking for is not a one that I would give away freely, we use it to put a patient into sleep during operation, I just can't give them to you because you ask for them, it might be dangerous"

She looked at the cheetah with pleading eyes " Please Amela I really need them"

The cheetah's brown eyes shone with sincere concern " I believe you came to me for a reason and the pills you are asking for are only a secondary problem. Am I right?"

Cynder lowered her head, she came to the feline not only for the pills but also to find someone to talk to, she didn't want to drag Spyro into this, not yet however. Bottling things up might only make the whole situation worse and since Amela can keep a secret and understand her without words, she was the first and only person in the whole city she could turn to.

" Yes" Cynder whispered

Amela stood up and patted the sheets of the bed in her office " Sit we will talk"

She slowly made her way towards the bed and sat on it. Awkwardness and uncertainty filled her entire being, both sensations forced her to bit her lower lip " I…I don't know how to start" she muttered nervously

Amela smiled kindly " I'll help you get through this" with that she pulled the chair positioning it in front of the black dragoness, the cheetah sat and leaned against its backrest " Before we start Sweetheart I want you to relax"

"O…ok" Cynder wriggled her shoulders

" This is not an interrogation, I want you to understand that"

" Of course I know that!" she giggled nervously before clearing her throat " I mean, you are the only person excluding Spyro of course, that didn't try to kill me, maim me, beat me or insult me on sight. Amela sorry for my nervousness but I'm not used to talk to other people so openly, Spyro is the only one who ever listened and trusted me"

The cheetah's eyes glowed with sincere concern " That's horrible Sweetheart! I'm so sorry"

" Don't be, this is my penance for all the awful things I've done, I can handle it"

" That's a sweet delusion but unfortunately we all crave for acceptance be it a guilt filled person or a father of two children. Despite our differences that one weakness we all have in common, in your case Sweetheart it will come easier if only you just let the past where it belongs and move forward, the guilt will kill you"

Cynder sighed with her head hanging low " If it were only that simple"

Amela smiled kindly " Oh Dear, nobody said life is easy"

She raised her head and arched an eyebrow as she looked at the female cheetah " There is something I need to tell you I…" her voice trailed off as she was lost for words, Cynder began scratching her choker nervously " I don't know how to explain this but something directed me to this room, I feel strangely umm attracted to you" she bit her lower lip

Amela's ears flinched, she seemed startled " How so?"

" I…I can't really explain this, somehow I know you or, or maybe I don't and only think that you understand me or maybe I know that you are the only one who can help me. Something deep, deep inside tells me that maybe…" Cynder sighed " I don't know, forget that I said anything. It has to be kinda creepy anyway to know that a murderer is interested in you" she emitted a stifled giggle

" Firstly, you are no murderer, secondly, your interest isn't troubling me at all, in fact I'm quite flattered, in my age it's really difficult to experience any kind of attraction"

Bothe females began to laugh heartily, it was something new for Cynder, it was a very pleasant feeling to laugh with someone outside of her limited group of friends. Cynder was filled with that awkward feeling, just like she just found something she has been looking for a very long time.

Cynder coughed and calmed herself " Tell me Amela, have we met?"

"No" the cheetah responded quickly with a raspy voice before she cleared her throat " No Sweetheart, when you visited me with Spyro some days ago it was the first time I laid eyes on you"

" Oh well" Cynder shrugged " Just an another argument that I'm crazy. Nothing to worry about " she replied with her typical cheerful sarcastic tone

The cheetah narrowed her cunning eyes " Another one? Perhaps you'd be willing to tell me about the first one?"

Cynder winced as she realized that she said one word too much " Umm… there is nothing to talk about really"

" Remember Sweetheart that you came here looking for help. I won't be able to assist you if you won't tell me what's going on"

She sighed, the healer was right, hiding the truth makes no sense, she is already here after all " I have nightmares Amela and not the ones that wake you up in the middle of the night so you might forget about them and fall asleep again. The ones I have feel really and I mean really real, just like I would be looking through somebody's else eyes…my eyes" her voice trailed off

Amela leaned closer " Keep going Sweetheart"

" I kill people there, lots and lots of people. I watch them die by my paws and that's not the worst thing, when I wake up my muscles are sore. I can taste their flesh and blood inside my mouth, it's horrible."

" Don't take other people words to you heart, you already feel guilty, don't let them mess with your head"

Cynder took a deep breath " That was my first thought, that I'm too hard on myself, but when I think of it I've always felt guilty from the moment Spyro saved my life I blamed myself for everything and from that moment forth people constantly taunted me but I've never had bad dreams about it, at least not ones from which I couldn't wake up. I think it's something else, I think that I'm seeing glimpses of my past… I think that I'm beginning to remember things and it really scares me"

Amela kept observing the dragoness with concerned eyes " Don't think about your past, you are not the same Cynder that you were under Malefor's cruel paw. Even if the dreams feel real they are still only dreams, don't forget that."

" I've tried, I really tried to ignore it but I just can't" Cynder sighed in defeat and swallowed " Whenever I'm dreaming I feel…happy, I just love to watch the eyes of my enemies when I rip their throats, I can't stop smiling when I butcher all of the village's inhabitants. Who the hell does something like that? It's creeping me out, I just can't stop but to think that I've never been corrupted in the first place, it was me back then, not Malefor's influence, and now my memories are returning after when Spyro put me into an amnesia" she said with palpable fear in her voice

Amela snapped her fingers unexpectedly which forced a startled gasp from the dragoness" Enough!" the cheetah admonished her " You are no the Cynder from your dreams, no amnesia is capable of blocking completely a person's personality. Believe me, I've been walking this world for many years and I never met anyone like that"

Amela's expression once again changed to that of a caring mother " Sweetheart you have a good heart, don't let anyone else tell you otherwise. An evil dragon wouldn't be capable of showing such care for your friends, amnesia taints one's mind but not soul"

Cynder sobbed and a tear feel down from her emerald orb, she quickly rubbed her eyes " Look what you have done" she emitted a sobbing giggle " I'm crying like a little baby"

The cheetah hugged the dragoness " There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love" she whispered tenderly " As you can see Sweetheart there is absolutely no possibility that you could be dragoness you were out of your own free will"

The cheetah's words lifted Cynder's spirit up " And I wanted to avoid you when Spyro dragged me here" she laughed " Look just how stupid someone can be"

Amela broke their embrace and giggled " I don't blame you, just look at me, I'm not the most healthy and good looking cheetah here"

Once again both females laughed heartily

" I don't want to bore you " Cynder said after a while " but since we are on a streak can I tell the rest of my story?"

Amela smiled kindly " Sweetheart that's why I'm here for"

" Here goes" the dragoness took a deep breath " Nightmares are terrifying but the thing that happens just when I'm about to wake up or after I open my eyes is even more so. Every time I dream there is that dragon there, he…"

She swallowed "…he looks like Spyro but his body is completely torn, his scales are ripped apart and bleeding wounds cover his entire flesh. However his eyes are different, instead of his amethyst ones the Spyro in my dreams has brown eyes" she rubbed her neck and swallowed once again " Whe…whenever my nightmare is about to end he is there and every single time he reaches for my throat with his teeth, that's when I wake up"

Amela leaned back in the chair and crossed her fingers on her stomach " I believe that this is no coincidence that you see someone very close to you, I think that ghosts of the past haunt you, not literally of course, a guilty heart can play tricks on you. As every living creature we have a conscience and you Sweetheart are putting your own constantly to a test, that's why I believe that it takes the form of Spyro to taunt you, remind you of your wrongdoings."

The cheetah scratched her ear thoughtfully " The devils is in the details" she muttered to herself before clapping her hands " I know! Sweetheart focus and tell me, in your dreams was there a dragon who swore vengeance upon you? Brown eyes will be his identification mark"

Cynder scratched her choker, her mind traveling back, sorting through every dream she had looking for the dragon the healer mentioned. After a moment of silent concentration Cynder's eyes shot wide open.

" There was a dragon like the one you mentioned in one of my nightmares. I remember that I've ordered my men to slaughter an entire village, during that attack I've met him, he was barely alive guarding his fallen mate. Before he made a last attempt to strike me down which turned out to be a suicide in fact he cursed me, like you said he swore vengeance. Not…not to mention that I also butchered his son later that night" Cynder shivered

Amela nodded sullenly " That explains everything, we as a mortal and emotional creatures tend to think about the past, our deeds and the like. Sometimes involuntary we rub salt into a wound that we would want healed, it's especially uncomfortable when our contemplation triggers guilt, depression or sadness, as in your case Sweetheart"

She offered a kind smile " All these emotions wrapped themselves around that dragon image from your dream and unfortunately we are weak creatures, if our heart is already heavy with guilt then the past adds to that burden even further. I think that's why you are seeing that Spyro with brown eyes, the dragons words embed inside your mind that's why the guilt takes the form of that Spyro, your closest companion to torment you further, so your heart can now the pain of that dragon after he lost his loved ones. It's crucial that you let the past go Sweetheart, you won't be able to bare it, trust me"

Cynder sighed sadly " Perhaps you are right but I'm not quite sure that is the case, I would be convinced if not for the hallucinations"

The cheetah arched an eyebrow " Hallucinations?"

The black dragoness nodded " After I wake up and finally shake off the dread sometimes I see strange things, some creatures to be precise. They look like shadows and…" she shook her head after a while of silence " I don't know how to describe them, anyway every time it happens I feel that scary and somehow addictive influence filling me or it might be that my stomach only curled from all these weird things. Hard to tell when you are crazy I suppose"

" Disturbing" Amela huffed concerned " A tired mind tends to play tricks on you, but to that point? Strange" the cheetah slapped her hands on her knees as she raised from the chair " Ok Sweetheart you convinced me I'll give you the medicine but not the one you asked for, I'll offer you something less dangerous" with that the cheetah went to the medicine cabinet near her desk just to return with a pouch that contained a flask with a brown root in it " Here, mandrake mixed with rosemary, the aroma will allow you to drift away into a pleasant sleep, just uncork the flask and heat it a little"

" Cynder eagerly accepted the medicine " Thank you Amela" she smiled gratefully

" One last thing Sweetheart " the cheetah sat on the chair once again " My opinion is based solely on the medical point of view, I may be wrong if magic is involved, I'm no expert in that field. If that would be the case I suggest filling Spyro in"

" I'm sure you are right" the dragoness responded without thinking and prepared to get off the bed

Amela placed her hand on Cynder's shoulder holding her in place " Heed my warning, tell your friend about everything"

She lowered her head " I can't"

" He might be able to help"

Cynder took a deep breath " I don't want to drag Spyro into this because he will turn the world upside down just to find a way to help me. We are both aware how people treat me, I don't want him to get involved, he might ruin everything just to protect me." She looked at the cheetah with pleading eyes " Please Amela don't tell him, I don't want to make his life miserable"

Amela released her shoulder and nodded " If that's your wish I'll respect it"

The dragoness smiled " Thanks" she hung the pouch around her neck and jumped from the bed " And thank you for hearing me out, I really needed that"

The cheetah smiled kindly " It was my pleasure"

Cynder scratched her choker nervously " Can I…can I come here sometimes to talk? If that's not too much to ask of course"

The smile on Amela's face grew wider " You are always welcome here Sweetheart"

"Great!" she exclaimed and bit her lip soon after " I mean, goodbye and thank you once again " she bowed

The cheetah chuckled " Take care"

Cynder left the office and looked around the corridor for her friends, she arched an eyebrow when she saw Spyro and Sparx holding a pair of burning pants on some sort of a stick. The moment they heard the door closing they turned their heads in the direction from which the sound came from, when they noticed the black dragoness staring at them they froze

" Should I ask?" Cynder asked dumbfounded

" I would prefer not" Spyro replied

* * *

They left the hospital and the moment fresh air hit her snout Cynder took a deep breath filling her lungs with the refreshing chill. She felt better after sharing her worries with someone, her heart was somewhat lighter than before, it was a really nice feeling.

"What's in that bag?" Sparx asked

"It's a pouch" Cynder corrected him with a bit of amusement in her voice

He sighed and rolled his eyes "Fine, so what's in that pouch?"

"That's none of your business" she smirked

The dragonfly growled " Spyro punch her!"

She giggled

Spyro tilted his head a bit and focused " Can you hear that?"

The group began to listen intently, the sound of many different voices was coming from ahead, just like there would be quite a big crowd gathered somewhere. Just as they began making their way towards the noise the sound instantly died down, only one barely hearable voice resounded through the streets. When they reached the fountain everything became clear, near the temple a crowd of people gathered, not to mention that the main road to the holy building was blocked, the voice was louder but it was still impossible to make out any words.

Driven by curiosity the group took one of the side alleys that was still under reconstruction to reach the temple, their wings allowed them to land in a pretty clear and desolated road. As they made their way through one of them the crowd suddenly yelled in approval and a loud applause could be heard soon after. During that applause they rounded the corner and set their eyes upon the inhabitant who was giving the speech, he was standing on a pedestal nodding his head slowly, Spyro eyes flared up with anger when he realized that the mole who is giving the speech is no one else then Brill himself, in the front row stood a powerfully built malachite dragon.

The mole extended his arms with his palms opened, calming the loud crowd as a result " My friends, my heart beats with joy when I see that nothing has changed, that you still value that what is important, that what is sacred. I rejoice when I see that you haven't changed" he bowed solemnly accompanied by the sound of some happy shouts from the crowd " Nothing could be done without you, thank you!" he yelled at the top of his lungs

The mob began to cheer once more, and as they did so the main actor began to clap his hands, thanking his audience for the reaction. The malachite drake turned his head around to observe his neighbors faces, they were all committed to the cause and as his head kept turning he finally noticed a black snout protruding from one of the side alleys. As feeling his gaze, the black dragoness impulsively looked at him and the moment their eyes met the male dragon grinned evilly.

Capro's expression turned quickly into that of an oblivious peasant as he looked at the mole on the pedestal " Tell us Sir, what you are plans? How can we help?"

The crowd stirred at the questions and went silent instantly as every mole, cheetah or dragon waited in anticipation for their leader's response. Brill raised his head with an angry frown on his face

" What I saw here my friends is an outrage! A sacrilege!" he yelled and stepped aside gesturing at the temple behind him " The most sacred of places defiled like that, we built it with our own hands to honor those who deserved it the most and today it stands defiled!" the mole looked at the crowd with a painful expression " This is our heart friends and it bleeds, bleeds with a tainted blood, someone carved a name of the one who should have been long forgotten, it's a disgrace for us and everything this city stands for. Tell me friends, for this I gave my life for?! For this we spilled our blood?! Tell me friends!" he shouted at the top of his lungs

A loud sound of disapproval broke from the crowd

Brill squeezed his shirt exactly in the place where his heart was just like he tried to clutch the vital organ " The Ancestors are in pain, that's why they brought me back, to help them. I won't be able to do it alone, only together" he clenched his fist with determination" we are strong enough to squeeze the poison out from the heart" he pointed at the sky " They are watching us right now, our loved ones, the venerable dragons are observing us and are asking for our help. Look at them"

Every male and female rose their head and looked at the azure sky above

Brill's extended finger shook slightly " Will you tell them that everything is alright? Or will you tell them that you will help? Everything…" the mole raised his voice gaining again the attention of the crowd "…everything happens for a reason. I've been sent back to show you the right path and with the blessing from our Ancestors help you to remain on that path. Only together we will be able to cleanse the taint, together my friends we will face the corruption and achieve victory!" he yelled

The mob once again cheered and cried motivated, just like soldiers on a battlefield

Brill slammed his fist against his opened palm " With the blessing from above we will start today! Today we are going to root out the taint from the very heart, today we start to fulfill the Ancestors wish! Let there be peace once again!"

Capro stood there in the front row amongst the cheering crowd, the corner of his mouth turned into a smirk when once again he looked at the group of friends hiding in the alleyway, he especially focused on the furious looking purple snout. Adopting the oblivious and angry look he focused his gaze upon the main actor of this show " Who defiled this sacred place? Who committed such a crime?" the malachite dragon's questions resounded like a thunder

The crowd took the bait, it instantly turned into some sort of a lynch mob, people were screaming for answers, they demanded to know the name of the culprit who succumbed to the taint as they called it

Brill frowned " The ones touched by darkness are cowards, they are afraid to face the truth, but it's not their fault, it's the poison that corrupted them, they are lost." He threw his arms aside " If you are among us, step up! I will show you the path, I will clean you from the taint! I will grant you the courage to face the corruption. Step up!"

Cynder grabbed her friend purple tail " Spyro don't!"

" I'm not going to stay here and watch" he replied fully focused on the mole, anger and hate clearly palpable in his voice

She threw the malachite dragon a quick glance" He is provoking you!"

" I'm not going to let them insult you" he looked at her, his amethyst eyes were burning furiously at the sight of the speaking mole

Sparx hovered in between both dragons " Bro, I agree with her, just look at the guy, let's just leave the crazy ones alone I'm sure he'll be hoarse soon enough"

" If you don't want to go then stay here" Spyro retorted icily

" You know I've got your back I just whine a lot " he cracked his knuckles " Let's show the zombie who's boss"

Seeing his determined eyes staring at her Cynder reluctantly let his tail go, the moment he was free he instantly went towards the pedestal, it will bring nothing but more trouble. She sighed

Sparx hovered at the side of her head and covered his mouth with his hand " When Spyro is acting like that he surely beats you, and here I thought that you are the most crazy dragon I've ever met, but don't tell anyone, we don't want to get on his bad side after all" he took a deep breath " Alright, to battle!"

Brill clenched his fist " My friends, this is the time to change-"

" I carved that name and I'm proud of it" Spyro cut off the mole as he stepped up in the open

The crowd gasped and held its breath, two symbols of power and authority stood before them, two symbols who differed from one another. It was like a clash of legends for the people, on one side was the inventor, the constructor, the forger of better and more secure times, on the other one was the savior, the hope, the golden heart of the todays Realms, their future leader. Capro however didn't feel attached to any of them, he just smirked knowing that his little provocation is working.

" This temple was built for those who exceeded everyone's expectations and did something great for the world. Did you forget its purpose?" Spyro asked, his claws scratching the marble floor in anger

Brill seemed to be shocked " You want to say" he gesticulated towards the crowd " You want to say that all of these people here who created statues for those who deserved it, that they are wrong, that they are liars?!"

Spyro shook his head " I didn't say that, I want to show you that Cynder deserves this honor more than me, you have no right to insult her" he growled

" You have no right to call these people slanderers boy!" the mole admonished him fiercely " We are fighting for that what is important, for the sacredness of this place. This temple can't be tainted by that foul presence, it is a disgrace for us and those who are the essence of this structure" he narrowed his eyes on the purple dragon " Tell me boy, who is insulting who?"

"Can't you see?" Spyro asked with a hint of disbelief in his voice " If not for Cynder there would be no temple, there would be no Warfang, there would be nothing!"

Brill clenched his fist in anger " You are calling this people blind?" he unclenched his hand and pointed at the crowd " These people gathered here, constructed this temple with their own hands and paws, and you boy are judging their faith? Show respect" he admonished him

" Bro" Sparx whispered when he hovered near the dragon's head " This zombie guy is playing dirty, he is turning your every word against you. Watch out"

Brill's expression turned to that of sadness " You are today's incarnation of draconic strength and wit, you are a being to worship but unfortunately you are lost" he turned to the crowd " This shows us my friends…" he shouted while pointing at Spyro "…that the poison in all its cowardice is powerful, it confuses even the purest of us!"

" What are you talking about?" Spyro blurt out indignantly " I don't want to be worshipped and for sure I'm not tainted, I'm just showing you the truth"

Sparx rose in the air making himself clearly visible to the crowd " On the side note I have no objections about being worshipped, if you want to talk about details I'm in my room at the City Hall almost every evening. Thank you for your time, I'm shutting up now" he descended towards his brother and shrugged when his noticed his amethyst stare " Worth a shot"

" We can't stand idle and watch how the darkness slowly consumes us" The moles voice gained again everyone's attention " In my death I've seen what it is capable of, we cannot allow it to spread, we have to destroy it! Cleanse it from our life, we all can see how the taint works on us " he pointed once again at Spyro " This boy speaks blasphemy and even committed sacrilege! He who is the symbol of the draconic race" the crowd visibly stirred hearing his words. Brill instantly raised his hands to calm the mob " But this isn't his fault! It's the corruption, it plays with us, confuses us and our best defense against it is a counter attack, we have to strike it and kill it before it will infect the rest of us!"

Spyros eyes sparkled with sheer hatred " If I am the symbol of the draconic kind, if I am the being to worship then perhaps allow the people to decide if I am infected with that so called poison? Or are you implying that they don't have a mind of their own?" With a delicate smirk he turned to the crowd " When I stand before you right now do you see that I'm tainted?" before the crowd could utter a sound Spyro continued " Or better, tell me when the corruption managed to get a hold of me. Was it then when TOGETHER with Cynder we defended Warfang during the siege? Was it then when TOGETHER with Cynder we stalled The Destroyer? Was it then when TOGETHER with Cynder we stopped Malefor?" he shrugged " Tell me when it happened because I really don't know"

Sparx hovered in front of his brother's eyes and rose up two of his thumbs in approval " Nice" he whispered

Capro observed and listened to the reaction of the crowd and from what he could tell it wasn't going exactly as he has planned. People respected the purple dragon to the point where they've cast the religious devotion aside, that's why they are hesitant. Different murmurs reached him, one supported the purple drake, other followed the mole. The crowd was divided, it is the worst possible outcome, in times like this he needs unity otherwise his plan will fall flat.

However nothing is lost yet, there is still a chance to turn the tide, he only needs a scapegoat and luckily there is somebody who will fit into that role perfectly. Religion is a touchy subject one can possible trigger hate and change someone's point of focus with ease is he is a skilled speaker. Brill is capable of doing such a thing, what he needs is a little nudge and slowly, step by step she will pay for everything.

Capro pointed at the side alley with his claw from which a black snout was peeking " Defiler! She is here!" he screamed like a terrified peasant.

The dumbfounded and religious crowd began to stir, as people around him started to shout and scream Capro couldn't stop smiling.

Brill pointed at the alley while looking at the fidgety mob " This is what I was talking about! The taint is always there, stalking us, confusing us!" he looked at the alley " Step in the open Shadow!" he shouted with a commanding tone " Stop hiding and face us coward!"

Sparx winced " This can't be good" he mumbled

The moment Cynder left the safety of the alley and stepped in the open, the crowd became even more louder, fingers and claws were pointing at her, accusations, insults, threats for the defiling their temple were thrown at her. The devoted mob found their scapegoat, found the reason behind their misfortune, from somewhat calm listeners they became a chaotic crowd unable to see reason, the people became aggressive even

The leading mole kept pointing at the black dragoness " You see my friends that we can't feel safe, the darkness is there always! Whispering to our ears, sowing doubt within us until we succumb to it. She my friends, she is The Taint itself!" he shouted which only aroused the already loud mob even more

" Weren't you listening to me?!" Spyro roared angrily " Didn't I just tell you that she helped me? Didn't I just tell you that she saved all of us?!"

Spyro's words had no effect, the zealot crowd ignored him completely however Brill seemed to enjoy this atmosphere, he was happy as a clam " We don't know what is she planning, the constant plotting confuses even the most witty mind, what seems good at first glance brings dramatic effects later on" he pointed at the temple behind them " Tell me friends isn't this enough proof? The most sacred place defiled with the name that should be forgotten, erased completely from history!"

" Cynder deserves as much respect as every single one of us!"

The crowd once again ignored the purple dragon, they were entirely focused on Cynder and their leader. Brill didn't waste the opportunity and continued his charade " In my death I've experienced what Shadow is capable of, we failed because we allowed her vile infection to spread!" he clenched his fist again " My friends, the corruption has already started and it's up to us to eliminate it while it's weak!"

The crowd emitted a deafening war cry " We will protect ourselves and our sacred Ancestors!" the mole shouted once more accompanied by the cacophony coming from the snappy mob. Brill rose his arm into the air " We will cleanse the taint! Shadow won't triumph!"

Cynder only stood there shocked and hurt, insults, threats and many other unpleasant words were thrown her way, blaming her for everything. Suddenly out of nowhere a small rock was thrown at her which struck her right in the head. Cynder had enough, she couldn't stand it any longer, when a drop of her blood splashed on the ground she ran back into the alley, but even when she disappeared from the angry mob eyes the insults didn't stop.

Sparx noticed her reaction while Spyro was entirely focused on the fanatical crowd. The moment her black tail vanished from his sight Sparx turned around and tugged his brother's horn " Spyro let's get out of here"

The purple dragon was unmoved by his brothers pleas, his whole anger was directed at the unfair crowd " You can't judge Cynder for actions she couldn't control!" Spyro roared " She saved your lives by putting her own at risk, doesn't it mean anything to you?!"

The mob ignored Spyro completely, their loud cries were probably heard in the whole city, not to mention that Brill with his constant incitement didn't allow the people to calm down. Capro seeing what is going on left the courtyard with a wicked grin on his snout. The shouts and screams continued until two powerful gusts of wind managed to silence the mob. Two Guardians landed in front of the people, earth and ice parted the two sides of the conflict

" ENOUGH!" Terrador's baritone roar quieted the mob instantly

" Return to your homes people, there is nothing to see here" the firm tone of his voice left no place to argue so the mob was slowly beginning to thin

" HOW DARE YOU?" Cyril roared at the mole

Brill narrowed his eyes on the Ice Guardian " Cyril you were always ungrateful for what I have done for your kind"

The dragon snorted, icy mist excaped his from his nostrils " We never asked for your help, mole"

The mole shook his head " Cyril, oh Cyril you are to pride and arrogant to admit…" the mole's voice trailed off since instantly Sparx lost interest in the argument. Impulsively he looked behind him at the empty alley, soon he looked once again at the arguing group, Spyro joined the group but somehow he was still uninterested in this whole affair.

Making up his mind he flew into the alley, Sparx didn't go far before he spotted her, she was leaned against a wall in a sitting position while covering herself with her black wings " The party is getting more interesting and you decide to leave. Great timing" Sparx said with his typical sarcastic manner as he approached her

Cynder folded her wings " Sparx?" she said surprised " What are you doing here?

" Couldn't waste the chance to annoy you further" he grinned but the moment she looked at him his smile vanished, the dragonfly noticed some wet spots on her cheeks and around her eyes. He balked at the sight " Were you crying?"

"What?" she blurt out nervously " No!" Cynder exclaimed and began rubbing her emerald orbs " Something…something got into my eyes"

" Yeah…" he admitted with a hint of uncertainty, even if he knew the truth ' …yeah I hear you, it's those cheetahs with their sticky fur, dusts get everywhere" he began to rub his eyes " Even now my eyes sting. Damn cats"

'Yeah it's the dust!" she exclaimed nervously " Damn thing is everywhere, even here" she emitted a stifled giggle

" Needed a break from all that praising huh?" Sparx asked with a smile after a while

Cynder recognized the tone of his voice " Yeah, fame is overwhelming" she replied sarcastically

" I wouldn't know" he answered bluntly

Cynder laughed " Not surprising you are an insect after all" she gave him a teasing smile

" Said the fat lizard" Sparx retorted with a scornful smile of his own.

They both laughed from their innocent teases, after a while the alley grew silent. Sparx nodded towards the exit " Let's go to Spyro, your fans are gone"

Cynder after a brief moment of concentration got up and followed the dragonfly

" How could you let this happen?!" Spyro shouted angrily at the Guardians

" Spyro calm down" Terrador replied leisurely

" You promised me that Cynder would be safe!"

"I've never said such a thing" Cyril responded icily

" We are doing our best Spyro, but unfortunately we have to also somehow calm down Brill's fanatical group" the Earth Guardian added

" If they want this temple so badly let them have it" the Ice Guardian rolled his eyes in irritation " Let them renovate it as they see fit, anything to keep them busy"

Terrador nodded " We will discuss this matter at a better time, for now please Spyro and the rest of you come with us to the City Hall, Hunter's birds have returned with news, Volteer is perusing through them as we speak"

* * *

" Most of these reports are frivolous, they don't beseech our instantaneous absorption, however there is one that piqued my inquisitiveness" with that the Electric Guardian picked a rolled parchment from the pile of papers scatter about on the table and gave it to the Earth Guardian

Terrador snatched the paper eagerly and began to read through it instantly " There was an unusual sighting at one of the southern villages. A strange crumbled structure appeared in the valley which was abandoned for years. More and more children went there and upon their return they've told tales about ghosts and wisps floating somewhere around there. However when the village sent scouts there they haven't encountered anything like that, probably just childish imagination, but the structure the children were talking about was there. The village Elder also mentions that it may be nothing, no one ventured into that valley for years, it is possible that the crumbled structure is a remnant from the war so it is very likely that the building was always there"

Terrador folded the paper " It may be nothing but I believe it is still worth taking a look, after the recent events I'm about to believe in everything" he looked at the three friends " Spyro, Cynder, Sparx, I want you to investigate into this matter"

Spyro was about to protest but Cyril cut him off " We will try to sort things out here and honestly it would be much easier without you three constantly reminding people the latest unfortunate moments" the Ice Guardian stated with his typical cold tone

" I agree with Cyril" The Earth Guardian replied calmly " It would be for the best if you left the city for a while"

Spyro fought with his thoughts, part of him wanted to stay and shatter Brill's fanatical ideas, the other part however warned him that messing with political matters would bring more harm than good, maybe it was for the best to let things calm down on their own.

Spyro sighed " How can we get there?"

" My falcon can show you the way" Hunter tenderly scratched the birds head, the animal on his shoulder responded with a delicate purr

" It is settled then" Terrador acknowledged obviously relieved that the purple dragon agreed to take part in this mission " Best of luck to you" he smiled

With that the group left the City Hall, the recent events troubled Spyro greatly, but for the time being he decided to focus entirely on the matter at hand. It didn't really help his mood, his worst worries are coming true after all. There are more veils it seems which may bring even more trouble because who knows what was buried below the sand of time. Whatever it was Spyro only hoped that his instinct was wrong, maybe this time is is only a simple misgiving, how he wanted it to be that way. One can only hope.


	20. Chapter 2 Book II

Chapter 2

The sun was perched high in the air as they left the Dragon City behind them, the not exactly hot weather and a soft breeze made flying a very pleasurable moment. It would be even better for Spyro if he would stop hassling himself about the past events. A turmoil was going on in his mind, he tried to change the point of focus on something more enjoyable but he couldn't do it, he was constantly thinking about Cynder, he blamed himself for not asking her what she felt, not paying any attention to her when she needed it, instead he focused all of his anger on the mole and his followers.

Every now and then he looked behind his shoulder, not far away from the swaying tip of his tail he saw Cynder, and every time she noticed him looking at her she arched an eyebrow but said nothing. Spyro's heart was aching, he thought he was doing the right thing but now it felt wrong, he didn't know if he should ask or not, he wanted to know, he wanted to apologize for ignoring her, after all they were flying for a while and no one of them said a single word, even Sparx remained silent.

On the other hand he didn't want to bring it up again, even if she puts up on a brave face he knew that this whole situation is uncomfortable for her at least, he blamed himself for not consoling his best friends after that accident at the temple, anger and hate for the mole made him forget completely about her. Only thinking about it made his heart pump blood faster, he couldn't understand how people can be so blind, do they really don't see that in every action she tries to achieve personal redemption for a thing that in his opinion she wasn't responsible for?

Spyro turned his head and looked at her once again, this time however Cynder didn't seem to be surprised, just like she expected it. One look at her was enough to quell the anger within him, pity guilt and concern took its place. He couldn't leave it like this, he has to make up for his mistake. Spyro slowed his pace, the soft breeze stopped whistling as he flapped his wings slower and slower with each second. He waited for her and it didn't take long before Cynder appeared right next to him, and only then he sped up to keep pace with her.

" Cynder…" Spyro whispered bashfully

" I know" she replied softly

He smiled, but then his head hung down once more " I don't understand how can they treat you like that"

" They have all the right to do so"

" No they don't!" he snapped at her which made Cynder jerk her head back a little. He felt ashamed after realizing how he reacted " Sorry it's just that…" he lowered his head and clenched his paw into a fist" I can't help it, I'm so angry right now, at the Guardians, Brill, on all those people. It isn't right"

" That's not their fault" Cynder replied tenderly but yet with a soft touch of command in her voice " People hate me and I don't blame them for that, I have to redeem myself and it takes time they won't forget about everything in a day or two. Please Spyro give them time, give me time"

" I can't stand back and watch when they insult and threat you"

" You will have to" she smiled " I know you would want to help me but this is not your fight Spyro" she looked at him with pleading eyes " We had this talk already, please respect my wish Spyro and let me handle this myself"

He looked at her, determination burning in his eyes " I've already told you that your troubles and worries come first. Sorry Cynder but you have a friend now and he won't leave you because he gave you his word that he will stand by you. Live with it"

" Then tell my friend that he acts like a stubborn child" she snarled

" You do the same" he retorted with the same tone

Spyro could see her mouth twitching, however no words came out, after a while she bit her lower lip and averted her gaze " Just how are you going to help me my oh stubborn friend?" Cynder asked with a faked awe in her voice

" Whatever is necessary, I'll do everything for you Cynder, that I can swear" Spyro replied with palpable confidence

Cynder's heart jumped in joy, it felt like never before, just like her heart was pulled from a very long depression. She knew she can count on him but hearing him saying it out loud after the recent events made her shiver. Trust, perhaps a trivial thing for somebody else but for her it was as important as air for lungs, and hearing Spyro's words only helped her to realize even more how a precious friend he is and how is she grateful for his golden heart.

This simple words lifted her spirits up instantly, as far as she thankful for his caring attention she couldn't allow Spyro to be dragged into her own mess, the recent events showed her that he won't stop at nothing to help her. She wouldn't forgive herself if she would ruin her friend's reputation, life, only because of her past actions for which she has solely pay, it is doubtful he will understand this but she has to try.

Cynder arched an eyebrow " Everything you say?"

" Everything" he replied confidently

" Alright my knight if you say so" Cynder began to scratch her choker and pretended she was thinking " What can I possibly want hmm…? I know!" she exclaimed, Spyro at sound of her shout jerked a little, she pointed her claw at him " I don't want you to stand in my defense every time people start to blame me"

" Wha…" Spyro's voice trailed off as realization struck him, he understood his mistake and she used it against him, maybe this will teach him a lesson that sometimes he should hold his tongue or else say one word too many

" Remember that you made a promise" Cynder teased him

He is not the one who breaks a promise but there is an exception to every rule they say, she doesn't have to know about it " Fine" Spyro replied half-heartedly " I'll stay out of it"

" Thanks!" Cynder exclaimed happily " I knew you would do the right thing. Thanks again "

Spyro only gave her a weak and not a very reassuring smile before he focused on the falcon in front of them.

The moment he turned his head Cynder smile disappeared, she has seen through his poor attempt of deception " Liar" she muttered.

Sparx soon approached the two dragons from ahead , just like he felt the mood had changed and the awkward silence was gone " You two finally remembered how to speak? Good, check this out" he presented them a brown feather

" A feather?" Spyro asked baffled

" Yeah bro, plucked it from that guy" the dragonfly pointed at the bird ahead " Dude you know what a plucked feather from a still flying bird can do?" Sparx asked excited

Spyro shrugged " Nothing?"

The dragonfly snorted " Nothing? Nothing? NOTHING?!" he shook his head and waved the feather in front of his brother " This baby makes your eyes all big and sharp, with this you'll be able to see even the smallest junk!"

" Then I suppose we would need lots of these to be able to see yours" Cynder teased with a clear amusement in her voice

Spyro accidently spit on his brother as he burst out laughing

" Hey, hey, hey!" Sparx exclaimed indignantly while he wiped the spit from his face and pointed an angry finger at the black dragoness " There are some things that we don't joke about!" he shouted abusively

Cynder put on a faked surprised expression " Who said I was joking?"

Her words triggered even a more hysterical laugh from Spyro

Sparx frowned " What are you laughing at? Don't forget that we are related!"

This time Cynder began to laugh while the joyful smile vanished from Spyro's snout " So what?" he asked with a wavering voice

" Bad blood runs in the family dude" the dragonfly whispered, almost threateningly

Cynder laughed even harder as she observed Spyro's changing expression, first he showed signs of disbelief but later his snout indicated symptoms of a sincere dread and she just couldn't stop laughing

" I don't understand" Cynder mumbled when she calmed herself a little " Why guys are so touchy about this thing?" she giggled

" No wonder you are single" Sparx replied bluntly

All three of them laughed " Enough!" Spyro exclaimed " Change of subject. Sparx tell us what else this feather can do?"

The dragonfly shook his head confidently " Nu-uh, I'm not telling you anything, you had your chance"

" Come on don't be like that"

" The feather's special abilities will remain a secret, only I know about them. Your loss"

" Honestly Sparx I'm too old to believe in your stories anyway" the purple dragon said sincerely

" You are no fun anymore" Sparx said with a hint of resignation in his voice

Not everyone was interested in their conversation. The brownish falcon which led them was entirely focused on the task at hand, every now and then the avian creature moved its head from left to right just to eventually look down as if searching for something or making sure they were heading the right way. How did Hunter managed to train those birds like that was a mystery but whatever secret he was keeping was paying off.

As they flew the falcon emitted the typical somewhat shrieking sound for their kind as if announcing for those weaker creatures that a new king is in the sky, a warning for those intelligent creatures that they should stay clear of its royal path. The bird emitted another sound and dived towards the earth to the surprise of the three friends, they didn't know what to do, should they follow it? Or wait till it rises to the sky once more?

They didn't really have the time to make up their minds since the answer presented itself before them momentarily. The bird rose to the sky and took the same position in the air as before, it looked behind just if to make sure that its companions are still behind. The falcon parted its beak and emitted a sound almost beaming with arrogance, the avian creature cried once more and rose slightly in the air so the three friends could easily spot the bird's prey clutched in its talons, the little mouse probably didn't even see it coming. The falcon turned its shinning with palpable pride black eyes, emitted another cry that could trigger awe in every spectator before it concentrated on the task at hand again.

Sparx snorted " What a show-off"

" It seems that there may be some truth to those feathers after all" Cynder mused

" I've told you" the dragonfly spread his arms and shrugged somewhat prideful " But as always nobody listens to me"

" Sparx did you say something?" she asked with a faked shock in her voice while the corner of her mouth turned into a small smirk

He frowned " Smart ass" the dragonfly hissed

They followed the bird exchanging teases, jokes or other words between themselves as they traveled through the sky, putting aside all the worries for which Spyro was grateful for. His moment of relief didn't last long since before they knew it the falcon started crying and making circles in the air which only could mean one thing, they have reached their destination. He looked down, it was just as he expected, a small village sprawled below them barely visible thanks to the trees that surrounded it.

One glimpse at it was enough for Spyro to pull back all the worries concerning the veils and this whole time jumping or whatever it is. He felt like he was being drawn into the unknown, into something he might not actually be ready to face just yet and this time he has no one to guide him. All that time ago during Malefor's rise and corrupted Cynder's rule it was Ignitus who showed him the ropes, it was The Fire Guardian who pushed him beyond his previous limits, showed him new possibilities and what's more importantly he carried the problems of tomorrow on his back.

Now all that weight is on his purple shoulders and he feared he won't be able to cope with it. Spyro knew that he can count on his friends, Cynder, Hunter, Sparx or The Guardians will do anything in their power to help him, despite what they would most likely claim they can't lift the weight from his shoulders, they can only make the road a little easier but it is his burden to carry and only his. People expect that he will be their leader, however Spyro couldn't stop thinking what they possibly can see in him

Ok maybe he defeated Malefor, maybe he defeated the corrupted Cynder but people seem to forget that Ignitus roused that confidence in him, confidence that allowed him to do things he never thought he would be able to accomplish. Today nothing remains of that confidence, as he stares at the village Spyro can't feel anything besides doubt and fear, this is the leader they are waiting for? A true leader faces the unknown with his head held up high, ready to challenge every difficulty coming his way. That made him realize once more that he will make a poor leader the things that are about to come only terrified him.

" I just hope that this was a false alarm" Spyro said hopefully yet with fear in his voice

Cynder smiled " How can you lie to yourself like that? I've told you that you are jinxed, you should get used to it" she quipped

He shook his head " I'm not ready for this"

She looked at him, concern burning in her eyes " I've also told you something else remember? I trust you, whatever will happen, whatever choice you will make I will still trust you. It was you Spyro who showed me that you should keep going despite the odds, it was you no one else" as they hovered in the air Cynder grabbed his paw and said in a soft tone " You have what it takes, you just need to dig deep down to find it you know?" she shook his paw "Believe me" she let go of his paw and nodded towards the village " Lead on my leader" she smiled

Spyro lowered his head, her words pushed the right button, she embarrassed him slightly but also triggered a part of that lost confidence back to life. He looked at her and smiled " And you will follow me everywhere?"

Cynder nodded " Even down to the deepest bowels of Hell if need be, but I would really appreciate it if you wouldn't drag me there just now" she winked

Spyro chuckled " There is only one way to find out" with that he made a backflip in the sky and dived towards the village

As she observed him descending towards the small village she couldn't stop smiling, she was so proud of him

The village itself was one of those which you accidently stumble across just to forget about it a day after, no importance or mystery radiated from it, just a simple backwater village living its null life. No walls surrounded the so called town, it was just a place to live for those who wanted a quiet life, or those unfortunate ones who wanted to get away but couldn't force themselves to do it. Enjoyable feelings embraced them which probably beamed from every such village.

Serenity and innocence radiated from the settlement, the tranquility always returned to villages like this no matter if it was disturbed by war or some other domestic dispute, it always found its way home. People living in secluded villages like this one had a rough life but it shaped their resilience, protected them from every days disturbances. Tough life but a fair one.

The village itself would probably be missed by the three friends if it wasn't their destination. No wall surrounded the simple looking buildings, no guards were visible patrolling its dirt roads. It wasn't surprising since villages like this one hardly need trained soldiers, what for? This people have nothing of value, there is no reason to attack such a village, at least no self- respecting army would do such a thing, these people are more than capable of protecting themselves against common marauders, life in the wild prepares you for such outcomes.

The settlement isn't big, only a couple simple looking houses dotted the landscape, some were made of wood with modest porches at the front entrances, some cheetahs or young dragons could be seen relaxing on the house's wooden chairs or floor. Other buildings were made of stone, they weren't big or fancy but they surely accommodate a creature of any size, be it either a dragon or a dragonfly. All of these buildings were packed closely together, forming a circle around the settlement's well. All of these buildings looked alike, it was impossible to discern which one belonged to the village's leader and which one to the everyman.

As the three of them were slowly approaching the village they could see that it was living its own simple life, children were running through its dirt roads playing, some more older inhabitants were chattering with each other, sharing stories and passing on the newest gossip. Some other people were just doing their jobs, tending to the animals or renovating some of the houses while some others listened with great interest to a story from past times recited by one of the oldest inhabitants.

Whatever they may be doing right now doesn't change anything, they have been sent on a mission, a very important mission. If Spyro's worries have any truth to them then this blissful ignorance is going to be stripped from them. Wanting to avoid such a situation the purple dragon decided to find and speak solely with the Elder without attracting much of unwanted attention, things like that should only be discussed in a narrow circle.

As they entered the village shouts of surprise, excitement or even fear echoed throughout the village, people started gathering near their position, it was then when Spyro realized that strangers appearing in this village are a rare sight indeed and strangers who stopped the end of the world even more so.

" So much for discretion" Spyro sighed

Sparx shoved the two dragons aside and appeared between them " Finally someone who recognize a hero when they see one!" he exclaimed joyfully " Ready or not people, here comes your star" with that he dashed towards the gathering of villagers

Cynder shrugged " Not everyone complains" she observed the dragonfly as he was being surrounded by curious children who were intently listening to one of his imaginary accomplishments " At least he found an audience more his age"

Spyro followed her gaze and just chuckled at the sight and her little mean joke.

Not all of the people were really interested in the dragonflies' appearance, even from him Spyro could hear whispers of praise when they were mentioning his name, and murmurs hinted with distrust and despisal when Cynder's name or nickname ran through the people mouths. Only hearing such whispers reminded him of the situation at the temple, he had to scratch the dirt with his claws to somehow keep his boiling anger in check.

Soon from the group of people emerged a shriveled old dragon, just the one they saw telling stories to the children when they took a glimpse of the village for the first time. The dragon was old, very old, his scales were cracked in many places, his leathery armor lost the sharp color of the youth instead taking a dull hue, a more appropriate color for one of his age. Judging from the faint patches of green on his scales they could tell that he commanded the element of Earth. His brown wings were tattered, it was obvious he had no use of them now, it was unlikely they would hold his weight anymore. The dragon lived his life fully, that somehow triggered an instant respect in the two young dragons, in a war like specie like the dragons it is very rare to see someone who managed to stay alive for such a long time, almost reaching the end of his days without anyone _assisting_ on the way so he could reach the end of his journey a little faster than he planned.

The wizened old dragon trudged towards the two of them, it almost looked like his every step was a great effort for him. It didn't seem to bother him in the slightest, as he got close he started to smile kindly showing many blunt and cracked teeth.

" It pleases me greatly to see that the venerable Guardians heed my message" the dragon pronounced each word slowly with a weak and raspy voice " But to see that they sent someone of your stature…" the dragon's voice trailed off as he bowed respectfully " You humble us with your presence Savior"

" No, no, no, no " Spyro repeated quickly and apprehensively " There is no need for that" he smiled weakly and nervously " Just… just call me Spyro, no need to bow or anything like that" he chuckled uneasily

The elderly dragon nodded kindly and his eyes shimmered with sincere awe " It pleases me greatly to see that tales of your unique modesty weren't overestimated." The dragon cleared his throat and adopted a more solemn pose " My name is Cyren, I'm the Elder of this sober village. On behalf of all its people I greet you in Boven"

Spyro nodded solemnly " The pleasure is ours"

The old dragon jerked his head back startled " Please forgive me, I haven't noticed that you brought your friend with you, these eyes aren't as good as they used to be" he smiled kindly " Who is the one that travels with you?"

There was a slight stir amongst the people of Boven and it didn't escape Spyro's notice, he frowned uneasily expecting the worst. It surprised him however to see his friend completely calm, she seemed entirely unmoved by the situation.

" The name's Cynder" she replied confidently

Cyren's eyes shot wide open " Lightbane?!" he exclaimed and looked around the village in panic as if looking for support before he concentrated on the female " You are not wel…why have you…what are you…" he mumbled edgily

She craned her neck forward " Is something wrong?" Cynder asked almost mockingly

" Of course!" the Elder exclaimed angrily but as soon as he did so his eyes took a glimpse of the purple dragon standing just next to the black dragoness. With that the wizened dragon realized the awkwardness of the situation " Of course not!" he cackled nervously " It is our pleasure to welcome you here Light… Cynder" the dragon said half-heartedly with deception ringing in his raspy voice " Every friend of Spyro is our…friend" the last word came out stifled, as if it was barely formed within the dragon's vocal cords"

She grinned " Why thank you, I never expected such a warm welcome!" Cynder exclaimed cheerfully

Spyro knew her well enough to see that she is being sarcastic, not that she really tried to hide it. " I don't think that taunting them is going help you" he hissed through clenched teeth

" I could try to convince them of my good intentions but it wouldn't work anyway" she replied indifferently

" It's worth a shot"

" Please, they condemned me the moment they saw me, words are pointless here" she smiled mischievously " Good thing that you are here, that way I can watch the stupid looks on their faces without risking my head being impaled on a pike. I swear I heard people sharpening their pitchforks when we got here but with you around they won't touch me and I can have a bit of fun"

Spyro remained silent, it was not like he agreed or accepted what she was doing but he didn't try to stop her either. During his travels he has learnt that sometimes she innocently taunts people, she hates the damsel in distress role and occasionally her fighting spirit takes control and she starts to bark at people. Everyone needs to release the bottled up emotions somehow and maybe this is how she does it, or perhaps her natural maliciousness comes with being a black dragoness, who knows.

" Guys, guys, guys, guys" Sparx repeated the same word excitedly several more times until he finally hovered near the two young dragons " We have just been invited to a party!" he exclaimed happily " They were so interested in my tales and fell for my charm of course that they are going to start a feast in our name. IN OUR NAME!" the dragonfly shouted and his chest swelled with pride " And who is your favorite dragonfly now, huh?"

" A party?!" Cynder exclaimed like an excited teenager " I love parties! The dancing, the music, all these gossip and boys you meet. It's just so exciting!"

The old dragon was taken aback by the sudden outburst of joy from both the dragonfly and the black dragoness " But…"

" And we can't forget about the food!" Cynder continued her ruse " there will be food right? For a party like that there has to be lots and lots of food, am I right, am I right?"

Cyren looked at the group of people who talked with the dragonfly and threw them a accusing glance, they just shrugged apologetically. He turned back towards the three presumably invited friends " You misunderstood…" he started uncertainty but once again has been cut off by Cynder

" I would have nothing against a party that is a bit on the sophisticated side but truthfully I myself like something WILD. You know the thing when a fast music is being played and you do something crazy to its rhythm that would baffle all of the people there and out of politeness they wouldn't try to stop you. How awesome would be THAT!" she grinned evilly

Sparx hovered next to Spyro's head and covered his mouth with his hand " What's wrong with her?" he whispered

Spyro sighed " Don't ask"

Cyren swallowed " You misunderstood our intention" he said bluntly, obviously tired of this charade

Sparx balked " WHAT?"

The Elder bowed apologetically " Please forgive us, we didn't want to confuse you, but this _party_ as you call it is dedicated only to our small community. We would gladly show you our hospitality but sadly the harvest was not as fruitious as we hoped so"

" But…but… " the dragonfly murmured resigned " …they said that we are friends and friends are always welcomed here" he looked at the old dragon sadly

" It is correct, but I'm embarrassed to admit that in their haste they forgot about our problems, it would be our pleasure to invite you, we all are _friends_ here after all" the dragon put emphasis on the word friends and threw a quick full of disdain glance at Cynder

It didn't escape Sparx' notice, he looked at Cynder just to look at the Elder soon after, he instantly put two and two together " At least you tried" he shrugged " because honestly I thought that you wanted to turn us down because there is someone here who you don't like very much" he intently pulled the teeth of the dragon

" Of course not!" Cyren exclaimed with faked indignation " We would never do such a thing, you are all welcome here" his eyes traveled impulsively on the black dragoness " All off you" he hissed before bowing once again apologetically " Forgive us"

Sparx covered his forehead with his palm and sighed " Figures" he began rubbing his forehead " Cynder honestly, get lost" he murmured defeated

She just giggled mischievously

" You're done?" Spyro whispered to his female friend's ear

Cynder grinned while she looked at the old dragon " Yeah"

Spyro exhaled and smiled while he concentrated on the Elder " There is no need to apologize, we understand" he cleared his throat wanting to break this awkward moment " The message you sent to us, could you tell us more about the ruins?"

Cyren looked at the purple dragon, obviously relieved that the topic has changed " I haven't been there myself but as you probably know I've sent some scouts to investigate in case the stories of the children had some truth to them. One can't be too careful, especially when living in a wilderness" the dragon looked at the gathering of people behind him and made a motion with his head that clearly signalized for someone to approach. With that he turned back towards the purple dragon " As I've said, this is probably just a wild fantasy of the youth, children have vivid imaginations"

Soon a young looking drake stopped next to the Elder, he was maybe a year or two older than Spyro and Cynder, judging from the color of his scales he wielded the element of Fire

" Please Lure tell our friend here what you saw" Cyren gently urged the young drake

Sparx frowned and folded his arms " You see how he only talks to Spyro and seems to forget about us?" he whispered

" I've noticed" Cynder replied

" Did I thank you for that already?"

" No, in fact you didn't"

" Oh, so let me correct that. Thank you" he hissed irritated

Cynder giggled " You're welcome"

The young dragon didn't even look at Spyro, his gaze was entirely focused on the ground below, the shuffling of his paw and tail betrayed his shyness and nervousness " As we followed the…the children we eventually a…arrived in a valley. A v…very old building is there Sir, very old and creepy" he swallowed and threw a quick glance at Spyro just to stare at the ground moments later

Spyro smiled " Just call me Spyro" he said calmly " Was this structure always there or it appeared just recently?"

Lure seemed to freeze for a moment, just as he didn't expect such a question, after a while his nervous shuffle returned while his eyes still remained on the ground " I…it's been there for ages I guess… it's very old, remember?"

The purple dragon winced as realization struck him, these people didn't know about the Veils and that whole time business, he could barely wrap his head around it himself. The young dragon is obviously intimidated by his presence and his words most likely baffled the drake even more, probably only the dragon's shyness prevented the young drake from calling him an idiot.

Spyro scratched the back of his head " I mean… did that building, um, caught your attention before?"

Lure kept staring at the ground " No Si…Spyro. Nobody of us ventured that far into the valley, we…we never thought it existed. It looks like a remnant from centuries ago"

Alright, from the dragon's words Spyro could presume that the old building was probably always there, he wasn't even sure if the Veils can even drag whole structures in time, it all smelled like a false alarm but since they are already here they might as well check it out. Not to mention that the ancient building nobody thought ever existed piqued his curiosity, they don't have anything better to do anyway. This pondering made him think about the other part of the message, that part about wisps and the like, a fairytale most likely but there is no harm in asking.

" Your message…" Spyro said after a while of silent thinking "…said something about…ghosts?"

" The children say that they saw something b…but when I've checked there was nothing there. You know how ch…children are Si…Spyro"

" Ok thanks Lure"

The fire dragon bowed and began slowly retracing his steps

" Lure please call the children here" Cyren gave a gently order to the young dragon scout

Spyro cackled nervously, children were not his ground of expertise so to speak " There is no need for that" he said startled

" The children would really like to meet you" the old dragon said almost pleadingly " They would be thrilled to know that someone from outside our humble village is interested in their story"

Spyro gulped, as much as he would want to avoid it, politeness demanded that he speak with them " Very well" he mumbled tentatively

Cynder approached her purple friend seeing his troubled snout " You want me to talk to them?"

His eyes grew wide with hope and relief " Would you do that for me?"

" I'm doing this for the kids" she replied teasingly and sneered

Soon a group of children made themselves visible, there were five of them, three dragon hatchlings and two cheetahs, they are were fairly young and remarkably innocent. The group was approaching the Elder in a cheerful pace, jumping all around the road as they made their way towards the dragon, just like nothing bothered them and no problem existed in the world.

Just as they got close Cyren smiled at them kindly " Children our friend here would want to hear your story"

Cynder stepped in front of Spyro with a smirk on her face " That's right" a surprised gasp coming from the old dragon caught everyone's attention, as soon all eyes were set on him Cyren started coughing as if something got stuck in his throat. His reaction only made Cynder's smile grew wider, satisfied she fully concentrated on the kids " So I've heard you had seen some ghost" she said cheerfully

" Nu-oh you will laugh like the rest of them!" a female hatchling protested

" I'm not like the rest of them"

" We don't believe you!" all of the children started shouting at her

Cynder shrugged " Ok then" she said indifferently " If you don't want to tell me anything then I'm going to look for ghosts somewhere else" she turned around and started walking away swinging her tail joyfully

" How can we know that you are not trying to make fun of us!" one of the cheetahs shouted after her

"Yeah!" all of the other children exclaimed soon after

The smug smile disappeared from Cynder's snout as she looked over her shoulder " I'm not trying to make fun of you" she replied keeping a hint of seriousness in her voice

" Prove it!" one of the other hatchlings demanded

Cynder jumped excited towards the group of kids " See this?" she pointed her claw at the white markings around her eyes " These glyphs are magical in nature, every one of my Order gets those"

" Order?' another dragoness asked

Cynder nodded " Order of the All Seeing Eye, it was founded specifically to hunt ghosts"

" Really? All of you have these magical drawings?' a young cheetah asked fascinated

" Yes"

" What do they do?"

Cynder smiled and began tracing her white markings with her claw " Those around my eyes allow me to see ghosts even if they try to hide from plain sight, the one on my head helps me to concentrate, those on my shoulders protect me against their attacks, those on my back grant me the power to fight them"

The children stared at her with eyes filled with awe " And you can kill every ghost?" one of them asked

Cynder nodded once more " Yes, but to fight them I need to know first what I am up against so I can prepare myself. You need to tell me how the ghosts looked like"

"They were all tras…tres…trespr…ghostly. You could barely see them"

" Yeah!" one of the female hatchlings exclaimed " And, and when they moved they left a mist behind them!"

" Don't forget about the glowing eyes!" another hatchling added excited

" Yeah!" all the rest of the children yelled

One of the cheetahs started lively gesticulate near his eyes " They had that creepy looking yellow eyes and they were glowing"

" Those were the ghosts of the Ancestors! They had armors, crowns and all that stuff what Ancestors had!"

One of the children looked at the black dragoness excitedly " Can you fight with the Ancestors? Can you kill those ghosts?"

Cynder kept bowing her head slightly as if she was absorbing the new information " interesting" she huffed " But to prepare myself I first need to ask you some questions so I determine what type of ghosts I'll face" she focused on the children, she watched them closely barely holding herself from smiling " These draconic ghosts…how did their tail look like? Was it shining with a bright white light or was it ended with a shadowy tip?"

The children exchanged confused looks between themselves " I…I'm not…sure" one of the cheetahs mumbled

" They had shining tails!" a male hatchling exclaimed gaining instantly the attention of his friends " Remember when I told you that something blinded me? You said it was the sun!"

" Now I remember!" one of the female hatchlings shouted " They had shining tails for sure!"

"Yeah! Shining tails!" a commotion broke among the children as they've agreed upon one version of the story

Cynder nodded " Mhm interesting. Wings, how did they look like? Were they extremely large with even bigger blade claws on their thumbs? Or were they small illuminated by a delicate gold hue?

The children looked at each other again " Remember how I got scared because I saw something strange and you guys told me that it was just a part of that creepy building?" a female dragoness asked

" I remember now!" a cheetah shouted

" Me too! I saw the blade before I got blinded" the male hatchling added

" Wings! They had wings!" the second cheetah shouted

"Yeah!" all youngsters exclaimed, reaching a common agreement

" I see" Cynder huffed using a very serious tone " No other questions are needed since you already told me that these were ghosts of the Ancestors. I now know with what type of a ghost you ran up against" she made a pause for a dramatic effect " Voughs, dangerous if provoked, they usually stay out of sight, Voughs only appear in places that have been abandoned for centuries"

Cynder nodded solemnly " Thank you, but now I must prepare myself for the upcoming confrontation" with that she turned around towards her two friends and approached them with a broad smile on her snout

Sparx folded his arms " Since when you are a ghostbuster?"

" A girl has her secrets" she winked " At least we know now that they've made up the whole ghost story"

" You have quite an impressive way with children" Spyro admitted, his voice was filled with awe and surprise

" I've got experience, I'm hanging out with you two after all" she smiled

Spyro chuckled and turned his attention towards the Elder " We would like to check out the ruins"

Cyren nodded " Naturally, however I must warn you that reaching the ruins from the sky is impossible, the ancient structure is very well concealed, you will need to cross the forest"

* * *

They've left the village of Boven behind them and made their way through the dark forest, it was dense and twisted, many of its paths were in poor condition rendering them unpassable. They would most likely get lost if not for their guides. The group of children volunteered to show them the way, however firstly nobody agreed to let them go with complete strangers to a dark forest, at least that was what they said, in truth they just didn't want them near Cynder.

The children didn't gave up and surrounded the Elder, they started to shout and jump all around the old dragon until he finally broke and gave them permission to go. It wasn't their first visit to the forest, the children had to be coming here more than often. Boven is a pretty secluded village this dark forest was their only entertainment, it was the children's only playground.

From the looks on the children's faces they could tell they were surprised that they were held back, it seems they got used to playing in the forest without their parent's consent since they knew they will be back anyway, trust must be very important in such small villages.

The children knew the forest's every nook and cranny, they knew when to turn to not get stuck, they knew how to avoid the more difficult obstacles, sometimes they even split up just to join up again after some time in a completely different part of the woods. The three friends following them could only wonder how long it would take them to reach those ruins and head back to the village because the children looked like they would be capable of doing it in mere moments, with them around the crumbled structure didn't even feel like it was that far away from the village, knowing a shortcut or two always comes in handy.

From their travel the three friends could only tell that the ground was getting slightly steeper and nothing else, in some places the sun rays managed to penetrate the dense crowns but even with the occasional light, every tree, log and bush looked the same, it almost felt like they've been walking in circles. Luckily that was not the case, with each next step the forest was getting thinner, the number of trees was getting lower and lower until they finally revealed what they were trying to hide.

They have found the ruins. The ancient structure was located in a pretty well concealed clearing, if there was a trail leading downhill towards it, it was long gone by now, the time hid it below the grass. The structure was surrounded by many trees with a small hill at its southern end. Who know what purpose the building served but at first glance it looked like a remnant from older times, even the ground was a proof of that, new life thrived around the building just as if tried to say that whatever was here before now has no place here, its time has ended.

The ruins themselves were quite huge, some kind of black stone littered the ground, whatever it purpose was nobody will find out now but it definitely wasn't used to construct walls since those were made from some brownish stone, most likely the black stone was used for making ornaments, statues and the like. Spyro kept observing the crumbled structure and something didn't entirely seem right about it, as for a decades old building the walls seemed very well preserved, right, they were cracked in many places, whatever towers it had now laid in ruins but they didn't show any sign of decay, it looked like the building was torn apart, or more precisely cut in half.

He might be wrong of course but logically thinking the stone should lose its bright color or at least show signs of passing time but he couldn't see anything like it. Not to mention that something else caught his attention, the building was surrounded by fully grown trees, basically nature thrived all around it but there was no moss or lichen growing on its presumably old walls. The structure might be crumbled but even from here he could see that the interior was in the same state like the outer walls.

As Spyro kept thinking about the ruins he felt a tingle running through his front paw, he impulsively looked at his leg and saw as it was slightly shaking. Then another tremor hit him, however this time it was more fierce, whenever he encountered a Veil a tingle ran through one of his limbs and it was a delicate sensation, but now it was a completely different matter. The shiver ran through his whole body, shaking his every limb, muscle and vein, he even felt the air in his lungs vibrate, this awkward sensation lasted for a while but as strange as it was it didn't bother him much, not like the fact that his worries were just confirmed. One of the Veil's is here.

" We need to get the children out of here" Spyro hissed with a glimmer of fear in his voice while staring at the ruins

Cynder furrowed a brow when she heard the tone of his voice however the moment she looked at him and saw that he was shaking, everything became clear " It's time to go home kids!" she shouted at the children

It took them a while to convince the children to leave since they thought that it was just a game, they didn't have time to check if the kids left for real or if they only hid in the forest, they just hoped that if they actually are still here they won't get to close to the ruins.

The three friends arrived near the severed building, from this distance Spyro could definitely tell that this building was torn in half, he saw his share of ruins during his travels and this wasn't one of them, it definitely was dragged here by the Veil but it looked like the portal wasn't able to pull all of it. They circled the building looking for any sign of the Veil, Spyro moved slowly, closely examining every rock, he sniffed, he touched but he couldn't locate the portal, even if he could feel it nearby.

They've made two circles around the structure and didn't see anything, Spyro with a frown returned to the spot where the tingle seemed to be stronger. He ended up facing a wall, the same wall he looked at so many times before, Spyro decided to examine it from the other side but even looking at it from the interior revealed nothing. He touched the stone with his paw and began moving his leg back and forth, he didn't know what he was looking for but if the tingle is any clue then there has to be something here. He kept moving alongside the wall constantly sliding his paw across its surface until something stung his paw.

He stopped, in this place the rocks seemed more jagged, all other spots of the wall were smooth but this one was not, it was edged, just like something would collapse here. Impulsively he looked up, there was a hole in the ceiling above, with nothing left to lose he made some steps back. Spyro charged his Earth powers and released an projectile at the wall, there was a rumble, dust shot from the wall as some rocks fell down to the ground. It was just as he expected, a not very powerful missile pierced through the wall when it would shatter on a more solid construction, the rocks at which he was actually staring at weren't originally from here, they were to weak.

Before he made another attempt Spyro driven by his curiosity decided to take a peek through the hole. The sight confirmed his suspicions, there was something on the other side, on closer inspection he also spotted something that looked like some kind of depression, unfortunately the hole wasn't big enough for his paw to fit. With renewed determination he released another missile at the wall which made the hole bigger. This time his paw slid inside easily, he felt the stone for a while until his paw slid into the depression with much ease.

The inner side of his paw was illuminated by a delicate purple light. The walls began to shake and a sound that of stone grinding on stone echoed throughout the ruins, Spyro impulsively withdrew his paw and looked at it, on the inner side of his foreleg he had a tiny hole, directly in the middle, blood was dripping out of it, he didn't even fell how it was made but he was sure that the depression had something to do with it.

Soon rocks started to roll down on the ground from the wall Spyro struck with his elemental attack, slowly first but then there was a loud thud and the stones fell from the wall, he had to jump backwards to avoid being hit by them. Blinding dust filed the interior, it was so thick that they all began to caught until the air finally took care of it and revealed what it was hiding.

Spyro rubbed his eyes and looked ahead, some sort a gate has opened revealing a flight of stairs behind it, the staircase was wide but as crumbled as the rest of the structure, not many levels remained intact and those that did looked like they were barely holding themselves together. Just above the entrance there was a word carved from black stone "_DISPOSAL"_ was formed from the rocks. Whatever it meant or whatever the purpose the room served they probably would not find out judging from the state of the whole structure, one thing was for certain however, if the tingle is any clue, the Veil is in there.

With a deep breath they've descended the remains of the stairs, as they moved closer the tingle intensified but there was something odd about it, instead of delicately caressing his scales it shook Spyro's whole body, he even felt his blood jumping in his veins. If there is one of the portals down there it isn't like the rest they've encountered, it felt…strange to say the least, just like it was bigger than the others.

They've reached the room, the whole floor was made of cracked marble, remains of the pillars were scattered all around the place, some of them still remained intact, holding parts of the ceiling. Near the walls there was some kind of statues or something similar made from black stone, from the remains they could tell that it depicted dragons with scoldful, hateful and full of disgusts expressions on their artificial snouts, the whole thing protruded from the wall, the statues looked like a crowd observing the scenery ahead without any notion of pity for those who walked these halls.

There was a large mosaic at the north wall or at least what remained of it, wide cracks ran through the wall ahead, shattering the mosaic. It was hard to say what it depicted thanks to its poor state, but they could see some dragons, something that looked like statues, especially one drake stood out from the others, he was standing on a hill or something and… well that's about it, it was impossible to discern anything more from the cracked artwork.

Farther away the marble floor formed a circle around a hole filled with dirt, whatever was in there when the building was operational didn't make its way through the portal, nature taking its place instead. One thing caught their attention however, there was a pile of dust or some kind of black powder laying in the middle of the dirt. Spyro didn't really have the time to focus on such details since the tingle was growing stronger with each second , it didn't escape Cynder's notice since she was near him instantly. He looked at her concerned eyes, he saw her mouth moving but he heard no words, Sparx appeared next to her, he seemed to be yelling and touching him but Spyro couldn't feel or hear anything, whole sound was dampened, only the shaking remained.

As time passed the sensation filling him began sending strong pulses through his body, it wasn't him resonating it, it was something else, something he felt already but it never was so intense. Spyro looked past the worried faces of his friends and it was then when he saw it, the air above the dirt began pulsing, just like a heart would be pumping blood, with every thud he saw some disoriented images but couldn't really tell what it was, the images blinked quickly and his eyes weren't able to assemble the scenery they wanted to present.

With each passing second the pulsing became faster, thud after thud struck him filling his ears with a hollow sound. He observed the pulsing portal and imagined a heart working to its limits, it pumped blood faster and faster, never slowing down but always increasing its tempo. A thud, another one, and another one, they rang in his skull not even allowing him to rest, the tempo intensified even harder. Spyro could barely take it, he could feel his head cracking, his brain clashing against his skull just as if it was trying to get out, he felt as his head was about to explode.

It was then when a blast echoed throughout the ruins with its hollow sound, a bluish ring shot from the crackling air above the dirt, it dragged some stones and dust from the ceiling as it passed through the room. It passed through the three friends as if was never there, they couldn't even feel it, all of them concentrated on the sight ahead, even Spyro's troubling sensations have passed away with the blast but he didn't even notice it, he was staring at the scene ahead with wide eyes.

Time seemed to slow down slightly, the black powder materialized into some sort of a creature, it looked draconic but it had some strange features that didn't really were fit exactly with the dragon kind, not that they could make out everything since the creature was lying flat on the ground, it was completely still just like something was holding it down. Soon they found out what was pinning the creature to the ground, a large rocky hand materialized itself tightly gripping the form in its palm. In seconds the owner of the hand appeared, the creature was tall and bulky, it looked like a statue or a golem.

The construct appeared to be trying to dip the creature it was holding into the ground but instead it found itself smearing the draconic figure along the dirt. Its arm stopped moving just as if it realized that it won't achieve its goal this way. The statue changed its grip, it clenched its fist around the dragon looking creature's neck and lifted it upwards as the construct straightened up.

They didn't really focus on the draconic creature since their eyes were momentarily drawn towards the construct, they could take a good look at it in its straightened up position. It was no statue but definitely a golem of sorts, it seemed even taller and more bulky when it stood on two legs. The golem's body was made from rough black stone, two cavities were carved into the stone adjacent to each other, most likely for eyes, a long slit was seen below them which could only resemble a tightly shut mouth. The rocks from which the golem was made seemed to be melted with each other since there were no joints connecting its limbs, the rock was illuminated by a dim red light, just like a fire would be burning inside the construct's body.

It didn't notice them, it was focused entirely on one task- to crush the creature it was holding. The deadly grip prevented the draconic figure from escaping, it kept thrashing as it hung above the ground with its life slowly ebbing away. There was no chance it could free itself from the grip, it movements were getting slower and slower, the lungs stung and no sound could pass through its crunched throat, a silent death was approaching.

" Not this thing again" Sparx said with a wavering voice, fear seeping through his tone as he understood the danger, it wasn't their first golem they met but every time they fought with one it proved to be a deadly opponent. This one seemed forensic in particular.

Spyro didn't care, be it a dragon , ape or a golem nothing of that mattered for him. They are here now and they won't stand idle and watch as the construct kills mercilessly a creature which can't protect itself. With determination he charged his Earth powers and released an missile towards the construct clenched hand.

Chips of little rocks shot from the stony hand as the missile made an impact with it. It caught the construct by surprise, it didn't hurt it much but it was enough to force its hand open. The draconic creature fell on the ground with a loud gasp for air, as it landed ungracefully on the floor it began to crawl away to safety immediately.

" How about you attack someone who can fight back you good for nothing piece of crap!" Spyro yelled provocatively at the golem, just to gain its attention " Come on! Attack us!" he waved with his wing " We are over here!"

It worked, the construct slowly turned around to face them, after a while of silent staring it arched forward and cried out a rumble sound. As its mouth parted a flame gushed from inside its mouth and its eyes sparkled with an intense red light, just like a flame would gushed from inside its body. Even its body seemed to illuminate with a more intense red hue than before as if was trying to show that time for jokes is over. The golem kicked the slithering figure on the ground and sent it flying with a painful grunt behind some columns just as if tried to get it point across and then charged.

" Just for the record, you know that I've been kidding about that Hell stuff right?" Cynder whispered while not losing the approaching golem from her sight.

Spyro didn't answer since they both jumped out of the way as the hulking creature threw its arms downwards hitting the spot where the two dragons stood previously and creating a hole in the floor, the marble jutted from the ground on some sides, if they would stay there this one move would be enough to turn them both into a pulp. They've done this before, a simple dodge and attack from both sides was enough to cripple every opponent and this golem like the rest of their enemies fell for this trap.

They couldn't be more wrong, as they began charging their elements the golem instead of attacking one of them crossed its arms crosswise around its body and hunkered down before it instantly straightened up and threw its arms sideways emitting the same rumbling war cry. A reddish ring shot from around the golem that shook the very foundations of the building, it resembled a fire but it wasn't hot and the moment it reached them they both could feel their insides squeezing together before a tremendous shockwave was released that hurled them across the room and towards the walls.

Both dragons grunted painfully while they made a hole in the wall at the impact and the moment they slid down to the ground some little stones fell on their heads. It was then when Spyro could feel the tremors of the floor just as if an earthquake would be approaching him, focused returned to his eyes and he looked ahead just to see the golem almost in front of his nose making a swing with one of its fiery and enormous arms. Adrenaline pumped through him and Spyro instantly turned into a boulder, even in his protective cocoon he felt the power of the impact as the fist slammed against him. The force of the strike sent him rolling across the room, he spun around so quickly that his head started to ache. Spyro rolled onto a knocked over column which was leaned against a wall. Unwillingly he made his way upwards and the speed with which he kept spinning allowed him to vertically roll on the wall until he finally reached the ceiling. The vertigo prevented Spyro from maintaining focus, his boulder form dissolved and he found himself falling down towards the ground. Seeing what is happening Spyro limply began flapping his wings, but his moves were so uncoordinated that he only managed to slow down his unwilling descent. He hit the floor with a loud thud, the impact and the wild spinning left him dizzy.

Cynder recovered just to see the golem running in Spyro's direction, her eyes focused on the debris, rocks and parts of destroyed columns littered the ground ahead. It was unlikely that the debris would hurt the construct but she was sure that it will stall the creature and that's everything she wanted to achieve. Cynder charged her Wind element and released a powerful gust, the wind blew the debris straight at the running golem. The debris only forced the creature to sway as it fought to regain balance, it straightened up and turned towards the black dragoness who dared to attack it, with another loud rumbling war cry it began its charge.

Cynder once again sent some debris flying towards the golem, however this time the creature seemed unmoved by it, some rocks he destroyed with a fast swing of its enormous arm just to catch and crush some other stones in its other palm not even slowing its advance. Cynder's eyes went wide when she saw the golem catching one of the bigger stones and hurling it towards her, thanks to her natural agility she jumped out of the rocks way and instantly took to the sky. The golem slid on the ground rippling the floor as it forced itself to stop instantly, the creature looked up at the flying black dragoness who was just starting to spin around charging her Twister ability.

Before the wind started to howl through the room the golem extended its arms towards the hovering dragoness and clapped its hands forcefully that some small chips of rock fell from its body at the impact. Another shockwave ring was sent her way, Cynder had no chance to dodge it and was sent flying towards the ceiling, the powerful impact kicked the breath out of her lungs and she began falling down numbly with some parts of the ceiling behind her, the moment she was in the right altitude the golem swung its arm and slapped the black dragoness sending her flying across the room like a bolt shot from a crossbow.

Spyro was already charging leaving a fiery trail behind him as he used his elemental power to fuel his Comet Dash ability, it was then when he saw a black shape quickly flying across the room. The room was filled with a rumbling noise as she collided with remnants of the black statues, dust burst forth into the air from the place of her impact. Spyro was worried about her health but he also knew that it takes much more than a single strike to put down a dragoness like her.

They fought with Malefor after all, he slammed them against a wall several times and they both survived the offensive of the powerful Dark Master, he was much more powerful than the creature they are fighting right now. Spyro hoped that she isn't injured very badly, he needs her and if the golem knocked her out cold then he is in big trouble. As he kept looking at the hanging dust he saw a glowing yellow shape diving into it, Sparx had to understand what is happening. Good, if she fell unconscious he should be able to resuscitate her.

The golem wields abilities that they never met before, the scene of Cynder being blown from the sky taught Spyro a lesson. The construct creates some kind of mighty shockwave whenever they are out of its reach, Spyro needs to adapt to the situation, he has to keep an appropriate distance to the creature since he has no means to protect himself against that tremendous force. Sadly Cynder learnt that lesson the hard way.

As he ran with his horns pointed at the rocky leg he felt rage rousing inside him, that creature will be sorry for hurting his friend. With an angry growl and new determination he continued his advance. All of these emotions vanished the moment he rammed into the creature, he expected that his horns would sink into the golem's leg, that his attack would at least cripple it a bit but nothing like that happened. Spyro bounced from the rocky body and found himself landing on his butt with a stinging pain in his neck and dizziness in his head. Spyro shook off the unwanted sensation and focused, the moment he did that he noticed that the creature's leg didn't even bend, his attack didn't even leave a mark on the construct's body.

Just as he observed the golem he noticed a clenched fist coming at him from above, Spyro impulsively rolled to the side, the creature's hand slammed into the ground creating a hole in the floor as a result. After the strike the whole ground in the nearby area began to shake violently, Spyro tried to pull himself up but the small earthquake every time pushed him back onto the ground. The golem however was completely unmoved by the shaking foundations, it swung its leg at the defenseless dragon. The kick sent Spyro spinning sideways on the ground with a painful grunt, after a while his wild spinning came to a stop, the moment he landed on his belly he coughed up blood, painting the marble floor with a crimson hue.

It was then when a large shadowy splotch dragged itself on a nearby column which was close to the whole action. Cynder learnt another lesson from her friend's anguish, fighting the golem on the ground is useless and way too risky for her taste. Even a simple miss has tragic effects, the only way to fight with the golem is to take to the sky and get as close as possible to the creature so it won't use his shockwave strike. New tactic formed itself in her mind and this was the perfect opportunity to put it to the test.

Cynder jumped from the previously mentioned shadow, with her empowered claws she began her attack. The golem seemed to be surprised by her sudden appearance since it didn't make a slightest move to defend itself. She slashed her claws burning with a dark flame at the construct, chips of rocks were sent flying as her claws connected with the golem's body. Cynder swiftly moved to an another part of the creature's body and repeated her move, as before only small rocks splinters were thrown in the air. Another part, the same move ended with the same result, she tried again just to experience the same ending,

As she hovered in the air and looked at the golem Cynder realized that she made a full circle around the golem, she gasped faintly in shock when she saw that the golem wasn't hurt. Her claws didn't even leave a scratch on the construct's body, by looking at the rocky armor she could say that her attack never happened since the golem looked exactly the same, no wound or anything similar scarred its body. It was like the creature tried to taunt her, now when that was over it was the golem's turn to attack.

It swung one of its enormous arms at the hovering dragoness, Cynder keeping close distance to the golem dodged the attack with a quick flap of her wings and a swift move. Just as the arm flew above her she stabbed the creature with the blade on her tail right in the chest, another small rocks fell from the golem's body but as always it seemed not to feel it. It sent an uppercut with its other arm at the pestering dragoness, she made a quick turn sideways avoiding the strike and cut the golem right below the elbow. Another strike, this one came even faster than before, she could hear the whizz of the wind as the fist missed her by mere inches. Cynder attacked again but as always no damage seemed to be inflicted, the golem once again attacked even faster this time, she dodged again but this time Cynder couldn't counter attack since soon another arm was heading her way. One of the golem's fingers hooked against her wing, the slight impact made her totter in the air but thanks to her natural grace she recovered her balance quickly just to dodge another attack. The golem seemed to speed up with each strike, if she won't come up with something quick one of these punches will hit her eventually.

That's when Spyro returned to the battle, he sent cone after cone at the swinging golem, the earth missiles struck the construct delicately slowing it down. He released another one missile and then another one, the golem stopped obviously angered by the interruption. It was then when Spyro channeled his earth powers once more, with elemental energy swirling inside him he opened his mouth. Instead of an projectile a glowing green chain burst forth connected to a giant swirling bomb, he decided to use his Earth Flail ability. Spyro spun around, the glowing chain extended and as he made a left turn the bomb destroyed everything in its path, be it a column, rock or a statue, nothing was strong enough to withstand such force, expect the golem.

Spyro's eyes went wide when the bomb finally reached the construct's torso, instead of delicately throwing him away so he can strike once more and creating a hole in the creature's body the impact sent him spinning in the other direction wildly, involuntarily and uncontrollably. Spyro lost his focus and the glowing chain began to slowly dissolve but not before the bomb reached the other side of the golem, the creature caught the bomb in his enormous hand and flicked it away to the side just like it weighted nothing. Spyro was lifted from the ground and sent flying across the room, as he made his way across the air he noticed Cynder's wide stare, the chain wrapped around her entwining them both, with their wings held in place they were sent flying towards the ground, the scattered debris made for a rough landing.

They both groaned in pain when the scattered rocks scratched their leathery armors, as they slid on the ground they left a trail of delicate blood behind them. Their wild ride finally came to a stop, both dragons rolled on their sides, with pain and adrenaline pumping through their bodies.

" This thing…" Cynder hissed "…is immune to our every attack…" her voice trailed off as she pulled out with a groan of pain one of the rocks protruding from her body

" Everything has a weak spot…somewhere" Spyro hissed through clenched teeth as he was slowly pulling out a bloody long piece of marble from his body " We…just need to find it" he yelped faintly in agony as the piece finally came out, with a pant he flicked it away

" Take that!" a shout caught their attention, both dragons looked ahead just to see a glowing yellow shape flying all around the golem, the construct was swinging its arms wildly just like it tried to crush a fly. Sparx took a risk and started to distract the golem giving them some time to pull themselves together and think of a strategy

" I feel so useless" Cynder hissed angrily while pulling out another blood rock from her body " Shadow and wind doesn't seem to work, not to mention that there is no point in using my other two elemental attacks. What kind of golem is that"

" My attacks don't hurt it as well" Spyro admitted with a painful groan as another bloody piece of marble fell to the ground

" Convexity?"

" No" Spyro stated firmly his voice ringing with a commanding tone " it's too risky, it might hurt it but there is no guarantee that it will kill it, we need to make a crack first in that armor somehow"

Groaning Cynder pulled herself up" Any idea how to kill it?"

He followed in her wake hissing in pain " I'll use my Fury attack on it we'll see what happens. Just stall it long enough, with these wounds I need some time to focus"

" That's your plan?" she blurt out incredulously " Hit it with a Fury and see what happens?"

" You got a better idea?"

She turned to face the golem, Cynder watched the construct but nothing crossed her mind, she had to admit that Fury was their best bet. She sighed and wincing unfolded her aching wings " Just don't keep me waiting" as she took to the sky Spyro made his way on the ground, hiding behind some debris so the golem would not notice him as he prepared his attack.

As Cynder approached the construct she saw the creature swinging its arms faster and faster at the pestering dragonfly, Sparx put up a brave fight but he won't be able to withstand the creatures wild swings for much longer

" Move!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, hearing her loud shout Sparx to his relief got away from the golem

Cynder channeled her Wind element once again, chill filled her body as a delicate breeze mixed itself with the blood in her veins, she started to spin around while still in the air. Momentarily she transformed into a deadly tornado, the howling wind around her sucked all the nearby debris, rocks and parts of the black statues started to swirl all around her. As she approached the golem more and more debris accumulated within her Twister, the moment the rocks blocked her view she started to spit them out. The debris started to fly in every direction with incredible momentum, the hurled debris wrecked everything in its path.

The golem however as expected was unmoved by this offensive, it tottered slightly when the first stones hit it but other than that nothing serious happened to it. Cynder to prevent it from using its shockwave let go of her elemental power and started once again chopping at the creature with her claws and tail. The construct seemed infuriated by the previous pestering from the annoying dragonfly, it swung its arms at tremendous speed, she had hard time dodging its strikes. As dangerous as it was she didn't back down, she had a goal and she will see it completed no matter what, their own lives may depend on it. With every swing of the golem's arms and with every slash of her claws she wished that Spyro would hurry up, as important as her task was she didn't want to get struck by those hands again.

Spyro appeared close to the two fighters, adrenaline and anger coursed through his body, the elemental power he channeled allowed him to mix those two companions into one. Fury filled his entire being, fury so strong that it made his heart pound at his chest relentlessly with a tremendous force, the surging power forced the blood to hastily flow through his veins, he could feel it vibrate inside. He was ready.

" Hide!" Spyro's shout was hoarse, somewhat stifled just like a grunt of someone who was in the middle of a strenuous task, as short as it was it echoed throughout the whole room

Cynder knew what was going to happen. Several flaps of her wings, a couple of swift moves and she was out of the golem's reach. She was fast in the air, maneuvering her body in such a way that it looked like she danced to the unheard music of her wings. As Cynder made her way through the sky she noticed a dragonfly hovering in the air, staring at her with wide eyes. She grabbed Sparx in her paw and dived instantly towards the nearby debris, when on the ground she laid low behind the pile of stones with her black wings covering her.

It was then when the air became unnaturally cold, freezing almost. Spyro closed his eyes and bent on his legs, deadly cold wind rushed through him and swirled all around his body. It killed all the sound, only the howl of the freezing wind remained. Spyro opened his eyes, they were cold and blue just like they would be incased in ice, it was then when he finally released his Fury.

Huge glaciers of solid sharp ice formed like spikes started to protrude from the ground, they formed a circle around the purple dragon and in that form they made their way through the room destroying completely everything that stood in their path. A freezing gust followed soon after, an icy ring burst forth from Spyro carrying with it a wind that sucked the life even from the rocks. As the gust made its way through the room it turned everything that still remained standing to ice.

Cynder shivered so badly that even her teeth started to rattle against each other when the chilling wind passed above her. It has ended as quickly as it began, only a still unbearably cold air remained. She craned her neck upwards and as her trembling head protruded from her now icy cover she started to examine the surroundings to the sound of her rattling teeth. Everything was destroyed or turned to ice, every object that remained standing emanated a freezing steam.

Cynder didn't care what happened to the room, her eyes were instantly drawn towards the golem, the construct stood there completely covered in ice just like some kind of sculpture, it looked like they have finally got it. Her hopes diminished quickly when the ice began to crack and shatter on the ground, the construct's limbs were slowly coming back to life, ice upon ice shattered on the ground until the golem freed itself from its icy prison. It emanated the same cold steam and layers of frost covered its body, also its movements seemed to be slower.

" _How the hell…?"_ Cynder thought to herself, how it was still moving after such an attack was beyond her but she just couldn't believe that Spyro's Fury attack didn't scar it, it had to reveal a weakness she just needs to find it

" Sparx…" she mumbled through rattling teeth, icy mist bursting from her mouth as she spoke " listen…I'll distract it while you…you look…for some kind of weakness….It had to feel that a….attack"

Sparx started to hover beside her with his arms wrapped around himself just like he tried to warm himself up " What…what kind of…weakness?"

" A crack in the ar…armor, a cut…I don't know….look fo…for something out of t…the ordinary. Go" with that she took to the sky once more, the dragonfly followed her soon after.

She started pestering the golem once more, this time however she managed to hit it more often thanks to its slower movements, while she has been distracting the creature Sparx was circling around the construct looking for any sign of weakness. Spyro soon joined her, as a purple dragon of prophecies he had more elemental energy than any dragon who wielded only one element. While the Fury attack would hinder any other dragon, he was still ready to continue the fight, he was drained and weakened of course but he kept pushing on.

As both dragons were keeping the golem busy Sparx slowly circled the creature carefully looking for… well he didn't know what he was looking for but he hoped that he would find it nevertheless. The golem was slowly losing its frost layers, the black rock leisurely reappearing, The creature eventually turned its back to Sparx and that was the moment when he narrowed his eyes, a slight part of the golem's neck was still covered in solid ice, with the receding frost that seemed odd.

He darted towards Cynder " That guy has something on the back of his neck!" Sparx yelled

She looked at Spyro, he just nodded giving her a clear signal that he will take care of the golem so she can check it out. Cynder circled the creature and her eyes went wide when she noticed the ice, not much but still better than nothing. She decided to peel it off and check what's beneath it, Cynder plunged herself into a shadow of her own creation just to jump out of it soon after with dark energy burning from her claws. With a fast slash of her claws she shattered the ice easily, a hole has been made in the golem's armor. Cynder wanted to take a peek inside but flames suddenly burst out from the hole , she impulsively jerked her head back. The flame looked exactly like the one that burnt from the golem's eyes, she wasn't sure but her instinct told her that the fire is what makes the golem tick. Cynder could attack that spot with her Wind element but she decided not to, better to hit it with something and hit it hard, this may be their only chance to finish it once and for all.

She made her way towards Spyro " There is a crack Spyro. Convexity time!" she yelled

" Are you sure?" he asked while dodging a blow

" Yes!" she whistled " Sparx! Distract it, make sure that we can see its back!" she could hear him whining but he still did what he was told to do " And get away when the big guns are fired"

Both dragons landed quite a distance away from the golem, with a deep breath they concentrated. They've been lifted slightly from the ground and as they hovered in the air they began to draw power from every corner. They could feel all of their elemental powers swirling and twisting with each other inside them until they became one. That powerful creation demanded energy, energy which was the very source of their existence. Magical essence started to flow through them, dragged from their very souls to empower and sustain the destructive force within them, it fed on it with great appetite and with each passing second it became stronger. The power within them started to pulse, just like a heart but with an undeniable notion to be finally free. The golem turned around and they noticed the hole in its neck, it was now or never.

They opened their mouths, purple laser beams were released at the golem. The Convexity attack vaporized everything on its path no matter how solid or thick the obstacle was, nothing was able to withstand such tremendous power. As the beam kept going they became weaker and weaker, the laser not only carried their elemental reserves but even the very essence of their own creation. As the magical energy drifted away so did they, the beam was becoming weaker when the last dozes of their energy were being sacrificed, they couldn't stand it any longer. Both of them collapsed on the ground panting heavily, they didn't even have the strength to see if it worked.

" It worked! It is dead!" Sparx excited shout echoed throughout he room

They were too tired to cheer, they had the strength only for a weak smile. Some time has passed but eventually they pulled themselves together and examined the golem, it was nothing more than a pile of rubble now, its flame extinguished for all eternity. However something unexpectedly broke their moment of glee.

" You!" an angry and scarred young male voice echoed throughout the room " I won't let you harm anyone else!"

Cynder rolled her eyes "_Here we go again"_ she mused. Once again she helps to defeat a dangerous creature and once again they prefer to ignore it. Hate is a strong emotion indeed

She sighed " Listen-"

" I'm going to kill you for everything you've done Purple Dragon!" the male shout cut her off

Sparx, Spyro and Cynder looked at the direction from which the voice was coming from "WHAT?!" they exclaimed simultaneously


	21. Chapter 3 Book II

Chapter 3

A roar filled the room, it wasn't a roar of a self- confident creature which intimidates its prey or attackers but a roar filled with uncertainty, fear and barely noticeable hint of bravery. It was the sound of a cornered creature which perfectly understands that it won't see another day but it won't be forced to leave this world without putting up a fight, a final desperate cling to life.

" You'll pay for everything!" the male emitted a wavering growl. The three of them could finally take a good glimpse at the frightened figure.

It was a young male, maybe two or three years younger than them, his build was draconic, he looked like a dragon but at the same time wasn't one, they have never seen a creature like him. First thing that their eyes caught were the colors of his scales, they were mostly fiery red covering the top and sides of his body and tail, his neck, underbelly and bottom side of his tail consisted of orange scales. Streaks of yellow could be visible in the places where his red scales connected with the orange ones.

Patterns of three yellow scales which were positioned one below the other in a diagonal fashion embellished his shoulders. Several small yellow spines protruded from the top side of his tail, the tail itself was ended with the most peculiar tip, it looked like a smaller version of a bird's tail and it was burning with a bright flame. Something was attached to both his elbows and hocks, something which no dragon they ever knew had. Those attachments had the form of a feather and they were burning in the same way like the tip on the dragon's tail.

The young dragon's eyes were also strange, they were yellow but instead of round pupils just like any other drake had his pupils were narrowed to slits resembling the eyes of a cat or a bird. Two yellow horns protruded from the top of his head. Between them was a blazing mane which started from the top of his head and ended on the nape of his neck. He was an odd dragon but two things in particular drawn the group's attention, one of this things were his wings. They were no ordinary wings, no bones, no membranes or leathery armor typical for the dragon kind was seen.

His big wings were burning like a fire, they were formed mostly from a reddish flame, but as the flame got closer to the edge it adopted a more yellowish hue just to finally end on an orange color. How the blazing wings could hold him in the air was a mystery, if they could at all. The second thing that caught their interest was a gem, a reddish beautiful crystal was inserted into his chest, just like it was a part of his body. Red and yellow entwined and swirled inside the gem, illuminating the whole structure of the crystal with a delicately bright light.

The dragon stood there, slightly bent on his paws, it looked like he was ready for anything, ready to commit one last act of bravery, no matter what happens. However his eyes, his strange looking eyes betrayed his tenacity, as much as he tried to sound confident his orbs were full of fear. Judging from the delicate wriggling of his pupils they could tell that he was scared and started to become even more terrified with each passing second, if the uneasy swings of his fiery tail are any clue. He desperately tried to put on a brave face but failed miserably, they could smell terror on him.

The male roared once again.

Spyro observed the young dragon, he didn't understand why he is the reason behind his aggression and not Cynder, but that was not important right now, what really mattered to him was to avoid a fight, there is no need for blood to be spilled.

He raised his paw defensively " Listen we-"

" I won't listen to your lies!" the drake emitted a wavering growl cutting the purple dragon off

" I don't want to fight you" Spyro replied calmly with a skill worthy of a negotiator. " We come in peace" he took a step forward

" Stand back!" the dragon roared and made a single step backwards, his voice becoming more and more nervous

He took another step " Let's just talk ok?"

The drake once again retreated " Stand back!" his roar was filled with terror and desperation

Spyro stopped " I won't harm you" he pronounced those words slowly allowing sincerity to be clearly heard in his voice

The drake started to shake, nervousness and fear overwhelming him " L-l-l-liar!" he stuttered

" It's true" Cynder interjected when she finally managed to shake of the surprise, it felt wrong but also oddly pleasant to see that for the first time she wasn't a target " Spyro won't attack you, he is the good guy here"

The yellow eyes of the dragon shifted towards her, absorbing her form just like they noticed her for the first time. After a moment of silent staring his pupils once again returned to the purple dragon " R-r-r- release h-h- her! She h-h-has n-n-n-nothing to d-d-do with it!"

She jerked back furrowing her brow " I'm not his prisoner"

" S-s-s- stop ma-ma-ma- manipulating h-her! G-g-g- get your p-p-p- paws dirty at l-l-l- least o-once y-y-you b-b-b- bastards!"

" A stammerer, seriously?" Sparx whispered incredulously

" She speaks the truth" Spyro confirmed and pointed at her with his claw " This is Cynder, we are friends"

" O-o-o-of c-c-course you a-a-a-are" the oddly looking dragon replied sarcastically

" Spyro is the good guy here, he would never hurt anyone. He is here to help" Cynder interjected with a soft tone

" N-n-n-no!" the male shouted as loudly as his stammer allowed him " T-t-t-they n-n-n-never help! W-w-w-wake up p-p-p-please!"

" Listen to me" Spyro whispered almost pleadingly " We are not going to harm you. I'M not going to harm you"

" S-s-s-shut up!" the drake roared

" Ok listen dude" Sparx made his way in front of Spyro " You've got the wrong guy here, he wouldn't hurt a fly. But her…" he pointed at Cynder" oooooh now that's a different story"

" Sparx…" Spyro hissed his brother's name through clenched teeth

The dragonfly ignored the purple dragon " She insulted…taunted…kidnapped…"

" Sparx…"

"…stole…maimed…desecrated…"

" Sparx…" Spyro hissed again, this time more irritated

Sparx remained unmoved "…destroyed… murdered …dismembered…"

" Sparx that's enough!" the purple dragon growled angrily before taking a deep breath to calm himself " You are not helping"

Sparx raised his arms defensively "Dude chill, it's not like I'm lying"

" Thanks for sorting things out" Cynder commented sarcastically

" You're welcome" he bowed mockingly

The young red drake however seemed to ignore the dragonflie's word's or didn't hear them at all. He was staring at the glowing yellow shape with wide eyes trembling uncontrollably, he seemed to be paralyzed from fear " W-w-w-what k-k-k-kind of b-b-b-bug is t-t-t-this?" the dragon's slammer could barely be heard thanks to the ringing terror in his voice

Sparx pointed an angry finger at the odd drake " Hey I'm not a bug!" his chest swelled " I'm a dragonfly" he stated proudly

" A d-d-d-dragonfly?"

" Yeah! One of a kind really, you won't find a more powerful and good looking dragonfly than me anywhere else"

The dragon gulped as if swallowing a portion of his fear " H-h-h-how p-p-p-powerful?"

" Dude, they call me the King of the World. I'm even considered God in some circles" Sparx responded without a second thought, just to keep talking, making sense didn't matter

" Y-y-y-you rule t-t-t-the whole w-w-w-world?"

The dragonfly frowned " What portion of the _King of the World_ you didn't understand? Of course I do, everyone bows to me!"

" E-e-e-even the p-p-p-purple d-d-d-dragons?"

Sparx furrowed his brow, he was uncertain if the dragon is being serious and is actually buying his made up story or is making fun of him. He made his way between his friends and covered his mouth with his hand " Am I crazy or is he actually believing in my fake story?"

Spyro shrugged " Seems like it"

" Just keep playing along" Cynder urged the dragonfly

Sparx once again made his way in front of his friends and cleared his throat " Everyone"

The dragon jerked back, surprised and somewhat calmer " Really?"

" Really, they both won't dare to hurt me. Look" he began circling his two friends " See?" Sparx covered his mouth " I've got a plan" he whispered

Cynder shook her head quickly in disbelief " Wait, wait, wait. YOU'VE got a plan?"

" Either that Smartass or you will have to fight"

" What's your plan?" Spyro asked curiously

" I'm going to act as I'm the ruler and you two are my slaves or something. I'm just going to fool the guy"

" Ok he might be not the brightest sort , just look at the guy he's clearly strange but that doesn't mean he won't figure things out" Cynder said cautiously " How can you know that he won't snap at some point?"

Sparx looked behind his shoulder, watching the young drake " He reminds me of someone" he whispered almost longingly

" You sure about that? I don't know if someone can be that naive" Spyro pulled the teeth of his brother, judging if he really knows what he is doing

" Bro trust me" the dragonfly eyed his brother from claw to horn " I know the type" he once again darted forward while throwing them a quick glance " Chill guys, I've got it covered" with that he turned towards the red dragon

" Oh no" Spyro whispered with a hint of fear in his voice

" What is it?" Cynder asked concerned

" Whenever Sparx says those words bad things happen and I'm sure one of us will find out what it is the hard way soon enough"

" You're exaggerating"

He sighed " Don't say that I didn't warn you"

Sparx spread his arms to both sides " Cool isn't it?" he addressed the young red drake

" How did you do that?" the male asked full of awe

" Natural talent dude. I command every creature, they follow my every whim, I can do whatever I want and nobody can stop me"

" You must be really powerful to become a king of the purple dragons"

" Dude duh. They know that they don't have any chance against me, people start to run whenever they hear my name. They call me…" Sparx made a pause for a dramatic effect " The Puppeteer" he said with the most manly and menacing voice he could muster

" The Puppeteer?" the dragon mumbled intimidated

" Yes and you know why? Because those who stand against me become my puppets, I pull the strings and they dance as I see fit"

" It must have been really tough to achieve so much"

" It was I don't deny it" Sparx replied dramatically " But a true hero knows the meaning of bravery, cunning and wisdom. These traits are not unfamiliar to me" a female cough could be heard after his words but he decided to ignore it

" I still don't understand how you managed to defeat the purple dragons, you are rather um… frail looking" the male stated bashfully

The dragonfly nodded " True but what I lack in raw strength I make up in brain. Every dragonfly and me in particular is born with tremendous intelligence" another cough could be heard but this time he threw Cynder an angry glance

She rubbed her neck " Something got stuck in my throat" she smirked

The young dragon observed the two drakes " They don't look like slaves"

" Because they aren't slaves. I allowed them to keep their free will, but that doesn't mean they won't follow my orders, I can do whatever I want with them." Sparx clapped his hands " A little demonstration maybe?" he pointed at Cynder " Take her for example"

She balked at the unexpected attention

" That's Cynder, I don't really know why I keep her around she's practically useless" he placed his palm on his chin " I should really consider changing her for something way cooler, some kind of shambling mound would be great. Stronger and waaaaay prettier"

Spyro began to whistle and look around the room " Here it comes"

" He wouldn't dare" Cynder hissed threateningly while narrowing her eyes on the dragonfly

" Been there done that"

Sparx shook his head " But look at me I digress. As I said I don't have a better model yet so I'm forced to be stuck with her. At least she's a good arrow bait."

The male observed Cynder and saw her angry expression " She doesn't seem to like her role" he whispered

The dragonfly waved his hand " Nah, I'm just joking she has her uses. I must say that she is full of grace just like a gazelle, you never seen anything like that before I tell you" he turned to face the black dragoness " Cynder dance for us" he said with wavering lips, as if trying to hold back his laughter

" What?" she blurt out in disbelief

" Come on I know you like it" Sparx urged her like a little shy kid

" He can't possibly be serious" she looked at Spyro for advice but instead of finding help she saw him suppressing a giggle. Her eyes flared up at the sight

Spyro cleared his throat and removed his paw from his mouth " Sorry" he said with a wavering voice

Sparx covered his mouth " Public performances make her nervous" he whispered to the red drake before focusing on the black dragoness again " Cynder you can do it!" he shouted excitedly

" I'm not going to dance" she stated firmly

" Come on Cynder we don't have any choice, besides…" Spyro's mouth twitched into a teasing smile " I've never seen you dance before"

" Don't push me Spyro" she growled

" Don't be shy!" Sparx urged her once more

" Cynder this may be our only chance to avoid fighting" Spyro said with a serious tone but his voice wavered with anticipation and amusement

She looked at her purple friend, just to look at the dragonfly next, anger was rousing within her, she never danced before and forcing her to do so made her only mad. If she knew how the plan would turn out she would never agree to this, she had a hard time keeping her temper in check. But then she looked at the odd drake, he was like nothing she ever seen before not to mention he got here through one of the Veils. He seemed a bit naïve but he might be the only chance to learn about the portals or everything that was related to the time from which he came from. If somebody gave her the choice dance or battle she would go for battle, but to lose the one dragon who could shed some light on the whole situation… it was not worth it.

Cynder sighed in defeat " Fine" she turned towards the red drake and the dragonfly and froze, she bit her lip and nervously scratched the floor with her claw _" Now how do I start?" _she mused to herself

" Spyro give her a hand will you?" Sparx shouted and folded his arms watching the black dragoness with a grin on his face

Spyro smiled as he saw her confused expression, he will make her life easier. He grew up in a Swamp amongst friendly dragonflies, he knew what music is, his parents took him to parties so he wouldn't feel different and alone, he didn't knew it back then but he was the only dragon in the Swamp even if he had no idea about his heritage. Spyro knew that there are some slower and some faster songs, she is clearly a novice so a slow song would allow her to feel at least a bit more comfortable, the rhythm would carry her after that.

Spyro tapped his paw against the floor, his claws created an echoing click, a short pause and once again a tap, soon he repeated the same move creating a slow rhythm just like a slow beat from a speaker. She turned her head to look at him, he was watching her with a smile on his snout, his purple head was slowly bobbing to the sound of his clicks. Cynder averted her gaze and sighed

" This is going to be embarrassing" she muttered under her breath.

Instinctively she began tapping her paw to the slow rhythm Spyro's claws created. Click, pause, click, pause, click. It was a stupid thing but this so called dance made her nervous and she was grateful that Spyro noticed it and was trying to make it easier for her. She kept repeating the same move but then suddenly the tempo has changed, instead of a single tap there were now two clicks which delicately quickened the music. Perhaps it wasn't much of a change but it still surprised her.

Cynder threw a startled glance at her accompanist, Spyro chuckled when he saw her troubled expression. With the same smile remaining on his snout he concentrated on the rhythm, two clicks and he sidestepped with a delicate yet fluent swing of his body, a single click followed soon after accenting the change of position. He repeated the same move but this time making his way to the other side, two clicks and he returned to the starting position, a single tap followed acknowledging the change. From this position Spyro repeated everything from the beginning.

Cynder watched him closely completely ignoring the fact that she stood still while she observed the new move. The moment Spyro once again returned to his starting position Cynder took a breath. He moved to the side she sidestepped right behind him, tap and return, another round soon followed and then another one. She was so focused on the steps that she didn't even realize that she was doing it on stiff legs, in her case that wasn't a dance but a simple sidestepping from side to side.

It was then when she heard a murmur, she looked at the direction from which the sound was coming from and saw Spyro trying to tell her something. He kept saying something but she couldn't make out the words, Cynder just shook her head in annoyance

" I can't hear you" she hissed

" Swing" Spyro whispered

She didn't hear him again, but she couldn't leave it like that. Cynder focused on her friend, she might not hear him but that doesn't mean she can't understand him, the dragoness decided to read from Spyro's lips. He seemed to be repeating the word _Swing_ whenever he sidestepped with a sway of his body. That was when realization struck her, Cynder completely forgot about the thing she was forced to do, namely- dance. It made her even more irritated and nervous.

She followed in his wake but was so much worse in it, her legs were stiff, they just didn't want to bend. Every muscle on her body was tense that the swing she tried to do didn't look like a sway at all but a chaotic wriggle, judging from the two stifled chuckles that burst out after her move she had to be looking quite silly. Once more the tempo increased slightly, a step forward a step backwards was added to the choreography a simple change but it still put her off her stride. In her focus to learn the two new steps she forgot how the previous two went, in all this nervousness she couldn't remember some simple steps not to mention that every time she made a move she forgot to sway.

" Swing" Spyro pronounced again between a chuckle

Cynder exhaled irritated, there were too many eyes watching her, there were to many pointers saying what she should do, basically everything started to annoy her. Swing and swing and swing that's all she can hear " _I'm trying!" _her own scream echoed inside her head. They want her to swing she will swing, two clicks- step- sway, two clicks-step-sway, step forward- sway step backwards-sway, she's doing it right what the hell they want from her?!

She couldn't be more wrong, Cynder thought she was doing everything correctly but in truth she wasn't. Instead of moving fluently between the moves with a delicate sway of her body she made a step on stiff legs froze for a second and wriggled chaotically in place just like she would be shaking not dancing. She kept repeating the same pattern on every step she tried to follow. The growing annoyance made her clumsy moves even more worse looking than before, as she once again started her _swing_ on some next step a burst of laughter echoed throughout the room, the happy laugh coming from the two brothers drawn her attention instantly.

Cynder shot Spyro a furious glance, the moment he saw her stare he ceased his laughter. His mouth kept twitching as he tried to hold back his spurt of happiness, he kept dancing and bobbing his head slightly as if saying " _You are doing great_". A smile never disappearing from his snout as he urged his friend to continue the dance. Spyro increased the tempo and with a clap of his wings he spun around to look at her again while tapping a slower rhythm, the one she was familiar with.

With an irritated exhale of air Cynder continued this charade this time not even looking at her friend, allowing the rhythm to carry her. Two clicks, step with a sway- done, return in the same fashion-done, she heard the chuckles so it had to look hilarious but she no longer cared, she just wanted this to end. She forgot how to proceed after that so she started to improvise creating her own moves. There was no smoothness nor grace in it, a surprise really since in the air or during a fight she moved like no one else.

On stiff legs and not really fluent sways accompanied by the occasional laughs she continued her so called dance, a step here, a step there, a tap here, a click there. After a while the rhythm Spyro created intensified, with a corner of her eye she noticed that he was no longer dancing, he was intently focused on creating the music. She had no idea what she was doing but the tempo somehow urged her to do something else than just sidestep from side to side. She saw Spyro spinning once, and the rhythm somehow urged her to do the same.

" _What the hell_" Cynder thought to herself, it can't get any worse than it already is, besides it's just a simple spin.

She kept dancing, waiting for the right moment to introduce her new move. The rhythm had that one peculiar little pause, ideal for a spin. She began to listen intently not even noticing that she practically stopped dancing as her every muscle tensed in anticipation of that moment. Finally it came and Cynder with great determination spun around, but sometimes things don't work out the way you planned.

Instead of an effortless swift spin she found herself tripping over something, a feminine faint yelp could be heard before a thud echoed throughout the room. Merry laughing burst out the moment she collapsed on the floor, Cynder quickly pulled herself together and wriggled, like nothing ever happened.

" Dear Ancestors" Sparx muttered chuckling while looking at her through the fingers of his hand plastered on his face.

The rhythm somewhat wavered as Spyro continued to laugh, not that it bothered her, she was annoyed already as it is. Cynder began her own dance moving to an unheard music of her own creation, some stiff steps here, some chaotic and ungraceful sways there, every now and then a very slow spin and not even knowing when she created a choreography of her own. Laughs continued to echo throughout the room as she danced, but she didn't care anymore.

Cynder impulsively added some extra moves just to speed things up so this farce could finally be over. A jump, a swing of her tail or a flap of her wings, all these things made her clumsy choreography even more clumsy but every new move brought her closer to the end and towards her purple friend.

" When this is over I'm going to kill him" Cynder spun around noticing Spyro's broad smile when she stopped " And if you won't wipe that grin off your snout you'll be next" she hissed threateningly.

Cynder voiced her threat in such an intimidating manner that his smile vanished instantly with a gulp. After voicing her threat that sounded more like a promise Cynder pushed her dance into the final stage. Every part of her body was moving in her typical clumsy fashion, the tempo was quick forecasting the final moments of practically every song.

Step, sway, step, a swing of the tail, a flap of the wings, additional steps with the use of the previously mentioned moves and finally the last spin. As she completed the circle Cynder tapped her front paw on the floor sending a clear signal that the dance is over.

" That was…that was…" Sparx muttered lost for words yet with ringing amusement in his voice "…something I've never seen before" he grinned " This image will be stuck in our heads forever"

" Wow! That was nice!" the red drake emitted an excited and sincere shout

" What?" the dragoness and the dragonfly blurt out shocked

" I've never seen anyone dance before, it was so cool!"

" Dude you blind?" Sparx shook his head when he realized that he needs to continue playing the all- knowing boss. He cleared his throat " I mean…of course it was good! Only a complete dupe would think that it was a disaster! It pleases me to see that the tricks I've taught her aren't wasted"

" What else you have taught her?" the drake asked curiously

The question caught Sparx by surprise he planned to tease her with that little innocent dance but… an opportunity presented itself and his name wouldn't be Sparx if he wouldn't take advantage of it to annoy the black dragoness a bit more.

He grinned evilly " You have to hear her sing" with a corner of his eye he noticed Cynder balking " It will be something to remember I tell you! She has a voice of an angel"

" You must be kidding me" she retorted incredulously

The dragonfly frowned " What did you say?" Sparx replied with a faked anger, an anger suitable for a bossy thug

" I've said-"

He dashed towards the dragoness " Did I hear you whine?!" he blurt out like a drill sergeant

Cynder stared at him in complete silence

" Answer me Puppet!" he shouted furiously " DID YOU WHINE?"

Cynder narrowed her eyes on the dragonfly, her orbs blazing with rage. She began to like his plan less and less, he is putting her patience to a test, one prank ok but two…now that was exaggeration in her eyes. She really wanted to end this farce right here and now but she also knew that she is against a wall and Sparx is taking advantage of it, as sucky as this whole plan is she didn't want to risk it falling flat.

" No" she replied coldly, a delicate puff of green mist leaving her nostrils

Sparx furrowed a brow " No?"

" No"

" So you want to tell me that you didn't complain?"

She exhaled angrily " Yes"

" Then what you were trying to tell me?"

" Nothing, I've misspoke"

" Mhm" Sparx nodded " Misspoke you say" he leaned closer " What did I tell you about wasting my time hmm? I think I've told you that I hate when it happens is it correct? I think I've told you that this make me very unhappy, and we don't want to make me unhappy don't we now?" he baby talked her but tried to preserve the tone of voice typical for the bad crazy characters

The dragonfly annoyed her beyond imagination, Cynder had troubles keeping her maw at bay " I'm sorry" she mumbled

Sparx put his hand to the side of his head " What was that?"

" I'm sorry" she repeated in the same manner

He leaned even more closer still remaining in the same posture " I didn't get that, louder"

" I'm sorry" Cynder hissed

" I'm sorry what?" he waved his other palm in circular motion, urging her to continue with a simple gesture

" I'm sorry…" she was lost for words

" Ma…." He kept waving his hand

" I'm sorry Ma….Master" she hissed

" Almost" Sparx stated before continuing the previous gesture " I'm sorry gre….."

" I'm sorry gre…great Master" she finally finished the sentence with a little pause

" So how it goes?"

" I'm sorry great Master" Cynder hissed through clenched teeth

" Good girl" Sparx squeezed and wriggled her cheek, congratulating her on a job well done

Her eyes flared up with murder, if looks could kill the dragonfly would be dead on the spot. Not to mention that the green puffs wafting from her nose betrayed how exactly she felt right now. It didn't escape Sparx' notice, he quickly dashed into the air just to as far away from the dragoness as possible

" Begin…" his voice was wavering and lacked the previous bossy tone. Sparx quickly cleared his throat as he realized that not everything is as it used to be " Begin and don't disappoint me" he stated manly

Cynder exhaled letting go some of the anger, confusion however took its place momentarily , she doesn't know any song, she only knew that songs have some verses and a chorus, that's what she could tell from people she heard singing. However she was certain that she is no singer, her voice is far from being angelic. Cynder looked around the room for inspiration but found none, with no better option presenting itself she decided to improvise

" I see…" her voice was a whisper as she looked for words

"…I see a crumbled ceiling like the signs of disease spreading within my head,  
I see the blue sky like rays of sanity soothing…um…my sick mind" she mumbled with a shrug, it made no sense but who cares

" I see the debris reminding me of the state I'm in,  
I see the havoc telling me how I fare.  
All these things together make a picture of me  
that is made up and completely unreal"

Her singing voice couldn't be compared to angelic, it wasn't rich nor thin, it wasn't even rugged or choppy, truthfully it didn't sound like she was singing at all. She sounded like she was talking.

" I stand here not knowing what to do,  
Only thinking that the ending is long overdue,  
Since I'm doing things not meant for me,  
Singing words with which I disagree,  
While sounding worse than a banshee"

Time for a chorus, Cynder took a breath thinking what words to use but she was out of ideas but then a thought crossed her mind that she doesn't need to form verses, some immaterial words will be enough, the gaps she will fill with some ooo-ing

" Oooooooo…" the hum sounded just like that, she didn't articulate the vowel coming out from her mouth. The hum sounded more like a moan of a long dead zombie, a moan that forced a chuckle from the two brothers

" I'm lost for words….  
Ooooooo…  
It makes no sense  
Ooooooo…  
I hope it ends  
Oooooo…  
O-o-o"

The last stammered vowels triggered a heartily laugh from both brothers, she could only imagine how silly her moaning had to sound. Cynder had enough, she won't make a fool of herself any longer.

" I'm done" she hissed angrily

Sparx wiped a tear from his eye " I'll never forget this moment" he turned to face the red drake " Didn't I tell you she's not from this planet?" he smirked

The young dragon was looking at Cynder completely engrossed in her " That was great"

Cynder jerked back " Really?"

" Yeah you wish" Sparx retorted before focusing on the red drake again " One question dude, are you deaf?"

" I've never heard anyone sing before"

" You didn't?" the dragonfly asked surprised "Question again man, you lived in a cave or something all your life?"

The dragon looked troubled as if recalling a recent bad memory " No, not in a cave, close, but…" he narrowed his eyes on Spyro " Ask your puppet, he will tell you everything, Suffice it is to say, that I was assured a different kind of entertainment"

Spyro just stared at the drake with wide eyes, he never hurt anybody out of pure malice, whatever the drake is talking about he has to be wrong or confuse him with someone else, but who? He refers to purple dragons as the bad guys but there is no other dragon like him alive, only one of their kind is born every ten generations so how it is possible?

Sparx clapped his hands to brake the awkward moment " So how about something else? Our jester here will think of something won't she?" he threw a scornful glare at the black dragoness

" _Over my dead body"_ Cynder mused to herself, enough is enough, she will make sure that he will understand clearly that her patience has run but she will announce it in such a way that the red dragon will still think that she is the dragonflies' toy.

She smiled cheerfully " Of course my great Master I'm here to please but I have a one request if I may. You are known from your power but also from your generosity, will you allow this humble dragoness to share with you a lesson that she was taught while she was still a hatchling?"

Sparx furrowed a brow, he didn't expect her to react in such a way, it smells fishy but she has him against the wall, he is the powerful and generous Master after all.

" What…what you have in mind?" he asked with a wavering voice

" It's a little story passed in my family from generation to generation"

" A…a story?'

Cynder nodded excitedly like a child who couldn't wait to start reciting a poem in front of her class " Yes, it's about two creatures who knew each other for a very long time. The story tell us that there are even boundaries in such long relationships, that we need to be very careful not to cross or else we might regret it. May I start?" she smiled innocently

Sparx stared at her completely dumbfounded by her sudden enthusiasm " Of…course" he muttered

She bowed " Thank you Master, you are truly great" with that she cleared her throat and took a deep breath

" There were two creatures once,  
a lizard and a bug,  
one was yellow the other black,  
for jokes they had a knack"

" They always hanged out together,  
be it in good or bad weather,  
always finding time for a prank,  
that is both funny and somewhat frank"

" One day Will,  
that's the bug,  
played a trick on his buddy,  
which was incredibly cruddy"

" Because of that,  
on a darkest night,  
one could hear a bite,  
that sounded like a smite"

" After that the lizard Keith,  
picked something from his teeth,  
wondering what it could be,  
causing him a tickle and a sting"

" Oh, it's a wing!"

There was something in the way she pronounced the last sentence, she sounded like one of those crazy bad characters, her voice was cheerful but one could tell that her tone was ringing with malice. Not to mention that the way she narrowed her eyes on the dragonfly could send a shiver down the spine. Spyro looked at this brother and couldn't help himself but to burst out laughing when he took a glimpse of his face, he was staring at the dragoness with wide terrified eyes and gulping, he clearly understood the meaning behind her made up poem.

"Wow!" the red drake huffed with sincere awe " That was nice, she's good" he frowned thoughtfully " There is something about these two characters, I don't know why but I have a feeling that I know them from somewhere which is odd since I've never heard the story"

" It's a fake!" Sparx exclaimed loudly with horror filled voice " Don't bother yourself with it"

The drake tilted his head in confusion " I don't know… it sounds familiar but I can't really remember…"

" FORGET ABOUT IT!" the dragonfly shouted making the dragon balk " Focus on something else, like I don't know, how about you tell us how you got through that portal, or something more interesting"

" A portal?" the young drake asked confused

" Don't tell me you never saw a portal"

" That depends"

" On what?"

" How does a portal look like?" the dragon asked candidly

" You don't know what a portal is?" Spyro interjected before the dragonfly could respond

The dragon looked at him, instantly Spyro noticed fear in his yellow eyes. The drake stared at him as if looking for a correct answer " I do?" he mumbled tentatively

The purple dragon frowned " I don't know, you tell me"

" What sort of test is this?"

" Test?"

" How I'm supposed to pass it when I don't even know what a portal is!" the drake exclaimed but then his eyes went wide and he hunkered down just like a dog realizing that it did something terribly wrong

The dragon was acting really weird, he became more nervous the moment he focused his attention on him, Spyro didn't know what to make out of it but it has to wait. First things first, they've been sent here to investigate a disturbance regarding the Veils, questions for the dragon can wait.

" You don't remember anything strange? Like an odd feeling crossing through your body, or a visible anomaly in the air, anything?"

" I d-d-d-don't know, m-m-m-maybe…" the drake stammered nervously

" Dude relax" Sparx calmed the dragon " He is under my control. You are safe"

The young dragon took a deep breath " No, I didn't see or feel anything like that"

Spyro frowned thoughtfully, either the portal wasn't created by the drake or he is a very good actor, but judging from his look Spyro can exclude the second option. That would agree with Brill's story regarding the portals but that raises some questions, if these Veils are created as a result of the usage of tremendous magical powers at once as Volteer thinks then is it possible to prevent that from happening?. If that won't work, then is it possible to close those Veils before they pull out things from the time's clutches? They wouldn't want an army of golems like the one they recently fought on their heads after all.

Spyro made his way to the place where the golem appeared, he couldn't feel anything, there was no itching or tingling. He swung his foreleg from side to side but as previously there was nothing, no ripples in the air or anything like that.

" And?" Cynder approached him

" Nothing" Spyro sighed " There is nothing here, like the portal never existed. It had to collapse after dragging the whole building and all of its inhabitants with it"

She shrugged " Who wouldn't? A huge structure, a hulking golem and an odd looking dragon. My back hurts just when I think about it"

Spyro offered her a weak smile " If I only knew how to control them, the things we could find out…"

" Does it matter? The thing is gone and I say good riddance , no risk of another stone man appearing

" Maybe you are right…" Spyro sighed

" Of course I'm right" Cynder admitted " Who knows what could happen when they would turn out to be beyond your control"

" Yeah I guess, better to leave it this way"

" Besides there are more important things to focus on right now. I would like to know what the hell was that thing we just fought for example, why that golem was immune to practically our every attack. Secondly our naïve friend, I'm very interested to hear his story, I would really like to know what kind of dragon he is, his eyes, his wings, his whole form, now that's something you don't see every day, and most importantly I would really like to know why he hates you so much when I'm standing right beside you"

Spyro kept staring at the place where the portal was once " You and me both" he huffed thoughtfully " He seems to be afraid of me, why I have no idea, he acts like he knows me but how is that possible when I've never seen him in my life?"

Cynder scratched her choker " There is only one way to find out. Let's just ask him"

" He won't talk to me"

" No he won't but your good for nothing brother might pull some things out of him"

" Hey, I've heard that!" Sparx appeared out of nowhere in front of the dragoness pointing a finger on her accusingly

" Good" she replied bluntly

The dragonfly snorted

" Sparx" Spyro addressed his brother " You think that you could ask the new guy some questions?"

" That depends"

" Huh?"

" What's in it for me?"

Spyro furrowed a brow " What?"

Sparx waved his hand " Bro chill I was kidding, boy you are stiff. Make Second Tail dance for you or something, I'm sure that would cheer you up"

" After that the lizard Keith  
Picked something from his teeth…"

" Ok, ok I get it!" Sparx interrupted Cynder's recitation " What you wanna know?"

" Start with the normal thing" Spyro answered " What is his name, what kind of dragon is he, you know, the basic stuff"

" Sparx is here to save the day" the dragonfly announced proudly and clapped his hands " All right dude we need to ta…" his voice trailed off when he turned around and noticed that the young dragon is no longer there " Where did he go?"

Both dragons spun around at the sound of his voice, they began to look around the room wondering what could happen with the young dragon. As he observed the ruined scenery Spyro noticed a tip of a flaming tail disappearing up the staircase from which they arrived here

" Hey! Wait!" Spyro shouted after the dragon

Immediately the three friends dashed after the red dragon, he was lost and they don't want to let a strange looking dragon wander around, people might take him for something he isn't. They made their way up the stairs, the young drake had a bit of advantage but that only gave them more motivation to catch up with him. Step after step and soon first glimpses of light could be seen in the corridor, it was now only a matter of time.

As they finally left the room behind them they couldn't help it but to be struck but a slight dose of surprise, the dragon they've chased was right in front of them, his blazing tail waggling slowly. The drake stood in place, frozen, his back was facing them but even from here they could see his head moving slowly from side to side, up and down. It had to be quite a shock for the young dragon to see that the world he knew had changed dramatically, his past life, family and everything dear to him was now burrowed under the sands of time, the only thing that remained of his previous life was this crumbling structure.

The group slowly approached him, they knew he wasn't running anywhere now. The drake didn't even budge, he was standing in the same position. " What is going on?" the drake muttered as he heard their steps, not even turning to face them

" Welcome to the Dragon Realms" Spyro greeted him calmly yet sarcastically

The dragon seemed to not care who was addressing him right now, since he didn't even budge at the sound of Spyro's voice, as he was completely engrossed by the surroundings " This wasn't here before…" he muttered sounding almost delirious

" That portal we were talking about earlier? It creates a loop between the past and the present as if linking two realities together"

" I don't understand"

" Bro you spend too much time with Volteer, seriously" Sparx admonished his brother before concentrating on the red drake " Long story short- you jumped in time, don't ask why or how because we don't know"

There was a moment of silence " I still don't understand" the drake responded after a while

The dragonfly sighed " Who cares, dude you are free you can do whatever you want, everyone who gave you trouble are stuck from wherever you came from. Enjoy life"

The young drake balked and quickly spun around " What did you say?" he asked excitedly

Sparx frowned " Umm…enjoy life?"

The red dragon leaned closer " You said I'm free?"

The dragonfly threw confused glances at both his draconic friends but they had no answer to give him " Yeah… you are free" he shrugged

" I'm free…I'm free…I'm free" with each word the dragon's head was getting lower until his nose almost touched the ground. It was then when he quickly rose his head " I'M FREE!" the dragon roared happily. He began to run in circles and jump around constantly repeating the same words over and over again. After a while of displayed happiness the dragon stopped and frowned thoughtfully " But why?" he mumbled

Sparx shook his head as if snapping from confusion " What was that?"

The drake adopted a grim expression as he looked at the dragonfly " Why are you letting me go?"

" What?"

" Why would you grant me my freedom? You have no reason to…unless this is some kind of a trick, you want me to believe that I'm free so you can laugh at my stupidity. That's it isn't it?"

" No" Sparx said firmly " You never were my slave or anything, dude you are truly free"

" Why should I believe you?" the drake snapped " You are The Puppeteer, you could be controlling me right now"

" If I was controlling you, you would know that. A simple test if you don't believe me. Jump!" the dragonfly exclaimed like a drill sergeant

The red dragon remained still

" See? Now watch this" he pointed at the purple dragon " Jump!"

Spyro rolled his eyes and reluctantly leapt up

The dragonfly spread his arms " I'm not the bad guy here"

" Then why do you keep her as a slave? She doesn't deserve it" the red drake asked

It didn't escape Sparx' notice how the drake purposely didn't mention Spyro but he decided to leave the matter alone " They are not my slaves, I've told you already that they have their own free will but I command them because they are idiots! Without me they would go into a monster den to check what's inside. It's for their own good!" he nodded towards the red drake " Tell him guys"

Both dragons looked at each other for a brief moment before focusing their attention on their new guest " The Master is right" they both sighed

" Dude you are free, do whatever you want, go whenever you want, visit places you always wanted to see. Do… I don't know, anything!"

" Yay!" as the drake exclaimed his grim expression vanished only to be replaced by that of tremendous joy. He once again began to pounce around " That's right! There is no one who tells me what to do! I can laugh, I can talk freely, I can fly, I can visit places I always wanted to see, I can finally go to…go to…" as his voice trailed off so did his happiness

" …I don't know where" he muttered with dread " I don't recognize this place! I don't where I am! I don't know what to do! I don't…I don't…" he babbled hysterically

Sparx threw his hands in the air " Whoa dude chill, you can always come with us"

" i…" the dragon's voice trailed off as he threw a surprised look at the dragonfly " What?"

" Come with us" Sparx bit his lip, the dragon might take it as another order " Only if you want to of course" he quickly added

The red drake stared at the ground for a while but after a moment he launched his head upward and his eyes sparkled with glee " Sure!" he exclaimed and after that presentation of joy the dragon quickly made his way towards the dragonfly " So where are we going?" he asked eagerly

" Wherever our legs will take us friend" Sparx responded poetically

" Sparx ask him for his name" Spyro whispered

The dragonfly snapped his fingers " One thing before we go. What's your name dude?"

The dragon balked while he looked at the dragonfly, confusion plastered on his snout " Umm…Dude? he responded tentatively

" That's not a name d…" Sparx took a breath " Your parents, what name they have given you?"

" My parents..." the dragon mumbled and stared at the ground " I…don't know" he embarrassingly shuffled his paw along the floor " I…I… don't have a name"

" You don't have a name?" Spyro blurt out shocked

" No" the drake whispered sadly

The three friends looked at each other, how is it possible that someone has no name was beyond them. One thing was for certain, they can't leave it this way, it was then when Sparx snapped his fingers

" So pick a name" he said

The red dragon stared at him with confusion filled eyes

" You are free, how you want us to call you?"

The red drake looked around somewhat dumbfounded as if not knowing that to look for " The Red Dragon" he finally replied shyly

Sparx jerked back " No, that's-"

" Hero?" the drake interjected cutting him off, but seeing as the dragonfly shook his head he knew that it was a wrong answer " Fire element?" another shake " Kid? Freak? Slave? Bird eye?" every single time the dragonfly shook his head

" What's wrong?" the drake snapped " You said that I can call myself however I want!" he blurt out irritated

" Yeah but the things you've said…these are not names" Sparx responded abashed

" Then I don't know!"

The dragonfly raised one of his fingers " give me a sec" with that he flew between his two friends and mentioned for them to lean closer " You sure you want to bring him along? There is something very wrong with this guy, didn't we deal with enough craziness already?"

" Where is the problem? You are tagging along with us all the time, craziness is our day-to-day basis" Cynder responded with a smirk

Sparx just snorted

" We can't just leave him here" Spyro added " He is clearly lost, we gotta help him"

" Bro he doesn't even know his name" Sparx retorted

" So what? Let's think of something" he turned to look at the oddly looking drake " What name would be good for a creature that is an exception to every known rule, special and nobody thought existed?" he wondered

There was a moment of silence as the three friends were concentrating, after a while the eyes of the two brothers shot wide open as revelation struck them

" Flare!" they looked at each other and exclaimed simultaneously as their eyes met

Sparx turned towards the red drake " And?" he asked excitedly and impatiently

The young dragon frowned thoughtfully " Flare…I like it"


	22. Chapter 4 Book II

Chapter 4

" Can you remind me again why we won't be flying?" Sparx snorted irritated

" Because…" Spyro took a calm breath " we don't want to let people find out that we discovered something in the ruins they thought were abandoned, there is no need to start a panic. Besides it's getting dark, we will spend the night in the forest, far from prying eyes and that way we can keep a close look on our new companion, maybe get to know him better and in the meantime get some rest. That fight was tiring"

The dragonfly folded his arms" You've got it all planned already?"

" That's why Spyro is our true leader while you are just a sidekick pretending to be something more than you actually are" Cynder added spitefully

" Sidekick or not that guy behind us still believes I'm the boss here so you better watch it"

" I don't need to remind you that it's getting dark right? You know how hungry I become in the night" she began to rub her teeth " My teeth are already itching"

Sparx ignored the dragoness and focused on his brother instead " Bro you still think it's a good idea to bring that guy with us?"

The purple dragon nodded confidently " Yeah, why not?"

" Just look" the dragonfly motioned for the group to turn around

The red drake was quite a distance behind them, completely lost within his own world

" I'm Flare" the dragon introduced himself with a proud smile to some invisible person " What do they call you?" he muttered with a different tone of voice as if pretending to be someone else " I'm Flare" the drake responded with the previous proud smile soon after " Thank you for saving us, what do they call you?" once more he asked himself using even more different tone than before " I'm Flare" sounded the same response " What do…" he jumped to a side " I'm Flare" he announced proudly and pranced forward swaying his head and tail in a happy motion

" Any more questions?" Sparx whispered

" So what?" Spyro blurt out the question without any sign of uncertainty in his voice " He's just happy that he has a name, what's so wrong about that?"

" Oh yeah because jumping around the moment you hear your name made up by two guys is perfectly normal"

" Ok he might not be the perfect example of normality" Cynder added " He's a bit clueless and naïve but at the same time he is unique. I mean just look at him, I myself find him interesting"

Sparx sighed defeated " I don't know how you do it bro but you attract all sort of crazy"

" We all are crazy in our own way" she muttered quietly

" I just hope he won't burn down the forest with those wings of his" Spyro said cautiously

The dragonfly threw his arms aside " One way to find out" he turned towards their new companion " Hey dude…I mean Flare-"

" Yeah?" the drake perked at the sound of his name

"…can you turn down the heat a bit?"

Flare cocked his head to a side in confusion

Sparx shook his head and pointed at his wings " Your wings, can you extinguish them so you won't burn everything around you?"

" Oh these" the dragon flapped his fiery wings delicately " No, no don't worry nothing like that is going to happen I've learnt to control them, they are hot only when I want them to" he yanked his wings forward " Here, check it out"

" No there's no-"

Sparx' voice trailed off when Cynder passed by his eyes, she confidently made her way towards the strange looking dragon. She extended her paw, her foreleg was moving quickly at first but as soon as it got close to the flaming wing her moves slowed, just like a sixth sense would trigger in any living being when danger was close. Her paw was mere inches away from the blazing wing and no heat could be felt nor the usual mirage could be seen when encountering extremely hot places. With a breath of anticipation she reached for the wing.

Firstly she delicately nipped the wing with her claw and to her surprise it didn't went through the wing as she expected but instead it encountered an obstacle, just like she would be touching a wing of every other dragon. Cynder pressed her paw against the surface of the flame and exhaled a pleasurable breath, the flaming surface caressed the inner side of her paw with delicate yet very soothing warm, it sent a shiver through her entire body. She slowly moved her paw along the wing, the enchanting flames danced in her emerald eyes, she never thought that it was possible to touch a flame but in the world ruled by magic everything is feasible it seems.

Cynder couldn't get enough of the warm and the sight of the flames right in front of her nose and under her touch. The surface of the wing was extremely soft, no bones could be felt along the way like in her wings for example, as dangerous as these wings looked like from a distance they were extremely delicate when touched, she would never expected that. Deadly innocence experienced first-paw one could say. As she was about to reach the end of the flaming wing she could feel it getting a bit edged but still not in such a rough manner like the wings of any other dragon, it was only a tender edge indicating that the wing was about to end. She never reached that point, Cynder was so bewitched by the fiery wing that she began sliding her paw back along its soft surface.

" They are beautiful" she mumbled, her whisper ringing with awe, bewilderment and pleasure

" They are what?" Flare responded surprised and looked to the side where his second wing was left without any attention and examined it closely " It's a normal wing" he said forthrightly

" Normal is a wrong word here" Cynder replied in the same enthralled whisper " Your wings are special, you are special Flare"

He once again examined his lonely wing and shrugged, for him it was just a wing, there was nothing special about it. It perhaps looked differently but it was still just a wing

" I would never imagine that I would be touching a flame one day. The feeling is amazing" Cynder continued to whisper

Flare observed the black dragoness, glee and gratitude sparkling in his yellow eyes, nobody ever considered him to be special in such a way as she did, it was a pleasant feeling, one that he never experienced before. Someone was sincerely interested in him and seeing her fascination was enough of reward for him, it was a way to repay for her kindness even if he wasn't really doing anything special.

A sudden click and crunching of grass broke his concentration, he turned his head to see the purple dragon approaching. His slits narrowed on the draconic shape, glee disappearing from his eyes instantly, he impulsively took a step back, fear and hate rousing in him. Flare was so focused on the purple dragon that he completely forgot about the world around him, hate and fear overtaking his body more and more with each step the purple dragon made his way. That one thing was enough to impulsively flare up his wings with an intense hot flame.

" For fuck's sake!" Cynder squealed painfully as she jumped away from the red dragon the moment her paw got burned

Flare instantly turned his attention to the springing black dragoness, guilt roused within him when he realized that he hurt her, even if it was an accident " I'm sorry!"

" It's not your fault" she hissed painfully before shaking her burned paw " Shit this hurts" she hissed once more, this time more quietly so the red drake couldn't hear her

" I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you!" Flare once more asked for her forgiveness

However before Cynder could answer Spyro was immediately next to her, he took her paw and cooled it with a bit of an icy mist from his mouth which forced a pleasurable moan from her throat

" There is nothing to be sorry for, it was an accident" she huffed pleasurably as Spyro's cold breath caressed her burnt paw

Flare observed the scene before him, not exactly sure what is happening, that purple dragon actually is helping the dragoness out of his free will, why? Then he was reminded of the strange bug-like creature- the dragonfly, he was his master so probably he taught the dragon to protect his partner. The whole situation was strange for the young drake, a purple dragon being whipped was beyond his comprehension but no matter how it looked like he still won't trust that dragon, not even a bit.

" Thanks" Cynder exhaled a breath of gratitude after the pain was completely washed away by his cooling mist, she watched the back of his head and mused to herself that she couldn't wish for a better friend.

Spyro raised his head and smiled, his amethyst eyes piercing right through her as they made contact with her emerald orbs. He was still holding her paw, not firmly but softly and gently like she would be made of ice herself. Cynder couldn't get enough of his purple orbs, time seemed to slow down for her, she felt like she was drowning in his amethyst gaze, a simple act of friendship meant so much to her.

All those romantic feelings for him she tried really hard to bottle up returned just like a boomerang, they roused her aching heart, forcing it to work at such a pace that threatened to break the clutches of her chest. Cynder didn't care, she wanted this moment to last, she wanted to hear him saying that he cared for her in the same way, she wanted to be with him.

Before Cynder could realize what is happening her neck was already craning towards him, her lips making their way to his, very slowly yet confidently and she just couldn't stop it, just like it was meant to happen.

" So can we go now?" Sparx annoyed shout broke Cynder's trance, as her senses returned to her she chaotically withdrew her paw from Spyro's gentle grasp and looked to the side blushing slightly

" I don't want to be here when one of these rocks decide to wake up and try to kill us" the dragonfly continued

" Where are we going?" Flare asked curiously

" To the forest my friend!"

" Oh, ok" with that the red drake made his way towards the hovering dragonfly

Spyro however turned his head to look once more at his female friend " You okay?" he asked tenderly, her well-being was more important for him than anything else

" Yeah…" Cynder huffed longingly " I'm fine" she muttered

He smiled, that was everything he wanted to hear " We better get going or Sparx might once again start playing our boss" with that and after making sure she was alright he started to walk towards the woods

She watched his swaying tail with aching heart, it demanded attention, it demanded the cure for its pain and there was only one mean for salvation " Spyro!" she shouted after him

The purple dragon stopped and turned around " What is it Cynder?" his question was ringing with concern

" I…I wanted to tell you…" Cynder mumbled nervously, she really wanted to speak her mind but she just couldn't, his eyes intimidated her, not even a bloodthirsty troll triggered such fear in her. She was terrified that if she would press the matter further she wouldn't find salvation for her heart but instead would present it to the kiss of death

She shook her head " Thanks again for the help" Cynder finally said waving her not so long painful paw and smiled gratefully, it was a fake smile, she had to struggle to maintain it.

" Don't mention it, that's why I'm here for" Spyro offered her a smile of his own before turning around and making his way once more towards the woods

She just stood there watching him with sad eyes, it hurt, it hurt so much to see him leaving without even a word of comfort, she didn't blame him for her misery, it wasn't his fault after all, nobody forces him to love her. With every such painful notion came the urge to tell him about her feelings towards him but the fear of hearing his discouragement overcame the ache, moments like these constantly reminded her that she would rather live in pain than in truth.

Cynder was so focused on her leaving friend that she didn't even notice Sparx hovering just next to her. The dragonfly observed her curiously, she seemed to be staring constantly at the same spot, he followed her gaze just to see his brother's tail swaying in the distance. With a frown his gaze returned to the black dragoness

" Fine piece of an ass huh?" Sparx asked with a girly voice

Cynder balked at the sound of his voice " Sparx?!" she yelped surprised

" These bulging muscles, that sexy butt…" he shivered excitedly and licked his lips" I could munch him" he continued to talk with the same girly tone

She frowned in disgust " Dear Ancestors Sparx, you are family get a hold of yourself"

The dragonfly cleared his throat and shrugged " What? Seeing how you were just staring at my brother I just wanted to start the conversation in the right way"

" What?!" Cynder exclaimed uneasily " I…I wasn't staring at him!" she protested nervously " I…I was looking at…" her voice trailed off as she began to examine the surroundings " I was looking at the forest wondering how big it is. That's all!"

Sparx folded his arms " You don't say? And here I thought you were interested in a very particular purple dragon…"

" You are delusional" she retorted quickly

He pointed a finger at her " You know what? I'm sure you are picturing yourself with him in that forest. You two all alone, taking a romantic walk in the forest among the singing birds, holding tails and-"

" This conversation is over" Cynder cut him off firmly and immediately made her way towards the two dragons, however after some steps she stopped and looked behind her shoulder " Seek help Sparx, you are sick" with that she quickly renewed her walk

Sparx observed the black dragoness for a while " Am I sis?" he muttered to himself before he began making his way toward the group of young drakes

* * *

They've entered the forest, just like before it was twisted and everything looked the same yet Spyro confidently led them through the nature's maze. They didn't want to run into Boven's inhabitants and since they knew this woods like the back of their paws Spyro decided to lead them in a completely different direction. They could just fly despite the things he said about panic, there is plenty of space in the air, people wouldn't see them but he really wanted to get to know the red drake better, most likely find out why he hates him so much, this also is a perfect opportunity to hone his survival skills and take a well-deserved rest. Everybody's a winner

Flare didn't seem to mind that they aren't flying, in fact he walked behind them in complete silence. However every time Spyro looked behind to check on the dragon he frowned thoughtfully, the dragon was not even paying them any attention, his head was constantly directed on the ground, only occasionally he rose his head to threw a quick glance ahead just if checking that he didn't lose them.

Flare's steps were uneasy and clumsy, he looked just like a child unsure of his surroundings as if he would be seeing the flora for the first time in his life. He took each step slowly, gradually putting his weight into his paws to crunch the wigs and grass below it, as if cautiously checking if it's safe to walk there. Every now and then he bumped into a tree, and every time he did that he froze for a second and stared at the brown trunk with wide eyes just to curl soon after and avoid it from a safe distance just like a scared dog.

Sometimes a fallen log blocked their path, Spyro and Cynder just jumped or walked over it but Flare always craned his neck to see what is behind it, as if checking if there a bottomless pit on the other side. Every time they had encountered such a log Flare always circled around it and always looked behind his shoulder at the ground near the fallen branch like he wanted to make sure nothing is chasing him before catching up with the group again.

Spyro constantly looked behind him at the sound of chaotic crunches and snaps of twigs, he wasn't the only one who noticed it Sparx and Cynder were also dumbfounded about this whole thing. However none of them said a word, they just exchanged silent confused shrugs and glances. Whenever Flare snapped a twig underneath his paw he jumped slightly, the noise seemed to constantly startle him, he always bit his lip when that happened just like he was thinking that he did something terribly wrong.

As they've made their way further into the woods they started to encounter bushes along their way, the red drake seemed to be shocked every time he noticed them. He always cautiously sniffed the little leafs as if they were some kind of flowers. Sometimes they even heard a startled gasp coming from the dragon when the bush shook and rustled suddenly, moved by some small animal or delicate gust of wind.

The woods began to get denser, the trees seemed to be forming a thick unpassable wooden cage around them. Even the rays of the fading sun had difficulties penetrating the protective green crowns above them. As they walked everything started to look identical, thick bushes started to block some of the paths, fallen logs formed patterns that were almost the same and no matter which direction they chose the trail looked like it was recently used.

Was it them walking in circles or perhaps the traces left by the children they had no idea. As time has passed Spyro started to admire the kids, they could find their way through this maze in such a young age without getting lost. That was a remarkable feat and they've accomplished it without receiving any special training.

As they ventured forward Spyro began to feel lost, he hasn't been wandering in an unknown wilderness for quite some time, such a long break roused doubt and the awkward feeling of being rusty " _Remember every lesson I teach you young Spyro, your destiny is tied to a prophecy. An arduous journey awaits you and nobody knows what Fate has in store for you. Try to learn something about everything and everything about something but don't forget that study no matter how thorough won't be much of an use without practice. Practice makes perfect, if you have a control over a certain situation you have already succeeded before a test has even begun"_

Ignitus' words rang in his head, the Fire Guardian wouldn't be proud knowing that he had succumbed to the will of his surroundings. The woods became dark, tight and unpassable, the trees seemed to arch just right above him, mocking, taunting and laughing at his powerlessness. This is the purple dragon who is meant to be the peoples' leader? This is the purple dragon who should be an example to follow? He can't even find his way through the damn woods. He is leading his friends in a direction not even the Ancestors themselves know what hides there, for all he know he could be leading the group straight at the village he wanted to avoid.

" So…" after a moment of another silent walking Flare's voice could be heard "… where is that forest?" the dragon asked while flicking away a bit of a twig that got snapped under his paw

The three friends stopped like hit by a lighting and slowly turned around, looking at the red dragon with an incredulous frown on their faces

Flare just looked at them back with innocent and clueless eyes, either he didn't notice their meaningful glares or didn't understand them. He just stood there like a curious child wagging his fiery tail slowly back and forth

After a while Sparx shook his head snapping of the surprise " Dude, can't you see the trees?"

" Oh…" Flare mumbled like he just realized what a stupid question he asked " Of...of course I see them!" he chuckled bashfully

" Flare do you know what a tree is?" Cynder asked, concern could be felt in her voice, just like she would be addressing an innocent child

" Yes!" the red drake exclaimed and looked around nervously " Umm…." His eyes widened and he jumped towards a nearby bush " This is a tree" he replied with a smile

The three friends just stared at the drake in complete silence

Flare could feel the weight of their looks at him, the smile vanished in a moment as he began to scan the surroundings, his eyes were impulsively drawn down where the little twigs were scattered on the ground. He picked one of them " This is a tree" once again he smiled

" Close" Sparx commented icily

His fiery wings flattened on his back just like ears of a dog, shame and insecurity filling him. He looked around and noticed a sturdy looking woody something, his eyes traced along its surface quickly just to see some the things similar to the one he held in his paw above him, yet more larger. He swallowed and delicately nodded his head towards the trunk " This is a tree" his voice barely a whisper

Sparx threw his one arm with a clenched fist in the air " Score!" the dragonfly exclaimed

Flare offered them a weak smile before bending on his paws and taking some steps backwards while wagging his tail nervously, just like he tried to make himself invisible.

" Flare" Cynder addressed him in the same kind tone as before " How is it possible that you don't know how a tree looks like?"

" Because I've never got the chance to see one, I've been locked up all my life!" the red drake responded throwing an accusing glance at the purple dragon

It didn't escape Spyro's notice, he frowned " Why do you blame me for everything? I hadn't done anything to you"

Flare threw an angry and scared glance at the dragonfly " Why do you allow him to talk without permission!?"

Sparx shrugged " Freedom of speech"

" Spyro didn't do anything wrong" Cynder interjected " He is the good guy here, always ready to help. He is a friend one could always wish for, he would never do things you accuse him of, to you or anyone else for that matter"

" They always seem that way in the beginning" Flare growled " They play nice but before you know it you become a toy that was fooled all its life. You are blind like I was, like everyone else was, the sooner you realize this the better, at least you won't let them toy with you anymore"

" I'm not blind Flare" she disagreed gently " I will stand beside Spyro no matter what, the things you say are not true. If you knew what I know you would see that. You can't tar everybody with the same brush"

Spyro observed his female friend, a grateful yet somewhat embarrassed smile was plastered on his snout. He knew about her unyielding loyalty and friendship but being reminded of that aloud sent an pleasurable pulse through his heart

" Because of the dragons like him I've never got to see the outside world!" Flare roared angered and saddened " Every day, every single day I had to fight for my life. I've never had any friends, I've never even talked with the other dragons. We were prisoners, we fought for our life, do you know how it feels to know that when you open your eyes you will have to gut your room-mates so you can see another day?"

Before Cynder could answer he continued " I fought them, I killed them, I didn't like it but still I've slaughtered them without remorse because I knew that when I would lose, death awaited me. If I tried to run, death awaited me, If I disobeyed an order, death awaited me, If I would rise a paw on my trainer, death awaited me"

He winced, squeezing his eyes tightly but even that didn't prevent the glowing tears forming in the corners of his yellow eyes " You can't imagine the things I've done for their amusement" he muttered sadly " For them it was just a show, for me it was survival. I don't deserve to be free after everything I've done"

An awkward silence has befallen on the group as they watched the cast down dragon with painful eyes

" I'm sorry" Cynder finally whispered agitated " But I believe you were saved form that fate for a reason, and you know why? Because you truly regret the things you've been forced to do, you know they were wrong, it was a kill or be killed situation, you had no other choice. Flare it shows that you have a good heart, don't let anyone else tell you otherwise. Believe me I know what I'm saying"

Flare looked at the dragoness and sighed somewhat longingly yet quite painfully at the same time " I was like you once, I knew someone who I could trust, at least I've thought so. He showed me the difference between right and wrong, he told me to never give up, do the things I did but take no joy from it because then I would become like the rest of them. He told me that I'll be rewarded for the whole pain one day. His lessons were entirely focused on the moral aspect of my deeds, he never taught me how a tree looks like for example or how to tar everybody with the same brush"

Sparx cleared his throat " Actually…this whole tar thing is an idiom, you don't…" his voice trailed off when he noticed a pair of scoldful purple and green eyes staring at him. He waved his hand " Never mind"

Flare sighed once more, a tear splashed on the grass below " In the end he betrayed me and became like the rest of them, but…but I've never forgotten his lessons, I swore that I'll remember them no matter what happens" he rose his saddened eyes " You might be more lucky, you have a generous Master who won't allow your so called friend to betray you"

" About that whole _Master_ thing-"

" You are absolutely right about me!" Sparx interjected cutting Spyro off

The purple dragon frowned and leaned closer " We can't lie to him forever" he whispered

" Bro chill it's a harmless lie, he isn't the first one I've tried this trick on" Sparx whispered and threw his brother a meaningful glance " And they've turned up pretty well"

" Someone very wise once told me to leave the past behind where it belongs" Cynder said quietly with her eyes twitching slightly as she tried to hide the fact that she fails to follow that advice herself " Maybe you will have better luck than some people…"

Her words piqued Flare's interest " Leave the past behind? How?"

" You mentioned some kind of reward right? So perhaps your jump in time was exactly that reward"

" What do you mean?"

" Look. Once you were a dragon who was forced to do terrible things, a dragon without a name who endured this horrible things despite the odds" she took a breath " Now after all this time you traveled in time and received a name. Like you've been born anew, the dragon who fought for survival is gone replaced by the dragon named Flare. You have a clean slate, it's up to you how you fill it"

Flare looked around, he examined his paws, wings and the surroundings after that he looked at the black dragoness with confused eyes " I don't see any clean slate"

Cynder giggled and smiled gently " It's an idiom, it means that your past actions, your former life is forgotten and you now can start everything from the beginning"

His eyes widened, hope sparkling in them " Really?"

She kept smiling and nodded " Really"

" Yay!" Flare exclaimed childishly while slightly pouncing in the air, but after a while he started to look around in confusion once more " But I don't know how to start" he muttered sadly

" Every new meeting starts with an introduction. What's your name?"

" Flare!" he blurt out excitedly

She touched her chest " I'm Cynder" she pointed at the dragonfly " That's Sparx" he waved at the red drake. " And this is Spyro" the purple dragon nodded.

Cynder noticed as the red drake narrowed his slits on the purple dragon and took a cautious step backwards " You know also what is the meaning behind introductions?" she asked gaining the attention of the odd drake " It means that you can't mistrust people just because of their looks, give them a benefit of the doubt and perhaps you will be pleasantly surprised. Don't judge at first glance, this is the worst mistake someone can make, there is always more to people than meets the eye. Don't start your new life Flare by making enemies, leave the past behind like it never existed"

The red drake observed Spyro, Cynder could see as he was battling with his thoughts and bad memories, as bad as it looked like it was in fact a good sign, at least he was taking her words under consideration. Whatever his been through must have left a bitter scar on his soul since a long while had to pass to see him finally reaching a decision.

" I don't trust you Spyro but I will tolerate you, don't count on anything else" Flare finally said, his tone betrayed glimmer of uncertainty

Spyro nodded " I understand, thanks" he didn't but it was better to leave it that way

" Great, good decision Flare" Cynder patted the young drake's back " If we are going to travel together we have at least be able to stand each other" she smiled " So with that out of the way, how else do you plan to fill your clean slate?"

Flare didn't thought for long, he instantly looked at the brown trunk next to him " So this is a tree huh?"

" Yep. And what do you think?"

He eyed the trunk from top to bottom " Big" he finally stated the obvious

Cynder giggled

" Umm… does it do anything special or it's just for blocking our way?"

" Trees produce air, without them we would suffocate, so as you can see they are rather important"

Flare frowned " Only air? Nothing else?"

" Dude it does a lots of other things!" Sparx joined the conversation the moment he made his way towards the tree " For example if you press your head to its trunk and listen intently you will hear it drinking water it accumulates through its roots in the ground." He couldn't help himself, seeing the dragon's cluelessness and naivety only forced him to make up a stupid fake story

The young dragon pressed his head to the trunk " I don't hear anything"

" Sparx seriously?" Spyro rolled his eyes

" Silence!" the dragonfly exclaimed with a commanding voice " Your Master is speaking now" he turned towards the red drake " Then you have problems with your hearing dude…"

Cynder approached Spyro and leaned closer " What is he doing?" she whispered

The purple shrugged " Selling crap" there was no response, he turned around to see her confused frowned expression " When we were young Sparx always kept telling me his own made up stories, I was quite naïve back then so I believed in everything he told me. Sparx likes jokes and if he can make someone believe them while making a fool out of that person all the better"

"…if you dig deep enough you'll reach the water eventually" Sparx continued to fool the red dragon

Flare following his advice kept tearing the bark from the trunk

" Put your heart to it! Go! Go! Go!" the dragonfly encouraged the young drake

" I can hear something!" Flare announced after a while and pressed his head to the trunk " It sounds like…scratching"

Sparx frowned in surprise but shook off the confusion second later " You are close! Keep going!" he urged the dragon despite his consternation, he had no idea how the drake could hear anything, he made this whole thing up after all

Flare kept digging farther into the trunk, his claws made short work of the wood. After a while he encountered a piece of the tree that looked differently than the rest. That particular piece of wood was darker than the rest of the trunk and seemed weaker. However the scratching coming from that part was louder than anywhere else.

Flare nipped the wood with his claw, to his surprise it went clean through, effortlessly. He pressed his paw against the dark wood and pushed, the woody part cracked inwards leaving a big hole in the trunk. Flare's eyes went wide, not because of joy and excitement but of horror and shock.

Instead of water a swarm of tiny white worms poured forth from the hole, he didn't find a source of the water but a lair of termites. The swarm of slithering worms sprawled on the ground below, complete terror overcame Flare when the worms reached his paw. He screamed loudly and momentarily dashed to the other side of the forest leaving a trail of dust hanging in the air behind him

" Would you look at that" Sparx stated in amazement " he actually did hear something" he waved at the pitifully hidden red dragon " Come check it out!"

" N-n-n-n-no!" Flare emitted a stammering terrified shout

" Dude chill they are harmless"

" L-l-l-let's g-g-g-go!" the dragon emitted a wavering shout and without waiting for any response darted quickly farther into the forest

" Flare wait!" Spyro shouted after the fiery dragon but when he noticed that there was no reaction from his side he dashed after the drake with his two friends following in his wake

Snapping of twigs and occasional grunts of effort echoed throughout the woods as the three friends were chasing a single red dragon. The forest became quite dark after all this time, they would most likely lose the dragon in the nature's natural maze if not for the light Flare's blazing parts emitted.

" Flare!" Spyro yelled once again but as before there was no reaction.

He wasn't constantly running in the same direction, every now and then he changed the path. Flare's turning, the logs and other things blocking their way confused Spyro even further, he had a feeling of being lost when he started his pursuit some time ago but now he was certain of it

" Flare!" Spyro yelled again, louder tis time but still there was no reaction

" I'll get him" Cynder panted next to Spyro

She kept running but at the same time she channeled her dark energy fueling her Shadow element. The air in front of her began to distort and shake, the shadow encasing the forest acted like it heard her call, it began to swirl, opening itself for its Mistress, inviting her in. She compelled, such an interesting invitation cannot be refused. Cynder ran directly into the swirling black mass and disappeared within its bowels

" I'll never get used to this" Sparx muttered under his breath

Flare kept running, not even looking back. He wanted to be as far away as possible from that tree, only something really unexpected would make him stop

" Flare!" Cynder shouted the moment she appeared in front of him out of nowhere

His eyes shot wide open at the unexpected sight, the sudden appearance of the dragoness drew a startled yelp from his throat and forced him to cease his escape. He firmly thrust his claws into the ground, tearing off grass and patched of dirt as he slid. He managed to dispose of his momentum right before their snouts, it was then when he landed on his butt.

Flare looked behind his shoulder just to look at her moments later while cocking his head slightly " How did you get here?" he mumbled shocked

Cynder smirked " I'm just full of surprises"

Soon after the rest of the group caught up with them " Dude you are fast" Sparx panted " What's gotten into you? You act like you've seen a ghost"

" I don't what to talk about it!" Flare snapped, his voice rang with fear and anger at the same time

" Whoa chill, if you don't want to talk-fine"

He stared at the dragonfly, the anger seemed to slowly vanish as he began to realize that he directed his ire at the wrong creature, the dragonfly is the Puppeteer after all

" I'm sorry" he mumbled like a meek heel hound

Spyro frowned after seeing Flare's reaction and turned towards his friends " This whole lie about the Master and all that crap has to end" he whispered irritated " Just look at him, he thinks you are the powerful Master Sparx, he won't be able to leave his past behind when you constantly remind him of his trainers"

" I agree" Cynder's angry yet compassionate whisper joined with Spyro's " You have to end it Sparx"

" But I'm not doing anything!" the dragonfly blurt out an indignant whisper " When was the last time I've played the boss card?"

" Like some minutes ago but it doesn't matter" Spyro commented " You remind him of bad times, it has to end"

" What makes you think he won't run away again? He'll find out soon enough anyway, let's just wait till we get to Warfang"

As much as Spyro hated the idea of lying to their new companion further, Sparx had a point. The fake story behind the almighty dragonfly might be the only thing that is keeping the drake with them, not to mention that Sparx might be the only thing preventing Flare from attacking him. He said that he will tolerate him but who knows if he wouldn't snap if he knew the truth, it was not worth the risk, better to wait a little longer. Cynder's expression spoke volumes, she obviously came to the same conclusion

" Ok fine" Spyro agreed " But the moment we get to Warfang you tell him the truth"

Sparx shrugged " Sure, one question though. You know where we should be going? We better not run in anybody if we want to keep this boss thing believable"

Spyro looked around the dark forest, they've been chasing Flare for quite a while, the fiery dragon led them into parts of the forest that were definitely not the ones they were looking for if they wanted to leave the woods unnoticed. That was certain, the problem now was to find the correct route, they might be returning to Boven for all they know. It was time to remember the lessons Ignitus taught him, the Fire Guardian in all his wisdom prepared the young purple dragon for any situation. They need to rest but now it was time to regain the control of the situation.

" I do" Spyro replied confidently and marched forward into the black forest with his companions following him


	23. Chapter 5 Book II

Chapter 5

_He kept looking around as he followed the big red tail, the scary looking dark trees seemed to part before his Mentor. In this cover of darkness he could hear them screeching and rustling as they returned to their former positions behind him as he made his way after the red dragon. The trees seemed to observe him, looming above him like an executioner, they long branches prepared to make the final swing to sever his head from the rest of his body. Even the tiniest rustle and the most delicate whizz of the wind made his blood freeze, he could swear he can hear the branches of the trees snapping all around him, as they slithered just beyond his eyesight preparing themselves for the quick and unmerciful lunge to end his young life._

_Wanting to learn more about his heritage excited him, his natural burning curiosity encouraged him to press forward into the unknown, he is the dragon from the Prophecy, destined to do great things then why he has to go through all of this ordeal when in the end he will still fulfill what was written who knows how long ago?! Why he can't just rest and fool around with his brother and wait, wait for the right time when he has to act, he will win anyway so what's the point of walking in places that give him the creeps? Destiny cannot be changed right?...Right?_

_Even if he has to prepare himself for the future-fine, training session practically all day and night, practicing on dummies, flying, elemental powers session, he can cope with all that effort but he never signed up for this! If he is meant to fight all those bad guys one day then why does he have to venture into such a dreadful forest? He just wanted to get out of here, even if he knew that his Mentor has a different plan for him, sometimes he didn't understand the red dragon, or perhaps he just couldn't with these trees all around him, waiting for him to stray just a little so they cold snap his neck. He shivered but at least he wasn't alone, his heart pounded at his chest and he could barely control his breathing but he knew that nothing will happen to him with the Guardian around. He might not understand his Mentor sometimes but that doesn't mean he can't trust him._

_He kept looking around " Ignitus what are we-" he was cut off by a sudden snap, he quickly spun around and hunkered down shivering uncontrollably. Nothing came, however the red tail never stopped moving, he dashed after it and followed the tip, bent down and constantly looking around like a terrified dog " What are we doing here?" his voice wavered_

" _Are you scared Spyro?" The Fire Guardian asked, as if he couldn't tell from the sound of his voice. Ignitus' tone was calm and imperious, no wonder the trees obeyed him_

" _No!" the young drake blurt out, he tried to sound confident but the stifled scream torn from his throat by some sudden snap moments later resolved any doubts " Yes" he confessed_

_The Guardian remained silent as he always became during training sessions. The strict and harsh mask of his Mentor wasn't Spyro's favorite but he knew that Ignitus took even the smallest practice very seriously so when it comes to training there is no room for slack. That would make many other students hate the old dragon but he wasn't one of them, Spyro knew also Ignitus' other side. The one that he demonstrated when they had a day off, and Spyro enjoyed that part of the Guardian's personality beyond every imagination, a personality he somewhat missed when he found out that Flash and Nina aren't his biological parents, he missed the touch of a draconic father. Both parts of Ignitus' personality were like two sides of a coin, put together formed a caring yet disciplined warrior he was now. _

" _Where are we going?" Spyro asked after a moment of silence, worry and fear still controlling his body as he followed the red tail on bent paws_

" _Somewhere where you will unlock another possibility to make your Destiny fear you" Ignitus replied in the same tone of voice as before_

_Not only The Guardian gave him an unclear answer, he also remained perfectly calm. Spyro couldn't understand how he does it while being surrounded by this thick darkness that seems to want to devour them. If this is a trick of his Destiny then he have no idea how he can possibly make it fear him when it already scares him to death as it is_

" _Aren't you afraid?" the young drake mumbled while constantly looking around and clinging to the tip of the Guardian's red tail " This forest is scary"_

" _No, I'm not"_

_Great, when Spyro confessed that he was terrified he thought that his Mentor felt fright as well, he hoped for even the most teeny-tiny feeling of fear but Ignitus' response extinguished that tiny spark of hope momentarily. Now he not only feels stupid but also embarrassed, he swallowed, what can his Mentor possibly think of him? The red dragon confidently walks into the darkness while he clutches to his tail like a newborn hatchling, time to change this._

_With the last gulp Spyro straightened up, holding his head high and narrowing his amethyst eyes as if trying to penetrate the darkness, as if challenging it for a duel. He no longer was interested in the tail in front of him, instead he focused either on the back of his Mentor or the darkness around him. The forest wants him to be tough, he will be tough. Spyro began to walk confidently, slowly at first but soon he was following the red dragon at a normal pace._

_He was surprised himself to tell the truth, no rustle nor even the thrilling murmurs scared him. "_Take that forest! Who is scary now_?!" the young dragon taunted the woods in his mind. He is the winner here and no stupid tree will tell him otherwise " _Purple Dragons for the win, hell yeah_!" Spyro's voiced cried within his head._

_His illusion of domination was dispersed before he knew it, just like the forest heard his thoughts and wanted to retaliate for his taunts. Suddenly a powerful wind sprang up, not only it created the most scary noise he ever heard but also rustled wildly every possible bush, leaf and branch. Spyro despite his brace face shivered, he might be able to cope with the noise at some point but the moving shadows were beyond his league. He could swear that something was moving there, rippling the thick darkness just at the border of his eyesight._

_Spyro remained silent despite the odds since the waving red tail in front of him still retained the same confident sways. Either he was imagining things or the Guardian ignored the threat completely. Whatever the case may be, the young purple dragon was scared to death_

" _I am" Spyro finally voiced his feeling once more time after a while, he didn't have to really do it since his quick shallow breaths and wavering voice clearly indicated in what state he is in_

_Ignitus as previously remained silent_

_This was enough proof for Spyro to tell that his Mentor had turned off all of his fatherly feelings for him, this means only one thing- he is in trouble._

" _Ignitus let's get out of here" Spyro muttered, he knew that it is a fool's hope to believe that the Guardian will listen to him but that didn't prevent him from trying_

" _Such outcome is not currently possible" the red dragon replied without even the slightest hint of emotion_

" _Pleeeeeeease" the young dragon prolonged this one single word pleadingly_

" _War doesn't know mercy nor forgiveness" _

_Of course it doesn't…why should it? It's not like Spyro wanted things to be a little easier after all. There were times when he hated the prophecy and everything related to it, this was currently one such time. He wished he could quit, just like that and return to his home in the Swamps, he should never leave his home in the first place. He hated this whole prophecy thing, he hated destiny and more importantly he heated that Cynder who started it all._

_She ruined his life and most likely many others, only thinking about her made him angry. She has no right to destroy so many lives! Whenever he thought about that villain and the things she had done quenched his resignation and fueled him with renewed determination. She is a dragoness who is fighting not only the other races but also her own kind. _

_How can someone kill people so willingly? What happened to conscience and remorse? Thinking about so many lost innocent lives made Spyro impatient to say the least. Even if she is his own kind he doesn't want to have anything to do with her. He met dragonflies who didn't show respect back in the Swamps just like her, and even years later those dragonflies were still mean to him._

_People like that don't change, only a blind fool would fall for that trick. Spyro wished that his training would finally be over so he can get out there and save all those people from the vile dragoness' wrath. They did nothing to deserve such fate_

" _How long are we going to stay here?" Spyro asked with impatient determination. He was still clinging to the red tail in fear but that didn't prevent him from reminding himself of his cause_

" _Until you reach your next level of advancement" the Guardian responded in his usual manner_

_Another cryptic answer, Spyro knew what it meant. Firstly- Ignitus won't answer any further questions regarding this situation until he himself will see fit when the right time came to unveil the mystery. Secondly- a training session he won't forget for his entire life is being prepared, the lesson which will soon begin_

_Spyro followed the red dragon farther into the forest without speaking any word, he became silent but the wood didn't return the same courtesy. The scary sounds which accompanied them from the very beginning were still with them. Spyro couldn't see where he was going, he was glad that his Mentor is here with him, he can't even begin to imagine how he would feel when he would be left here all by himself. _

_The thick darkness seemed to encase them and with each step they made Spyro could swear that the darkness was drawing closer as if preparing itself to swallow them. His mentor was unmoved, the old dragon had a goal, a destination to reach and no trivial darkness will stop him from reaching it. As they kept progressing onwards Spyro felt more and more confused, he could barely see anything and the forms that he actually manage to spot didn't really differ from one another, Ignitus might as well lead him in circles and he wouldn't even tell the difference._

_The red dragon however still strolled through the black maze just like the darkness didn't exist for him. How Ignitus could see anything was beyond Spyro's understanding, but since his Mentor was still retaining the same pace then he must know where he was going. _

_Countless time has passed but eventually they march came to an end, Spyro kept looking around that he didn't notice the Guardian's abrupt stop. Spyro only realized what is happening the moment he bumped into the red dragon's tail. Ignitus turned around and focused his intelligent eyes on the young dragon._

" _What are we Spyro?" he asked completely unconcerned by this little collision_

_The question caught the purple dragon by surprise, his pupil was watching him with big, confused and scared amethyst eyes " Dragons?" Spyro muttered bashfully after a moment_

" _And what are dragons?"_

_Ignitus never made it simple for him, besides the common physical work out, he also constantly put his mind to the test. Being able to fight properly was important, but the ability to think was even more so. Just like in combat you sometimes face opponents who are stronger than you, so in intellectual confrontations you are given questions that you don't know an answer for, but that doesn't prevent you from trying to find a solution._

_Of course sometimes you are unable to find the key on your own, in such cases yielding is not a shame. It's the teacher's sacred duty to pass the necessary knowledge to their pupils, to help them to find a solution for their problems._

" _I don't know" Spyro admitted defeated after a time of an intellectual struggle _

" _Beasts Spyro, we are beasts" Ignitus replied, the tone of a strict teacher, yet a dose of comfort and pride could be recognized in his voice_

" _Dragons are animals, similar to the animals we eat" the Guardian continued_

_Spyro cocked his head " How? A deer isn't a sentient creature, at least not in the same way we are. A deer cannot think like we do, it doesn't have the feelings we do, it even doesn't know how to speak"_

" _True, very true. We dragons have the ability to learn and that is the reason we are more advanced as a specie. However if a newborn hatchling would be left unattended by its parents, the young dragon would succumb to its feral side that is extremely palpable in the first stages of its life"_

_That revelation was somewhat unnerving for the purple dragon " If luck wouldn't smile at me when I was an egg and my parents wouldn't find me then you want to tell me that I would become like one of those wild animals if I hatched far away from civilization?"_

_Ignitus nodded " Precisely. We are predators, beasts of nature and magic, hunting is in our blood" he took a breath and looked around " Some dragons decide to quench our nature, I prefer to nourish it. There are situations when your very survival or survival of those close of you will depend on your predatory instincts. To pass this test you will have to connect with your feral side"_

_Spyro observed his Mentor with a mix of nervousness and excitement " How do I do it?"_

" _You have to divest yourself from everything you've been taught as a hatchling, block your emotions, let your predatory instincts take control. We are dragons, the mightiest and most dangerous creatures the world has ever known. You are the hunter, everything else is prey, rely solely on your smell, hearing, sight and you will perceive things like you never did before"_

_The young dragon kept bobbing his had slightly " Ok…ok sounds simple enough"_

_The Guardian took a deep breath, a sign Spyro was very familiar with- a training session is about to begin " Cynder's forces are advancing through the countryside, you decided to make your way through the forest at the cover of the moon. With Lighbane's army surrounding you, your goal is to reach the village as fast as possible which is just beyond the forest and warn them of the incoming danger without compromising your position to the enemy. I'll be waiting for you at the forest's border, you have time till sunset" with that Ignitus turned around and began moving towards the darkness_

" _What are you doing?!" Spyro exclaimed horrified_

_The red dragon stopped and looked behind his shoulder " Take advantage of your predatory instincts, smell, hearing and sight will allow you to discover tracks which will point you in the right direction and warn you if you'll be heading in the wrong way. Pay attention to what nature's trying to tell you, you are a predator, a great hunter always listens to his patron"_

_The red dragon's words had no effect on the young dragon, the fear of being left in the woods completely alone effectively blocked any other point of focus " You can't leave me here!" he exclaimed once again_

" _Nature is a predator's true and only companion, to learn to listen to its call you have to be able to concentrate and solitude opens possibilities for such focus. Good luck" he began walking once more_

_Spyro dashed after his Mentor, grabbed and slightly yanked his tail " Ignitus no!" he yelled terrified_

_The red dragon stopped, Spyro could feel him shiver for a brief moment just like an electric pulse would ran through his body " This test Spyro, you will have to pass on your own" he said strictly, yet a barely noticeable hint of care could be heard in his voice_

_The young dragon kept yanking the Guardian's red tail " Ignitus I'm scared! Stay with me!"_

" _I know, that's why it is vital that you learn to block all the emotions that hold you back. You are the hunter Spyro, not the prey"_

_The purple dragon kept pulling the red tail as a child would pull the skirt of their mother to get her attention " Please!" he exclaimed pleadingly_

_There was a hint of fatherly feelings of concern in the old dragons eyes as he turned to face his pupil, but they were gone with a single blink " Spyro this is not a request" he admonished the young dragon " This is not some trivial work you can skip if you don't want to do it, this is serious. One day this training might once decide who will live and who will die. Imagine that the village you have to warn really exist, if you won't make it Cynder's army will slaughter every living soul there. Is that what you want?"_

_Spyro frowned and let go off his Mentor's tail, he doesn't want anyone to get hurt because he chickened out, yet there was that voice inside his head telling him that he won't make it " But-"_

" _There is no room for buts when life is at stake. You either do it or you don't" Ignitus cut off the purple drake_

" _But…but I don't know what to do!"_

" _You are the purple dragon Spyro, you will face situations which seem futile, frightening and incomprehensible, yet people will follow you because they know you will lead them down the right path. I won't be here always to guide you, one day you will have to manage on your own, you'll have to overcome fear and face what's in store for you because only that way you will learn that life is harsh and mostly without mercy"_

_Spyro lowered his head, Ignitus was right, like he always was, if he is meant for greatness what could people think if he got scared by a simple forest? Yet even that thought didn't disperse the fear, he tried to hide it but he was terrified of this thick darkness " O…ok I'll...do it"_

_The Guardian nodded in approval " Good, remember that you are not doing it for yourself but for the people. Follow the tracks, listen to the nature's call, it will show you the way" with that the red dragon renewed his walk yet before he disappeared into the darkness the dragon looked behind his shoulder " Do not follow me, I will soon take to the air and the trail will run cold. Till sunset remember that and good luck. One more thing before I go, you have a brain, make use of it " with those words the Guardian was gone_

_Spyro kept staring at the direction where his Mentor vanished, he didn't even feel when his butt was dragged to the ground forcing him to sit. Probably he couldn't believe what is happening, the turmoil inside his head took all of his concentration, he lost control of his body. He just stared in the same direction, the shock freezing him in place, he was here where he never wanted to be and he was in the position he was scared to be- completely alone. It was so easier when he lived in the Swamps, why did he leave it behind?'_

_A sudden loud rustle in the brush drawn him back to reality, with a startled yelp he was on all fours in seconds, claws digging deep into the soil. Spyro kept chaotically looking around. What caused that sound? Where it was coming from? Who's there? That and many other questions rushed through his mind as his terrified eyes scanned for the culprit. Another swish, the young dragon began to shiver when his head immediately turned into the direction from which the sound came._

_A loud snap came from behind him, Spyro jumped into the air as he spun around, dragging bits of dirt with him when he lifted his burrowed claws from the ground. He landed on shaking paws, not to mention that his eyes wanted to jump out of his sockets, they were so wide. The young dragon started to shake uncontrollably while whimpering like a horrified dog, the darkness was scary already but now when he is here all by himself it was even more so._

_Another rustle, another snap, another whizz, all those sounds were coming right ahead of him. Spyro kept shaking, the noise, the horrifying noise like the growls of the most evil of monsters echoed throughout the woods. It didn't want to stop, it came coming and coming without a single break, the young dragon impulsively started retreating while his eyes were fixed on the darkness ahead. With each step he made backwards the sound seemed to intensify, it even obscured the pounding of his heart and the strenuous work out of his lungs. He kept retreating while the noise kept getting louder, he could barely stand it and when he thought it couldn't get any worse it happened. The most terrifying howl of wind rustled the trees, just like a roar of the most deadliest of creatures. It was enough for the young purple dragon._

_Spyro screamed and ran, ran like he never did before, his scared mind created things for him that never existed. As he made his way through the woods he kept looking behind his shoulder while emitting terrified whimpers. There was something in that darkness, something vile and deadly and it was chasing him. Pant after pant he made his way through the nature's maze, no bush was thick enough, no log was big enough to stop him, his legs carried him forward while the creature behind him yanked the trees to every side like they weight nothing just to make space for its monstrous form._

_The constant looks Spyro threw behind his shoulder effectively let his focus drift away from the path ahead of him. After one such look he didn't notice a small branch which was protruding quite far from the ground, the moment he looked ahead his eyes shot wide open accompanied by a startled gasp. He tripped over the log and before he knew it he hit the ground snout first, that part of the ground was slightly steeper than the rest, resembling a delicate hill._

_The moment his snout hit the dirt he immediately started to roll down the elevation, between his grunts as his tail kept appearing and disappearing from his sight he could hear the many loud snaps when small twigs gave up under his weight and broke. The elevation ended with a delicate ramp, however he wasn't rolling down with enough speed to shoot from it, instead the young dragon simply fell from it._

_Bits of grass, dirt, leafs and twigs were thrown into the air when Spyro hit the ground with a grunt. He coughed after the impact and laid there flat on his belly, waiting for his sense to slowly return to him. His short moment of respire however was abruptly ended by the incoming roar of the terrifying beast that was chasing him. Spyro quickly found himself on all fours, he started to run forward but only seconds later he stopped, he tried that already and it didn't work, the monster was still after him. _

_Spyro started to scan the surroundings for an alternate solution for his problem, it was hard to discern any form thanks to the thick darkness. Eventually his eyes concentrated on the area he came from and it was then when he spotted it. The ramp he fell from looked like some kind of roof from the position he was standing right now, under it there was a cavity in the earth in form of a cave. It wasn't big nor wide, its far walls were formed from the roots of some big tree._

_It wasn't the best hiding place that's for sure, yet Spyro in his desperation couldn't think of anything better, it's either run where you are pretty conspicuous or try to stay in a pitiful hiding place and wish the creature won't find you. Spyro decided to try the latter option. The young dragon dashed and momentarily found himself under the ramp, he instantly made his way to the far end wall of the small cave._

_He hugged himself to the thick roots and dropped to the ground, his amethyst eyes fixed on the terrain ahead. The sound coming from the darkness was unbearable, sometimes it was far away just to echo right above him. Spyro couldn't take it, the fear overwhelmed him completely, he shook uncontrollably as he observed the scenery in front of him, the trees and bushes danced just like something tried to get past them and pounce at him seconds later. The young dragon's head dropped onto his forelegs and he closed his eyes, whatever is coming for him ,he doesn't want to see it, he won't give the monster the satisfaction._

_The noise came and went away yet he still kept his eyes closed, he had no idea how long he laid in that position but he never had the courage to open his eyes. Spyro thought that whatever was after him will eventually find him yet he was still lying there hugged to the thick roots, still in one piece. Time has passed, minutes or hours he couldn't tell, the young dragon was entirely focused on the sound that echoed throughout the woods, sometimes it was intense, some other time it completely died down. Another flow of time and he was still alive, something nudged Spyro that maybe the monster left, maybe he should check where it went, or at least figure out what's going on._

_Spyro laid there for a longer while, with the motion of opening his eyes nudging at his brain. This was it he's going to do it but first he started to listen intently, no sound could be heard that might be coming from that monster, yet he could feel on his snout a delicate gust of warm wind. Spyro swallowed and opened his eyes in one fast move of his eyelids, the moment he did that a snout of a tiny fox appeared in front of him. Spyro screamed at the top of his lungs, the animal bent on its paws and darted into the woods whimpering in fear._

_Spyro's scream died down after a while to be just replaced by quick shallow breaths, the pounding of his heart was almost deafening. How did the fox get past that monster? That thing was just right behind him. That animal stared at him, from the quick glance he could make at it Spyro noticed that it was calm even despite the horrible creature outside. Then he realized that the fox was scared by his scream, that he scared the animal and nothing else, the young dragon remembered his Mentor's words " _You are the hunter Spyro, not the prey_" they echoed inside his head pounding at his skull. If the fox was more terrified by him then maybe whatever is outside isn't that bad?_

_Driven by curiosity and his new found courage Spyro got up, step after step he made his way slowly out of the safety of the roof. He stopped just at the edge, one more step and he will leave his cover, the purple dragon took a deep breath and moved forward. Nothing, nothing happened, he felt like a tremendous weight has been lifted from his shoulder. _

" _Nothing!" Spyro emitted a stifled scream of joy as he scanned the surroundings, whatever was chasing him wasn't here, or it got scared by him just like the fox " Who's the predator now?!" he yelled, his voice ringing with pride and confidence like never before_

_As if listening to him another noise of rustling trees was starting to wake up but this time Spyro didn't budge, one quick stern look was enough to silence its roar, the rustle still could be heard but it was somewhat gentler. As he observed the surroundings he could notice delicate forms of animals moving in the darkness, the once scary monsters where nothing else than the wild life inhabiting this forest and all of them were afraid of him, he could smell their fear._

_A wicked smirk appeared on Spyro's snout, he calls the shots now and nobody else. A growl was rousing within his throat, but a growl was nothing compared to the thing he was about to do, something awakened within him, something feral that wanted to demonstrate its domination. Spyro let it loose, the young dragon roared, roared like he never did before in his life, the sound of his feral side even seemed to shake the ground. Life in the forest seemed to freeze for a little while and the moment his roar died down a havoc broke. Rustling of trees and bushes, snaps of little branches and twigs, whimpers and terrified caws of the many animals echoed throughout the forest. Everything was running for their lives and he was the reason why!_

_Spyro laughed, a mischievous and evil laugh that was but he couldn't help it, he was the monster now, it was time to give them a taste of their own medicine. The young dragon darted into the forest, didn't care where he just ran straight ahead roaring as he did so. As he made his way through the forest he could see animals running away from him, he kept chasing them roaring and laughing as he did so. Spyro kept doing it until his feral side was satisfied, the growing hunger to show who's boss here eventually died down and the moment it did he stopped._

_Panting Spyro scanned the surroundings, he could see the hazy forms of the animals darting into the darkness, yet he didn't chase them. Conscience waked up in him, the animals had to be terrified just like he was not so long ago and he knows that it wasn't the best of feelings. Besides it's not like they planned to scare him, this is the way the wild life works, the animals cannot be blamed for it. Spyro left them alone, it was wrong to harass them, besides he has a job to do._

" Oh no! The test!" _his own voice screamed inside his skull. Ignitus set a task before him and he completely forgot about it. His Mentor mentioned something about tracks, trails or whatever, signs of nature that will point him in the right direction. First things first, it was time to find some familiar ground, from there he can plan his next move, since he was running in a straight line it won't be hard to retrace his steps and find the table turning ramp._

_Spyro's deduction was correct, after a while he arrived at the familiar cave. The young dragon scanned the surroundings and wondered where to go next, he then looked up and spotted the ramp from which he fell. His feral instinct flared up within him, if something was chasing him, something big it had to leave a visible trail behind it, not to mention that it's scent should be hanging in the air. He sniffed, between his own sweat and the typical animals scent nothing else could be felt, if there was a huge monster chasing him then why he can't smell it?_

_Spyro climbed up the small hill and examined the surrounding area, his nose was right after all, there was nothing else here besides his own tracks. Just to make sure he examined them more closely, he was right, it was impossible that a huge creature would leave a trail as small as this one. Yes these were definitely tracks left by him and him alone, he ran his paw across a small log, some scratches could be visible on its woody surface, this was the branch he tripped over._

_The purple dragon looked ahead, exactly from which the supposed monster was chasing him and sniffed once more, just like previously he didn't feel anything. Spyro made his way up the small elevation, the only things he could discern were his own tracks. Torn grass, scratched logs and snapped branches which only a creature his size would break in such a way. Even if that wouldn't convince him, the clearly visible paw prints surely did. It goes without saying that all of them belonged to him._

_Yet Spyro was still pushing forward, and as always only his prints were visible. Even when he reached those trees that the monster seemed to flail like a pair of weathercocks remained intact. No broken roots, no torn out grass, not even a cracked trunk could be seen, everything was in perfect condition. The purple dragon frowned, how it was possible that a creature that big didn't damage anything. A single thought was nudging at his mind, that perhaps the monster didn't exist in the first place, that it was simply a product of his terrified imagination._

_Spyro however didn't want to accept the truth, at least not until he was completely sure. He kept going and going, retracing his steps and the farther he went he slowly began to convince himself that he made up the monster. He became certain that it was only an illusion the moment he reached the place where it all started, the place where he parted ways with his Mentor. The young dragon didn't encounter any trail on his way that would suggest that a monster was chasing him. With his predatory instinct and the gnawing curiosity sated it was time to focus on the task._

_It sounded simpler than it really was, Spyro didn't know what to do, his enhanced senses didn't find anything worth mentioning besides the trail left by the Guardian. He knew that Ignitus forbade him from fallowing him, yet he had no choice, even if that it was a certain dead end it was always a start. Spyro followed into his Mentor's footsteps, it's not like he has anything to lose anyway._

_To the young dragon's surprise the trail didn't run cold as Ignitus mentioned, in fact it was still quite discernable. A large paw print here, a scratched and broken log there, those were the signs that an adult dragon was passing through here. Spyro followed the trail for a bit longer but it just didn't want to end. " _Why is that_?" he wondered, Ignitus clearly said that the tracks will end since he would be taking to the sky soon. The young dragon looked up and his brows furrowed, if Ignitus would be lying just like he claimed he would then why the green crowns up there are untouched? It was impossible that the trees didn't feel the ascension of such a dragon._

" You have a brain, make use of it_" Ignitus' words echoed within his skull, it was then when realization struck Spyro, his Mentor fooled him! If the red dragon did really take to the sky there would be leafs everywhere and some light would illuminate the dark forest. Nothing like that could be seen, however the trail that supposed to lead to nowhere continued. Spyro with renewed determination followed it._

_After a long walk he realized that he made the right call, the trail kept going on, not to mention that the scent of the draconic scales intensified. Spyro increased his pace, he had a feeling he was on the right path, his senses warmed him up with their intensity, he could feel his Mentor out there somewhere. If he wouldn't trust his instincts then the sun rays piercing the crowns of the trees should serve as enough proof that the forest was about to end. Spyro started to run, he was running out of time if he hadn't already, even if Ignitus clearly stated that the test will be completed only when he finds him before sunset Spyro kept ignoring the rays. Soon after the forest ended and the first thing the young dragon noticed as he dashed from the woods was the silhouette of his Mentor._

" _You are late" Ignitus said without any hint of emotion while still remaining in his sitting position " Everyone had been slaughtered"_

" _I'm sorry" Spyro panted " I've tried"_

" _I know you did" the Guardian's intelligent eyes focused on his pupil " I see you've learnt something"_

_Spyro smiled proudly " I did! You won't believe the things I could notice. Next time I'm going to pass this test for sure!" he kept exclaiming_

_The old dragon nodded " Very well, you will have your next chance on another dusk. Instinct and focus, this is everything you need to find the right path. Remember that"_

* * *

Instinct and focus, after that harsh lesson he never forgot about them, he has still much to learn when it comes to tracking, he is not as good at it as cheetahs for example but at least he can find his way around a forest now, even if it takes him awhile. Spyro's companions kept asking him questions if he actually knows where he is leading them, or if he's sure that they aren't lost, he always gave them a short answer, a confirmation to comfort them. The memory, the past harsh experience led him and that was all that took his concentration.

After a quite long while Spyro started encountering signs that only showed that this part of the forest was never or at least wasn't traveled through for quite some time. It was difficult to discern his group's tracks from the tracks of the animals or Boven's inhabitants at first, he hasn't been tracking for a while, that break made him quite rusty. After walking in circles he eventually found the path which only wild animals used and led his companions that way. The tracking took them here, to the point where the crowns of the trees started to become thinner, allowing the moonlight to illuminate the ground, flowing water could be heard in the distance. It was a perfect spot to rest for the night

" We are here" Spyro announced

Sparx darted forward, examining the path ahead closely with his hand on his chin, then he dashed to every side and repeated the same thing before returning to his brother " An exit! How did you do that?" the dragonfly asked amazed

" Well… first you have to connect with your feral side, that will allow you to see, smell and hear things differently. It's quite simple from there now, whenever you begin tracking you have to-"

" Stop!" Sparx exclaimed cutting his brother off " I've asked of politeness I don't really want to know" he began rubbing his forehead " Damn my head hurts already"

Spyro sighed sadly

" But I do" Cynder said while she approached the purple dragon with a smile " Tell me how you did that it was great"

Spyro clearly brightened up when he heard her genuine interest, with a smile he began explaining to her the things which Ignitus passed on him.

After a slight turmoil, preparing some berries and such for a snack the group was ready to retire for the night. While the three friends were confident in their moves, their new companion was confused. While the rest of the group was enjoying their simple sweet treat Flare was staring at the fruits in bewilderment, they were so odd looking and so squishy. He would lie to himself if he said that they didn't rouse his curiosity, there was so much to learn about this forest, he sought counsel regarding the trees, this discovery he decided to explore all by himself. The red dragon lowered his head to take a sniff at the fruits

" Flare" a female voice calling his name caught his attention, he left the fruit alone for the moment and clearly perked when he noticed who was addressing him

" I've been wondering…" Cynder continued as she saw that the dragon was looking at her "…that thing that tried to strangle you. What kind of golem was it?"

Flare's eyes flicked at the purple dragon for a second just to return to the black dragoness for a moment " You mean you don't know?"

" No I don't. Why? Should I recognize it?"

" I thought you knew since you are traveling with…" and then the red dragon's voice trailed off. He reminded himself that it was not exactly his time since he jumped through that…portal or whatever it was. Now these two are ruled by the dragonfly and maybe he wants to keep some secrets, it wouldn't be wise to anger the Puppeteer by betraying them. " That was a Keeper" he finally stated

Spyro and Cynder exchanged puzzled glances between themselves " A Keeper?" the dragoness repeated the name surprised and confused

" Yep. Artificial slaves with only two tasks. Keep the prisoners in line and terminate them if they cause trouble. Oh yeah, and they are indestructible"

Cynder smirked " Somebody lied to you, we turned that thing to ruble"

Flare jerked back stunned " You destroyed it? How and why?"

" Why? We had no other choice, it attacked us, didn't you see how we fought it?"

The red dragon shook his head " No, the Keeper knocked me out" he focused on the dragoness once more" But when I saw that it was no longer active I've thought that you disabled it"

Both friends exchanged the same glances once again " We could disable it?" Cynder finally asked " How?"

Flare shrugged " I dunno, I've always thought that it was possible since everyone said they were controlled but you say that it did attack you." He shook his head sadly " I don't know what's true or not anymore. It's all messed up"

" Dude, stick around and you'll see things you never thought existed" Sparx commented with somewhat resigned tone

Flare picked one of the berries and looked at it, he didn't understand how he could stick himself but it was not important, the other half of the sentence bothered him " I can believe that" he muttered

" The unknown isn't that scary, you just need to explore, better to find out if something is bad on your own than not trying at all and being left in the dark. Discover new things and maybe they will be something you never expected them to be" Cynder comforted their new companions, while gently encouraging him at the same time since she his confused stare at the fruits didn't escape her notice

Flare sighed " Knowing my luck I'm not going to like those new things" he closed his eyes and after exhaling a short breath he threw the berry into his mouth. Wincing as if expecting something horrible to happen he squashed the fruit with his razor teeth. The moment he did that his eyes snapped wide open as the sweet juice caressed his palate

" These things are great!" he exclaimed amazed and with a lick of his mouth munched another sweet fruit

Cynder smiled " See Flare? It ain't that bad" there was no response, the young dragon was entirely focused on devouring the berries. She turned to her two other companions " One thing is bugging me though, why Flare? You spit that name like it meant something. So what's the story?"

Spyro smiled " It's nothing special, when-"

" Bro don't bother" Sparx cut off the young dragon with a pat on his purple head " To fully understand this show of brilliance Cyn you need a home, friends and family"

Cynder narrowed her green eyes on the dragonfly threateningly " And to fully understand life you need arms, lungs and a head. Keep pushing me and you are very close to losing one of those things"

Sparx turned to his brother while pointing at the dragoness with his open palm " See what I have to go through every day? With her around I always need to sleep with one eye opened"

Spyro sighed and shook his head, ignoring this pointless dispute " When we were kids Sparx made up a dragonfly named Flare who could do things nobody else could, basically he was special just like our new friend here"

Cynder watched the purple dragon with envy glistening in her emerald eyes. She was once again reminded of the void sucking at her from within. Hearing Spyro talk about his childhood memory filled her with sadness, she was happy of course that he had a good life, yet the loss of her own childhood hurt her.

Cynder smiled, she had a very hard time maintaining it " Nice idea" she whispered painfully

Spyro knew her long enough to recognize when something's bothering her, he also knew that whenever someone mentioned childhood she always lost the beaming smile he adored so much

" Cynder I'm sorry" he apologized sincerely

She waved her paw with a stifled giggle " Oh come on, some of us grow up among friends while others learn how to kill from the beginning. Hey it ain't that bad when you think of it, at least I know how to defend myself. Weaker sex my tail, besides you know how good I'm with people" she lowered her head, sniffed and winced " Damn I stink, I need a bath, be right back" with a troubled smile she made her way towards the path from which the sound of flowing water was coming from. As she walked she touched the pouch hanging from her neck to Flare's fiery wing and disappeared into the forest soon after

Spyro watched her go with eyes filled with pity…and something else. It was just like he watched her go when she left the Dragon Temple after he saved her all those years ago, minus the fainting. It was strange but he recognized the other feeling, it was yearning. She was leaving him only for a while yet Spyro didn't want to see her go, a part of him wanted to grab her black tail, pull her back and never let go. The other part wanted to follow her, yet both sides had one thing in common- the wanted the black dragoness close.

" Bro you alright?" Sparx asked worried

" I miss her" Spyro emitted a barely hearable whisper, it happened impulsively, just like his own heart would be speaking through his mouth

" What?" the dragonfly leaned closer and raised his voice to get a more clear answer from the dragon since he didn't quite make out the words previously

Spyro at the sound of his brother's raised voice was dragged back to reality, with a shake of his head snapped out from his moment of trance " Yeah…yeah I'm fine" he mumbled, his eyes constantly focused in the direction she went

* * *

Cynder kept heading in the direction of the sound of flowing water, in truth she just wanted to get out of there, she didn't want to let Spyro see her in this slightly depressed state, he would feel guilty and that was the last thing she wanted. The dragoness wished for something great and unexpected to happen that would cheer her up, but since you usually don't get what you want she will at least relax.

A moment of invigoration for her tired mind and sore muscles, not to mention that she actually did stink, being hurled into every possible object and a strenuous trek through the forest had to take their toll. After a short walk she had finally reached the stream, it was quite a sight in fact. Clear water was flowing downwards from a small hill which resembled a tiny waterfall. The water fell down into a pond, the liquid was perfectly clean, it reflected the moon in all its glory. No tree crown blocked the sky just like nature wanted to let moonlight shine in this particular place on purpose.

And shined it did, it was the brightest place between the thick darkness, just like an oasis in a vast empty desert. The silvery light illuminating the pond pushed all the blackness away. When Cynder gazed into the water she could see the reflection of her own tired and dirty snout. The water itself was inviting, like it wanted to embrace her draconic feminine figure.

Not even a delicate hint of protest crossed her mind, she accepted the invitation gladly. Cynder nervously wiggled the warm pouch Amela gave her, soon she will find out if it works but for now it was time to relax. Cynder removed the pouch from around her neck and placed it on the rocky ground just next to the water. She dipped her paw into the water and splashed the cool fluid on her snout. She emitted a moan of pleasure as the drips refreshed her tired snout while also moistening her dry lips and sore throat.

Cynder repeated the same move a couple more times before she decided that it was the right time to enter the pond. Firstly she dipped her right foreleg, her second followed soon after. Being bent like that she kicked with her hind legs pushing her body forward while spreading her wings wide to both sides. The moment the pleasantly chilly water embraced her figure it tore a blissful moan from her throat.

She relaxed for a little while before diving, Cynder pushed with her legs rippling the perfectly clean underwater scenery with her moves. She went lower in a straight line to at the bottom with one strong push turned her body in such a way that she headed directly upwards, two strong moves were enough to reach the surface. The moment Cynder resurfaced she emitted a pleasant gasp of air, water was dripping from her feminine body in streams, her moistened black scales glistened in the silvery light of the moon.

Wiping the remnants of the water from her snout Cynder slowly swam in the direction where she left the pouch. While still in the water she turned around and leaned her back against the stony wall with her wings spread wide open for support and protection from drowning. She closed her eyes listening intently to the sound of the flowing water, she was breathing deeply allowing her mind to drift away to some unknown place, far away from the turmoil of everyday life.

After a while of such relaxing time Cynder opened her eyes and reached for the pouch, from there she removed the warm familiar flask with the herbs within. She examined it closely for a while.

" Here goes" with that Cynder uncorked the flask and sniffed " Whoa" she mumbled when the strong aroma wrinkled her nose bringing tears to her eyes, the scent instantly attacked her mind leaving her dizzy, it was a bad idea to sniff it from up close.

Regaining her senses after blinking a few times she placed the flask next to her head and with an exhale of anticipation relaxed once more. Her emerald gaze was fixed on the somewhat noisy mini waterfall, yet the sound was slowly dying. It looked like the herbs were doing their magic, at least one of them did, she could only smell one plant. When the aroma wafted in her direction it wasn't as strong as before.

Her nose gladly accepted the now gentle scent. The smell that reached her was very pleasant, the enjoyable flowery aroma caressed her nostrils softly. Surprisingly that was everything she could smell, besides the rosemary Cynder couldn't discern any other herb. It mattered not, she just wanted to relax, be it two flowers or one she didn't care, she just wished they worked.

Cynder kept watching the flowing water, the streams that flew down were completely silent, it looked like that not even nature in all its glory wanted to disturb her rest. The whole world seemed to forget about her, leaving the dragoness to her refreshing solitude. The moment she closed her eyes, Cynder felt like she was the only creature in the whole Realms, at least she had a moment solely for herself.

" You are enjoying yourself I see"

Her emerald eyes snapped open after hearing the unexpected yet familiar voice. She turned her head just to see a purple dragon standing next to her head. Even in this shrouded by darkness forest she could see her friend clearly, thanks to the silvery light

" Spyro" Cynder blurt out surprised " What are you doing here? I've told you that I will be right back"

" I know, it's just that I've felt guilty when I've mentioned my happy childhood while you had it rough from the very start" he took a breath " It's good to finally get this out of my chest

The thing she feared was just happening, she can't allow him to feel guilt, it isn't his fault " No harm done, I'm fine" Cynder offered a slight comfort

Spyro smiled, there was something unnerving in the way how he did it yet she decided to ignore it " Besides, I really wanted to see you"

The dragoness chuckled, she decided to turn his words into a joke, he couldn't mean it after all " Yeah, it's not like we see each other every day. Just imagine how boring it would be"

He didn't even giggle " I _love_ your company" he answered bluntly

The tone of his voice and the emphasis he put on _love _quelled her giggle instantly " You…you are serious? Umm…thanks I suppose" she replied dumbfounded

With the same somewhat creepy smile he raised the flask with the herbs and examined it " What are those?"

Cynder bit her lip, she didn't want to him to know the truth, telling him about the nightmares wasn't a really good idea " You…remember when I've went to the hospital? I've wanted something to help me relax and fall into a blissful sleep. After all we've been through I deserve a bit of innocent rest right?" she sighed " But here I am with my eyes opened and talking to you, I think you can guess how good those herbs actually are"

Spyro put the flask down and looked into the pond " How's the water?"

" Great to be honest, I've put all my faith into the medicine but the water is doing just fine"

He threw her a cold glance " Will you let me in?" he asked with a strange excitement ringing in his voice

Her head jerked back, what kind of question was that? It's not like the pond is her property " Sure…hop in"

Spyro's eyes twinkled for a very brief moment, the dragon jumped into the pond right after she finished her sentence. An odd electric pulse ran through her body the moment he splashed into the water, also the stone wall she was leaning against started to pluck at her back. She had to rearrange her body since the wall felt so uncomfortable all of a sudden.

" It feels…glorious" the purple dragon huffed blissfully

Cynder furrowed a brow " Glorious?" she rearranged her body with a wince " Oh I guess it's one way to put it" she tried to find a more comfortable position but nothing helped " Damn what's wrong with this wall"

" I've been waiting for this moment for a very long time"

" Yeah?" she punched the wall with her shoulder out of pure menace and glared at it " Happens when you are dirty" she hissed irritated

" All this time…it was worth the wait, however sometimes I could barely stand it" he huffed once again with this blissful and cold tone of his " And you know what kept me going? Patience, a difficult trial but I knew I would be rewarded one day, I knew this time would come eventually"

She wasn't really paying attention, the irritating wall took almost all of her attention " Some of us are less patient than the others" with that she punched the wall once more with a growl. To her surprise it worked, she wiggled her shoulders and leaned against the stone once more " Finally!" Cynder exclaimed in relief and began to turn her head " As for your problem Spyro listen-"

She yelped the moment her eyes looked ahead, the purple snout of her friend appeared silently just mere inches from her own " Dear Ancestors, Spyro!" she screamed and giggled soon after " I didn't even hear you swim, don't scare me like that!"

" Do you believe in destiny Cynder?" Spyro asked while observing her with a cold and hungry stare

The odd questions caught her by surprise" Umm…I should after everything I saw I suppose, but…"

" Because I do, and the last events reassured me of that even more"

The gaze he was giving her made her uncomfortable " That's great Spyro but…" she started wiggling in the water as if trying to lean away from his sight " Don't get it the wrong way but could you not look at me like that?" she rippled the water nervously with her wings, she felt trapped " It makes me uneasy"

His amethyst eyes followed her nervous snout " I can't help it, you are so beautiful" he replied bluntly

" I've told you to not get it the-" her shout trailed off as she finally realized what he just said " Wait, what?"

" You've heard me"

" You think I'm…" she blushed and started to scratch her choker nervously "…beautiful?" she eventually spelled the word after some nervous gulps

A corner of Spyro's mouth twitched into a smile " I've noticed how you've been looking at me, this was the only way to make sure if I was right"

Cynder cackled uneasily " Yeah you see…I…it's not like…" she blushed even harder and averted her gaze " Whoa it's getting hot in here don't you think?" she laughed nervously " Time to go" she arched her body forward preparing to leave

He placed a paw on her belly, gently holding her in place, the moment he did that her eyes shot wide open " It's alright, I feel the same way about you"

His words brought tears to her eyes, she wished for something great to happen but never expected something like this. He said the words she desired to hear for so long, she just couldn't believe it " Y-y-y-you do?" Cynder stammered

" We are destined to be together Cynder, you and I. We are one and nothing can change that"

Her heart pounded at her chest, its longing, its craving will finally be sated. However there was one more side fighting within the dragoness, her mind screamed, it sent alarm signals that something isn't right, that it's too good to be true. There she was, torn apart by two forces wanting to dominate her emotions, the struggle only brewed uncertainty within her " I really wanted to hear you saying that you feel the same way about me, you can't imagine how it hurts to wait, but to tell you the truth, now when we are in this situation I'm not so sure about this. Spyro you are acting strange, since when you are so bold?"

She could swear that she saw his eyes shimmer with admiration, but just as well she could have imagined it since the twinkle, if it even was there in the first place, was gone momentarily " There is only one way to resolve this doubt" he answered and moved his head closer towards her lips

Cynder jerked her head back before their lips met " Wha…what are you doing?" she mumbled in shock

Spyro looked her straight into the eyes " Trying to determine if you are ready for this. A simple test, if it'll be too fast and you won't like it I'll back off. Promise"

" Spyro I-" her voice was cut off when he kissed her unexpectedly and since her mouth was hanging open he was able to caress her lower lip only. Blood shot to her brain, her mind was screaming that she should stop it, that this is wrong. However her heart had an entirely different opinion, it felt like it was about to jump right from her chest, it cried that this is the right thing to do. Spyro's kiss was something more, something way beyond her imagination, he was gently caressing her lower lip while she was doing completely nothing, the feeling made her numb and froze her in place, it felt like her whole body died besides her lower lip. And just like that he retreated, breaking the kiss and leaving her opened mouth the way it was before, as she regained her senses she realized that the kiss felt like a tease, a foretaste for something much greater if she decides to go down that road

" I…I…I…" Cynder mumbled, due to the shock she couldn't form a proper sentence

" I see that you are still uncertain, let's see what we can do about that" he moved his paw upwards along her magenta scales, she shuddered under his touch " If you won't like it tell me to stop" with that he moved his paw down and kissed her neck

That was enough, with that he silenced her screaming mind. Cynder arched her head upwards the moment he pressed his lips to her neck. The kiss tore a blissful uncontrollable moan from her throat, her eyes closed momentarily as she could feel her snout turning red from pleasure and embarrassment. Her red cheeks and the red dash above her nose felt like they were radiating heat, if anyone would touch her he would surely burn himself. Not that it bothered her, the only thing she could feel was his paw caressing her defenseless body and his lips fondling her neck. It was like he knew where to touch to tear moans from her, Spyro's paw never remained in the same place, he was caressing her underbelly and chest while also pushing his paw forward to cuddle her sides, and every time he explored an untouched part of her body she shivered.

His lips were also active, he started by kissing the front end of her neck, making her head arch upwards farther and farther while he fondled the magenta scales right below her chin. Whenever he was about to reach her snout he backed down, her head automatically followed him. The moment he returned to the starting point he pushed his body closer while at the same time moving his head forward to caress the yet unexplored spots of her feminine neck. The longer it lasted the harder it was for Cynder to control her reactions, the constant moans and quick breaths were a clear sign that she is completely under his spell. His lips kept kissing the side of her neck until they couldn't go any farther, it was then when he started backing down with his lips still glued to her neck. The moment he reached the middle part on the side of her neck he sank delicately his sharp into the fragile part of her body. The sting and uncontrollable shiver his razor teeth sent through her body tore a stifled squeal of feral bliss from her throat. The moment her gentle cry ended he withdrew his teeth and caressed the punctures on her neck with his lips, the kiss tore another pleasurable moan from her throat. He backed down the same way, when he reached the front end of her neck he went upwards once again but this time when he was about to reach her snout he broke the kissing.

Spyro withdrew his head and looked at her " We are one" he whispered with a menacing tone the moment she opened her blurry eyes and leaned towards her lips

Cynder didn't care much about how he just sounded, his lips pressing against her own was all that mattered for her now fully in control longing heart. Her eyes momentarily shut down, at first she didn't do nothing, she was just savoring the moment, the thing she wished for was just happening, the time for waiting was over, he had finally chose her. It was then when she slowly parted her lips allowing him more room to caress while she herself started to return the kiss. Cynder had never done this, yet there was that feeling telling her what to do, telling her that she is doing alright.

She let passion guide her, the moment was even better than she had ever imagined it, her lips became tumid and extremely sensitive to the touch. As his lips gently worked on hers Cynder felt like the world ceased to exist, the two of them and the growing heat gnawing at her only remained. Cynder started to bashfully sip from the blissful source his lips offered, the moment she started to explore more fervently the sensation their kiss offered by tilting her head to try different angles blood started to pump through her veins at extremely increased rate. Cynder felt just like alcohol would hit her head, yet it wasn't bad, she loved the state of tipsiness their kiss roused and the slight vertigo that came with it pulled her to unexplored boundaries of bliss.

She was right, that unexpected kiss he gave her was actually a foretaste, the passionate kiss they were sharing currently was the reward. A simple endearment but it brought with it an unexplained feeling of delight she never thought were reachable to her. Cynder melted in the kiss entirely, she was caressing him in her own shy way, he seemed to be more experienced than her, occasionally he delicately touched her exposed lip with the tip of his tongue, by fondling her sensitive part in that way Spyro lifted her to higher levels of pleasure. Cynder never tried it herself, she was following his more basic moves, but who cares about technique? Pleasure and intimacy is all that mattered, to which Cynder was completely lost, the kiss was her only concern, she didn't care about anything else.

If she did the dragoness would realize why her defeated mind was screaming in alarm, she would notice that the once clear azure water began to turn black slowly around both of them. Yet she didn't, her yearning heart effectively deafened every notion of warning. Cynder wanted this moment to last, she waited for it so long that nothing else mattered. After who knows how long he finally broke the kiss and withdrew his head leaving her black snout with closed eyes hanging in the air as if in anticipation for something else. Countless time has passed and yet nothing came, it was then when she decided to open her eyes.

The moment she did that Cynder yelped, it was no longer Spyro in front of her, the dragon had his build but the browns eyes and the green wings with mottled grey membranes proved that he was not the dragon she loved.

" We are one" he said and pressed his lips to her once more before she could utter a word

Cynder's eyes shot wide open, she tried to scream her protest but she was muffled by his fierce and undesired kiss, the only thing that she emitted was a loud terrified hum. Her emerald orbs were traveling chaotically across the pond while she kept screaming inside the dragon's mouth in fear. The dragoness began to thrash splashing the black liquid everywhere by the uncontrollable kicks of her paws and flaps of her wings. She just couldn't break free, his kiss was like a lock that held her in place, however the darkness didn't have such limitations, it kept advancing towards her unhindered.

She looked at the dragon that held her, the sight horrified her even more, the dragon that was kissing her had his brown eyes locked on her. The stare sent a shiver down her spine, Cynder screamed even louder than before, she just had to get out of here. Her survival instinct took control, she placed her paws on the dragons chest and pushed with all the strength she could muster.

Then something unexpected happened, there was a crack and her paws fell inwards while being covered by something thick and gross to the touch, just like she would crack a rotten barrel with some decayed fruits or something similar in it. She withdrew her paws and her eyes widened in horror the moment she looked at them, her paws were trickling with blood, not even the dark water seemed to be able to wash it off. Soon the contents of the thing she cracked resurfaced, bits of torn scales, entrails, flesh and muscles resurfaced, the bloody gory mess tossing in the water in front of her made her scream in terror even louder.

Cynder had to break the lock somehow, she pushed the dragon in panic, but instead of yanking herself free her paws slid down his shoulders peeling off his scales as they did so. Blood started to flow from the now exposed cracked flesh, but that was just the beginning. Soon parts of the dragon's head started to fall off, the membranes began to peel off, the wings started to break with loud snaps. However as disgusting as it looked like, that wasn't the worst thing that happened. The dragon's mouth began to deteriorate while it still held her in a fierce kiss, Cynder kept emitting the muffled scream while parts of the drake's body began to fill her mouth.

She could feel his palate cracking open and splattering on her tongue, streams of disgusting blood followed soon after. Despite her abhorrence she was forced to swallow the red liquid, but the flow was so intense that she just couldn't keep up, the remains she couldn't swallow trickled from the corners of her mouth and down her chin. Later Cynder could feel his lips dissolving, parts of those once desirable lips started to fill the inside of her mouth, followed soon by the bits and pieces of the dragon's teeth and tongue.

When the lower part of his mouth began to deteriorate Cynder was finally able to break herself free, with one fierce jerk and a terrified cry she pushed away from the dragon. The brown eyes never ceased to stare at her, the moment she looked at the dragon his jaw fell off. A moment of creepy silence has befallen on them as she gazed into those brown eyes, and then she felt the darkness encasing. Cynder only managed to emit a faint gasp when she was sharply pulled down into the depths of the dark water. As she descended she could only hear the sound of somebody calling her name, the calling seemed to intensify with each passing second…

* * *

Spyro gently shook her shoulder " Cynder, Cynder, Cynder" he kept calling her name as he did so

She finally stirred and he withdrew his paw but then something unexpected happened. The moment her sleepy eyes caught the sight of the waking sun's shy rays they momentarily snapped open. She began to scream and thrash in the pond, splashing the azure water in every direction.

" Hey, hey, hey" he repeated tenderly and grabbed her shoulder " It was just a dream" he comforted her

The moment she set her eyes on him she screamed even louder " Get away from me!" Cynder yelled and splashed the water in his direction

" It's me!" Spyro shouted back while wiping the water from his snout

" I don't believe you!" she yelled once more and began to look around the pond. That move tore another terrified scream from her throat, in an instant she jumped from the water

" Cynder relax! You were dreaming!"

She shook off the water from her body and shuddered, just like she would touch something disgusting and wanted to get rid of the feeling before she fixed her murderous eyes on the purple dragon " What do you want from me?!" she roared " Tell me now or else…"

" Nothing!" Spyro shouted cutting her off " You came here for a bath remember? I wanted to get one too so I got up early and found you here instead!"

" Liar!" the dragoness roared again

" Just look around you! It was dark when you came here but now the sun's waking up!"

Cynder wanted to emit another roar but she quelled it inside her, her eyes slowly started to scan the surroundings and in fact it was getting more sunny. She looked at the flask, the herbs looked spent and dried out, no aroma was coming from them, they looked like they were completely used. Her eyes returned to the purple dragon, she still mistrusted him but there was only one way to find out if he is real.

" Spyro look at me" she ordered him

He did as he was told, he didn't want to anger her further " Ok, I'm looking, now what?" he finally asked after a moment of silent staring

" What do you see?"

Spyro started to evaluate her from horn to claw, he took his sweet time but no matter how much time has passed he still had no idea what to look for. It was dangerous to keep her waiting, he has to guess " Ummm… you are clean?" he replied with ringing uncertainty

Cynder balked, the anger in her eyes vanished momentarily. It was really him, she was sure of it, not even the best actor in the whole world could fake that obliviousness. She ran and hugged him " You have no idea how glad I am you said that!" she couldn't believe her own words, she always desired to hear him say something that would hint his affection for her but this time she was happy like a child that he didn't do it. She had enough of romance for one day.

He arched back the moment she wrapped herself around him, he had to struggle to remain steady, it was quite a feat thanks to the speed with which she threw herself at him " It's okay, it's okay" he stroked her back " It's over now" Spyro whispered comfortingly

She broke their embrace and looked at him " You wouldn't be able to imagine the things I saw in that dream. They were so creepy"

" Was is really that bad?"

Cynder wanted to reply _Yes _but she just couldn't pronounce it, she looked him over and just couldn't think of anything else than the kiss in her dream " It…it had its moments"

He smiled " I bet it did, a nightmare couldn't be behind your purring"

" I didn't purr!" she protested while blushing slightly

Spyro's smile grew wider, he wanted to tease her a little, to help her mind forget about the nightmare " Oh yes you did! Tell me what it was all about!"

The flush on her snout became more intense " No way!"

" Oh come on, I'm curious"

" No!"

" I won't tell anybody, promise!"

" Spyro no!"

" We are friends, you can tell me anything!"

" Spyro stop it!" she exclaimed once more but this time averted her gaze, she could feel herself blushing intensely

" Cynder promise I won't laugh or anything" he wriggled and straightened up " Come on, hit me with your best shot"

The blush was gone after he said that, she turned and looked at him, giving him a meaningful look " Watch it, I've spent some time around Flare"

Spyro gulped, he understood the meaning behind her words perfectly " Point taken"

She grinned " I've thought so" dropping her evil smile she continued " Now with that out of the way, how about we get out of here?"

" A moment, I do need a bath"

Cynder kept pacing back and forth the rocky ground near the pond sharing a cheerful conversation with her swimming friend. While they talked like this her eyes fell on the used flask of herbs, it was then that she realized that she is full of energy, like after a proper night's sleep, she hadn't felt like that for a long time. Even if the medicine didn't block the creepy dreams, it at least allowed her to rest. The dream, it was something difficult to explain, she could swear that it was real, she could feel every single thing, and to make it worse she can remember every single detail, but it still was just a dream and she was glad it ended with the first sun rays.

Then as she walked something wet fell on her paw, it was odd since it didn't seem like it was about to rain. Cynder looked down and noticed a single red dot on her paw, she furrowed a brow and then another drop fell and splattered on the same spot, soon followed by another and another. Her mouth became moist, something began to trickle from it, she brushed her lips with her claw and looked at it, red liquid dripped from it. Startled she ran her other claw across her lips and looked at it soon after, Cynder yelped when she realized what it was-blood, and it was dripping from her mouth.

" Cynder? Are you alright?" Spyro asked worried from the pond, her terrified yelp startled him

She didn't hear him, the dragoness was completely focused on the sudden appearance of blood in her mouth. Her fear intensified when she felt a lump appearing in her mouth out of nowhere, something got stuck in her throat. Cynder reached into her mouth, her paw was moving deeper and deeper until she found a grip of the foreign object, whatever it was it was greasy and meaty to the touch. With trembling paw she removed the foreign object, the moment it was out of her mouth she looked at it. The dragoness gagged when she noticed that it was part of a tongue, Cynder dropped the disgusting thing on the ground and ran into the nearby bushes, she couldn't hold it, she was going to throw up.

" Cynder what's going on!?" Spyro shouted after her and began to get out of the water instantly

Cynder made her way towards the nearby thick layer of bushes and vomited, when the unpleasant ordeal was finally over she looked at the spew despite her common sense. To her surprise however it didn't contain any blood or some body parts for that matter, it looked like the ordinary repulsive pool of vomit " _What the hell_?" only that kind of thought crossed her mind, she had no idea what is happening, it didn't really feel like she was hallucinating, or was she?

" Everything's ok?" Spyro's worried shout came from behind her

" Yeah I'm ok" Cynder coughed " Seems the berries I ate didn't like me very much" she lied, the dragoness didn't want to worry him about something she didn't understand herself

He sighed in relief " That's good…" he winced, it didn't sound right " I mean it's bad that you feel sick but I'm glad that you ate those berries. Wait that's not right! I mean-"

She giggled " I understand" Cynder interjected, ending his babble

Spyro smiled " We better get going, leaving Flare with Sparx alone might-" his voice was cut off by a terrified scream that echoed throughout the forest, it could only belong to one of their companions

" Flare!" both dragons exclaimed simultaneously and ran in the direction of the echoing shriek as fast as their legs could carry them.


	24. Chapter 6 Book II

Chapter 6

The sound of snaps and rustles surrounded both young dragons as they ran through the thick maze of the forest. That was no ordinary scream they heard, it was a scream of horror just like something you never wanted to see just appeared and it didn't came here to talk. As they ran they could not hear anything else besides the sound of the surrounding forest, they hearts started to race, a single terrified scream always was a bad omen.

The only thing that could be attacking them right here and now would be the Apes, but then again, they've never met anyone on their trek through the woods, even if someone would be stalking them Spyro would most likely discover them while being in that state of concentration not so long ago. Still Cynder somewhat blamed her friend for abandoning their companions and concentrating on her, perhaps her emotions were roused by the scream.

" How could you leave them alone?" Cynder panted from behind him indigenously

" I've spent the whole night with them, nothing happened!" Spyro exclaimed a little irritated " Besides I have one other friend that I have to look out for"

She snorted " I can take care of myself thank you very much, don't put this on me!"

" Cynder come on, think, what could possibly attack them? Maybe they are overreacting" his words didn't even convince himself

" I don't know, Apes maybe? We have plenty of enemies looking for our scales"

" Impossible, I assure you there is nothing in that forest that wants us dead, I'm not the best tracker around but even I wouldn't make such a mistake"

Cynder sighed, he was right, Spyro would never leave his friend if he didn't think it was safe " Sorry for my outburst" she panted behind him guilty

" Don't be sorry, I understand, it was only a spur of the moment"

She smiled " Thanks" it was then when she heard someone shouting, it sounded like the dragonfly " Did you hear that?"

He did " Sparx!" Spyro called his brother

" Over here!" the shout of his brother echoed through the forest

They ran as fast as they could in the direction of the shout, the moment they've noticed the dragonfly hovering in the air near a tree they both skid to a halt. Both drakes bent on their paws and began to scan the surroundings with narrowed eyes and slowly wagging tails.

" Sparx what's going on?" Spyro whispered, his head never stopped turning

Sparx rose his hands in the air " Whoa bro relax, it's not what you think it is"

" Where's Flare?' Cynder hissed

The dragonfly smiled and folded his arms " I let you guess"

Spyro threw his brother an angry glance " Sparx this is not the time for jokes!"

" You wouldn't say that if you knew what I know"

" Cut it out!" Cynder growled " Where is Flare?"

Sparx shook his head " You guys are no fun" with that he lowered down towards the protruding roots of the tree " Just look at all those worms!" he exclaimed " And they look hungry too!"

" Sparx what are you-" Spyro was cut off by a sudden rustle of branches and falling leafs from above him.

Cynder noticed that too, they both looked up and noticed a fiery shape among the crown

" Flare?!" She exclaimed dumbfounded " What are you doing up there?"

" B-b-b-b-bugs!" the red dragon stammered while shaking uncontrollably, tossing down leafs and some smaller twigs

" Bugs?" the dragoness repeated after him

" You see, our brave new friend here was sleeping under this tree" Sparx began recalling the recent event to his two friends " Some bugs took liking to him and started slithering all over the place, and when Flare opened his eyes and noticed all those worms he screamed like a girl and BAM!" he pointed a finger towards the crown " He's up there. A material for a hero isn't he?"

" W-w-w-w-we have t-t-t-to k-k-k-kill them!" Flare emitted a stammering terrified shout

Sparx snapped his fingers " Oh yeah, I forgot that he wanted to burn this little fellows. Luckily I've been here to stop him or he would torch the whole forest by now, with us with it. You don't need to thank me, that's just what I do"

Spyro leaned closer " Ok I'm lost, being afraid of ghosts, death, war and the like I understand but bugs?" he whispered " Who's afraid of bugs?"

" Your new friends bro, you have a knack for meeting interesting people." the dragonfly shrugged " Who cares if they are crazy"

Cynder threw the dragonfly an angry glance before raising her head " Flare, you can come down now, they are harmless"

" N-n-n-no!"

" What can they possibly do to you?" Spyro asked despite his status of the bad guy in the red dragon's eyes

Flare didn't seem to notice who was addressing him " T-t-t-they c-c-c-c-crawl in y-y-y-your n-n-n-nose and e-e-e-eat y-y-your b-b-b—brains o-out!"

" That's not true!" Cynder exclaimed surprised " Who the hell told you that?"

He didn't pay attention to her shout, the dragon was continuing his ramble " A-a-a-and, a-a-a-and they s-s-s-suck o-out y-y-y-your e-e-e-eyes!"

" What?!" she shook her head in disbelief " That's bull-"

" Man that's not everything!" Sparx' excited shout cut her off. The dragonfly rose upwards and hovered just next to the trembling red dragon " When they finish with your brain they start to eat your guts out!" he stated with the most menacing tone he could muster, it was enough to make the dragon gasp " And when they are done, you start to spit blood all over the place!"

" Sparx stop!" both young dragons exclaimed from below

" Don't listen to him Flare!" Cynder added

The dragonfly leaned closer " And you know what's the worst part? You never see them coming, they might eat you away as we speak" the red dragon whimpered, the branches he was hugging to shook violently, as they wanted to scream that they can barely hold his trembling weight

" T-t-t-they c-c-c-can be i-i-i-in me r-r-r-right NOW?!" the dragon stammered horrified

" No they can't!" Cynder tried to get the attention of their new companion but her attempt was to no avail. Seeing it failed she turned to the dragonfly " Sparx that's enough!"

He ignored her protest " No dude relax, if there was something in you, you would feel it"

Flare exhaled a sigh of relief but he was still on edge

" Don't worry man, with me around no bug will surprise you" Sparx patted the muscle around his eye " Keen eyes dude, I can spot every single little detail, no worm will get past me! They always leave that one track…" Sparx eyes went wide and his voice trailed off, he quickly pointed a finger at the dragon " ONE IS ON YOUR SHOULDER!" he yelled

Flare panicked instantly, with terrified scream he began to slap his shoulder while chaotically trembling. The branches had enough, the moment the dragon bounced once more they snapped under his weight. With a yelp of surprise Flare fell down, with no space and time to spread his wings, the red dragon crashed onto the ground with a grunt. Leafs and parts of branches followed soon after, some landed near him while others bounced right off his head.

He quickly rolled on the ground a couple of times to get rid himself of the slithering invader before pulling himself up " I-i-i-is it g-g-g-gone?!" Flare stammered scared while scanning his body carefully

" It was never there. Flare calm down, Sparx was just joking" Cynder comforted the panicking dragon

Sparx smirked, he was pride of his little innocent prank " Yeah dude it was just a joke"

" T-t-t-that w-w-w-was m-m-mean!" Flare stammered and winced soon after, as if he did something bad and expected punishment for it

Sparx made his way closer to him, making the dragon hunker down " Come on dude, you are afraid of bugs, how can it not be funny? Seriously man you are a dragon"

The fiery drake visibly relaxed a bit when he noticed no punishment is coming, yet he was still nervous " S-s-s-so?" he asked not really understanding what him being a dragon has to do with anything

Sparx observed the dragon quite dumbfounded, he was actually serious. At first he wanted to explain everything, that a creature like him shouldn't be afraid of worms that are small than his claw but he thought better of it " I have no idea" he replied sarcastically

" Flare what's going on?" Spyro asked " Why you are so afraid of bugs?"

The red dragon looked at Spyro, a clear hint of anger could be seen in his eyes behind all that nervousness " Y-y-y-you e-e-e-exactly know w-w-w-why!" he emitted a stammered yell " I w-w-w-woke up-" when his monolog came to an abrupt end, the drake averted his gaze and winced, as if remembering not a very pleasant memory " I d-d-d-don't w-w-w-want to t-t-t-talk about t-t-t-this"

Sparx was unmoved, not really interested in the reason behind his fear. Something entirely else bugged him " Ok I have to ask, you realize that you stammer sometimes, right?"

Cynder rolled her eyes " Great sense of timing"

Flare blushed, he was aware of his flawed speech, yet he still felt embarrassed when the dragonfly pointed it out "I a-a-a-always s-s-s-s-stammer w-w-w-when I'm r-r-r-really n-n-n-nervous"

" Then relax dude" Sparx inhaled deeply " Take a deep breath and exhale" the dragonfly exhaled " Again, take a deep breath" his chest swollen " and exhale" he did what he said " Come on follow me" breath" Flare inhaled "exhale" the dragon let go of the air " Again, breath" both their chests had swollen " and release" they both exhaled " See? Feeling better now?" Sparx asked

Flare nodded, he actually did feel more calmer " Yes"

" I've told you that you just needed to relax, the worms just surround you and you remain calm." He raised a thumb, a simple gesture of applause " Keep up the good work!"

The dragon's eyes shot wide open, he began to jump all around the place just trying to avoid the bugs that were surrounding them, it didn't matter they weren't there.

" Sparx!" the other two companions admonished the dragonfly

" Dude that was a joke!" he shouted at the red dragon gaining his attention " Let's go through this again. Breath…"

* * *

The group has left the forest, the sun a welcoming sight for all of them and especially for the fiery dragon, the moment they stepped out from the thick woods, they all stopped. Spyro did his best, he led his friends to a place where no living soul could be seen, here only nature lived its peaceful life, not bothering anyone. Ignitus would be proud. The sun illuminated this perfectly green and beautiful part of the Dragon Realms, the fertile grounds gladly accepted the life giving rays, the southern end of the world was the most favorite land for the most of the inhabitants of the Realms. It was the ideal change of scenery from the lush green jungle named the Tall Plains to the north or the completely covered in ice and snow terrains of Dante's Freezer located some kilometers away from the ruined Dragon Temple.

They stood at the brink of the forest, seeping warm from the sun's life-giving light. While for the three saviors it wasn't anything special, just a sunny day like any other, for their new companion it was something indescribable and overwhelming. Flare stood there with his wide yellow eyes, his head was moving slowly, his mind was leisurely ingesting the scenery before him. The world he looked upon was wide, green and so beautiful, everything looked so invigorating in the bright light. Flare rose his head to congratulate the one who is doing such a great work, he squinted and covered his eyes with his paw to look upon one of the skies' sentinels through his claws.

He smiled, smiled like he never had before, it didn't bother him in the slightest that the sun's direct light was blinding, he had to convince himself that this is really happening. He lowered his head and looked around the world once more, his eyes glittering and his heart beating with glee. As Flare scanned the surroundings he noticed some strange things growing from the ground, he immediately ran towards them. It was an odd thing, it reminded him of a tree, it had a very thin green trunk and a very violet crown with a strange yellow dot in the middle. Something told him at the back of his head to not be afraid of it, to experiment with new things. He reached and plucked the tiny tree from the ground, Flare examined it from every angle, as he did so he felt some pleasant smell invading his nostrils. He wrinkled his nose a couple of times before realizing it was coming from the thing he held in his paw, driven by the scent he brought the strange tree closer and sniffed it. It wasn't like anything else he smelled before, the aroma was extremely pleasant and strangely delicate, it smelled of peacefulness.

" That's a flower, violet to be more precise" Cynder whispered from behind him

" Flower…" Flare muttered under his breath while taking another sniff of the gentle aroma.

He gently put down the plucked out flower amongst the other ones. While he withdrew his paw he stopped, with a frown the dragon delicately ran his claw along the petals. Their soft surfaces bent and bounced under his touch, violets, something such fragile yet radiating an unexplained strength. The world he never knew existed was right in front of his eyes, the flowers only reminded him how much he missed, how many things were taken away from him, and now here they were, it felt like paradise.

Flare looked up, the cloudless azure sky stretched above him to untold boundaries, the green land below his paws and all around him stretched far and wide just to hide itself below the horizon later on. He was out of his cage, the land welcomed him eagerly, he thanked it for its trust as he scanned the surroundings with his glittering eyes. This world, it was all his, nobody is telling him where to go, nobody is telling what to do, for the first time Flare feels like no chains are wrapped around his neck, he can do whatever he wants.

Yet he had a hard time convincing his mind that whatever happened when he made through that portal or whatnot was left there. Flare made an shaky step forward and froze as expecting something or someone to put him back in line. Nothing happened. Another step, the same situation, once again he moved, there was still silence. Flare began walking faster and faster, farther and farther, slowly convincing his suffocated mind that the world changed. His smile began to grow wider, his heart began to pump blood faster, a feeling roused itself within him, a sensation very alien to him but at the same time the one which he beseeched for. Freedom

" I'M FREE!" Flare roared and ran, didn't matter where, as far as no one is forcing him to stop it was good " I'M FREE!" he roared once again as if trying to announce his situation to the world itself.

If it cared was unimportant for him, the only thing that mattered were now the non-existing restrictions, pretty selfish perhaps but he deserved it. Flare ran back and forth, left to right while emitting sometimes the cheerful roar. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him, the vast world tried to show him that even freedom has its price by placing obstacles on his path. He didn't care, every rock or any other obstacle that blocked his path he conquered by jumping over it or just avoiding it entirely. The world held sway after so many smaller signs it decided to bring out the big guns, as the dragon ran a small hill grew from the ground, blocking his path.

Flare kept running unconcerned by the unscalable wall that rose before him, he was free and only he will decide when to stop. The dragon looked up, the cloudless sky stretched above him without any obstacles and limits. With a smile he spread his wings and just only a couple of kilometres before the hill he leapt into the air. As he gained altitude Flare extended his paw as if trying to catch the air itself, he flied before but nothing could be compared to this, the thing that he only dreamed of in the past became a reality.

The mood on the ground however was not that of pure happiness, awe mostly dominated there. The group stared at the flying dragon and couldn't believe their own eyes, Flare's wings were quite a sight. Not only that they never seen such wings in action but also they never thought something like this was possible. It might be just and illusion but his wings seemed to get bigger, almost twice their normal size, but that was not everything. Whenever Flare flapped his wings they left fiery dashes in the air that looked like a flame just burst but on a smaller scale. It was quite a sight, they never thought they will see a sky burning, it must be looking even more impressive after nightfall.

Flare on the other hand was unaffected by such trifles, the open sky was his interest. He kept making his way through the air, rippling the sky with his fiery wings, when he soared like that he inhaled deeply, the fresh air sent a delicate shiver through his lungs. Flare closed his eyes and inhaled once more, then he repeated the same process again and again and again. With each breath he took the feeling of glee started to become more palpable until he couldn't keep it bottled within him any longer.

He burst out laughing and just couldn't stop as he soared in the sky, the whizzing wind only seemed to intensify his joyful cry. Flare never felt like this before, he just laughed uncontrollably like he never did in his entire life. All those emotions he quenched within him, all those dreams he never thought could happen, all this hope that he never thought will fulfill itself, all those thing he released in that laughter. Freedom has such a delightful taste, and its solely for him.

Flare kept flying, spinning and flipping in the air, diving, rising, with addition of some others acrobatic moves. No matter what he did he kept laughing and smiling, he kept going until his mind and heart calmed themselves after fully absorbing the new situation. With last backflip Flare headed for the ground and landed near the group that found him.

" Whoa" the three friends mumbled the moment the red dragon appeared in front of them

" I know right?!" Flare exclaimed excitedly

" Your wings…" Cynder muttered " I've never seen anything like that"

He waved his paw dismissively" It was nothing, but that!" he pointed at the sky " That's just great!"

" Dude slow down there" Sparx said incredulously " Your wings are farting flames and you say that a sky is great? Dude seriously?"

Flare nodded confidently " Yeah! I've never knew that flying could be so much fun! I mean I knew what a sky was but I never thought I'll be flying up there someday"

" What do you mean that you never thought you'll be flying up there?"

The fiery drake looked up not really caring that it was Spyro who asked him that question " I saw the sky only through the cracks in the ceiling"

Cynder looked clearly disturbed by the news" That's horrible"

The red dragon sighed " I thought so too but it turned out that it wasn't so bad, the horrible happened when one day such a crack appeared in the place where I stayed" he looked at the dragoness sadly " You know what's the most effective way to torture someone? Show them that there is something good out in the world, somebody never dreamed of and make that dream real but also untouchable at the same time. I could feel the fresh air every day, I could see a way to freedom just at paws reach."

" You know what that does to people?" he continued " It gives them purpose to fight for something, a blind hope that if they try hard enough they will win. But after you fail again and again…" he shook his head" You become angry, you start to blame everyone and everything for this failure. You know there is a way out and you try to reach it no matter what, and when after another days of futile attempts you hear people telling you to stop, you see people backing down, you put the blame on them "

" While you keep working to free yourself, you see some small chunks of rock falling down, it gives you more strength ,fills you with more anger to pursue something that was never meant for you, and when you try so desperately to free yourself you hear people dissuading you from that idea. Your mind starts to panic, telling you that the people who surround you are working with your captors. After some time of this torture you finally snap, you have to punish someone for this and your roommates seem like the perfect solution"

He winced when some painful images flashed before his eyes " I've never seen so much blood before" he muttered

" And on which side were you?" Sparx asked cautiously, even if something told him he already knew the answer " The bullies or the losers?"

Flare looked to the side in shame " I…I've been amongst the dragons who couldn't stand the insults any longer, the ones who snapped"

" Perfect!" the dragonfly exclaimed

" You killed your roommates Flare?" Spyro asked just to be sure, however his voice wasn't filled with anger or blame but concern

The red dragon winced " Yes, I-"

" Another killer! That's exactly what we need now!" Sparx outraged shout cut off the drake

" Sparx chill" Cynder growled

"…I slaughtered them…I just couldn't stop…" Flare continued to rant under his breath

" CHILL?!" the dragonfly yelled in disbelief " We got a crazy dude here who kills people only because they disagree with him!"

" You have no right to judge! They've tortured him!" Cynder snarled

" Everybody just calm down!" Spyro yelled but nobody listened to him

"…some of them didn't even fight back…" the red dragon continued to mumble

Sparx pointed an accusing finger at the fiery drake " You hear that?! He is a cold blooded killer!"

" Whoever was torturing Flare broke him, it was not his fault!" the black dragoness tried to justify their new companion's action

" Guys please!" Spyro's pleading shout reached deaf ears

"…they were not trying to hurt me and I still killed them…" Flare kept ranting with a voice filled with guilt

" Yeah because it is possible to accidently tear somebody's heart out!" Sparx yelled with his typical sarcastic manner

" THEY BROKE HIS SPIRIT! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW IT FEELS LIKE!" Cynder roared angrily

" NOTHING JUSTIFIES MURDER!" the dragonfly retorted at the top of his lungs

Cynder balked with a gasp after hearing his shout, also Flare's uncontrollable rant was silenced by the sound. An awkward silence has befallen on the group, the situation clearly got out of paws, it's essential to calm things down

" Guys listen-"

" It will be better for everyone if he would return to whatever place he came from" Sparx cut Spyro off with his strangely cold statement

" NO!" Flare yelled terrified

" That's your answer for everything!" Cynder snarled " It's all black and white for you!"

" Please don't send me back there!" the red drake screamed, he was at the brink of tears

" Open your eyes!" Sparx retorted " There is only red, nothing else! Do we really need another Malefor?"

" Sparx the brave hero who would rather avoid trouble than face it! Hail to our savior!' Cynder growled " How can you even think about throwing him back there? Didn't you hear what he was saying?"

" That portal is gone he cannot return!" Spyro yelled trying to break through cacophony of shouts " This argument is pointless!"

" I won't hurt anyone. Promise!" Flare exclaimed with a wavering voice

Sparx ignored the red dragon, he paid attention to his brother while seizing the black dragoness with his eyes at the same time " Then let's leave him here"

" But, I-"

" Yeah let's abandon him, since he killed he is no longer a living being" Cynder snapped

" I won't kill anyone I SWEAR!" Flare begged

Sparx turned to the fiery drake " You have your freedom" he waved his hand " Go, enjoy it"

He looked behind him and the moment he did that confusion clouded his mind. His head returned to the previous position soon after with his eyes fixed on the ground " But I…I don't know what to do" he muttered bashfully

" Whatever you want, it's freedom, you always wanted that right?"

He did want it but he also knew that he will be lost in this unfamiliar world without help and the three of them were the only people he met. The group has it issues but at least one dragoness was nice to him, the closest person he could call a friend, he didn't want to lose that

" Can I stay with you?" he asked bashfully

" NO!"

"YES!"

Both Sparx and Cynder exclaimed at the same time, two completely opposite statements

Spyro rubbed his forehead " This is going nowhere…" he muttered under his breath angrily

" Dude go! Explore the world!" Sparx shouted with an irritated voice

" But I don't want to…" Flare mumbled sadly

" You can't stay"

" But why?" he finally looked at the dragonfly. Now he has something he never thought would be granted to him, freedom with at least someone who sincerely cares about him, he just can't give up on that " I've made a mistake but I told you that it won't happen again. Just let me stay, please"

Sparx shook his head " Go!" he shouted yet his voice lacked the previously palpable confidence after hearing the dragon's constant pleading tone

" You have no right to force him to do anything!" Cynder snarled

" I left the past behind as Cynder told me, clean sheet remember? I won't hurt anyone I swear" Flare pleaded once again

Sparx opened his mouth to voice another protest but was interrupted by Spyro's annoyed and somewhat pained shout " I have enough of this! Nobody is going anywhere! I'm tired to listening to this and I just hate to see my friends fighting. Flare is staying and that's final! Now shut up and be friends again!" he roared

The red dragon's eyes traveled between every member of this little group, a perplexed look formed itself on his snout as he noticed that everyone was actually listening to the purple dragon, even the powerful dragonfly. He didn't say anything but shouldn't it be the other way around? But they are letting him stay, there was no sense in pushing your luck

Sparx turned towards his brother with a resigned look on his face, his shoulders and head fell down with a sigh " I've tried"

" You did great, you actually managed to annoy three people at the same time!" Cynder exclaimed with a faked praise. " A new record, congratulations!"

The dragonfly looked at her with a corner of his eye, a glimpse of pity shimmered from it for a brief moment. He sighed once more and shook his head

" Cynder that's enough" Spyro admonished her, much to the dragoness displeasure, she threw him an irritated glance and emitted an offended snort. The purple dragon focused on the group " Now we are going to move, TOGETHER as we planned from the beginning. Everyone's cool with that?"

His eyes traveled between every member of his group, he saw Flare opening his mouth but when seeing that the other two didn't respond he closed it soon after. Sparx was just staring at the ground and shaking his head, while Cynder was eyeing the dragonfly angrily.

It seems Spyro has to pull their teeth " I want to hear you say it, everyone's cool with that?" he asked once more, his eyes jumping between every dragon and dragonfly

" Yes" Cynder answered, her eyes never leaving his brother

" Yes…" Sparx muttered with resignation

" YES!" Flare exclaimed excitedly, it was more like a cry of triumph than simple agreement

Spyro nodded " Great now let's get out of here, I'm tired of this place" with that the group took off after the purple dragon

* * *

The group was soaring through the cloudless sky, green land blurring below them as they moved. The argument earlier left a bitter aftertaste among everyone one of them, only Flare seemed unaffected, his head was constantly moving as he absorbed every detail of this new world. They were flying in complete silence, Spyro turned his head to check on his companions, they were flying behind him, their eyes focused on the horizon, not even meeting his.

The purple dragon turned his head to look ahead and shivered, this silence gave him the creeps, even his brother didn't say a word which only meant one thing- the situation is even worse than it seems. Spyro's heart ached, he hates to see the two most important people in his world fighting with each other, he just couldn't allow it to continue, he just couldn't.

Spyro looked at the excited fiery dragon behind him and an idea crossed his mind " Flare take the lead!" he yelled

The red dragon balked at the sound of his voice, his yellow uncertain and confused eyes traveled on the dragonfly as if looking for some kind of assistance

" Flare get over here!" Spyro shouted once more

The fiery dragon kept watching the glowing dragonfly a while longer but when he realized that no reaction will be coming, he slowly nodded in acceptance " I'm coming" he answered, yet not because he wanted to, it seemed like he acted on fear

" Lead on" Spyro encouraged his new companion the moment he tentatively flew next to him

" But…but I don't know where to go" Flare mumbled with a scared voice

The purple dragon noticed his attitude but it was not the time to dwell on it right now " Just fly straight ahead, I'll tell you when to turn, don't worry" he said kindly and fell back behind the fiery tail

As he flew behind Flare Spyro looked behind his shoulder, he smiled slightly when he noticed that his plan worked. Cynder and Sparx were no longer staring in the distance lost in thought but instead their confrontation shifted onto the flames bursting forth from Flare's flapping wings. He smiled inwardly after noticing his success, better let their focus settle on something fascinating than let it be wasted on thinking about a pointless argument.

Spyro looked ahead and cocked his head, the flames were really fascinating. He blinked and chuckled under his breath when he realized that he became the victim of his own master plan. However he had to admit that there was something in those bursting flames that drawn attention. The sight triggered his natural curiosity, Spyro reached out, he just had to touch those flames.

He gritted his teeth when Flare's wings went down, his self- preservation instinct kicked in telling him to back down or he will regret it. He didn't budge and when the flames burst forth he expected that they will burn his paw, with a wince he prepared himself for the inevitable. Spyro's snout relaxed when no unbearable heat struck his scales, to his surprise the flames weren't hot but enjoyably warm. He might have expected this since his fiery wings didn't burn Cynder but this was different, those flames weren't connected with Flare's wings yet they still weren't hot.

Spyro forgot dispute instantly when he noticed that whenever the flames reached his extended leg a delicate yellow flash covered his vision. He looked down and his eyes widened the moment he did that, whenever the flames reached his purple scales they shattered and bounced of his paw in a show of many yellow sparks. Spyro just couldn't stop staring at the spectacle, he never saw anything like it before, hell, he never thought something like this was possible.

The delicate yellow flashes made him think about the recent events, maybe he worried too much? Perhaps the Veils aren't that bad? What if they hide more of such unspeakable stuff? Ok perhaps Brill isn't exactly the model of something good, but there is always a rotten apple, there is always a flaw in the system. What if the portals hide creatures like Flare? He revealed to them his difficult past but honestly does it really matter now in the light of recent events?

A clean sheet, simple words coming from Cynder's mouth he thought that were only used to comfort their new companion had a greater meaning now, you jump in time, leaving everything you've been, everything you experienced in the past and you are brought into this new world with nothing but memories. It's like being born anew, it's like being given a second chance, it's like starting from the beginning- a clean sheet.

Sometimes perhaps a monster or something else push through that's hostile, just like the Keeper thing, nobody said life is easy after all. However when those things would protect something as precious as Flare then it's worth fighting for in Spyro's eyes, it's worth taking a risk to give somebody else a second chance. Maybe those Veils are some kind of reward, some kind of sign that their efforts didn't go unnoticed? One can only hope.

Spyro shook his head with a blink once again, he wasn't supposed to be the one who dwelled on Flare's extraordinary appearance and what it meant. He withdrew his paw, only a small part of the flames managed to catch his leg, some yellow sparks bounced of his claws emitting a dim light. " _Amazing_" he mused to himself before looking over his shoulder, he located his female friend, she was still completely lost in the fiery wings, even from here he could see flames reflecting in her emerald eyes. Spyro slowed down, impulsively she did the same, perhaps her concentration was focused entirely on Flare but there was still a part of her mind that directed her body and it just didn't want any collision in the air. They flew slower than the rest of the group for a little longer, this simple move made them fall back behind the other two. It was what Spyro wanted, he needed to pull her to the side so to speak to have a little one-on-one chat with her.

" Quite a sight huh?" he stated the obvious, it had the same meaning when somebody else would say to someone that this is a nice weather in a sunny day.

Cynder snapped from her trance and narrowed her eyes on her purple friend " You don't say? Thanks the Ancestors you showed up, otherwise I wouldn't figure it myself" she replied with an offended sarcasm

" Hey! I just wanted to start a conversation" Spyro defended himself

She rolled her eyes " Get to the point already Captain Obvious and hurry to avert a crisis somewhere else" she hissed in exasperation

He narrowed his eyes on her " Take a chill pill Grumpy"

Cynder's eyes flared up " This is how you want it to play out? By insulting me? Very sublime" she growled

" You wanted me to get straight to the point so here it is"

" You may be actually related with your stupid brother after all. Get out of my sight before you'll regret it"

" You know that's not going to happen" Spyro replied calmly

" OH REALLY?" she snarled " Leave me or I'll make you"

He shook his head " I'm not going anywhere"

" GO HUG WITH YOUR BROTHER AND LEAVE THIS MURDERER ALONE!" Cynder roared

Spyro noticed the group stopping after her display of anger, he turned around and with a wave of his paw urged them to continue, the moment they did that he focused on the dragoness once more

" You are no murderer" he said

" Oh? Now you have a change of heart?" she snarled

" Gee Cynder stop being so crabby, I'm your friend"

" My friend you say? Correct me if I'm wrong but I haven't heard you backing me up there"

He shook his head " I wasn't taking any sides"

" You weren't taking sides yet it was you who told me to shut up"

" Now you are just being fussy"

Cynder growled " I've told you to go away, I need a vast personal space. I'm just THAT fussy"

Spyro rolled his eyes and reached for her paw " Now you are just being ridiculous"

She yanked her leg away " Don't touch me!" she snapped

" I just want to show you something"

" I don't want to see it"

He shook his head " Cynder sometimes you can be so…" his voice trailed off when an idea crossed his mind " Fine I'll give you your personal space" with that he sped up his flight but instead in keeping his word Spyro wrapped his tail tightly around the dragoness foreleg when he was in front of her and pulled her behind him

" LET-ME-GO!" she pronounced each word slowly making sure he won't miss the murderous tone in her voice

" Just be quiet" he answered calmly, completely unmoved by her tone

" Spyro I'm warning you!" she growled

" Just look"

" I don't want to!" she yanked her foreleg but couldn't break free " That's it you've asked for it! I-" her rant was cut off by a sudden delicate yellow flash covering her vision .She looked down on her now extended and free leg, flames from Flare's wings had reached her paw and shatter into many tiny yellow sparks on impact.

" I…" she muttered but then another flames reached her, they looked like waves of fiery water crashing on the cliffs. Cynder opened her mouth but no sound came out, she was speechless.

Spyro smiled when he noticed her unmoving paw and calming expression on her snout " Quite a sight, huh?"

" It's beautiful" Cynder muttered in awe when once again the yellow light reflected in her green eyes

Spyro turned his smiling snout towards his own extended paw without saying a word

She looked at her purple friend, shame and pride mixing together within her " Ignitus was right, you are THE dragon"

" You both were always thinking too highly of me" he replied bashfully

" Don't hide behind modesty, you are perhaps the only one who can quench my temper. I know how painful it can be" she admitted shamefully

He shrugged " It's not that bad, I like it actually"

She smiled, yet it was a forced and sad smile " No you don't"

Spyro looked at her, sincerity shimmering in his amethyst eyes " I really do. You are special Cynder, you are different from anyone else I've ever met. Imagine a world where only dragons like me would exist, always smiling and always nice. You know how boring it would be?"

Cynder giggled, tears appeared in the corners of her eyes when she looked at him " I don't deserve a friend like you"

He waved his paw dismissively " Oh stop it"

" I'm serious"

He dropped the childish attitude and looked her straight in the eyes " You deserve so much more. Now I'm being serious"

She shook her head " No I don't, not after everything I've done"

" Cynder…"

" I'm a murderer Spyro, nothing more, nothing less"

" You are so much more!" he exclaimed " You are my friend, you are one of the most important people to me, you are the reason why I kept fighting, you are my strength"

A tear fell from her eye, Cynder smiled, no matter how many times he repeated how much she meant for him it still made her happy all the same. However the recent events didn't exactly allow her heart to fill with joy entirely

" If only everyone in our little group shared similar point of view" she whispered sadly

Spyro furrowed a brow " What are you talking about?" You are important for everyone here"

" Sparx would beg to differ"

He balked " No Cynder, it's not like that"

" He called me a murderer Spyro!" she exclaimed " I know that your brother isn't one of my biggest fans but still…"

" I'm sure he didn't meant that"

" Oh? When was the last time you've seen him acting like that? When was the last time he dropped his mask and showed what he truly thinks?"

Spyro opened his mouth but no sound came out, he frowned trying to remember a moment where his brother expressed his feelings without his usual sarcasm but just couldn't " I…I don't know" he muttered

" Exactly"

He looked at her " Since when do you care what people think of you?"

" I don't, but… I hoped that at least he would trust me a bit more, I've gave him my word that I will keep you safe, and I've kept it and he still calls me a murderer" with a sigh her head fell down " How I am supposed to redeem myself when even your own brother doesn't want to forgive me?"

" I know Sparx better than anyone, he would never do such a thing, not after everything we've been through. You had to misunderstood him"

" I'm not so sure about that"

" You know what? Stop thinking about it, forget about everything that happened, about very bad word or accusation and concentrate on the good things. Like when you've did everything to keep your promise and protect me for example, or how you helped Flare. Give your heart a moment of glory"

Cynder frowned, he was right, Sparx' words rekindled all this blame and guilt within her, it especially hurt when he was the one who rubbed salt into that wound. However Spyro was right, there was no sense to dwell on it, she tried to make up for her mistakes, if people can't see it, screw them.

Cynder smiled and looked at her purple friend with happy eyes " You ever thought about becoming a poet?"

Spyro chuckled " Nah, I've been too busy with staying alive lately"

She presented him a grateful smile " Thanks for cheering me up and…" she shrugged bashfully "…sorry for being a bitch"

" No harm done"

" Seriously, I don't know how you can stand me, most people would ditch me somewhere already"

Spyro smiled " And let someone else enjoy your company?" he shook his head " No way, you are mine"

She leaned closer " So you are saying that I'm your bitch?"

He scratched the back of his head " In a manner of speaking you…you could say that…yeah…but- "

Cynder faked a sob and pretended to wipe a tear from her eye " That's the sweetest thing somebody ever said to me" she cut him off

Spyro chuckled

" It still amazes me why you still don't have a mate" she smirked

He laughed " Shut up"

She soon joined him in his cheerful cry, for a moment they've forgot about the recent worries, all that mattered was this particular laugh. After a while Spyro flew away leaving her with her cheerful dreams, there was still one more thing to do.

Spyro began to fly next to his brother, the time of his conversion has just dawned, Spyro opened his mouth but didn't even manage to utter a single word before Sparx interjected

" Interview time, finally!" palpable sarcasm could be felt in the dragonflies' voice

" In the forest, what was all that about?" Spyro asked straightforward

" You've noticed that too? How dragons can be afraid of bugs…" he shook his head

The purple dragon frowned " Stop hiding behind wit, I want you to be serious, you've hurt Cynder with your words, how could you do such a thing after all this time?"

His brother sighed, he flew with his shoulders slumped down for a while in complete silence " It wasn't my intention" he finally replied with guilt filled voice

" You have to apologize to her"

Spar balked " What? No!"

" Sparx!" Spyro admonished him

" I'm not really good in this, I might screw up even more"

" I don't care, it's the action that matters not the words you use, she's smart, she will understand what you tried to do"

Sparx sighed once more " Fine Angel, just don't smite me. Are we done here?"

" No"

The dragonfly rolled his eyes " Why do I even ask?"

" Cynder is one thing, the other is Flare. Why did you so suddenly wanted to get rid of him?"

" Oh come on, give me a break! You want me to apologize to him too?" Sparx protested

" Just answer the question"

He sighed again " Flare has slaughtered many people, do we really need another Malefor right now?"

Spyro jerked back " What are you talking about? Flare is no Malefor. How could you even come to such assumption, it's just stupid"

" Is it? Our new friend here is special, who did ever see a burning dragon before huh? Just like nobody had seen a purple one before Malefor. Whatever some old dudes wrote in their books doesn't matter, back then when Malefor was the only purple guy out there he triggered fascination in everyone and what? Soon all those guys who drooled over him ate dirt, it doesn't matter that Flare's scales are different, people won't allow another Malefor to rise again, we are just giving them the perfect scapegoat"

Spyro thought about this for a moment, his theory perhaps made sense but no matter how long he dwelled on it he still thought that it is somewhat overdone " I don't know Sparx"

The dragonfly shrugged " Ok if you don't believe me then let Flare share with people his murderous past, let's see what happens then"

His brother might have a point, with Brill sitting in Warfang it is very likely that he might rouse a lynch mob after he would here about Flare's past " Maybe you are right"

" I am. Now, you are done interrogating me?" he threw Cynder a quick glance " I still need to humiliate myself"

" Yeah" with that he began to fly away but after a while he stopped, there was something bugging him in the back of his mind, something telling him that his brother wasn't entirely honest with him. He turned to face the dragonfly " You sure you've told me everything?"

" Did I forget to mention how great I am?"

Spyro frowned, there was still that nagging feeling but he just couldn't place his claw on it. With a shake of his head he discarded the thought, he might have been overreacting " Never mind" with that he turned to the fiery dragon " Flare, turn left!"

Sparx observed his brother for a while before turning to Cynder " Here goes" with a crack of his knuckles he approached the dragoness. " Hi Second Tail"

" Hi Fifth Wheel" she replied casually without even looking at him

That was it, they began to fly in silence as he was suddenly lost for words, Sparx began to look round the area to somehow break the awkward moment " Nice weather, huh?"

Cynder giggled " You actually might be related"

The dragonfly frowned in confusion " What?"

She shook her head with a smile still plastered on her snout " Oh nothing, just a loose observation"

" Yeah whatever, listen about that thing in the forest, I wasn't talking about you"

Cynder looked at him, not really surprised to see him apologizing since she knew Spyro would force him to do it, but that doesn't mean she can't tease him a little " Is that an apology Sparx?"

He snorted " Don't be stupid I just want to sort things out"

" Ohhh I think that's an apology"

" No it's not! Just shut up and listen!"

" Sparx feels bad and wants to apology, cute" she baby talked him

" I've told you already that I'm trying to clear things out!" he protested

" Apology, apology, apology" she repeated the same word in the childish manner while bobbing her head from side to side

" It's not an apology!" he exclaimed

" Sparx is apologizing, Sparx is apologizing, Sparx is apologizing!"

" Grow up!" he snapped "I'm leaving!" he flew away

Cynder grinned. It was nice of him to try to apologize to her, if she really didn't let him do that. Actions speak louder than words anyway.

Spyro flew next to Flare as they slowly progressed through the sky. It wasn't long before the foggy image of Warfang was coming into view. Spyro saw Flare slowing down, he looked at him just to see his eyes staring wide into the distance

" Flare what's the matter?" Spyro asked

" Whoa" the fiery dragon could only emit a gasp of awe

The purple dragon looked ahead and cursed his forgetfulness, Flare didn't even know how a tree looked like, then how is he supposed to know what a city is. The image of Warfang in the distance made Spyro think about his brother's words, perhaps he was right that Flare shouldn't be opening himself to the other people there, he remembered the situation at the temple and how easily Brill instigated the people there against Cynder, who knows what would happen if they found another dragon with a bad past.

Spyro turned to his fiery companion " Flare listen to me, it's very important that you won't tell anybody about your unfortunate occurrence with your roommates. You understand?" he asked cautiously and with a clear warning in his voice

Flare looked at him and quickly bowed his head " Of course" he replied hastily just like a slave would respond to his master

" You can tell about your past but skip the parts that involve killing and blood, ok?"

He nodded once again without making eye contact " Of course"

Spyro noticed his reaction but it was not the time now to figure it out, it's for the best. It wasn't long before the form of Warfang became more clear and solid, soon they will introduce to the population a creature nobody thought existed, only the Ancestors know what consequences it will bear.


	25. Chapter 7 Book II

Chapter 7

A short visit in the village of Boven, a discovery of a structure from a time long gone, a deadly fight with an almost indestructible creature and finally the meeting with a fiery dragon. All those things considered made the perfect image of their supposedly easy and boring assignment. It was supposed to be an eventless journey to a village far in the wilderness to tell the people there that they are overreacting, that there is nothing to worry about, a simple task that proved to be so much more.

Now they were only a few kilometers from the gates of the Dragon City, soon the Realms will learn of the phenomenon the three friends tried to keep a secret for some time. Anticipation could be felt amongst the group as they flew towards the brownstone walls, however not because of the same reason. Spyro looked behind to try and read the exact mood of his companions.

Flare's expectation differed from his, while he worried how the people will react when they meet the strange dragon his fiery companion clearly didn't share the same worry. Flare made an impression of a unbridled child who couldn't wait to check the new and cool stuff out, he was more driven by awe and curiosity than uneasiness.

Even Cynder didn't share the purple dragon's anticipation, she looked bored and tired as if she would be replaying a movie for the hundredth time with its ending embedded deep within her mind. She had that _let's get this over with_ look plastered on her snout. Sparx wasn't very happy about their comeback to the city either. He was sad and resigned, he did show signs of anticipation but it differed greatly from the rest of the group. While their expectations were focused on the closing city and the present, the dragonflies' expectation seemed more distanced, as if the things he expected to happen will happen but not today.

Warfang was still in its rebuilding phase, the city looked much more better than when they laid their eyes on walls and interior when they've emerged from the Forbidden Tunnel after their stop at the cheetah village. There was still much work to be done, even from here debris, holes and destroyed buildings could be seen, however not everything looked so drastic. Spyro's heart lightened up when he saw that the earlier piles of rubble were turned into brand new homes or other structures, when the laying stones were used to patch up the previously conspicuous holes. The city didn't surrender, it was on its way to reclaiming its former glory, to start a new era and leave the destructive past behind and no hole could change that.

No matter how nervous Spyro was about the whole situation he couldn't help but notice how funny the image below him looked like. As they were approaching the Dragon City they could hear people shouting, hammers working and cranes moving but the moment they've passed above them all the people and machines stopped moving. It was like they were freezing the city without using any ice magic, the farther parts of Warfang were alive while the others they have just left behind froze staring at them, even from here Spyro could see the people's wide eyes, even the caravan that was entering Warfang through its gate stopped moving. He smiled, at least for a bit he stopped thinking about his uneasiness.

The group moved forward and as they progressed the people that were now quite a far way behind them snapped from their shock and began running and flying after them. Soon almost the whole City was on their tails, the inhabitants looked like a huge pack of animals stalking them. Spyro looked at Flare, he didn't seem to care about the approaching horde of people, his eyes were constantly shifting from one thing to the other, not to mention that he rubbed his eyes every now and then, just like he couldn't believe what he was seeing and tried to snap out from his dream.

The purple dragon motioned for the group to descend when the huge arched building with many windows came into view. The group slowly made their way down and landed in the middle of the Grand Plaza, their claws clicked on the shining marble pavements the moment their paws touched them. Even the colorful fish seemed to notice their presence since they splashed the water in the small pond excitedly. Their goal was only a few meters away from there, a couple of steps and soon they will ascend the small staircase, pass the two imposing stony dragons and enter the City Hall through its huge adorned doors.

However they couldn't move, Flare was so taken aback by the sight that he just couldn't budge, but that doesn't mean he didn't move. The fiery dragon was wildly turning around, he looked into the small pond noticing the tiny fish with a gasp of shock, just to examine the lanterns around them, to finally take a glimpse of the two imposing statues that forced him to swallow in uneasiness.

" THIS- IS- AWESOME!" Flare exclaimed excitedly, pronouncing each word slowly " I can't believe my own eyes!" his voice carried through the courtyard without effort thanks to the eerie silence that has befallen on the Plaza currently.

Spyro didn't share his new companion excitement, he know it's just a calm before the storm and they will be better off when they wouldn't be in the middle of it " That's great Flare but we need to go, and fast"

The fiery dragon didn't notice the urgency in his voice, he looked into the pond once again eying the colorful fish swimming in there " What are those things?!" he exclaimed an excited question

" It's not the time for this right now!" the purple dragon admonished him " We need to go!"

Flare ignored Spyro's protest and began to examine one of the many dragon's statues littering the Plaza " Those statues are so cool! Who made them?"

" Flare move!"

Once again the red drake didn't pay any attention to the purple dragon, his curiosity pulled him towards the nearby lantern " It's so shiny!"

" That's great, but we really need to-" he was cut off by the increasing cacophony of thousand paws running through the streets. Spyro's head fell down " Too late…" he sighed resigned

Momentarily the reason behind all that commotion presented itself, hundreds of people purged into the Plaza. Shouting, screaming and talking, those were the sounds that followed in their wake as every inhabitant wanted to voice his or hers excitement one way or the other. Dragons began to descend from the sky, some decided to run in the company of the many moles and cheetahs. Young and old, everyone wanted to see up close what has their Savior brought at their doorstep.

The crowd ran until they could finally lay their eyes upon the strange burning creature standing next to the purple dragon. When the solid image of the fiery being formed itself before them, the mob gasped and came to an abrupt stop. The noise the people created vanished completely replaced by an awkward silence. The dust the mob created slowly roused behind them just like some kind of sand storm, the pole however weren't bothered by it, some unlucky ones who got stuck in the back tried to push forward towards the front rows to get a better view on the group that has just arrived.

Grinning widely Sparx moved ahead of the three dragons " Yes it's me, your hero!" he announced proudly " Now, now, I know that every one of you would want a moment with me but I just won't be able to handle all of you at the same time. I'm great but even I have my limits" he rubbed his hands together " So approach people! Come bathe in my glory! But please one at a time, heroes also need a bit of space"

None of the gathered people in the Plaza listened to him, their concentration focused on something else entirely. Some moles and cheetahs began to lean left and right to see past the hovering dragonfly who blocked their view.

One of the more impatient spectators let out an irritated snort and began waving his paw to a side " Move away Sparx, you are blocking the view!" one of the moles shouted

Sparx looked at the impudent rodent with furious eyes and folded his arms " What did you just say?!"

" Move away!" the mole repeated

The dragonflies' eyes flared up with pure hate " Oh you stinky rat, who do you think you are to order me around like that?!"

" Move!" some other people joined the mole in his protest

Sparx looked around, his confidence slowly ebbing away " But it's me! Your hero!" he exclaimed almost pleadingly

" MOVE!" even more people yelled

The dragonflies head fell down together with his arms " Always the same thing" he muttered defeated and flew to the side revealing the red dragon behind him

There were another gasps and another moment of awkward silence as the first rows of people slowly adjusted to the sight before them " What the hell is that thing Spyro?" a cheetah finally blurt out a plain question

" For starters, he is not an _it!_" Cynder scolded the cat

" Nobody asked you murderer!" a dragon growled

She took a deep breath " Nothing tastes better than an insult in the morning" she sighed " Home sweet home"

" So?" the crowd exclaimed impatiently

Spyro scratched the back of his head nervously " He…he…he is a dra…dragon" he muttered uneasily " We found him…in…in some ruins"

Unexpectedly the red dragon jumped forward " I'm Flare!" he exclaimed the moment he found himself close to a nearby dragon

The crowd jerked backwards with a gasp of surprise after the dragon's unexpected move.

Flare cocked his head and immediately jumped sideways " I'm Flare!" he introduced himself once again.

The crowd however reacted in the same way.

The red dragon took some steps backwards and scanned the mob carefully. He didn't really pay much attention before but now he did notice that these people here weren't dragons, well at least most of them weren't. There were some strange looking short creatures with long noses staring at him from behind their oddly looking glass covering their eyes, some others were bigger with pointy ears, sharp teeth and black dots all around their furry bodies. The dragons also weren't like the ones he used to see, they had colorful scales, red, green, yellow, blue were the majority, some were darker, sharper, however no matter how hard he looked he couldn't spot any other purple drake among the crowd.

" What the hell?" Flare muttered under his breath barely able to comprehend the sight before him

" He's a dragon?!" one of the ice drakes from the crowd snorted offended

Spyro swallowed hard, he wasn't really fond of giving speeches, not to mention that crowds intimidated him greatly " Ummm…yeah…"

" Have you seen his eyes!?" someone else exclaimed shocked

" I…I did, there's nothing to…to worry about…"

" You found him on that secret mission the Guardians sent you on, didn't you?" another question echoed throughout the Plaza

Spyro gulped, how did these people find about his assignment he wondered. However that was unimportant right now, he can't just tell them forthrightly that there are holes in the world " I assure you that…that we haven't been on…on any secret mission…"

" If the Guardians sent him away it has to be something important!" a cheetah exclaimed instigating the crowd despite Spyro's words

The increasing commotion made Spyro even more nervous " No…no it's nothing like that!" he shouted with a wavering voice

" What if he is dangerous?!" a terrified female shout resonated from the crowd

" That's not true!" the purple dragon yelled

The mob ignored him as it was slowly forging their own story " That's right!" someone yelled " The Guardians wouldn't send him away if it wouldn't be dangerous!"

" Please calm down, you are overacting!"

Spyro's pleading shout reached deaf ears, the sound of yelling increased as people started to outshout each other just to try and force their point across " What if the Dark Army managed to corrupt this dragon's egg too?!"

Fueled by terror, he crowd's cry only intensified after that suggestion

Cynder leaned over to Flare while observing the screaming mob " You know the meaning behind the reference _show someone a clean pair of heels_?"

The fiery dragon shook his head " No"

" You are about to find out" she whispered and withdrew her head while taking a cautious step backwards

" The Dark Army isn't involved!" Spyro yelled trying to calm the crowd

The people didn't listen " Yeah! What if it's about revenge? The Dark Army sends this creature to infiltrate us!"

Those words stirred the crowd even further, Spyro gulped the situation doesn't look good " guys please… nothing like this is happening" he fought valiantly but something told him that he already lost this battle

" I've always said that Malefor couldn't be so easily defeated!" another voice could be heard from the mob " He was a purple dragon, I'm sure he prepared a trap!"

" Why don't you listen?!"

" Is that TRUE Spyro?!" a large portion of the mob turned towards the purple dragon shouting accusingly, demanding an answer

" Of course not!" he snapped with a wavering voice

" Then tell us what's going on!" the demanding crowd pushed forward

Spyro swallowed and took a couple of steps back "I'm trying but you…don't-"

" We demand answers!" the mob moved forward once more cutting him off

He backed up even further" I know…you…do, I'm sure the Guardians-"

" Are we in danger?!" again the inhabitants interjected, and again they have advanced

" No…no… you are-" Spyro's voice vanished with a groan as he bumped into something, he looked behind his shoulder to see a lantern blocking his way, with a gulp he turned towards the people " …You are…safe" he muttered

" Then why all this secrecy?!" another push

" The…Guardians will explain everything…shortly. In fact…" he passed by the lantern " I'm going to ask them about this right now…" with that he directed himself towards the adorned door

" Where are you going?!"

Spyro threw the people a quick glance " I'll be back shortly"

The crowd's pace intensified " We have the right to know!"

He could feel their increased tempo but despite his nervousness the purple dragon tried to remain calm. Spyro looked behind his shoulder again " The Guardians will explain-"

" Is my family safe?!" the tempo of the mob's pursuit intensified

He could feel their pursuit, and perhaps despite his better judgment he sped up himself just to stay ahead " Nobody is going to get hurt"

" When will the Guardians come?!" the crowd didn't stop

" Soon…"

" We want to know the situation right now!" the mob sped up once more, one could say that they began to run after the purple dragon

The sound made Spyro extremely nervous, at this point he ceased walking and began to trot " The Guardian's will-"

"GIVE US THE ANSWERS! NOW!" the crowd roared angrily as they've kept chasing after the young drake

"RUN!" Spyro exclaimed horrified as he began to dash towards the City Hall's door. The crowd started their pursuit after the young dragon, shouting loudly behind him, he didn't care what they wanted anymore, his only concern was to get out of here, preferably as fast as possible.

He didn't have wait long for his group's reaction, in fact they were already way ahead of him just as if they expected something like this would happen. When Spyro reached the door surprisingly his companions didn't scold him for turning his tail, in fact they seemed to wait for him until he finally opens the door. He did that without hesitation, he pushed them forward creating a loud grinding sound that echoed throughout the whole City Hall and instantly jumped into the building with the two dragons following him.

Spyro looked around and noticed that there was only three of them inside the structure, he looked at the doors and noticed his brother hovering at the doorstep with his arms folded, just like some kind of knight ready to make the ultimate sacrifice to buy some more time for the people he swore to protect.

" Sparx!" Spyro shouted after his brother

The dragon remained adamant " You go, I will show them that this is no way to treat heroes" he replied determined

He sound of shouts intensified with ach second as the crowd kept advancing, Spyro looked ahead of his brother and gulped " I don't think it's going to work" he muttered with palpable fear in his voice

" Time of being ignored is going to end here" he replied confidently and raised his hand with his palm opened " You shall not pass!" he shouted with the best commanding tone he could muster while closing his eyes

The sound of footsteps never stopped increasing " You shall not pass!" he yelled once more, while opening his eyes and pushing his arm forward once again just to try and force his point across

The mob continued its demanding advance, Sparx eyes went wide in fear and his confidence was drained instantly " You shall not pass!" he mumbled

The crowd kept coming

" You shall- Uh-oh" he muttered the obvious, the crowd wasn't listening and was just about to reach him. It was then when suddenly a paw grabbed him and pulled him inside, slamming the door behind him

Sparx trashed inside the paw to break free, the door effectively muffled the shouts the crowd was creating, as demanding as the people were they know that barging inside the City Hall would be too much. After a moment of struggle the paw finally opened and the dragonfly darted into the air turning towards his brother that held him " What did you do?" he exclaimed indignantly " I've almost had them!"

" Of course you did" Cynder replied ironically

Sparx turned towards the black dragoness with an angry frown " They were about to stop!"

She slapped her forehead " You are right!" she shook her head pretending to be sad " How could I not see it? You wetting yourself was just a trick!"

The dragonfly folded his arms and snorted " If you were clever you would know that the thing I did never fails"

Cynder sighed " Seriously Sparx stop reading those fairy tales"

" I'm not reading any fairy tales!"

" Big talking dragons, moles in googles that build wonders, cats walking on two legs- this is real, the rest is fiction" she corrected the dragonfly

" What was that all about?" Flare mumbled shocked

Cynder grinned " Welcome to Warfang where superstitions are of no concern!" she snorted

Sparx patted the red dragon's shoulder " Now you probably wished that you had taken the chance to jump back through the portal"

" What were those short things? Overgrown rats?" the red dragon asked again

" Those creatures are called Moles, they've built this city. Basically they are the geeks who make all of this work"

" What are those tall furry creatures?" Flare blurt out another question, having a hard time absorbing the new information, his hectic voice a proof of that

" Cheetahs, the muscle of our little crazy town"

Flare started to pace around the room uneasily " Who is Malefor?"

" The bad guy" Sparx waved his hand " We already kicked his ass so no worries"

" Why did they think that I have anything to do with him?"

" Because the last dragon that looked different than the others turned out to be not exactly right in the head" the dragonfly leaned towards Cynder " No offense"

She shrugged " Whatever"

" And why did we run? Why didn't you stop them? You are the leader here" Flare bombarded the dragonfly with questions as confusion roused within him

Sparx grabbed one of the fiery dragon's horns and turned his head while pointing ahead " That's why"

The dragon looked in the way the dragonfly was pointing at and noticed three big old dragons. One was strangely green, one had amber scales while the last one looked just like he was made of ice. The three dragons were staring at him while piles of papers were falling down from the table they were currently occupying

Flare gulped " Who are they?" he whispered

" Gods" the dragonfly stated with palpable awe

" What?!" all three young dragons exclaimed in shock

Sparx looked at each confused drake, the moment he comprehended their reaction he shrugged " Gigantic Old Dudes"

Spyro and Cynder commented his announcement with a shake of their heads and cheerful smiles, Flare however looked sincerely scared and startled

" Are those Dudes dangerous?" he muttered

" Not if you know the secret greeting phrase, only then they will know that you come in peace" the dragonfly answered

" Geez Sparx, where do you get your ideas?" Cynder giggled

Flare ignored the dragoness' reaction, he was entirely focused on acquiring the supposedly crucial phrase " What is the greeting?" he asked impatiently

" Sup' dudes, how's it hangin'?"

The drake lowered his head and closed his eyes, absorbing the words, making sure he wouldn't forget them " Sup' dudes, how's it hangin?', Sup' dudes, how's it hangin'…?"

" Not like that!" Sparx admonished the dragon gaining his attention " You have to say it free and easy. Watch" he cleared his throat "Sup' dudes, how's it hangin'?" as he spoke the words Sparx delicately moved his body while also gesticulated with his hands just like a true rapper would do

" Sup' dudes, how's it hangin'?" Flare repeated after the dragonfly, imitating his relaxed style

Sparx nodded " Close but not there yet. When you are speaking make your body bounce a little. Sup' dudes, how's it hangin'?" he followed his own advice " See?"

"Sup' dudes, how's it hangin'?" Flare repeated after the dragonfly with moderate success, his clumsy moves were getting somewhat in the way

" Great! Now add the paw. Sup' dudes, how's it hangin'?" he bounced and waved his hand

"Sup' dudes, how's it hangin'?" the dragon did what he was told

Sparx nodded "Sup' dudes, how's it hangin'?"

" Sup' dudes, how's it hangin'?" Flare repeated

"Sup' dudes, how's it hangin'?"

"Sup' dudes, how's it hangin'?"

" Great!" Sparx exclaimed in triumph " You are ready, go get em' tiger!" and with that they've proceeded towards the Guardians

Spyro shook his head " Dear Ancestors…" he chuckled and followed the group

All three big dragons were sitting quietly as they've approached, with their eyes set on the fiery dragon that was now within their halls. As Flare moved towards them he felt more and more intimidated, they looked big when he looked at them from the entrance but now they seemed just huge, size wouldn't really made a difference for him if not for those six eyes that were sizing him up.

When the dragonfly stopped he stopped too, his head hanged low, Flare didn't have the courage to look them in the eyes from up close. Surprisingly the dragons didn't react to his approach, he kept staring at the floor and they've kept staring at him in complete awkward silence. The moment felt like it lasted forever, he was beginning to feel nervous but then he felt a shoulder poking him, he looked to the side too see and hear the dragonfly clearing his throat and motioning with his head.

Flare understood the sign, Sparx was encouraging him, telling him that it was now the proper time for a greeting. With a deep breath he raised his gaze and swallowed when the dragons jerked back with a faint gasp the moment he set his eyes upon them. It was time

He cleared his throat " Sup' dudes, how's it hangin'?" Flare said the phrase as much relaxed as he forced himself to be without forgetting of course about the odd moves

Instead of receiving a greeting from the big dragons something unexpected happened, the moment he finished his phrase his three companions burst out laughing. " What's going on?!" Flare asked in panic

He didn't receive however any answer as his three companions had a hard time catching breath, whatever he did wrong seemed to work, the cheerful cry forced the Gods to snap out from their trance.

Terrador shook his head and leaned closer towards the odd looking dragon making the fiery drake swallow and bend on his paws " And what do we have here…" his deep baritone voice echoed throughout the halls

" This is Flare" Spyro introduced his new companion

" Before we begin a piece of advice child " Cyril said annoyed while scolding the dragonfly with a cold gaze " Do not listen to those who have no idea about respect"

The Earth Guardian rolled his eyes " Cyril this is hardly the time for lecturing, as you can see-"

" This is plainly preeminent!" Volteer's excited cry cut him off while startling the young red dragon in front of him " My thesis was absolutely equitable! Through incomplex deduction we come to a conclusion that the cracks are some sort of a transparent, distinguished tears that grant means to commit a discreet excursion between one latent realm to the other. A conduit if you will, that merges two or more coexisting dimensions into one single composition-"

Sparx scratched the back of his head " What is he ranting about now?"

" Portals" Spyro replied

Flare leaned closer towards the two brothers " Is he talking to me?" he whispered " I don't understand a word"

The purple dragon let out a stifled chuckle " Not yet"

"… Let your mind envisage, reflect on the possibilities such outcome presents. This is what we all were so desperately waiting for! This is our opening to comprehend our world, to perhaps learn of its immense riches which are capable of mollifying the most exacting and unbridled craving. We would uncover what incidents, idiosyncrasies or components caused the creation of the present time we so much seep from! Who wouldn't be mesmerized by this!" Volteer's electric tongue kept waggling

" We cannot also neglect the opportunity to grasp the riches that can unveil the conundrum of our history. This glamorous excursion we just share insures a prospect to assemble priceless insight into our heritage! All the questions the brains of this world struggled to answer regarding our creation could finally be revealed, this constant indulgence may never again cause inconvenience for us! We could be finally free of that strain! I'm so inflamed! Imagine what-"

" I understand that this is very fascinating Volteer" Terrador interjected with his firm militant tone while rubbing his forehead " but don't forget that we have a guest who demands our immediate attention"

The Electric Guardian nodded " Of course, please forgive my short digression"

" Short?" Flare scoffed quietly making Spyro chuckle

Volteer leaned towards the odd looking dragon, fascination rekindled anew within his amethyst eyes " This is most peculiar, you friend seem to have an extraneous ancestry or perhaps you are a model of no impudent aptitude but an effigy of simple equivalence? Peculiar! Most peculiar!" he began to examine the young dragon from claw to horn " I've perused through every repository that challenged my mind and always such struggle concluded with me being triumphant and yet I've never witnessed a creature like you, and I have to gasconade- I've scrutinized every lore in- depth"

" Eyes in the color of the shining life giving sculptor of our Realm, pupils that aren't a factor of a draconic heritage. Avian ancestry perhaps? Unlikely, no member of a specie present in our realm proficient to hybridize with reptilian origins. Mayhap you are a model of a future evolution process, nature and magic are concatenated, both shaping elements follow one pattern- enhancing their creations. Stringent circumstances forced the adaptive transformation, hence the pupils- cat's eyes. Are you a nocturnal?"

Before even Flare had the chance to utter a sound the Electric Guardian continued " But what of this flaming characteristics? Modesty aside I would like to devise an answer, feline heritage is doubtful, no cheetah burns and lives. Why the symbol of purity? I must affirm, never have I perceived such abberence. I'm not contrite to ascertain my indisposition, I'm not able to comprehend this phenomenon, we depend on your interpretation friend."

" Does your heritage stem from an unprecedented as to this day affiliation? Are does bright components which are the key composition of your creation a means of the vigorous forces of life to formulate your resilience against the pestiferous forces that overshadow your realm? Or my assumptions are wholeheartedly erroneous, not having anything commutual with truth. Perhaps the gist behind this anomalous phenomenon is somewhere else?"

Silence has filled the room, Flare observed the amber dragon with his mouth agape. The words were coming from the drake's mouth in such a fast pace that he couldn't keep up with them. When he tried to make a sense from an earlier sentence, he was instantly bombarded with a one or many new ones leaving the fiery dragon confused.

After a while Flare noticed that something has changed, the old dragon's mouth stopped moving, he looked at each and every member of this meeting and every single one of them was watching him as if expecting an answer. Flare couldn't give one, he didn't understood the question

" Come again?" he muttered bashfully, hoping most likely in vain to make sense of the words this time

" Does your heritage stem from an unprecedented as to this day affiliation? Are does bright components-"

" Enough Volteer! My head hurts already!" Cyril growled " Spare us your ranting, whatever sound sensors were left sizzled the moment you started babbling, there is nothing left to protect our brains"

The Electric Guardian didn't seem at least a bit offended when he turned towards the ice dragon " Don't fret Cyril, if the illusion of your royal legacy that you try to retain would indeed existed you would have the wit to comprehend every detail."

The Ice Guardian snorted, puffing an icy mist through his nostrils as a result " The more time I spend with you the better I start to understand that I'm the best of my royal lineage, I doubt there would be anyone strong enough to deal with you every day!"

" That's enough!" Terrador growled irritated " Do we really have to go through this every time?" he sighed " How Ignitus could stand the two of you I have no idea"

Flare leaned towards the black dragoness " What's going on?' he whispered

Cynder giggled " Nothing"

He frowned " Nothing? If you haven't noticed they are arguing"

" That's a shocker" she faked a surprise

Terrador shook his head " What our friend wanted to ask…" the baritone voice drew the red dragon's attention " … is if your parents are dragons"

Flare shrugged " I don't know"

The Earth Guardian jerked back " You don't?"

" Nope, I've never met them"

" Child you have never know your parents and you say it so casually?" Cyril frowned

The dragon shrugged once more " I never thought about it, I had other…duties"

Terrador narrowed his eyes on the young dragon " And who are you exactly to completely dismiss the idea of finding your own family?"

" I was a prisoner"

" A prisoner? In a such young age? What have you done?"

Flare lowered his head and concentrated, just like Spyro has told him, he has to avoid mentioning anything about killings and the like. With his mind set he rose his head after a while " Nothing, I was born into a prison, I knew about the existence of only two rooms, one where I've been constantly put to different tests, and second, where they disposed of the ones who caused the most trouble"

" Wait, then the room we found you in… it had _DISPOSAL_ written above its entrance" Spyro mused loudly " The Keeper was about to kill you"

" Keeper?" Terrador asked

" I'll explain later"

Flare nodded " Yep, I was about to take my final bath in a pool of magma. Disobedience is a death sentence"

" You want to tell us that you've spent your whole young life in a cage?" Cyril interjected somewhat shocked

The fiery dragon shook his head " No, not in a cage. I was being kept in a very big room"

The Ice Guardian looked around at all of the other dragons in confusion " And what did I just say?"

Cynder leaned closer towards the old dragons " He's not really good when it comes to metaphors" she whispered while throwing the red dragon a kind smile

" Who are _they_?" The Earth Guardian's militant tone echoed throughout the room

Flare took a breath, and threw Spyro an angry glance, a slight flicker of hate could be seen within his yellow eyes " Purple Dragons"

A slight commotion has arisen within the City Hall as every Guardian was shocked to hear the revelation, they all were speaking at the same time, creating a one incomprehensible chaos. Only his three companions were watching him in complete silence, they were surprised but not shocked, his behavior towards the young purple dragon had to give them a clue.

" This is an absurd!" Cyril snapped

Terrador narrowed his maroon eyes on the red dragon " Young one, are you certain they were purple dragons?"

Flare swallowed, the way how the green dragon asked that question intimidated him " Y…yes"

The Earth Guardian straightened up and exchanged meaningful looks with the other two Guardians which only they could understand. A moment later he turned to the fiery drake again " You have to understand our surprise, here purple dragons are born every ten generations" he motioned with his head towards Ignitus' former pupil " Spyro here is the only purple dragon alive"

The red dragon frowned " Only one?"

" Only one. How many purple dragons were present back where you lived?"

Flare shrugged " I don't know" he began to think " But I guess as just as many as there are dragons here in this city, maybe even more"

" These is an inconceivable disclosure!" Volteer blurt out excited " A metropolis upcasted by many purple paws working in unison. A city filled with entities appraised as saviors and heroes. Once more let your mind envisage, and ponder at the thought of a whole population consisted of beings proficient enough to challenge foreordination itself! Just conceive what our minds could feast upon. Who knows, perhaps the purple dragons of previous era were the ones accountable for transcribing the Prophecy as we perceive it at present. So much knowledge remains unseen behind these veils of time!"

" How much I hate to admit it, I have to say that Volteer is right" Cyril stated with his typical cold tone before he craned his neck towards the fiery dragon " Were those purple dragons speaking about some prophecy? Or perhaps they were transcribing it already?"

Flare shrugged " I dunno"

The Ice Guardian snorted irritated " So were they maybe harnessing the powers of some crystals, that allowed them to wield four elements at once?"

" I dunno"

" Child" Terrador interjected " You've spent your whole life with them, you have to know something. Give us more than just _I dunno_"

The red dragon scratched the back of his head thinking " Well…they were talking that the most talented prisoners were the key of some sorts"

" A key?" Cyril blurt out interested " A key for what? Power? Knowledge? What?"

Flare shrugged " I dunno"

The two Guardians sighed and shook their heads in resignation, only Volteer remained focused

" Don't let your spirits be daunted, the lack of any beneficial insight from our friend here sanguinely thinking didn't condemned us for obtuseness. The tremendous quantity of lore in our vault that are yet vague may be elucidated by our youthful friend here"

The red dragon leaned towards Spyro " What he wants from me? I've only understood _friend" _he whispered

The purple dragon smiled " Relax, nothing drastic. Volteer just wants you to read and translate some dusty texts for him"

Flare's eyes shot wide open, he instantly looked horrified " R-r-r-r-read and w-w-w-w-write?" he stammered

Terrador nodded, agreeing with the idea of his amber partner " Young one, we would greatly appreciate if you would help us to solve some mysteries that linger on Volteer's mind for a while. Your reading and writing abilities might prove to be invaluable here"

The red dragon looked at the ground " I d-d-d-d-don't think t-t-t-t-that I w-w-w-w-will be-"

Sparx clapped his hands cutting off the young drake " It's starting!" he exclaimed and hovered next to the fiery drake "I'll translate it will be quicker that way, don't worry I'm an expert" he motioned for the red dragon to continue " Go on"

Flare looked even more nervous than before " b-b-b-be h-h-h-h-helpful, I d-d-d-don't k-k-k-know what t-t-t-they w-w-w-w-were doing. I w-w-w-will c-c-c-"

" Clear up" Sparx finished the sentence

The fiery dragon threw him a nervous glance before he began to stare at the ground again " c-confuse y-y-y-you"

The three Guardians exchanged puzzled looks between each other before Cyril turned towards the fiery dragon " Why did you began to stammer? Are you nervous about something?"

Flare shuffled uneasily " N-n-n-no of c-c-c-c-course not. I'm j-j-j-just i-i-i-"

" Impolite" the dragonfly finished the sentence once more

The red dragon threw him another nervous glance " I-i-i-ill"

The ice Guardian scolded the dragonfly with his cold gaze before concentrating on the young dragon " Do you know the basic way to tell if someone is lying?" there was a moment of silence " They can't look you in the eyes"

" S-s-s-sorry, I'm r-r-r-really u-u-u-"

" Unafraid"

Another look that made the red dragon even more fearful " u-u-uneasy"

Terrador snorted irritated " That's enough Sparx!" he snapped " Thank you for your help"

Cyril narrowed his cold eyes on the fiery drake " Why are you so nervous? What are you trying to hide? Why don't you want to help us understand some old books? Speak!" he growled

Flare flushed with his nose almost touching the ground " I c-c-c-can't-" he stammered, his voice wavered even more than before

" Whoever you are trying to protect or you are afraid of is not here. Speak!" the ice dragon growled again, this time however his tone of voice sounded more commanding than ever before

The blush on the red dragon's snout only intensified " I c-c-c-can't w-w-w-write and r-r-r-read" his stammer could be barely heard through his whispering

Cyril was taken aback by the news " What?" he blurt out ashamed " You are illiterate? I…I… I thought that…"

Terrador scolded the Ice Guardian with an angry look " Next time Cyril let the person you are questioning explain himself before you jump to conclusions"

The dragon only nodded shamefully

Volteer looked slightly discouraged by the news but he didn't drop his cheerful attitude anyway " Poignant news indeed, however everything can be rectified" he smiled while turning towards the young dragon " If your desire is great I could help you amend the depravity so unjustly inflicted upon you"

Flare didn't have the courage to raise his head, the amber dragon was clearly offering something but he just didn't understand what

Cynder leaned closer " If you want Volteer can teach you how to write and read" she said with kindness and pity ringing in her voice

The red dragon's eyes shot wide open as his head instantly found itself on the correct height " Really?" he blurt out, the nervousness that haunted him began to subside

The Electric Guardian nodded

Flare winced " But…we'll start with some simple words right?"

A chuckle from every creature gathered in the City Hall echoed throughout the room

" One day friend, you will perhaps write about that crystal in your chest" Volteer stated

The red dragon stared at the amber dragon, shocked when he realized that he understood every word, shocked to see the old dragon using simple words just as if show him that there is nothing to be afraid of. Then he focused on the meaning of those words, and that shocked him even more " Crystal? What crystal?"

The Electric Guardian pointed at his chest

Flare followed his direction, the moment he noticed the red gem embed into his orange scales his eyes widened " Whoa, that's new"

Terrador frowned " You weren't aware you had that?"

He shook his head " Nope"

" Engrossing disclosure!" Volteer exclaimed excited in his now typical manner " The tears unveil yet another undermining challenge for our minds to oppose! If I was granted more moons in the gracious unrelenting passing I would experiment-"

The red dragons eyes flared up as he took a defensive stance " NO!" he roared

Everyone gathered in the room gasped after the unexpected roar. Terrador was the first to shake off the feeling of surprise " Young one, nothing is going to-"

" NO!" Flare roared again, flames bursting forth from his nose " I'll rather die!"

" Flare no one is forcing you to do anything. Calm yourself"

" But he said-"

" Volteer only said that he would like to check your gem" Terrador cut off the young dragon " If you don't agree it's fine, nothing is going to happen without your consent"

Flare shuffled, his outburst was unnecessary, he felt stupid, he jumped in time after all " Sorry, I didn't mean to-" his voice trailed off when an sweet aroma caressed his nostrils. He took a deep sniff and the moment he did that a delicious scent invaded his nostrils that made his mouth water and forced his tongue out

The Earth Guardian smiled " It seems that something else is more important right now. Spyro if you may, take your friends, we need to talk"

The purple dragon nodded and made his way towards the corridor that led to the Mess Hall with his friends following him. To the Guardians' surprise one dragon kept watching them

Flare's eyes jumped from one dragon to the other " So what are we going to talk about?"

The Guardians looked at each other and shook their heads

" Flare come on!" a familiar giggling female shout reached him. He blushed when he realized that the talk didn't include him. With burning cheeks he darted after the dragoness.


	26. Chapter 8 Book II

Chapter 8

As the group slowly made their way through the illuminated by the many torches corridor the sound of commotion was intensifying. People were gathered in the Mess Hall, spending their time as they usually do. Some were here because they had a break from their strenuous work, some came here to meet with their friends and family members, some came here only because they were hungry.

Whatever the reason they had to be in this place, all of this people had one thing in common- all of them were enjoying their free time. Cheerful laughs and shouts echoed throughout the Mess Hall as people told jokes, talked with each other or simply picked at one and another just for fun's sake. It was their free time, whatever problems they had were pushed down the second plan, it was their moment of happiness and it seemed like nothing in the whole world existed that could hinder it.

The three friends were already smiling and talking with each other, just as if the ambience governing in that room was slowly but steadily taking control over them, only one member of the group stood out. Flare was currently leading his companions through the corridor, since he joined the group as the last one there was a time when he remained in the back, following them as he usually did. However as seconds passed he was pushing his way forward until he took the lead, it was not the atmosphere or simple curiosity that drove him but the delicious scent of food, the fiery drake was walking with his neck craned as far as he could manage and his nose ceaselessly sniffing.

The hallway eventually stretched and the light from the windows started to beam into the slightly illuminated corridor, just as they would be leaving a dim tunnel into the bright outdoors. It seemed like they did just that, but instead finding their way into a vivacious scenery they've landed in some sort of a barren and dead land.

The moment they've entered the Mess Hall all the cheerful sound immediately died down, not even a shallow breath could be heard, all of the people just froze in place, staring in their direction. Flare balked, as strange as it looked he still thought that this was just another one of those odd excesses the people in this city had, something that they shared with the agitated crowd that chased them earlier the moment their claws barely touched the ground.

His three other companions knew exactly what was going on, it might be even the first time that their female companion didn't draw to herself all those confused and somewhat angry looks, now the people's attention was entirely focused on the red young dragon in front of them. The three of them took the time to look around, the people here were like statues, if not for their moving chests in the rhythm of their working lungs one could take them exactly for that.

The shocked people of Warfang as strange as they looked weren't exactly the reason why they came here. The group scanned for a free table, spotting one wasn't that difficult with all these inhabitants frozen in place, it didn't take them long to notice a free spot amongst the hungry crowd, it was the exactly same table they occupied before, just like people here got accustomed with the idea that this table belongs to Spyro and his friends.

The purple dragon poked his red companion gaining his attention, he then took the lead and made his way towards the table with all of the members of his little group following behind his tail. As they walked, the people also seemed to come to life, some were still standing still, only their eyes moved following them, just as if eyes of some painting in one of those horror movies. Some people were already walking, yet their eyes never left the fiery dragon.

While they continued towards the table they've noticed an earth dragon in their age walking towards them with a platter held in his mouth, his eyes never leaving the red dragon. As they've passed by him Flare took a look behind his shoulder, the green dragon was walking in a straight line constantly staring at him. The dragon's eyes focused solely on one point made him oblivious to his surroundings, he never saw a mole standing in front of him, the dragon bumped into the creature letting out a faint gasp while the food jumped and fell from the platter. That wasn't the end however, the moment the dragon bounced off the mole he hit an empty chair toppling it over, as the chair fell on the ground the dragon tripled over its wooden legs and landed on the ground, the plate he held clattered on the floor throwing all the food across the room.

Flare winced, and quickly started to walk right next to the black dragoness while constantly looking around " Is it just me or are they all staring at me?" he whispered

Cynder smiled

Before she could utter a word she was cut off by the sound of Sparx' clapping hands " A point for your sharp perception man!"

He wasn't moved by that sarcasm, the confusion that filled him currently was the most palpable emotion right now " But why?"

" Flare take a look around and tell me what you see" Cynder encouraged the red dragon

He did what he was told " Tables, windows, some doors, people, mostly people. Dragons of different colors, those short moles, and furry cheetahs"

She nodded " Ok, concentrate on the dragons. What do you see?"

" Well…as I said they have different colors, just like you which is quite cool, I've never thought that dragons had different scales. Umm…they also have strange tail tips, they differ from one another greatly. What else? Hmm…"

" That's enough. Now look at yourself"

" Ok…." he replied sheepishly and began examining himself " I'm a fire dragon, I have red and orange scales with a delicate hint of yellow. My wings look like a flame…" his voice trailed off as realization struck him " Oh"

Cynder commented this with a smile

" Whoa dude, you are getting better " Sparx sarcastically praised the drake " You actually managed to figure something out almost on your own"

Flare just grinned proudly

As they sat at the table Spyro watched the fiery dragon with a thoughtful grimace on his snout " You said that you didn't think that dragons with differently colored scales existed?"

He wanted to reply immediately but the moment he laid his eyes on the purple dragon a thought crossed his mind " I don't get one thing" he looked at the dragonfly " If you are his boss why don't you have any authority over him?"

" Because he is no boss" Cynder answered bluntly

" Nobody asked you!" Sparx snapped before he looked at the red dragon and sighed " But yeah, I'm not his boss"

Flare absorbed the information, yet he didn't look shocked, just as if he was expecting it " You are the leader?" he asked Spyro " Then why didn't you stop the crowd?"

" I-"

" He is no boss either" Sparx interjected

Flare smiled happily " That's great! So it means that the Dudes rule right?"

Cynder scolded the dragonfly with a quick glance " First and the most important rule when you know that nobody here is the true ruler- don't listen to Sparx. Secondly the three dragons you talked with are not _Dudes _but Guardians, each of them represents a different element, they rule this city so respect demands that you remember that."

Sparx waved his hand " Don't listen to her, we are going to have so much fun together" he grinned evilly and snickered

" When it comes to showing you around…well just don't trust him"

The dragonfly frowned, a corner of his mouth turned into a smirk " Now that's just not fair. I cannot be trusted? Ok then, come on and let's ask somebody here who would they trust more, me or you. You game?"

Cynder snorted

Sparx grinned " See man? There is nothing to worry about"

" With that out of the way, could you please answer my question now?" Spyro asked

Flare sneered " I don't have to do anything"

The purple dragon balked " Huh?"

" You are not leading here, so as far as I'm concerned your word means nothing"

" Flare!" Cynder admonished the fiery dragon " What did I tell you about-"

Spyro raised his paw, giving a clear signal to his friend that it's about time he handled this himself " Listen Flare I don't know, hell I don't even understand how you could be held in a prison built by purple dragons in the first place, but that doesn't mean that everyone is like that"

" You can't even imagine what your kind did to me!" Flare growled

" Ok perhaps I don't, but even that doesn't change things, you can't judge people by past actions which they couldn't affect in any way. People might talk behind someone's back but when you actually get to know that person they so happily insult you might find that whatever you heard before is a lie and the person you've met becomes actually your best friend"

Spyro looked at Cynder and smiled. The dragoness thanked him with a shy smile and a blush while she averted her gaze the moment their eyes met.

" Everyone is different" he finished with a soft tone and turned to the fiery dragon

" Everyone maybe, but not you!" Flare replied unconvinced " I've been around you my whole life, you are all the same. There is nothing that will make me trust you, nothing"

" Ok I understand, I just hope that I will change your mind one day. Whatever reasons you have for hating me doesn't prevent you for showing a bit of tolerance, especially when someone saved your life." His voice becoming more stern with every second " I don't expect and don't want any gratitude or to be in your debt but honor demands that you will at least be willing to talk to me, especially when we are going to bump into each other for quite some time I think"

Silence has befallen at the table, everyone was staring at the purple dragon in awe

" Wow" Cynder let out an surprised and somewhat intimidated breath

Spyro frowned confused " What?"

Flare leaned towards the dragonfly " Are you sure he is not a leader?"

Sparx snorted " Hell no, he is too cowardly to be a boss"

" Hey!" his brother protested " I'm not a coward"

" Oh really?"

" Really"

Sparx raised in the air and cleared his throat " Excuse me kind people, my brother wants to-"

" Ok you win!" Spyro let out a stifled and terrified shout " Now get back here!"

The dragonfly descended and grinned " See?"

Flare remained silent, a thoughtful frown on his snout clearly showing that he was battling with his thoughts. Moments later he sighed, even if unwillingly honor demands that he acts

" To answer your question…" Flare gained the attention of everyone currently at the table " No, I thought that red dragons like me and purple ones were the only ones that existed"

" You weren't surprised to see me though" Cynder said " and I'm far from normality so to speak"

The red dragon eyed her carefully, she stood out from the rest and obviously didn't belong to the any earlier mentioned groups, yet it didn't trigger in him any sign of shock. " I don't know…maybe I've heard someone talking about you…or maybe that…" he shook his head, nothing coming to his mind " I don't know, but that's good right? If I'm not shocked to see you that means you are normal"

" Don't hold your breath" Sparx commented

Flare shrugged " Ok I won't"

The dragonfly slapped his forehead " Right, I've forgot about that"

She giggled " it was a correct response, no worries"

Spyro all this time was scratching the edge of the table with his claw thoughtfully " The Keepers…cages…disobedience…" he looked at Flare " Was it some kind of a rigoristic training facility for fire dragons?"

The fiery dragon shrugged " I don't know, maybe"

" What were they doing to you?" he asked and winced soon after " I mean…if it's not too much to ask" Spyro mumbled

Flare took a breath and began to stare at the top of the table just like it was some kind of mirror in the past " Fights…punishments…experiments, every day and all day long"

Cynder observed the fiery drake sadly

" Then it was a training facility!" Spyro exclaimed happily knowing that his deduction was right " I wonder what- Ow!" he blurt out when something cold slapped him in the back. He turned to see a black tail retreating, looking up he saw Cynder's angry frown, her expression scolding him for the lack of tact. He scratched the back of his head nervously " I mean…I'm sorry to hear that, but do you know what they did this to you?" he asked softly, managing to quell the excitement of his natural curiosity

Flare shrugged once more " I didn't really had the time to think about it"

Spyro huffed, it was so strange, purple dragons, prison, everything else related with it…it was mind-boggling but there is nothing he can do about it now, perhaps the confusion will be lifted in time.

He pulled himself up " I'm going to grab something to eat. Cynder you want something?"

She shook her head " No thanks, I will have to deal with those hags sooner or later anyway"

" I'm coming too!" Flare exclaimed and got up"

" Flare stop" Cynder halted him " Can't you see the line? Sit and wait for a while"

He looked hurt " But I'm hungry…"

" You are going to leave me here alone?"

Flare sighed defeated, he didn't want to offend her " Ok…I'll wait"

The brothers exchanged confused looks between each other before they made their way towards the counter. Cynder watched them go, as soon as they were a safe distance away she turned to the fiery dragon

" Listen to me very carefully, if you ever again talk to Spyro like that I swear I'm going to punch you" she stated firmly " Did I make myself clear?"

Flare gulped " But-"

" There is no buts about it. Spyro did things for these people nobody else could, he doesn't deserve this"

" Whatever he did doesn't matter, he is a purple dragon, it al-"

" He is my lo…" she interjected and bit her tongue soon after "…I mean friend and I won't allow my best friend to be insulted. Do you understand this?"

He sighed " Honor demands that I respect your wishes right? Ok I will restrain myself but I'm trying to protect you here, you will one day end up regretting this friendship"

" You don't have to protect me, I can take care of myself"

Flare shook his head " Don't say I didn't warn you"

Cynder sighed and raised her gaze just to see a cheetah passing behind her fiery companion, the cat was holding a plate and staring at the red dragon. The feline walked slowly ahead, just like some kind of construct, some part of his mind subconsciously pushing him forward as if trying to fulfill an order that was given to it by the feline some time ago, while the rest was occupied with the image of the fiery drake.

Cynder grinned " Come on I've got an idea" she got up and moved towards the counter with Flare following her

The two of them balanced through the tables and mostly still confused people and arrived at the end of the queue of people waiting for their turn to receive food. For a while they stood patiently behind a green dragon who seemed to not pay any attention to them, the same thing couldn't be said about the people in front of the drake. Even from here Cynder could see their quick glances threw towards the two of them, not to mention that she also noticed fingers pointing at them and heard silent whispers.

The green dragon in front of them remained unmoved for a while but moments later he shifted as he could no longer stand the commotion in front of him and had to finally check what is so shocking. The moment he turned his head his eyes widened as he spotted the odd fiery dragon, the green drake seemed to be paralyzed by the sight.

Cynder grinned and pushed forward with her companion following him " Hello" she greeted the drake as she passed by him yet she never received a response.

The same thing happened with every other hungry inhabitant that was in the queue blocking their advance. The two of them were just passing by them and the people in their shock didn't even seem to care that somebody is taking their place to the counter. After some time they reached their destination.

The moment a black snout emerged from behind the corner the female moles serving the food were just about to start throwing insults, however when a strange dragon with even more strange eyes emerged right after the black dragoness the moles gasped simultaneously in shock.

Cynder smiled " Hi, I'd like my food"

" Me too!" Flare exclaimed right after her

The moles reacted just as the cheetah she saw earlier. The part of their minds that directed the movements of their limbs ordered the moles to serve food just like they would be serving it to any other dragon, while the bigger part was dizzied by shock. It wasn't long before the plates with food landed on the counter and were ready to be collected.

" Thanks" Cynder picked up the plate and headed towards the table grinning and with her tail wagging in a triumphant manner, Flare closely following her.

Spyro observed her with a broad smile on his snout as she sat at the table and placed the plate on its top. Feeling his gaze on her she turned around and winked

" Nice" he congratulated her

" What did you expect bro?" Sparx took a bite of his meal " Malefor wouldn't choose a complete idiot to be his sidekick, there has to be something under that skull"

" Why thank you" Cynder replied surprised " Who would have thought you are such a flatterer?"

" Before you start imagining things Cyn know that you have no chance, I'm way outta your league"

" No!" she exclaimed with the most hurt and desperate voice she could muster " What I will now do with my life now, Ancestors, what?!"

Sparx casually took another bite " Look carefully and you might find someone crazy enough who might actually like you"

" I like you!" Flare interjected

Cynder smiled kindly at the response, Sparx however threw the dragon only a quick glance " You don't count"

" Hey! Why not?"

" Don't get me started, let's just say that you are not fit for that"

Flare narrowed his eyes on the dragonfly " Yeah? Just like you aren't fit for leading!" he snarled

Spyro winced " Oh hoho, right in the spot!"

Sparx raised his finger threateningly " Dude watch it"

" I don't know how could I believe that you actually ruled-" Flare continued to taunt the dragonfly

The dragonflies' chest swollen with pride " I'm a material for a leader, without my advices we wouldn't be here where we are now"

" Nu-uh, you are way too small, nobody would listen to you"

Sparx frowned and pointed an angry finger at the red dragon " Size doesn't matter!"

Flare nodded casually " Yeah, yeah, keep telling yourself that"

" You can't judge a book by its cover"

The red dragon frowned confused, he didn't know what have books to do with it

Sparx faked a surprise " Oh I'm sorry you didn't understand that, right?" he scoffed and returned to his meal " Too bad for you"

" Now that's just mean!"

After some time their bickering ended and they could continue to eat in silence. At least the three of them could, Flare wolfed down his portion the moment there was a slight break in the conversation and now was staring hungrily at the plates of his draconic companions. The two of them knew what their new companion didn't do- enjoy the meal and not devour it since no more was coming.

As they ate Flare looked down at his empty plate sadly " I'm still hungry"

" You can always get more" Sparx announced, an evil smile formed itself in the corner of his mouth

Both young dragons looked from their plates at the dragonfly, they both knew what he was up to

" I can?" the fiery dragon asked hopefully

The dragonfly pointed at the door leading to the kitchen " See those? There is one of the nicest and lovely cheetahs in there. She will get you anything you want"

Without any word Flare darted into the kitchen

Sparx snorted " I'll give you leader…"

The whole Mess Hall felt silent as everyone was expecting to hear a commotion and terrified screams of the unfortunate one who fell for that trap again. The silence only was broken by some stifled giggles when some of the people couldn't hold back their excitement. Minutes have passed and the silence still lingered there, confusion roused within the ranks of the eating inhabitants, it never took so long for the cook to kick someone out.

The same confusion has befallen on the table which the three friends occupied, even if something told them that they knew what was happening it still managed to surprise them. Soon the door of the kitchen flung open, everyone gasped in anticipation, waiting for that moment when the screaming starts, nothing like that happened.

Instead of the burly cheetah throwing the dragon on his butt a fiery tail emerged which pushed the door open, then the rump and finally the whole body of the young dragon. There was even something more shocking than his unscarred hide, as Flare turned around people noticed that he held a plate, and not the plate they were used to see, this one was filled with plenty of food.

As Flare walked back to his table every eye was on him, following his every move. He didn't mind, his own eyes were pretty preoccupied at the moment as well. He sized the food before him with an hungry glare, it was like his yellow eyes burned with the same bright flame as his wings. He placed the plate on the table, sat and licked his mouth, preparing for a feast.

Sparx watched him with wide eyes " How the hell…?"

Flare cocked his head hearing the surprise in his voice " What?"

" How did you do that?"

Before the red dragon could answer the sound of a scratching chair across the floor could be heard, as they turned around they saw a cheetah getting up " That's impossible!" the feline exclaimed incredulously " She's dead or something?" with that the cat darted into the kitchen

They didn't have to wait long for the result, commotion roused within the kitchen, screams, thuds and clatters were resonating from behind the door. Soon the brave cheetah who entered the kitchen barged into the Mess Hall with a frying pan flying just behind him, the inhabitants burst out laughing as everything returned to normal. The burly female cheetah without any word picked up the frying pan and returned to the kitchen while throwing the cheetah who entered her kitchen a hateful glare. The cat who now hugged the chair rose up and threw Flare a look full of disbelief.

The fiery dragon didn't notice that, his concentration was focused on the currently swinging door of the kitchen " What was that all about?"

Sparx shook his head " It's not important, what matters is how did you manage to get the food? Big Mamma was supposed to kick you out on your fiery ass"

Flare jerked back " What? Why?"

The dragonfly sighed " For all your burning parts you are not very bright. Never mind, just answer the question"

"There's no much to tell, I've got in there asked for food, the people in there just stared at me mumbling something under their breaths, I took that for a _yes, _grabbed what I wanted and left"

Spyro grinned " Looks like Sparx you are losing your magic"

The dragonfly frowned " We'll see about that"

* * *

" What is that thing?" Spyro asked while almost pressing his nose to the glassy jar

Inside the jar was something he has never seen before, it was a strange small looking creature. Its body was covered with some kind of chitin husk, a pair of barely visible black eyes could be seen on its head. It had a form of an insect, it was quite long for its tiny size, just like some insects this critter had a pair of large for its size pincers with claws in the middle, even if the creature was small the pincers definitely were capable of tearing parts of flesh with ease.

One thing was certain, this creature was feral. It kept hissing at everyone it noticed presenting a round mouth with many razor sharp teeth. The critter turned around and noticed a purple snout in front of it. The creature hissed and momentarily attacked, yet it was helpless in its prison, it bounced off the glass with a loud thud forcing the purple dragon to withdrew his head just in case.

" Aren't you a friendly one" Spyro commented sarcastically

The creature hissed once again in response and began to bounce off the glass clapping its pincers and hissing threateningly.

" Ugh" Sparx curled his nose in abhorrence " If I didn't know you Cynder I would say that this is the ugliest thing I ever saw"

" Sweet" Cynder replied unconcerned while leaning towards the jar

The critter noticed that and tried to punish the curious reptile for her curiosity

" It doesn't look like anything we ever encountered" she scratched the glass taunting the creature inside. Its hissing only got louder

" Even bugs hate you, you have a knack for pissing things off" the dragonfly stated

Cynder shrugged " Everyone is good at something"

" Then it's even worse than I thought" a mole with a bloody bandage around his arm muttered aggravated " I hoped that the Dark Army was involved, we would at least know a bit what we are up against"

" Why you are bringing up the Dark Army all of a sudden?" Terrador asked

" We spotted a group of orcs and apes in the north somewhere around the Tall Plains as we traveled here, luckily they ignored us"

" The Dark Army here?" Cyril blurt out surprised " This cannot be a coincidence"

The Earth Guardian nodded, Cyril's concerns were justifiable but there were more pressing matters currently " Summon Hunter, our allies are a priority" he turned towards the wounded mole " Tell us what happened"

The mole covered his wounded arm with his hand " The thing is I don't know, it was day like any other, we were mining for metals and then suddenly we hit a rock that crumbled and revealed these bugs. There was a whole colony of them, those things purged from that hole and attacked our miners instantly. We lost some good people that day but we were able to kill most of them" he rubbed his hurt arm " You have no idea how it hurts, one bug isn't dangerous but damn it sure knows how to cause pain. "

Flare stared at the jar with a frown " It cannot be a bug, they don't look like that, I would know"

The mole looked at the dragon who spoke and it was the first time he really concentrated on his features. With an dumbfounded frown he examined the odd dragon, just to look at the Guardians later, their expressions spoke volumes. With that he once again turned towards the dragon " I see that you had your share of surprise as well"

" It's not a bug, bugs slither, are slow and unpleasant to the touch" Flare kept explaining

" There are many types of bugs kid"

The red dragon frowned while constantly observing the creature inside the jar, the moles words didn't convince him " It's not a bug…" he muttered

Spyro listened intently to the moles story, never seen before creature appearing from nowhere? It only meant one thing but it won't hurt to make sure " Was there anything else? Did you hear something? Or maybe noticed that something is out of place?"

The mole focused on the purple dragon " Judging from your questions I see that something similar happened already" he eyed the odd looking red dragon for a while before turning towards Spyro once more " No I didn't, nor did I hear anybody speaking of something else than the bugs, but something tells me that whatever happened to you guys is happening right now in Munitions Forge"

Spyro sighed, to think he was so naïve to believe that everything will turn out for the better " Yeah, I just wish I could not agree with you"

The caravan master frowned absorbing the new information and the tone of voice of the purple drake before he looked around the room " So is anybody going to fill me in?"

The two Guardians looked and stared at each other for a while as if they were telepathically communicating, a nod from Cyril was a clear signal that they've reached an agreement.

With that Terrador turned to the mole " I won't get into details because we don't quite understand them ourselves, suffice to say is that whatever is happening In Munitions Forge is connected somehow with the mending of the world"

The mole looked alarmed " Malefor's somewhat involved?"

" No" Cyril with his cold tone left no room for doubt " The Dark Master has nothing to do with it"

The rodent sighed relieved " That's good news, let that bastard rot in hell" he eyed the Guardians " It doesn't seem that this makes you happy in any way, those unexplained things we are facing right now aren't much dangerous, correct?"

Terrador shook his head " Unfortunately they are, our young friends here encountered a very powerful golem which appeared out of nowhere"

The Ice Guardian narrowed his eyes on his partner " We don't know that Terrador, as you told me let's not jump to conclusion before we won't see the whole picture here. Perhaps it was just a bad luck when and where the portal appeared"

The mole rearranged his googles " Portals…dangerous things appearing, why nobody ever talked about this?"

" Because nobody knows" Cyril continued " Of course people feel that something is going on they are not stupid, but for now we try to keep them in the dark, no need to let them live in fear so soon after one threat was ended"

The caravan master considered his words, after a while he nodded " Then it is a good thing that we've turned to you when we did, as a messenger I ask you that if you would be able to help us out with our problem? Since you know how to handle this discretely"

Both Guardians threw the purple dragon meaningful looks

Spyro understood the hint and nodded, when people are in danger there was no way he will hesitate " Of course"

" That's right" Sparx exclaimed throwing his thumb up " A life threatening job, we can't miss that!"

The mole smiled " Your dedication was noted" he looked the fiery dragon over " Maybe what is happening in Munitions Forge isn't that bad after all" he waved his hand " Come on Spyro, no time to waste"

" Cynder is coming with us" the purple dragon announced firmly

The caravan master winced and looked the dragoness over " You sure this is a good idea? I mean for me it's ok I'm just driving a caravan but Cynder's last visit in Munitions Forge was… well let's just say that she overstayed her welcome"

Cynder impulsively looked at the Earth Guardian, he was looking at her without any emotions in his eyes, nevertheless it still forced the dragoness to drop her head in shame. It was in Munitions Forge where Cynder while she was corrupted imprisoned Terrador to draw his strength in order to release her Master from his prison. Not to mention that she also terrorized the locals living there, either by killing or enslaving them, forcing them to mine the metals and forge weapons for her numerous army.

Spyro nodded " I'm sure, I need all the people I can _trust_" he looked at his friend with a corner of his eye, checking if she would catch the emphasis on the word _trust_

She did, Cynder looked at him, her eyes were shimmering with emotion and gratitude. The way she thanked him however made his hurt jump to his throat, he just could stare at that loving smile for all eternity.

" Understood" the mole's voice forced him out of his trance " After everything that you made for us there is no way someone will try to change your decision, especially not someone like me. So… we are ready to go?"

" Take Flare with you" Terrador added

" Him?" Sparx blurt out surprised

" Me?" Flare did the same

" Flare you are the only one who made his way through a portal" The Earth Guardian looked at his icy partner, Cyril remained unmoved pretending to not understand what that look meant " You might share some valuable insight into the matter and help our friends here"

The dragonfly shook his head resigned " I won't cross my fingers" he muttered under his breath

Spyro nodded, he would like to have their new companion around and maybe try to change his mind about the purple dragons but he just couldn't order him to follow them, not after everything he had told them " Only if Flare wants to" he replied diplomatically

" Yeah!" the red dragon exclaimed excited, even if the dragons here looked strange he already got accustomed with them, they are dragons after all. To see the home of the strange rat- like creatures, that was way more interesting.

The mole rubbed his hands " It's settled then. Home here we come!"

" The inexorable passing hours of labor of the two invigorating cohorts infix our antecedence"

The cheerful and quick voice could belong to only one Guardian " Volteer!" the mole exclaimed happily when the amber dragon emerged from the Guardian's Quarters " Mole- Yair sends his greetings, and a gift!" he pointed with his open paw at the jar with the odd creature inside

Volteer approached the glassy container, the moment his snout was close enough the creature inside began bouncing off the jar trying to reach the reptile. It hissed and clapped its pincers viciously. The Electric Guardian was unmoved by its hostility.

" Captivating!" he exclaimed excited

Cyril rolled his eyes " What isn't?"

" The conjointment of realms undeniably caused the materialization of such varmint." The amber dragon examined the creature more closely " I believe it's an impoverished specimen, however the implausible events may cause such a deformity. The magnitude of its pincers seems to be much oversized for its stature, the luminosity of its husk makes me believe that this insect is budding in the ways of life"

Spyro looked alarmed " Wait, you think that those things can get bigger?"

Volteer picked up the jar, his eyes never left the aggressive creature " This is merely my speculation, however its essential to comprehend divers constituents of a beings foundation" he smiled at the mole " Thank you for the gift" after receiving a happy nod from the mole he disappeared into the Guardian's Quarters

Cyril grinned " That'll keep him busy for a while"

The caravan master motioned for the doors " Come on team! It's time to go!" he looked at the fiery dragon and instantly worry replaced his glee " Just don't burn my caravan with those wings"

" Oh these" Flare wriggled his wings " They are harmless. Look" he slapped the mole with his burning wing forcing a terrified squeal from the rodent " See?" the dragon remained oblivious to his reaction

" N…ice" the mole muttered while rubbing his back, as if checking if it's still there " J…just don't do that again"

The whole situation made the rest of the group laugh.

On their way out they've encountered Hunter entering the City Hall, the group exchanged polite nods with the cheetah before they departed. The feline dressed in his dirty working clothes made his way towards the Guardians

Hunter bowed " It's always a honor to speak with you Guardians"

" Finally someone who shows some respect!" Cyril blurt out happily

Terrador only shook his head in disapproval before he focused on the cat " No need for formalities Hunter, you are among friends"

The cheetah nodded " How can I be of help?"

" There was a sighting of a group of orcs and apes somewhere in the north near Tall Plains, we need someone to track them down and check what they are up to"

Hunter bowed once more " It will be done"

" If you need assistance just ask"

" No need, I work and travel faster alone. Is there anything else?"

Terrador smiled " Nothing, gear up and best of luck for you out there Hunter"

The feline bowed again before he left the building

Cyril sighed as soon as the door had closed " You don't see soldiers like him often, so loyal and without the need to know too much. Makes you think how could his tribe let someone like him go"

The Earth Guardian stared thoughtfully in the same direction his partner was " Good thing he is with us, something tells me that we might need every soldier we can get…"


	27. Chapter 9 Book II

Chapter 9

The sun beautifully illuminated the landscape of the Dragon Realms, sun perched high above in the sky served the biotic community with all its glory, giving them the much needed light and warmth and allowing them to grow and live with their own lives. The sun's partner in this truly arduous task- wind, exhaled its cooling breaths, chilling the mentioned sun and its rays while also filling the lungs and feathers of those creatures who required its powerful and cooling effects.

The two partners served the world as best they could, even if the task given to them was arduous, it was their task, their sole purpose granted to them by the unexplained forces governing the Realms and they fulfilled it with great care. The biotic community thanked them in its own way, by thriving in the brilliancy of the two companions.

Among the creatures who basked in the glory of the two life giving forces was a sole cheetah. The feline kept running through the countryside at an extreme speed, this was his purpose, speed was his force, he was a Hunter after all. Wind helped the cat as best as it could, breathing behind him, cooling his working muscles and lungs.

The dark reddish cape fluttered in the wind as the cheetah made his way through the greenish landscape, his extended yellow tail covered in black ringlets bounced up and down as if dancing to a strange music with the cape. The sun rays kept following the feline, illuminating him and the path ahead just like he was the star of the day, just like the sun tried to make sure that whoever wishes to follow the feline's journey won't miss a thing.

The cheetah finally came to an abrupt stop, he ran his claws on the greenish cover of the nearby bush before crouching. The arrows in his quiver rattled as in anticipation, as if the wooden projectiles couldn't wait to fulfill their purpose. The feline rearranged his bow on his shoulder so it wouldn't hinder his movements after the run. He reached for the ground and ran his claw along the dirt, his blue feline eyes read every detail that nobody else could notice, just like the ground would be some kind of a map, and the cat's blue eyes were the only means to translate it.

He picked up a patch of dirt and rubbed it between his fingers, the dirt kept falling back onto the ground just like some sort of a black rain. The feline placed the dirt covered paw on his bend knee and stared at the ground, the invisible map glistening in his blue eyes.

" We are catching up to our prey" Hunter huffed while rubbing the yin-yang symbol on his brown coat with his thumb. He raised and took a deep breath and closed his eyes" The Dragon City is fascinating but truthfully I've missed the boundless world outside" he opened his longing blue eyes " No words can describe how it feels to be free"

A sound reached him, his sensitive ears perked up at the noise coming from above, he looked up to see a falcon circling high in the air, calling out to whoever understood its language and was listening. Hunter smiled and extended his right arm to the side while bending it in the elbow and whistled. The bird called once again and with one final turn it descend quickly just to land on the cheetah's arm, the red band on the feline's arm served as an efficient protection against the bird's talons.

The falcon cried once more as it settled on the feline's arm, the bird flapped its wings a couple of times before it finally pressed them against its body. The falcons beak moved from side to side, its sharp yellow eyes scanned the surroundings intently.

Hunter smiled " The hunt wouldn't be as successful as it is now without you my friend"

The falcon cried out, for any other person it would be just a simple cry of a bird without any meaning. For the cheetah however it was a language, words that were meant only for him, a language only he could understand.

The cheetah's ears flattened against his head as he offered the bird a grateful smile. He reached down towards his waist, the two blue gems inserted into the sockets on his belt shimmered brightly under the sunlight. His paw patted at the side of his belt for a second before he unstrapped a small brown pouch with a yellow string hanging from it.

The feline reached into it and withdrew a bunch of seeds of a herb that only members of his former tribe know what their main purpose is. He opened his palm near the bird's beak, the falcon's yellow eyes shimmered for a brief moment before it started to poke at his hand fervently.

Hunter kept observing the bird as it kept eating from his paw " Feed well my friend, there is a long chase ahead of us"

The bird responded only by flapping its powerful wings. It wasn't long before the nourishment was gone. The falcon raised its head and cried out spreading its wings wide.

The cheetahs ears stood up at the sight " Be my guide and eyes in the incoming hours" he whispered pleadingly

The bird cried out once more, its yellow eyes seemed to be sharper than before.

" Then raise and let the wind be your servant!" Hunter jerked his arm upwards. The falcon leapt from his arm and raised in the air, flapping its wings and emitting an intimidating cry

The feline observed the raising bird " How lost we would be without your guidance friend" he rearranged the bow on his shoulder once again " Let the hunt continue" he darted onwards

It has been some days since the Guardians sent him on this chase, he knew that he was gaining on his prey, the Dark Army wasn't moving quickly, well at least not for him. As every cheetah and especially the cheetahs that carried the symbol of a feather Hunter was a talented scout and a tracker. He knew the surrounding lands like the back of his paw, not to mention that as a natural scout he overcame every obstacle the world threw at him with ease, speed and dexterity were the archers best friends after all.

The same thing couldn't be said about the group he pursued, the Dark Army consisted mostly of some bulky soldiers, however the tracks also showed that not every member was encumbered. This led only to one conclusion, the heavier equipped members were guards, and the light weighted members moved at their pace so they could be easily defended if it came to battle. It was a good sign, whatever or whoever the Army is trying to protect is important, and as every important evil creature or some other thing it would be best if it didn't reach its destination.

Hunter darted through the land, the avian guide flew ahead of him every now and then crying out as if giving signals that only the cheetah was able to understand. Another day has passed and he kept running, he was far in the north now, it is only a matter of time before the landscape takes a drastic change and the thick tangling land of the Tall Plains will come into view.

Hunter kept running but this time he constantly stared at the ground. After a while he abruptly stopped and once again crouched to examine the dirt under his legs. He narrowed his blue eyes on the earth, there was something different about the tracks now. He rose up and started to run backwards before he noticed another characteristic spot on the ground, with a slide he stopped near the mark and crouched to examine it.

His suspicion was well placed, this track differed from the one he examined earlier, it was far more smaller. Hunter rose up and once more began retracing his steps, at first everything seemed fine, whenever he found a track it looked like the small one from earlier. A less skilled hunter would take that as a simple weakness, a hallucination presented by a tired mind.

Not him, Hunter kept retracing his steps, he had to somehow confirm his suspicion. He kept running with his feline eyes focused on the ground, but at first besides his own tracks and the ones he saw earlier there wasn't any other he could make out, that didn't discourage him. Finally he skidded to a halt, crouching he examined the ground closely, this mark he was actually looking at was bigger than the rest, just like the one he spotted earlier, the one that stood out from the rest.

He rose and looked around, the smaller tracks led through the more greenish part of the land, trees and bushes while the bigger ones took a turn towards the more mountainous landscape. This meant only one thing.

" Our prey got separated" Hunter muttered while taking a deep breath

Something was not right, he saw the same big mark on the ground not so far away to the north, this turn towards the mountainous land served only to confuse him and buy his prey some time. He ran forward following the smaller tracks as before until he returned to the spot that caught his attention earlier. Here the bigger tracks overlapped with the smaller ones.

He made his way slowly forward, examining the ground below him closely. He frowned when he spotted that now the bigger tracks led north, he retraced his steps and took a turn, here now the smaller ones seemed to head in that direction. He returned to the intersection and crouched, he began to examine the mark on the ground closely. Firstly he saw nothing, just a bigger trace since the group that firstly separated met here.

" _Met here" _he mused. His scout's instinct kicked in, he touched the ground with his claw and began to trace the mark with it. He could make out some boot marks, some were heavier than the rest leaving a deeper mark on the ground. The cheetah rose and examined the track again from this distance, it seemed big, a little smaller than the one to the north.

He made his way there until he spotted the big mark, crouching he traced it with his claw. Frowning the cheetah rose up and returned to the spot where the smaller tracks led just to repeat the process.

" Clever" Hunter exhaled a breath.

Firstly it was a simple partition, big and smaller tracks meaning a bigger and a smaller group from which one was a simple distraction. Now it has changed, the tracks were still split into a big and small one but they were exactly the same like the earlier ones. Meaning that there was an exchanged of soldiers between the groups, in such a way that they could still retain almost the same sizes of the tracks.

" Our enemy is intelligent, they've exchanged soldiers, now it's difficult to tell which one of the groups is a distraction and which isn't, or perhaps both are important. One thing is certain, they know how to lose their pursuers"

Hunter looked from side to side, thinking which tracks to follow, making his mind he decided to abandon the route he used so far and followed the smaller tracks. He kept running for a while, a sound of a flowing river in the distance reached his sensitive ears, it was there where the tracks led so far.

Soon he reached the reason behind all this noise, it was a flowing water parting two sides of the land. It was a shallow river, small stones jutted from the ground and even smaller fish maneuvered through them and made their way downstream. If one would decide to follow the fishes it wouldn't be a problem, the shallow and clear water was barely ankle deep.

The scout took a sip from the river before crossing it, it was then when his ears perked up once more at the sound of the crying falcon. Something that seemed like the cries of a simple bird were so much more for the cheetah, he listened intently as if he would paying attention to an interesting speech. After a while the feline nodded and pulled on his hood.

" Thank you friend for the warning" Hunter whispered before equipping his bow " Our enemy has prepared an ambush, the group that we followed went downstream easily covering the their tracks while the rest was left ahead" he pointed forward " There amongst the big rocks and tall trees, the Army has set up an ambush, we could avoid them easily but we better get rid of them before some unlucky traveler will run into them. Evil is unwelcome here" he rearranged his cape and delicately rubbed the symbol that pinned it to his coat before bending on his paws and darting to the side.

He circled the ambush spot carefully and silently, the scout was already pressing an arrow to his bow, the first rule in the wilderness- always be prepared. Thanks to their heritage every cheetah had a talent for sneaking, their cat- like moves allowed them to move without even making the tiniest of sounds, not to mention that such an experienced scout as him knew also how to stay hidden even in broad daylight.

Eventually he reached a small slope but instead of climbing it and reaching its outcropping to get a better look on the valley he pressed himself against the farthest tree on the slope. Not the best viewing point but the shadow created by the tree's broad crown effectively shrouded his features thanks to the darkish cape he was wearing.

With his back pressed to the tree Hunter leaned slightly to see past the trunk, being blended into the surroundings like that allowed him to scan the surroundings with his feline eyes. He spotted an ape hidden behind a rock, he was rolling the axe in his hands impatiently and somewhat bored. He kept surveying the land, a orc was pressed to a tree and two small grublins hid in the nearby bush.

He couldn't spot anyone else but that didn't mean that the group wasn't larger, he has to be prepared for anything. However the attitude the soldiers presented gave him a clear image that they hadn't set up this ambush for him specifically, these soldiers were left here just in case and to stall any pursuer that might be after them. The cheetah was aware that it will cause his main prey distance itself from him, but he didn't have any other choice, Dark Army isn't allowed so deep into the Alliance territory.

The feline took a breath, the battle was about to commence , he strung his bow and left his cover, however the side of his body was still pressed against the trunk.

" Fortune favor us" Hunter whispered pleadingly and set the arrow loose

He immediately took cover behind the trunk while his eyes watched for the outcome of his shot. The arrow flew in a perfect straight line just like the wind didn't exist for it at all. The target was unaware of its approach, the ape was still playing with his weapon impatiently. The soldiers' anxiety was ended by an arrow which pierced his throat, it impaled itself in the spot where there was a slight gap between the helmet and rest of the armor.

The orc managed to let out only a stifled gurgle as blood started to flow from the mortal wound, he brought his gauntleted hand to his throat as if trying to prevent any more blood loss, yet with no luck. The soldier fell on his knees dropping the axe on the ground so he could extend his now free hand towards his oblivious companions as if trying to warn them or beg them for help. Nobody discovered the soldier's intention since moments later his lifeless body hit the ground, a pool of blood appeared below the corpse.

Hunter slowly pulled out another arrow, his eyes never left the group ahead of him. He pressed the projectile to his bow, preparing to string his weapon in case an alarm would be raised and he will have to defend himself, nothing like that happened, the rest of the soldiers seemed to be still unaware of his presence.

He crouched, there was no way he could now eliminate another member of the ambush party without the rest noticing him, most likely it's only a matter of time before they discover the body, his element of surprise requires haste. The scout slowly made his way to the other side of the slope, there was no cover here that would serve as a good survey point, the first tree that would be able to shroud his features was just next to the slope on the ground.

He made his way to the edge, and looked down, no sign of the enemy as far as he could tell. The feline placed a hand on the slope and jumped down, his stealth abilities made the fall perfectly silent. From this spot he had a better look on the surroundings, he began to look around, the moment he looked behind him his eyes shot wide open.

An orc just finished examining a small opening in the slope and turned around, the moment the soldier took a glimpse of the cheetah he raised his arm in the air preparing to sound an alarm. However a whizz interrupted him, the orc only let out a groan since an arrow impaled itself on his chest. The soldier impulsively looked down just to notice an arrow jutting from his chest, with shocked filled eyes he looked ahead just to see a cheetah ahead of him.

Hunter didn't waste any time, as soon as he released the arrow he unstrapped a dagger from his thigh and attacked the orc. The feline leapt at the soldier while covering the orc's mouth with one of his hand, his weight and speed brought the soldier down. Hunter being on top of him pushed the arrow deeper into the soldier's chest while at the same time plunging the dagger into his opponent's throat.

There were only some muffled groans and gurgles as both sharp objects invaded the orc's body, with a twist of the dagger the cheetah silenced his enemy forever. The moment his opponent stopped thrashing underneath him Hunter began to listen intently. He remained in that position for a while, but his perked up ears didn't catch any approaching noise, Fortune was favoring him after all.

He withdrew the blade and his hand from the corpse and stood up. The dagger was covered with a red liquid, his other hand wasn't in better shape, his palm was completely covered in blood since the soldier was gurgling out the crimson liquid as he was taking him down. This is a clear sign that orcs even if they are artificial creations made from earth itself were just another specie with blood, bones and flesh and right to live. Unfortunately the hostility between the cheetahs and grublins forces both sides to shorten the life of the other, preferably by severing the line with one's own hands.

Hunter left the corpse and returned to pick up his bow that he dropped when he attacked, with everything back in its rightful place the feline hid near the tree he planned to use earlier. Once again he leaned to scan the surroundings , from this position he had to really look hard to properly survey the area.

The two grublins in the bushes couldn't be seen from here, however he could clearly see the tree where the orc was hidden but now there was no sign of the soldier anywhere. Then something struck him, he examined the body and compared its armor with the one on the orc from his memory, it was a match. Luck didn't abandon him it seems, the soldier he eliminated had to be the orc from behind the tree, one less bad guy to worry about.

The corpse of the ape was still in the same spot, not yet discovered. From here he could spot two more soldiers just slightly ahead of the rock behind which the body of the fallen ape was sprawled. The two soldiers hidden farther amongst the trees were so close to each other that there was no chance to take out one of them without the second noticing that.

Suddenly a falcon's cry was heard, Hunter's ears perked up instantly very sensitive to the familiar sound. The scout looked up, there was an another cry as the bird began circling in the air slightly to the west from his position. The cheetah focused in the ground and the moment he did that he instinctively bend down on his legs trying to shroud his form as best as he could while using the limited cover he had at his disposal.

There was an orc leader outfitted in a medium sized spiked armor and a huge axe hung on his back, he was heading through the slightly mountainous terrain towards the group of concealed soldiers. The leader wasn't alone, he was accompanied by two ape archers who were carrying four dead rabbits, looks like it was a fruitful hunt. It seemed like his luck was just about to run out, there was no chance that the approaching hunters wouldn't notice the dead body by the rock, the stealth mission was about to turn into a full scaled battle and there is no way he can prevent that from happening.

On the ground he is vulnerable, if he has to blow his cover he has to do it from a good spot. Hunter flung his bow around his shoulder and thrust his claws into the trunk of the tree, he then slowly but steadily began to climb it. He kept going up until he reached the spot where the leafs were dense and the branches allowed a good foothold. From here he can easily leap at the slight slope just next to him, an exit point is always handy.

The scout prepared his bow, while pulling out the arrow he looked for the perfect opportunity where he can do the most damage before he will be discovered. The leader would be the best choice, but seeing his armor it was very likely that the arrow would glance off his spiked armor without causing any harm, besides he could barely spot any opening, all things considered it was not worth the risk.

The two archers were easy pickings, lightly armored it would be just a matter of a well-placed shot and they would collapse on the spot however seeing as the surroundings didn't favor archers very much Hunter decided to leave them alone. The trees and rocks will effectively serve as cover when the battle will start, no need to waste his element of surprise on those two.

With no other option left he aimed at one of the soldiers who hid amongst the trees, just when the feline was about to set the arrow loose his blue eyes caught something else. One of the grublins left the protection of his bush, the creature stood in plain open looking around. They had to figure out that something is wrong, the silence ironically was so loud. The creature grumbled something loudly to his companion, the grublins were just about to figure out what is happening.

Without wasting any more Hunter strung his bow and aimed at the little creature, even if he was a small soldier the grublin was still a worthy opponent and in this terrain where he could easily conceal himself even more so. The arrow was sent flying, the moment it was set loose Hunter prepared another projectile while at the same time an alarm was raised as soon as the grublin hit the ground with an arrow jutting from his chest.

The feline made a sharp turn and released an arrow towards one of the archers, just when the projectile was about to pierce the surprised soldier an armored spiked gauntlet rose in its way deflecting the arrow as a result.

The same gauntlet pointed at the tree crown " KILL HIM!" the orc leader roared

The surprise attack and the terrifying roar of their leader startled both archers, however they both knew that they can't hesitate or the consequences would be drastic. With shaking hands both soldiers fired at the crown.

Even if their aim was poor Hunter experience told him that he would avoid the flying arrows, he compelled. The scout hastily flung his weapon on his shoulder and leapt from the tree, as he jumped he could hear the arrows Impaling in the wooden branches behind him. With a roll Hunter gracefully landed on the slope and already prepared his weapon.

The orc leader roared furiously and began to flail his hands ordering everyone to push forward " ATTACK! KILL THE CAT!" he roared once more

Hunter ran to the far end of the slope, not the outcropping but the other side, he ran with his arrowed already strung. Soon he found out that it was wise to listen to his instinct, the moment he jumped from the slope an ape was about to behead him using his edged sword. The soldier never had the chance to finish his swing since an arrow pierced his skull momentarily.

As soon as the body dropped to the ground the cheetah ducked under another swing of some other soldier while still darting forward not even taking a moment to stop and fight back. He arrived in the plain open the path seemed like a bridge spanning two sides of the river. Arrows were sent flying his way immediately, as he rushed through the path Hunter could hear the projectiles whizzing behind him, with a corner of his eye he could see the orc leader snorting as he eyed him carefully.

The cheetah disappeared into the trees ahead, never stopping he made a sharp turn to the left, only the glimpses of the fluttering cape could be seen flashing among the trees. Hunter using his natural predatory speed made his way through the thicket, he prepared another arrow and strung his bow while aiming it to his left side. He observed the flashing images behind the trees patiently, narrowing his blue eyes Hunter set the arrow loose the moment the image of the orc leader appeared before him.

The orc snorted and jerked his body sharply, the arrow flew just inches from his nose, he was unaffected by the near death experience, the orc growled as he observed the flashing cape amongst the trees. Even the sudden stifled grunt and soon after something heavy falling to the ground behind him didn't move the orc. However after a while the leader seeing the terrified reaction of one of his archers took a quick glimpse behind his shoulder, the second archer laid dead on the ground with the feathers of an arrow protruding from his left eye. With a snort the orc returned to observing the cat.

Hunter blinked, it didn't go exactly as he planned, it should have been the orc leader laying on the ground right now, not the common soldier. At least now he has more insight on his enemy, obviously they are now one person less but it also shows that their leader isn't someone who can be underestimated.

Before he could plan another strike he was attacked, out of nowhere a grublin jumped at him, the creature pointed its sword at a straight angle ready to pierce the cheetah's chest. Thanks to his reflexes Hunter instantly spun around while still running ahead, the roulette he made allowed him to avoid the deadly strike. As he saw the flying creature failing at his attempt to kill him, the grublin still managed to harm him, it had to be a shock for the soldier that someone managed to avoid such an surprise attack so he swung his sword in a wide arc not really thinking what he was doing. It worked, the sword sliced at the cheetahs arm leaving a bloody cut, the strike forced a painful growl from the feline's throat.

Hunter impulsively covered his wounded arm, his hand instantly got soaked with red thick blood. The grublin yelled and attacked once more, staying in one position would be dangerous so Hunter instead of fighting decided to run, he was faster than the small creature, it was only a matter of minutes before he left the soldier far behind him. Even if he wanted to fight back it would prove really difficult in this environment, to many places to hide, there was always a probability that the grublin wasn't smart enough to use the surroundings to his advantage, but he still didn't want to risk it.

As he ran through the trees he threw a quick glance at the open path, his eyes widened when he noticed that the leader and the accompanying archer were gone. He didn't really have the time to concentrate on that now since suddenly he felt that someone tackled him. The sudden weight pushed the cheetah out of the trees and into the plain open, to make things worse he landed on his chest with his opponent laying on his back.

Hunter forcefully jerked his body upwards trying to push off his opponent before he could pin him down. The soldier on top of him fought to stay on his winning position while also trying to take control of the cheetah's arms. The struggle continued for a while but eventually Hunter managed to free one of his arms, without hesitation he reached behind him and plunged his claws into his opponent's neck. The soldier groaned painfully grabbing the feline's arm and yanking it sharply, the claws dragged bits of flesh along with streams of blood with them as they've been removed.

The cheetah waited for such an opportunity, with the soldier distracted he jerked his body once more. The move was enough to make the soldier loose his balance, he felt his enemy involuntary leaning forwards. Hunter threw his head backwards, he could feel blood drenching the back of his hood as it made impact with most likely the nose of his opponent. One last sharp jerk was enough to push the soldier off of him.

He turned around preparing to get up but unfortunately a punch to his face forced him to drop on his back. The ape soldier with a broken nose instantly jumped on the scout and served him another painful blow. Hunter's head jerked to the side after the strike, as soon as his head returned to its natural position he saw the ape dropping his arms down, a dagger was tightly clenched in both of his fists. The feline's eyes widened, he instinctively grabbed the blade of the dagger at the place where his hands met with his opponent's.

Both fighters were letting grunts and groans of struggle as they fought to overpower one another. Being on top the ape had more strength to push the dagger down using the weight of all his body, however even from his losing position Hunter didn't give up. As the blade was approaching his chest he had a sudden afflux of energy that allowed him to push the dagger away. He knew he can't keep fighting like that for long, sooner or later the ape will overpower him.

Hunter let the dagger get closer while still maintaining a firm grip on the blade so it wouldn't pierce his chest, the blood dripping from the ape's nose splattered on his face. The ape clenched his teeth and started to growl as the illusion of victory clouded his judgment, as soon as the ape was close enough Hunter sharply swung his elbow striking the ape in the temple. The blow in that particular vulnerable spot left the ape slightly dizzy, the cheetah could feel the pressure on the dagger quenching down from the soldiers' side, he repeated the strike once again, then again and again.

The ape finally had enough, he let go of the dagger, the scout didn't waste any second and kicked the soldier off of him. Hunter quickly got up but before he could strike with the blade he received a powerful kick in his arm, the unexpected attack forced him to drop the dagger. To his surprise the ape was once again charging, the fall on the ground must have woken him up.

Before Hunter could react he received a painful hook in his chin, as his head tilted to the side he felt two hands firmly grabbing onto his shoulders. An armored knee was heading just right into his abdomen, with his reflexes kicking in Hunter deflected the incoming blow and soon after headbutted the ape, hitting once again his already broken nose.

The soldier let him go as he stumbled backwards while groaning in pain and covering his bloody nose. With a shake of his head he snapped from his befuddlement, with a furious snarl he uncovered his bloody mouth and charged the cheetah once more. The soldier swung his arm but Hunter managed to duck under it, after that a boot was heading his way right in the guts, he avoided that strike too. However he was defenseless against another hook to his chin. Hunter swayed on his legs slightly after the blow and before he knew it the hands of the angry ape gripped his shoulders tightly once again, locking both fighters in another embrace.

As they fought like that, exchanging kicks, blows and the like Hunter noticed the ape smirking for a brief while, at first he didn't understand what it meant, it was not like the ape was winning the fight after all. Soon after that sighting a falcon's call could be heard, Hunter learned to understand the meaning behind such calls since he was a child. Judging from the distance and intensity of the cry, the scout knew that the imminent danger is coming from behind him.

Another cry followed by a quick descent of the falcon, the bird began harassing the ape Hunter was fighting with. The falcon hit the ape's head with his wings and plucked at his broken nose with its beak. With an irritated growl the ape let go his opponent and began to fling his arms chaotically to just get rid himself of the annoying bird. Hunter didn't waste any time, he grabbed the ape and with a sharp turn he spun around with him, now Hunter was in the position of the ape.

He made the turn just in time since as soon as they stopped spinning a huge axe impaled itself into the ape's back. The soldier spit out blood after the impact which covered Hunter's face, besides the cry of the startled bird the scout could also hear the sounds of armor breaking and bones snapping. The ape was still holding onto the cheetah's shoulder as he gurgled an incomprehensible message before life finally ebbed away from its shelter and the ape's falling body stopped on Hunter's chest.

The corpse slid down the cheetah's chest for a while before he made a step back, letting it finally hit the ground. Hunter stared at the huge axe stuck into the ape's back for brief second not really believing what has happened. After a short while he raised his eyes and spotted the orc leader and his archer companion next to him, the leader seemed unarmed, no wonder since his primary weapon was lodged into his own soldier's back after he flung it at the cat.

With instinct kicking in Hunter readied his bow and sent an arrow flying, after the first projectile was released he fired another one, then another and another. The orc leader frowned, completely unmoved by the startled gasp of his cowardly companion, the arrows were approaching him at high speed, even his armor wasn't able to withstand such force. The ape archer was overwhelmed with fear, as a beginning mercenary he couldn't really tell thanks to his shock that the arrows weren't heading his way, he prepared to run just to avoid being shot.

The orc leader snorted and grabbed onto the ape's arm and pulled him in front of him, the archer managed only to emit a stifled scream since soon an arrow pierced his chest. When the next one hit, the ape didn't have the strength anymore to even try to scream, arrow after arrowe got stuck in his chest and a stifled gurgle was all the ape could utter after each received shot.

Hunter wasn't really surprised to see something like this, the grublins and especially the orcs are known for being relentless. He didn't even try firing more arrows since he knew that he could only maul the body of the poor ape even further, and it was unnecessary. The cheetah turned around and darted into the forest, he is an archer not a fighter, he would rather attack the ape from a safe distance.

As he ran towards the rocks to hide himself he noticed the small grublin leaving the thicket finally catching up to him. Hunter could hear the orc leader barking out orders to the soldier to pursue him, even from here he could hear the grublin's tired panting. The cheetah quickly unstrapped his red cape while still being on the move, after some minutes he turned towards a nearby tree and flung the cape on its branches in such a way that a part of the material protruded from the safety of its trunk.

He himself hid behind the nearby rock so he could clearly see the back of the tree where his cape hung and strung his bow. He had to wait for a while but eventually he heard the quick and shallow breathing of the grublin, some seconds later all the sound died down. His plan was working the grublin was sneaking towards the cape, thinking that he is hiding behind the tree and was clumsy enough to give away his position.

Hunter held his breath and waited, moments later there was a triumphant cry as the grublin jumped from behind the cover and stabbed with his sword. The soldiers triumphant cry ended abruptly when he noticed that he stabbed thin air, he didn't really get the chance to change his shocked expression since the last thing he saw was the sharp tip of an arrow heading his way.

The grublin fell backwards on the ground with an arrow sticking out from between his eyes. Hunter ran his finger delicately against the surface of his yin-yang symbol before he pinned the cape to his coat.

" GO GET HIM BOY!" a shout echoed throughout the mountainous terrain.

Hunter's ears instantly perked up, that was definitely the shout of the orc leader. The falcon circling above cried once more, the cheetah looked up as is absorbing the information before his eyes returned to the ground.

" Death Hound" he muttered under his breath

From where the beast came from he had no idea, but that was unimportant right now, that creature is made to fight dragons and that means that his chances against it are very slim in a duel. He eyed the tree near him from top to bottom, he considered climbing it and shoot the creature from there, but moments later his ears flattened around his skull when he realized that it would most likely be a suicide, the hound isn't that stupid to get killed like that and with the orc somewhere out there it would be only a matter of time before he would be thrown down from the tree straight into the beast's jagged maw.

Another falcon's call reached his sensitive ears, Hunter nodded " Thank you friend"

There was another call

" We cannot fight a beast like this in a fair duel, the odds aren't in our favor" he looked up with grateful eyes " There is a waterfall nearby, with luck we might outsmart our enemy"

A shrilling howl was carried by the wind

The cheetah looked in the direction from which it came " There is no time to waste" with that he scurried south.

Hunter ran as fast as his legs could carry him, every now and then he threw a quick glance to the sky to make sure he was heading in the right direction. He ran like that for a while, with the passing time came the increasing sounds of barking, snoring and howling, from these noises he could tell that the creature was gaining on him.

Finally the sound of a water falling was swooshing in the distance. Moments later Hunter reached his destination, there was quite an outcropping, a big part of the stony ground was set directly near where the waterfall was, at both sides of the block were two strong currents which met behind the ground to create the waterfall. Parts of the block clearly fell off some time ago, that's why there was no possibility to reach it just by walking since between the part of terrain he was standing on right now and the stony block was a crack filled with sharp stony spikes separating the terrain. From the crack protruded some parts of the block that managed to survive the separation, those remaining parts were weak, they were ready to crumble in any moment when too much weight would be pressed on them, however they were also the only way to reach the slab of terrain ahead.

Without much choice Hunter sped up and jumped, firstly he landed on the protruding remains, the moment he placed his feet he could feel the remains shaking as if they were screaming that they are at their breaking point. From here the cheetah leaped further to reach the block of stone, however when he lifted himself from the ground something unexpected happened.

He received a powerful blow in his back that left scratches and threw him right onto that platform. As he slid on his belly for a while he could hear the parts of the floor cracking, it was obvious that they won't withstand another pressure like that. He made a mental note about that then looked behind his shoulder, his eyes widened when he spotted a Death Hound standing there, the beast managed to catch up to him.

With a shrilling roar the hound jumped onto the platform, Hunter quickly pulled himself up to face his enemy. While still observing the hound he slowly made some steps backwards so he was standing near the edge of the outcropping. However the beast didn't leap at him as he planned instead it ran in his direction and swung its paw.

Hunter avoided being hit by the strike by mere inches, however the dodge made him loose his footing, he might have avoided the strike but now he was laying on the ground on his chest while the upper part of his body hung from the outcropping.. As his hand hit the rough surface he felt something protruding from the rocks, he blindly reached for it, grabbing the object he pulled it out, it was quite a big and thick branch.

A snarl forced Hunter's instinct to kick in, he dragged the branch and with a fast move turned on the ground so he could land on his back, as he did that he made a swing with the heavy branch. The hound that tried to finish what it started got hit in the snout, with an angry growl it backed away some steps. Hunter pulled himself up while the creature shook his head to shake off the dizziness, its yellow eyes focused on the feline.

He stared back at the creature with the branch tightly clenched in his hands, the armor embed into the creature's back shimmered under the sunlight for a brief moment as it bent on its paws adopting an offensive position. Hunter didn't move an inch, that was a mutated dog after all, by challenging it with cold stare he wanted to show it that who is a more terrifying fighter here.

However momentarily his demonstration of strength was proved to be worthless against the hound's appearance. The beast's growling maw parted in every direction, saliva trickled down from its razor teeth as the mouth grew to enormous sizes, the gaping maw finally stopped growing reaching a point probably where it could not stretch no longer, it was still enough to sever the cheetah in half with just one snap. With a confident and furious roar the hound charged.

Hunter pulled the branch up and as the creature approached him he shoved the wood vertically into the beast's maw, that prevented from clamping its gaping maw. The hound began to thrash, its mouth was shivering slightly as it tried to close it, even from here Hunter could see that the pieces of the wood were falling down already, the branch won't last long.

Maybe the hound couldn't use its teeth but it still could swing its paws, one of those swings surprised the cheetah, with a quick dodge he managed to prevent the claws from making deep lacerations in his body that would probably reach his spine but it wasn't enough to avoid the strike completely. He screamed as the claws managed to make three cuts on his chest, ripping the fabric of his coat to pieces.

Hunter fell on the ground only to realize that there was no ground behind him, with instinct kicking in he managed to grab onto the ledge of the outcropping before he fell down. The howling waterfall next to him effectively blocked every sound. A wet drop that fell on top of his head made him raise his eyes, the hound was leaning from the edge staring at him with hungry eyes, the branch that held its mouth was gone.

He looked down, with nothing left to loose he thought about letting go of the ledge and fall down along the water, it was still a better perspective than to be eaten by the hound. However before he could make his mind a whimper startled him, the cheetah looked up just to see his falcon plucking at one of the eyes of the creature. The hound was growling, whimpering and thrashing as it tried to crush the annoying bird, yet its struggle was in vain, the falcon managed to pierce one of its eyes.

The hound howled and began swinging its paws and snapping its mouth wildly completely blinded by rage, Hunter reached down and unstrapped the bag where the bird's food was located, with it in his hand he whistled and the falcon instantly clamped its talons on the bag. With a cry the bird took to the air and ripped the bag with its talons, the contents of the bag began to stream down towards the ground and exactly into the hound's eyes.

The creature began to whimper in pain as the contents of the bag completely blinded its already wounded eyes, when the creature began to thrash the bird hovered just inches from the edge of the outcropping. There was an furious roar when a brown spot passed by the creatures eyes, blinded by rage its swung its paw at the shape only to realize that it was farther than it seemed at first glance. While trying to reach the bird the hound leaned over the edge, blinded by the contents of the bag it didn't realize that there was no ground below it, so when it tried to place its raised paw on the ground it found that the floor was gone.

Still growling the beast leaned over the edge and fell down. Hunter observed the falling creature, he could see it swirling in the air and still swinging its paws, he watched the beast until its form finally disappeared below the water. With a painful sigh he pulled himself up, as he laid flat on the solid ground he noticed the falcon standing in front of him. Hunter smiled and nodded his head, the bird cried out and took to the air.

With a painful groan he pulled himself up, he touched his chest and looked at his paw soon after, it was covered in blood. With a painful hiss he looked ahead just to realize that the orc leader was staring at him from the other side with his axe held in his hands.

" it doesn't matter if you survive this, our mission was to stall our pursuers and we did just that. You are too late cat" with that he roared and leaped at the protruding remains.

The remnants of the block had enough, they began to shake violently, the orc standing on them fought valiantly to regain his balance. He would perhaps do just that if not for an arrow hitting the shaking remains, the tip severed the already unstable construction. There was only a loud rumbling noise as the remains finally gave away and crumbled, the sound of a gurgle followed soon after.

Hunter approached the crack and looked down, the leader was there, his body was arched upwards, a bloody stony spike was protruding from his spasming body.

The cheetah kneeled down, unsheathed a dagger and began to turn the blade around in his hand while observing its silvery surface " Tell me what are you planning and I'll end your suffering, I promise"

The orc gurgled in response, blood shot from his mouth and covered his face. After a failed attempt to voice his thoughts the orc began to move his lips slowly as if he was whispering.

Hunter leaned forward to make out the response, but instead of receiving an answer the orc spitted at him. The leader emitted a weak cackle before he exhaled his last breath and passed away. Hunter wiped the bloody saliva from his face and headed back the road he came here while tightly clenching his wounded chest. As he returned to the river where the group of enemy soldiers separated he began to clean his cuts, but no matter how carefully he did that he just couldn't stop thinking about the orc's words.

" Too late for what?" Hunter muttered


	28. Chapter 10 Book II

Chapter 10

The moon illuminated the ground with its silvery light, putting to rest those who waited for it and waking up those who cherish it. Those nocturnal creatures broke the silence that usually follows the night and they were not the only ones. Among the sounds of the nightly beasts a sole cheetah was sitting on a rocky ground near a fire, which was surrounded by trees.

The sound of the cracking fire perfectly intertwined with the sounds of the nightly life. Hunter has been chasing after the second group for hours, and since he was catching up to them it was a proper time for preparation. He poked the fire with a stick, the flame as if annoyed burst with new bright flames, emitting more light and heat at the same time.

Placing the stick down the cheetah reached for his weapon, he grabbed the bow alongside his quiver and placed them just next to him. With that he picked up the bow and examined it closely under the light of the fire, satisfied he placed the weapon just in front of him on a nearby flat rock illuminated by the red flames. He then reached for his quiver and pulled four arrows, three of them he put just next to the weapon while the fourth he carefully placed on top of the bow, so the projectiles tip laid directly on the weapon's surface while it's feathers were slightly behind its string.

With the weapons in place he unstrapped his belt, the flames reflected from the blue gems surfaces, the remaining bags and a sheathed dagger sprawled neatly on the rock. Hunter straightened his left paw and reached down his leg, his claws disappeared in the barely visible cut in his pants just above his knee. Seconds later he withdrew his hand, gripped in his claws was another dagger, he brought the blade close to the fire. He examined the weapon, he could see his own reflection in its silvery surface, with a delicate nod he put the dagger just below the bow.

Hunter then unstrapped the yin-yang symbol and reverently placed in the corner of the flat rock ahead of him, as far away from the weapons as possible. The cape without anything holding it in place cascaded down his back, he grabbed it and hung the cape on a nearby tree branch that seemed quite sturdy and was hanging just at arm's reach.

With that in place Hunter with clenched teeth grabbed his coat, with painful hissing he slowly grabbed his coat and began to yank it to free himself. Eventually the clothing landed in his hands, revealing a white shirt with three bloody cuts beneath it. He observed the wear under the red light, with sad and painful eyes he hung the almost destroyed coat on the branch.

He grabbed the hem of his white dirty and bloody shirt, hissing and groaning he straightened his arms upwards pulling the shirt through his head. Just like the coat the shirt had three long cuts on it, with a painful sigh he hung the bloody clothing next to his other clothes. Hunter touched his chest and winced, the bandage he wrapped around himself was not really helping, however the provisional healing method prevented the wounds from becoming infected.

The stinging pain lingered there, it even intensified after his touch, Hunter raised and looked at his hand, his ears flattened against his skull when he noticed that his palm was drenched with blood. The bandage was already soaking, with an angry snarl he grabbed the end of the bandage and began to unroll it from his chest. When he was done he wanted to throw away the bandage but didn't allow to give himself to his reckless impulse, on a mission every bit of helpful material counts.

The scout put the rolled bloody bandage on a nearby rock and reached for his belt, from it he unstrapped a single bag. A sound of glass knocking against glass could be heard as he reached down the bag, from it he withdrew a small flask with a greenish substance inside of it. The cheetah uncorked the flask and dipped his forefinger inside the glassy container.

The substance was moist but at the same time quite sticky, it almost felt like some kind of glue. Hunter wasn't really an expert in herbalism, he could of course prepare a simple ointment that would somehow help to heal his wounds but nothing like this. He received this medicine from Amela and she was a healer in a draconic city so it goes without saying that the female cheetah knows more about medicine than he does.

With an anxious and somewhat sad sigh he pressed his sticky finger to his wound and instantly clenched his teeth while hissing painfully. The moment he pressed his finger to the cut the stinging pain dramatically intensified, he impulsively flexed his abdomen muscles, the wound itself began to bulge pumping new fresh blood through the laceration.

With an afflicting groan he continued to smear the ointment along his first cut, it hurt but what years of battle experience have taught him is that a good medicine always tastes and feels bitter. He continued to cover his wound until the hints of red were completely hidden under the greenish glue, he did the same thing with all of his other wounds, also remembering about that on his arm, the cheetah kept hissing as he worked, the pain was antagonizing but unfortunately necessary.

The moment he finished he let out an exhausted breath, it was finally over. To his surprise the ointment seemed to be working right away, the stinging pain was quenched almost immediately replaced by a delicate enjoyable chill. He moved the flask towards the fire and looked it over, the cheetah couldn't shake of his admiration, how is someone able to do something like this is beyond comprehension of his simple mind.

He wrapped himself cursorily with another fresh bandage, so the wound would make contact with a clean material, the moment he pressed the gauze to the cut green stains immediately covered the white material. With this bandage in place he reached for the bloody one and wrapped it around himself, covering the new fresh gauze.

Now everything that was left to do was to wait, he reached for the shirt and put it on, he once again examined the weapons placed before him on the flat rock, he touched each of them as if giving them the sign that he didn't forget about their purpose. With a sigh Hunter grabbed the stick and started to poke at the fire once more, after a short while it spitted out flames as if trying to punish him for his pestering.

* * *

_There was a burst of laughing when the nearby fire spitted out flames that nearly burnt the face of the nearby young cheetah, the feline dropped the stick he was holding and instantly landed on his butt while patting his head and face just in case his fur would burst in flames. The laughing never ceased but the young cat was unmoved by it, he was focused on his own self entirely, after a while of constant patting he dropped his hands to the ground and stared at the cracking fire with wide blue eyes while panting heavily._

_A young cheetah with orange fur pointed mockingly a finger at the shocked feline " Hunter you clumsy idiot!" he laughed_

_The sitting cat turned to the other cheetah with an angry snarl plastered on his face " Shut up Prowlus!" he growled_

_The second kid didn't stop laughing " And you want to be a chief! You would burn down your own house!"_

_Hunter stood up and narrowed his eyes on the feline while clenching his fists tightly " Your home is going to burn down first!"_

_Prowlus laughed " I'm not so clumsy!"_

_The first kid growled " I've told you to shut up!"_

" _Children that's enough!" a firm feminine shout admonished both young felines_

_Both children instantly shut their mouths and turned towards the female cheetah with a very sharp brown fur and brown eyes, a silvery earing with a tiny emerald in its socket dangled from her left ear. Both young cheetahs dropped their heads respectfully._

" _Sorry" they said simultaneously_

_The lively young female tutor stomped her feet on the ground " Do not be sorry, this is a sign of weakness!" she snapped " How many times do I have to tell you that you are rivals, you both are competing to be the future chief! A wise chief never mocks his opponent , he respects him so stop this childish games and focus! Do you understand?"_

" _Yes" both children muttered at the same time_

_The female threw her hands in the air " What was THAT?!" she exclaimed irritated while narrowing her gaze on both young felines " This is how a proud chief responds? By muttering something under his breath like a coward? One of you is bound to be a chief so I expect to receive an answer that only a strong and powerful would give, leaving no place for doubt, making his intentions clear." She straighten up and took a breath " So…" she narrowed her brown eyes on the children again "Do you understand?"_

_Both young cheetahs looked her straight in the eyes " YES!" they exclaimed simultaneously_

_The female nodded " Good"_

" _I don't like her" Hunter whispered to his rival_

" _Me too" Prowlus whispered back_

_Their tutor scratched her left ear and folded her arms " Now Hunter, will you tell what have you done wrong?"_

_The young cheetah scratched the back of his head while staring at the cracking fire confused " I…I don't know, I've used the herbs just like you told me to do and it just burst"_

" _Think" she snapped " You want to be a chief who doesn't know where he makes mistakes? A chief who doesn't learn and draw conclusions? You want to lure your enemies with a fire like that? What for? When they would only find your scorched body"_

_Hunter growled faintly, their new tutor irritated him greatly " I don't know!" he exclaimed angrily_

" _That's right! Anger, rage, it fuels you but you have to focus it properly" she narrowed her eyes on the cheetah " What does fire do?"_

_The young cheetah sighed irritated " What does that have to do with anything?"_

" _Don't question your tutor child!" she snarled " Answer the question"_

_Hunter shrugged not really knowing what to say " I don't know… it destroy things" he replied negligently_

" _Exactly" the young cheetah ears perked up, he looked at her surprised, hearing the female agreeing with him " So if fire destroys things, it kills things so what is fire to you?"_

_The young feline looked at the ground, his pupils were moving from side to side like they were trying to read an invisible text from the earth " It destroys things…it kills things…it hurts things…" he muttered thoughtfully, after a short while he looked at the female with determination in his eyes " It is my enemy"_

_She nodded " And when we fight with an enemy we always look for an-"_

" _Opening" both the female and Hunter spoke in unison_

_The female tutor nodded once again " Well done Hunter"_

_The other cheetah snorted " Finally, I figured it out a long time ago"_

_Hunter clenched his fist angrily while throwing his rival an irritated glance " You are way too stupid to do that"_

_Prowlus shrugged " Still I'm the one who prepared the trap right and would live to see another day"_

_The young cheetah narrowed his blue yes on his competitor while growling angrily " You…you…you…"_

" _Hush" their tutor let out a single word, yet it ringed with such a gentle and commanding tone that it silenced both children immediately " Now Hunter grab the stick and I'll show you how to do it right"_

_The young cheetah nodded and excitedly picked up the stick before crouching next to his tutor carefully eyeing the fire with her._

_The feline tutor stared at the fire for a while, its flames were dancing in her brown eyes " Tell me Hunter, is anger a good advisor in battle?"_

" _Only if you focus it properly" he replied unhesitatingly_

_The feline smiled, despite her strict demeanor, her beautiful smile was full of kindness, like there was an completely another person hiding behind all that veil of rigor " Good, you were listening" _

_She narrowed her eyes on the flames and her smile disappeared instantly, replaced by the stern expression the young cheetah was so well accustomed with " Fire is pure destructive power, its hate is unrelenting and uncontrolled hate leads to a downfall. To conquer a raging opponent you have to fuel your instinct by your own anger, but don't hate your opponent directly, focus instead on the things you will lose when you are defeated, let that anger you, never get provoked by your rival"_

_The female tutor took a pause before continuing her speech " You lost a battle with this fire because you allowed yourself to get provoked, evaluate your moves, think and you will win" she looked at her pupil's hand which tightly gripped the stick " The stick is your sword…"_

_Hunter impulsively looked at the woody part and studied it carefully, as if he truly could see a silvery blade instead of a tiny piece of a tree_

_The female grabbed his hand and guided it towards the cracking fire, with the stick pointing forward " … and as if in any fight, you look for an opening" she yanked his hand forward, the stick poked at the burning wood, tiny flames burst out as if sending an alarm signal that it is a dangerous game that the cheetahs are playing_

_She leaned closer towards the young cheetahs head, her own face stopped just right next to Hunter's ear " Always be confident" she whispered " Don't get intimidated by your opponent's display of power, control the situation." She yanked his hand again, once more the wood had been poked at, new flames burst out momentarily_

" _See these slightly darker flames? This is your opening, take advantage of it and the fire will succumb to your will. Just like with a living enemy, absolutely never strike where your opponent is the strongest " she pointed at the fire with her other hand " Like this bright orange flames here, always look for a weakness and take advantage of it"_

_Hunter poked at the fire with the guidance of his tutor until the fire finally spitted out flames but not as powerfully as before._

" _It worked!" the young cheetah jumped in triumph and exclaimed happily_

_She smiled and stood up " Of course it did" she eyed the fire from bottom to top, the smoke coming out of it was way bigger and thicker than before " With a fire like that you will lure your opponents to your position with ease" her smiled was gone once again, she turned towards her two students and folded her arms " Now, what is the most important thing when laying a trap?"_

" _Strength to defeat all of your enemies of course" Prowlus replied confidently_

_The tutor shook her head " Wrong, strength is just a minor factor when setting up ambushes"_

" _Wit" Hunter added_

_She hummed thoughtfully " Wit is important yes, but when literally laying a trap, wit is important to judge the situation, if it safe enough to lure your enemies, to judge if you will survive the encounter. Imagine the trap is set, so with the ambush already prepared what is the most important thing that will make it work?"_

" _Confidence?' the orange cheetah answered hesitatingly_

_She narrowed her eyes on the young cheetah " Are you asking me? This is how confidence looks like?" she snapped back at him irritated_

_Prowlus frowned " Confidence" he repeated determined_

_The female nodded slightly " The MOST important children, confidence plays a big role in every fighter's life, you have to be always sure of your decisions if you want to be a chief, even if one day they will turn out to be the wrong ones." she made a circular motion with her hand urging the children to continue " Go on"_

_Both young cheetahs looked at each other, lack of any further ideas beamed in both their eyes_

_She eyed both children, waiting for their response, giving them time to think even if their reaction already betrayed that they have no idea what to say " Do you know what is the most important thing when preparing an ambush or not?" she finally asked after a while of silent staring_

_Both young cheetahs dropped their heads in shame and shook them_

" _Control" she said and waited for the children to look at her before continuing " Control is the most important factor during an ambush, you have to make sure that the place of your ambush is your playground, make your enemies dance to your music. You don't want a bloodthirsty mercenary surprising you now don't you?"_

_She kneeled down while observing the young cheetahs intently " And how do you prevent your enemy from surprising you?"_

" _Whenever I hunt I always take advantage of my surroundings" Hunter replied confidently_

_She smiled " Precisely, you would be a great scout one day Hunter if you only wished to become one"_

_The young cheetah grinned, not everyone however shared his happiness, an irritated snort could be heard from his young rival_

_The female tutor chuckled " It hurt your pride Prowlus didn't it?" the young cheetah looked at her with an angry frown on his face " Good, you realize that you can't be the best in everything, nobody can. That's why when you become a chief you need to know your soldiers, use their best skills, respect them and they will respect you"_

_The orange cheetah looked at the ground thoughtfully, after a while he raised his head and nodded in understanding_

_She smiled once more as she stood up and started to walk away from the children as if lost in thought " The idea of this trap is to make your enemies notice you, so how do you plan on using your surroundings when you can't hide?"_

_Hunter scratched the back of his head " I…I…I…" he kept muttering until a sudden snap coming from the direction where his tutor went forced his ears to flinch, he looked at her surprised_

" _Why did you stop thinking?" she asked strictly_

_He looked at the ground " Sorry, you snapped a twig, I've got distracted"_

_She grinned " Is that so? Tell me children what makes us special as people? What our specie has that nobody else has?"_

_Both cheetahs looked at each other and began muttering something under their breaths thoughtfully until another snap ended their struggle_

" _It's hard to focus when you do that!" Hunter protested_

" _Really?" she crossed her hands behind her back and snapped the twig again " Did you hear that?"_

" _Of course we did, I've already told you its distracting"_

" _Doesn't it seem strange to you?"_

_Hunter looked at his tutor confused " Not really, what strange can be-"_

" _You are too far away" Prowlus muttered cutting off his young rival_

_She pointed a finger at the orange cheetah " Yes Prowlus keep going"_

" _You are standing too far away from us, but we can still hear the twig snapping"_

_Hunter looked at his tutor, then at the ground, it was in fact quite a distance between them and the female " Hey, you may be right…"_

" _Exactly" she exclaimed before grabbing the tip of her ear and wriggling it delicately " Hearing, this is our great advantage. Our sensitive ears can catch a sound even if it's coming from afar, apes nor even dragons have such sensitive ears"_

_Hunter's eyes widened " Dragons? I've never seen one, is it true that they can do magic?"_

_The female cheetah frowned and let out a growl while throwing the youngster an angry glance " Dragons are not a part of this lesson, maybe one day you'll meet them but it won't happen if you won't focus on your task!"_

_The young cheetah didn't say a word, he only dropped his head and nodded_ _apologetically_

_The female showed them the twig " This is how you use your surroundings when laying a trap like this, scatter the sticks or similar things that make some noise when stomped on and you are one step closer to making a successful ambush. With the sticks laying in a safe distance from your position you wait until you hear a…" she snapped the twig once more, making the ears of both young cheetahs flinch "… this is how you will know that your enemy is approaching, knowledge prevents unwanted surprises."_

_She flicked the twig away and approached the two cats while patting the hilt of her sword strapped to the side of her belt " Any ideas why this trap is so alluring to your enemies?"_

" _They can see us" Prowlus replied_

_She nodded " Correct, however there is a way to make this trap more efficient, risky but if you trust your skills you'll survive this with barely a scratch" she sat in front of the fire and motioned for the two children to take place at her sides_

_The moment their butts touched the ground she continued " Why people start fires in the wilderness in the first place?"_

" _To make camp, to rest" Hunter answered without hesitation_

_She nodded " Very good"_

_Prowlus snorted " That was easy!"_

_She smirked " Yet you haven't answered the question"_

_Hunter cackled_ _mischievously and poked his tongue at his rival_

_The orange cheetah growled faintly_

_Their tutor frowned " Enough of this, focus children" she exhaled and withdrew her sword " The idea of this trap is to make your enemies think that you are unaware of your surroundings, that you are preparing to rest. Make everything in your power to make this illusion as real as possible, clean yourself, take off your clothes, patch your wounds if you have any, this will make your enemies surround you"_

_Prowlus shook his head " It sounds like suicide, with no armor even a single scratch might cripple you"_

_She moved the sword closer to the fire and began to move it slowly back and forth, while observing the flames reflecting in its silvery blade " You are a Falcon, you aspire to be a chief one day of this tribe so it is your duty to become the perfect hunter just like the symbol of your tribe. To become an ideal hunter you need to learn the secrets of every other cheetah clan, this day I'm passing to you ours. Honestly I don't care if any of you becomes chieftain, I see potential in both of you and if you are not meant to become a leader I'm sure this knowledge will be useful to you anyway. _

_She put down the sword and sighed " To answer your question, yes it seems to be suicidal, yes it seems to be crazy but it also proves that you are worthy to be called a champion. Be like the Falcon children, fast, precise and merciless. This is a dangerous game and if you will make a mistake there won't be any second chance. Are you still willing to learn?"_

_There was a moment of silence as both young cheetahs looked at each other, they haven't said a single word yet they understood each other perfectly._

" _Yes" both of them answered at the same time_

_The tutor nodded " Very well, may Fortune favor you in years to come" she clapped her hands startling both children " So, we already have the fire lit, the illusion of a camp is prepared, now it's our turn to act. First your weapons " she placed the sword in front of her " The idea is to make your enemies believe that you are unarmed, so place your main weapon in such a way so it can be easily spotted by your enemies but also remember to lay the weapon close enough for you to reach it when the fight starts."_

_She pulled out a dagger " Next your secondary weapon, place it close and in sight, use it as soon as the attack starts, I always carry a spare in my pants anyway, you should too. Now the last thing depends on your fighting style" she withdrew a throwing knife " As a warrior I always carry these babies with me but bow and arrows work just as fine" she placed three knifes in front of her " These are your projectiles, use them right after your secondary weapon. I've learnt that three is the best I can do before the enemy is on top of me, so I advise you to use three as well, that way you use all of them without leaving any for your enemies, always remember that your forgotten equipment might be used against you."_

" _Now clothes and armor " she unstrapped the dark cloak she was wearing which cascaded down her back, the cheetah grabbed it and gave the children a saucy smile " That's enough, you are too young to see the rest" she winked _

_She put down the cloak " Act as if you are patching up yourself if you really don't have any real wounds that's it, if you do use the opportunity to heal yourself. By now your enemy discovered you and is preparing to attack, yet they still are waiting for the right moment. To hasten their advance…"_

_She unstrapped her belt and threw it to the side, all kind of weapons and bags dangled from it and clattered as they hit the rock " Every fighter carries with him a belt filled with all kind of daggers, bags and the like, throwing that away shows your enemies that your are giving away all of your weapons. Remember to place the belt close, grab a weapon from it as soon as you use all of your projectiles and pick up the belt, as I said you don't want your enemies using your own weapons against you."_

_With a pat on her knees she stood up, wrapped the belt around herself and sheathed her sword, knifes and dagger " This conclude our training session for today, this was pure theory, tomorrow we will see how you both will fare when we will push the training to a more practical sessions. Remember " she turned towards the children and grabbed the tip of her ear " When your ears will react, your enemy is attacking, fight back as a predator you are and may Fortune favor you children"_

* * *

Hunter smiled, it's a wonder how his perspective changed some months later, a child whose only dream was to become a chief abandoned his, some may call it destiny, just to pursue his fascination. No regrets, that life wasn't for him, this is where he found purpose, serving under the banner of the creatures that mesmerize him. It's a risky and dangerous life, but he wouldn't change it for anything else.

His ears flinched, they had caught the sound of a twig snapping, Hunter swallowed " Here we go…"

There was a sound of some arrows being released, accompanied by the cries of charging enemies. The cheetah instantly dropped to the ground, the moment the arrows whizzed above him he adopted a crouching position, he heard and noticed an ape throwing an axe at him with an angry growl. With a quick spin he managed to avoid the whirling axe, he saw the weapon passing through the flames as he turned. He grabbed the dagger he prepared early and the moment he was about to face the mercenary he flung the weapon at him, the blade pierced the soldier's eye, killing him on the spot.

Still spinning around Hunter grabbed the bow with the prepared projectile laying on top of it, he strung it in mere seconds just to release an arrow moments later. The wooden projectile impaled itself right in between the eyes of one of the archers. The scout moved his hand backwards to grab another arrow before jumping on the ground to avoid another set of arrows coming his way, while in the air he set loose another projectile that struck down a second archer.

With a swift swipe of his tail he picked up the last two arrows, he raised on one knee and released one of the projectiles that took down a third archer. With a fast turn he fired the last arrow at the fourth archer, the arrow killed the soldier but not before he could release an arrow of his own, however the mortal wound forced the ape to lose accuracy, with a sharp yank of his body to the side Hunter managed to avoid the projectile, yet he could feel the feathers brushing against his shoulder as the arrow raced past him.

The scouts ears flinched again as an evil roar sounded just behind him, the cheetah instinctively raised his bow upwards. His sturdy weapon managed to stop the sword coming from above that would otherwise split his head in half. He could hear the soldier faintly gasping in surprise, taking advantage of the shock he caused Hunter reached down his other pantleg and withdrew a dagger which he later plunged into the soldier's uncovered kneecap.

The mercenary howled in pain and began to collapse unable to hold his weight on his injured leg, however his fall just like the howl was abruptly ended by a dagger piercing his jaw. Hunter stood up tightly gripping the hilt of his weapon, he could see the bloody blade protruding from the soldier's jaw inside his mouth.

The cheetah's sensitive ears picked up the sound of a stringing bow behind him, Hunter pushed the dagger as far as he could to get a better hold of his opponent's body, with a sharp turn he exchanged positions with his enemy. Moments later a bolt struck the soldier's back severing his spine and killing him on the spot. Hunter withdrew the dagger from the soldier's jaw dragging a trail of blood behind it. The body slumped to the ground, the moment nothing blocked his view Hunter flung the dagger at the orc, it struck him right in the throat stealing all the life out of him in seconds.

He dashed forward and reached for his belt, he wrapped it around himself just to pick up the sword of the recently fallen mercenary. Hunter parried an attack of another soldier who threw himself at him, the cheetah unsheathed the dagger from his belt and prepared to sink it in the soldier's chest. Unlucky for him the orc realized what he was up to and instantly tackled the feline pushing his arm with the short blade to the side.

Hunter hit the rocky ground with a grunt, the dagger rolled out from his arm at the impact, once again he found himself being pinned by his enemy. Both their main weapons also were thrown from their grip and clattered somewhere on the nearby stones. The orc straightened up and struck the cheetah's face with a powerful hook, before he could defend himself Hunter received another blow to the other side of his face.

Just as soon as a fist was approaching him again, Hunter raised one of his arms to block it while with the other he reached down his belt and unstrapped one of the bags. He was defenseless against another strike to his face however, he could hear his teeth grinding against each other in pain, without wasting any more time he flicked the bag straight into the fire while striking the burning wood with his clenched fist.

He hissed as his hand was burned but the end result was worth it, the accurate strike created an opening inside the cracking wood just like the one he made when he was young. The fire intensified by the powder he threw into it recently, the fire spit out flames slightly to the air, it looked like a dragon who was just using his elemental attack. The hot flames scorched the orc on top of him, the soldier rolled off of him screaming in pain while covering his face.

Even from the ground Hunter could feel the heat, in fact he was quite certain that he got burned but it wasn't anything he wasn't used to before. He quickly rolled in the direction where the thrashing orc laid while picking up the sword from one of the nearby stones. On his knees Hunter grabbed the hilt in two hands and raised it high above his head just to bring the weapon down with a sharp move and a growl. The blade sunk deep into the soldier's chest forcing out a stifled groan out of him, with the sword locked in place Hunter twisted it forcefully, his sensitive ears picked up the sound of the orc exhaling faintly his last breath.

The cheetah instinctively spun around while swiping his sword in a wide arc, to his surprise however there was no one there. His eyes traveled across the battleground, besides him there was no one left alive, the fire was cracking intensely and several bodies were sprawled on the ground in pool of their own bloods. His ears perked up as he began to listen intently for any sound, he remained in that position for a while but nothing caught his attention that sounded out of the ordinary.

With a tired sigh his shoulders slumped down, together with his ears flattening on his skull. He had done it, panting heavily he examined the scene once more, archer, archer, a common soldier…, his eyes widened, something was nor right. When he was tracking this group he could easily discern the mark of one of the leaders or similar high ranking soldier he already had a comparison embedded in his mind , yet no officer was laying dead here on the ground.

His blue eyes caught a glimpse of somebody moving behind the trees, he rolled forward and instantly withdrew an arrow from his quiver, by now the shrouded figure already spotted what he was doing and began escaping in panic. Fast but steady. Hunter picked up his bow and strung the arrow, he waited for the right moment and set it loose. There was a scream of pain as the arrow struck the escaping figure in the leg and brought it to the ground.

The cheetah flung the bow behind his back and dashed in the direction of the form while preparing his sword in case he had to defend himself. There was a lightly armored ape soldier crawling on the ground with his injured leg being dragged behind him, the soldier kept groaning and panting quickly as he pushed with all his strength to be as far away as possible from the cheetah. Hunter spotted the figure and began approaching it slowly with the sword tightly gripped in his hand.

There was a snap and the ape immediately looked behind him, he screamed in terror when he noticed the feline approaching him with his sword at the ready. Groaning, grunting and screaming he started to crawl even more faster, at least he thought so, he swiped with his arms chaotically but he was even moving slower than before, in fact it seemed that in his panicked state he was doing more harm to himself than the arrow did in the first place.

Hunter grabbed the crippled soldiers shoulder and forcefully rolled him onto his back while raising his sword

The soldier raised his hands defensively " Please don't kill me!" the ape yelped

The cheetah looked him over, the ape was young, and clearly unexperienced, it almost seemed like this was his first task. Hunter narrowed his blue eyes on the mercenary " What are you doing here, so far in dragon's territory?"

" I don't…" the soldier muttered horrified " Don't kill me please!"

" Answer the question" the feline replied coldly

" I don't know!" he blurt out " They never told me anything! Just don't kill me!"

" Tell me where you leader is and I might let you live"

" He ordered us to stay here and wait for anyone who might be following while he made his way to rejoin with the first group"

" WHERE?" Hunter snarled

The mercenary shivered " East! East! Near the jungle, where there is some kind of a stony terrain or something, I don't know really that's what I've overheard. I swear that's everything I know, please don't kill me!"

" Why have you joined the Dark Army? Don't lie to me"

" Wealth! I only wanted wealth! I don't care about power or these strange gems, I just wanted to be rich!" he almost cried

Hunter sighed and lowered his weapon, the young ape's reasons were stupid but they weren't malicious. Not to mention that he couldn't kill someone in cold blood, he isn't a murderer " Greed will be the end of you one day" he reached down his leg and pulled out the arrow forcing a painful yelp from the ape " Go and never come back, I don't care if you'll survive but if you do I don't want to see you here ever again"

The ape couldn't hold back his tears " Thank you! Thank you I swear you'll never hear of me again!"

The scout gave the ape a bandage and a single flask of his healing ointment " Take this, it will help your wound to heal faster"

The unexperienced soldier accepted the gift with shaking hands and nodded not being able to utter a single word of gratitude.

Hunter returned to his camp and prepared for the journey ahead, there was still some distance he has to cross before he will catch up with the remnants of the Dark Army. He still had no idea what they were planning but at least now he knew where he was going and won't waste time locating tracks. Not to mention that he also eliminated two groups already, there was however one still left and most likely it was the most dangerous one.

Hunter put out the fire and started his pursuit, he only hoped that Fortune was still on his side.


	29. Chapter 11 Book II

Chapter 11

Hunter knew exactly where he was headed, during his run he of course noticed the tracks of the single ape and soon later of the entire group but he never bothered to examine them carefully. The scared ape described a terrain near a jungle in a shape of a stony circle, in fact in was nothing more than that, a circle made of stone, so either the ape really was left in the dark or the Dark Army doesn't know what that circle is, or perhaps they simply don't care.

If his ears would be more sensitive they would hear his own mind pulsing inside his skull as it was ceaselessly processing for some time now all the information he has gathered regarding the strange circle and the recent events. It occurred to him then that the Atlawa tribe inhabiting the Tall Plains had nothing to do with the odd stony pattern embedded into the greenish ground near their territory, in fact they've sounded pretty surprised themselves.

Hunter knew about the circle because he volunteered to be the investigator of this strange occurrence for the Dragon City. When he arrived at the scene he began his examination, but besides pointing the obvious- that a circle made of stone hardly fits in a terrain surrounded by only rainforest and grass, couldn't discover anything else. It's been weeks since his last appearance here, maybe he couldn't find anything because back then the whole Realms were mourning and talking about Spyro's presumed death.

It was then when something struck him, he froze, if the cheetah would be in some sort of a cartoon now a light bulb would appear above his head. The Atlawa arrived in Warfang two days after the dragon constellation appeared in the sky, two days after Malefor's defeat, two days after Spyro's disappearance. Knowing about the portals he had no doubt that the circle is related to these strange veils, he was quite certain that it appeared through one such portal. It seems that the Dark Army knows about them also, whatever they are trying to do it can't be good.

He looked up at hearing the sound of a falcon's urging call, listening to his avian companion Hunter darted forward, if the orc leader he fought earlier was speaking the truth he might already be too late. After a while he was beginning to arrive at his destination, but then something unexpected happened, a loud roar echoed throughout the terrain just like a very powerful thunder would strike nearby.

Hunter being surprised by the noise instantly adopted a crouching position and prepared his bow, his instinct kicked in, it always told him to be cautious of danger whenever something surprises you, this time however nothing attacked, nevertheless it's still better to be safe than sorry. The roar was unexpected but the sight some moments later shocked him even more.

His ears flattened on his skull as he looked up, the sky darkened in an instant, covering the Tall Plains in a coat of a thick darkness. He gasped when an yellow column of light shot towards the darkened sky, the moment it hit an unseen barrier of some sorts high above, the sky adopted the form of a spider web, it looked like cracks appearing on a block of ice. The yellow hue transformed itself into a completely white light, and moments later tendrils shot from the web and travelled through the sky, momentarily they disappeared behind the horizon.

The spider web faded, and together with it faded the artificial night, sun emerged again with the azure sky following in its wake. Hunter stared at the sky in awe, whatever just happened lasted for seconds, nevertheless it still was quite a sight. Hunter didn't waste time on sightseeing, his complete focus was turned towards the direction from which the column of light appeared, even if he didn't see the location yet, he was clearly certain that it led towards the stony circle.

Either this was a sign of something sinister really being prepared by the Dark Army or he was in fact already late, whatever the case may be he cannot allow the last group to escape, it would be an unpleasant surprise for the people living here when they would accidently encounter a group of enemy soldiers roaming their territory. Whatever the case may be he was quite certain that the Atlawa had to notice the beam and most likely their soldiers were already on their way here. The Dark Army most likely figured out that also, so he doesn't have much time before they will vanish, Hunter pulled on his hood, his purpose was set, he needs to stall them long until reinforcements arrive, hopefully.

He once again extended his arm and bent it in the elbow before whistling, it was a tune only one kind of creature understood. Seconds later the falcon's talons wrapped themselves against his red arm band, he patted the avian creature, it let out a cheerful cry while stretching its wings.

Hunter smiled " I know you are eager my friend but this time this is not your fight. Seek out the Atlawa, lead them here, make haste" he yanked his arm.

The bird took off with a loud call, it flapped its wings hastily and rose above the tree level, seconds later the avian companion disappeared from the cheetahs sight.

Hunter's eyes returned to the ground, another fight was approaching, he took a deep breath and ran his hand across his chest, as if trying to remind himself that a life of a fighter is a merciless one and every aching injury only proves that he is still alive.

He rubbed the yin-yang symbol with his thumb reverently " You are still with me aren't you?" he whispered but didn't receive any hearable response for the common ear, the feline smiled " Of course you are, I wouldn't be here otherwise" he narrowed his eyes on the path ahead " Let's make them regret their advance"

Hunter darted forward, always heading in the direction of the stony circle, yet always looking for every opportunity to get on higher ground. Whenever he had the chance he scaled some small hill, and after such every trek the sound of muffled voices were getting louder and louder, the noise making his sensitive ears twitch in anticipation.

The cheetah finally arrived on a hill that overlooked the circle, there were some thick bushes at its outcropping, a perfect place from which he could spread havoc among his enemies, and also eavesdrop on their conversation. His ears perked up under his hood the moment he crouched behind the bushes and moved away some of their leafs to get a better look on his opponents below.

His fears were justified, this is definitely the most dangerous group, besides spotting the ape leader of the group he eliminated recently, there was also an ape commander with his magical scepter strapped onto his back farther ahead. Next to him stood a very high orc cladded in a spiked heavy dark armor, there was a heavy dark shield on his back with a spiked club of the same color on top of it with a red gem inserted into the spiked ball.

That was a Hero orc, the most intimidating and dangerous foe from the Dark Army contingent, excluding Malefor, the alliance had to face. Besides the obvious elite group Hunter could spot several common soldiers with archers among them. Two of those soldiers were having a conversation right below him.

"What the hell was that?" one of the apes whispered to his comrade

" I don't know man!" the second soldier replied in a stifled voice " But it seems the big guy did exactly what he planned"

" I hate it dude, they don't tell us anything, they just treat us as cannon fodder"

The second soldier nodded " I hear you man, I hate it too but let's face it, everyone had to start from scratch. We just need to prove ourselves"

" Prove" the first ape scoffed " How can we prove ourselves when they keep us in the dark?"

The second ape looked around as if making sure that nobody is listening before focusing on his partner " I overheard the commander talking with the orc, this has something to do with the Master"

The first soldier looked shocked " Malefor, seriously? Come on tell me what did you hear!"

His partner once again looked around before speaking " I don't know man, but I think they want to bring him back somehow"

" Impossible!" the first ape exclaimed "The guy is dead, those two kids whacked him up good"

" Shhhh" his comrade hissed while motioning with his hand to silence him " Keep your voice down" he looked around once more before returning to his partner " That guy was an evil genius, I'm sure he had a backup plan or something"

The first ape folded his arms and stared at his companion unconvinced " Then let's hope Malefor will arrive here since the lamas will be on top of us soon, nobody could miss that light"

"MOVE OUT!" the ape commander roared the moment he finished his conversation with the orc

The first soldier threw his comrade a meaningful look

The second ape rolled his eyes " Ok fine, maybe he is not coming back" he pointed a finger at his partner " but I'm sure that the Dark Master had something to do with all of this"

" You are making this up, shut up"

" Think whatever you want about this but I'm right about this one, I can feel it!"

" The only thing we will feel will be the boot of our commander on our asses if we won't move" he waved for his comrade to follow him " Come on"

The ape probably exaggerated but now Hunter without a doubt could say that he was late, whatever the Dark Army wanted to accomplish here managed to do it. Maybe he will find out what this was all about later, but for now his goal was to stall the leaving group, they cannot be allowed to roam free through the alliance's territory.

The feline strung his bow and moved it forward, the leafs parted before his weapon, the only thing that protruded from the bushes was the tip of his arrow. Hunter narrowed his eyes, held his breath and aimed, another battle was approaching.

The Hero orc observed the soldiers as they were gathering near their commander, during such examination the corner of his eye caught a glint of something silvery up the hill. Before he could react there was a sharp whizz as the projectile passed by him followed by a muffled grunt as the arrow impaled itself in the ape leader's neck.

The ape fell on his knees in an instant while tightly clenching the projectile protruding from his neck, blood was flowing down from the wound and down the soldier's armor. Second later the leader's gurgles and groans ceased and he dropped to the ground face first, a pool of blood covered the ground below his corpse immediately.

" TAKE COVER!" the ape commander roared, and as soon as he finished another arrow raced through the air and struck down an archer.

The soldiers as well as their officers scattered in every direction, the Hero orc with an aggravated snarl did the same. Another whiz, another gurgle, an archer who was running behind him dropped dead in his tracks. The orc unfastened his large shield, just in time in fact to block another arrow that tried to take the life of a soldier next to him.

Silence has befallen on the recent battleground, all of the soldiers who yet still lived ducked behind a tree, or a rock. The orc stoically dropped his heavy shield on the ground and leaned slightly, just enough that the corner of his eye could scan the surroundings without the risk of his head receiving an arrow.

An ape soldier panted heavily next to the orc, not from exhaustion, but shock " Where the fuck are they?" he blurt out

The orc intently scanned the hill, his experienced eye noticed a slight flaw in the bushes up above, it was unnatural that leafs would create such inconsistent pattern " Not _they_" the orc replied coldly " It's a lonely archer"

The ape's eyes widened " One guy? Where?"

" On the cliff" the orc rested the back of his head on the stony cover and closed his eyes

" Have you seen how fast and accurate he is? And you want to tell me that there is only one guy up there?"

The Hero narrowed his red eyes on the soldier, it made the ape flinch" Watch your mouth" he snarled " I'm your superior, I know what I'm talking about, get a hold of yourself, you are a member of the Dark Army, act like one" he once again relaxed his head on the stone " No wonder the Master created us to be your replacement" he closed his eyes again

Part of the ape wanted to retort at this insult but the cautious part of his being won, the orc was in fact his superior and it would be unwise to antagonize his officer in a heat of battle. The ape managed to swallow his pride with much effort " So what are we going to do now?"

" YOU ARE TOO LATE CHEETAH!" the orc roared

Hunter frowned and looked surprised past the tip of his strung arrow, the fact the orc could discern his features when he was quite sure that he concealed himself pretty well only adds to the already high difficulty, those aren't amateurs. He threw a quick glance at his yin-yang symbol and sighed " I need you now more than ever" he looked at the sky with longing eyes before concentrating on the terrain ahead of him once more

" THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO NOW! WE HAVE ALREADY ACCOMPLISHED OUR GOAL" the orc roared again

The officer's words rang true, but he won't and can't let them get away with this. With a wiggle of his shoulders Hunter once again prepared his striking position

" THE MASTER WILL HAVE HIS REVANGE!"

" You sure he can hear us? He is quite far away" the ape blurt out impatiently

The orc frowned under his dark helmet " Be silent, you know nothing of your enemy" he snorted " You are pathetic"

Hunter narrowed his eyes, the orc was surely planning something, he didn't survive the siege on Warfang or the fight with the Destroyer to fall for a trick of a common soldier, no matter what his rank is among his contingent. However the mentioning of The Dark Master was somewhat unnerving, the cheetah was convincing himself that it was just a bluff, even if his common sense told him otherwise.

" THE REALMS WILL ONCE AGAIN BE BATHED IN DRACONIC BLOOD!" after his shout the orc nodded slightly towards the ape commander hiding some distance farther away from him behind a rock. The ape officer made a simple motion with his hand, giving a signal for the archers telling them to prepare themselves for an attack.

Hunter waited patiently, he had the upper hand for the time being, he was sure that the soldiers below are planning something, in fact he was certain that his time of advantage is limited but at least he will try and make the best of it.

The orc pointed at himself just to direct his finger upwards seconds later, the ape commander nodded understanding the signal.

" AND NOW WE WILL ADD YOURS TO THE POOL!" the hero roared, grabbed the soldier next to him and lifted him above the rock.

" What the fuck are you doing?!" the ape screamed terrified

Momentarily all available archers rose from their covers and aimed their bows at the cliff. There was a whizz of an arrow and a grunt soon later, the orc lowered the soldier and frowned when he noticed that the soldier was alive and kicking.

" You are crazy!" the terrified soldier yelled

The orc ignored him and looked past his body to notice one of the archers who was supposed to attack the cheetah drop dead with an arrow between his eyes. He growled " FLUSH HIM OUT!"

Hunter remained calm, he had seen through their ruse, the archer he just killed forced the rest of the attackers to miss their target by meters due to shock. He quickly strung another arrow when he heard the orc's cry, seconds later every capable shooter appeared once again, together with the ape commander. Hunter managed to strike down another archer before a volley of arrows and a fireball reached him.

The cheetah quickly got up, spun around and jumped forward, the volley of arrows landed on the ground behind him with an audible smacking sound. The fireball also made contact with the ground, he could feel the heat as soon as it burst out flames after the impact. However that was the least of his worries, the flung fireball after collision created such a shockwave that the strong gust of wind that followed soon after forced him to slide from the hill at a great speed.

" ATTACK!" the orc roared while unfastening his weapon " KILL THE CAT!"

Hunter slid down from the rough cliff on his belly, he could feel the terrain ripping apart his freshly treated wounds. Impact with an obstacle at such speed would only knock him out, and it goes without saying that he would never again open his eyes when a thing like that would happen.

He reached down his belt and unstrapped two daggers, with gritted teeth he slid down farther until a tree came into sight that was just at hands reach. The moment Hunter reached it he thrust the daggers into its trunk, the blades didn't really sink into the wooden structure, instead they tore off the bark as they slid across the tree's trunk.

The end result wasn't exactly what he planned, he was still sliding down but at least he managed to drastically slow down. Unfortunately the daggers didn't hold him, their blades were thrown from the wooden structure with enough force to make Hunter's body spin, instead of sliding he now rolled down the slope.

Luckily for him he never reached the bottom since he soon stopped on a nearby tree, tangling himself in the long lianas that hung from the crown. He didn't have much time to regain his composure since he heard the sound of approaching footsteps from both sides, the enemy was beginning to surround him.

With his instinct kicking in Hunter used his daggers to quickly climb the tree and cut the liana from the farthest pint he could reach. Dropping down he sheathed his daggers, picked up the wooden vine and started to run back up the hill, with the liana dangling behind him.

" KILL HIM!" the orc roared while pointing his spiked club at the running cheetah before he himself started his pursuit after the cat

Hunter began maneuvering as he ascended the cliff once more, he could hear the arrows whizzing past him but his attackers were running just like him, that's why their accuracy was that lousy. As the cheetah kept pushing on he tied the liana around his waist in a tight knot that almost took all of his breath away, however such thing was necessary.

As he was nearing the outcropping he noticed quite a big stone protruding from the ground, he stopped and hid behind it just to fling the liana around its stony surface. He impulsively rose his head above the rock as he tied the vine into a tight knot. His head remained above the rock maybe only for a second since the moment he set his eyes on the steep terrain ahead his ears dropped on his skull and he had to instantly duck to avoid several arrows flying above him.

Without wasting any more time and with the liana tightly wrapped around his waist he left his hiding spot and darted towards the outcropping. As he ran he unstrapped his bow, with a corner of his eye he could see his enemies nearly behind his tail, they were close but he was faster than them nevertheless. Hunter unhesitatingly leapt from the cliff, the moment he raised into the air he spun around while stringing an arrow and just before he disappeared from his enemies sight he managed to surprise them by killing one archer.

An orc dropped dead just right next to the hero orc, the creature growled in frustration " IDIOTS!" he yelled while directing himself towards the stone with the liana tied around it.

With one strong blow he severed the connection, parts of the vein fell on the ground while the rest followed the falling cheetah. Hunter's eyes widened when suddenly he didn't feel any pressure around his waist, he instinctively yanked the liana just to find it loose. Luckily he wasn't far from the ground so the collision with the earth below wasn't that drastic but it still knocked out breath from his lungs. Groaning he opened his eyes just to see the hero orc leaning from the cliff and pointing his weapon at him

" FINISH HIM OFF!" the orc commanded

Focus returned to the feline in a matter of seconds when he noticed that the red gem embedded into the orc's weapon began to glow. Hunter quickly got up on his feet and darted forward, just in time since soon later a fiery hot red beam struck the place where he laid just mere seconds ago.

An furious roar of an ape commander echoed through the air, there was no use for words, the angry cry was enough to make the rest of the soldiers understand its meaning. The remaining archers released another series of arrows at the running cheetah, the ape commander didn't watch, the magician himself launched a small but very quick fireball at the dashing cat himself.

Hearing the sound of incoming arrows and magic projectile Hunter understood that he won't be able to outmanoeuvre the incoming projectiles. The feline instead leapt into the air and with his body and arms stretched forward he jumped above one of the many rocks his enemies used previously as cover. He could feel and hear the arrows bouncing off the stony structure, unfortunately he wasn't able to avoid getting hurt. Just before his legs could slump behind the rock the fireball collided with its surface, the flames it blurt out forth managed to catch the cheetah's still unprotected legs.

Hunter groaned painfully through clenched teeth as he slid down behind the stony surface, the flames managed to reach his flesh even through his pants and ankle bands. While still clinging to his hiding spot Hunter heard a falcon's cry in the distance, soon his sensitive ears picked up two more calls. Hunter understood the message perfectly, the Atlawa were coming, however judging from the cries of his flying friend the lamas weren't concentrating on a direct assault, they were instead surrounding their enemies, cutting of any escape routes in the process.

The cheetah with a painful sigh prepared his bow, with a quick breath he pulled himself up and took a quick peek from his cover. Only two archers remained on the cliff, they fired their bows at him but the apes were much less skilled than he was. Hunter easily dodged the projectiles just to fire an arrow of his own, the projectile didn't hit its target but it went past by the archer so closely that he won't be trying to attack anytime soon.

The cheetah swiftly prepared another arrow to scare off the second archer but then his sensitive ears picked up movement on his right flank. He spun around and released the projectile, only a stifled grunt was a sign that there was really someone there. Another sound, this time coming from his left side, with a quick spin Hunter repeated the procedure, it ended exactly as the previous one.

There was something wrong, these soldiers were committing suicides, their moves were uncoordinated, they seemed to forget about his hearing. Cheetahs can be surprised but you have to be very careful as you sneak towards them, and these soldiers weren't. Either the commander is throwing everything he has at him, which would have no sense at all since they clearly outnumber him or…

" We need to go!" Hunter muttered with a raised voice when realization struck him.

His enemies movements were uncoordinated because their commander wasn't here, and since the orc also vanished it could only mean one thing- both officers are retreating, they have to know that the Atlawa will get here sooner or later, and if they would linger around here for too long they would get surrounded. Darting forward Hunter made his way towards the area behind the cliff since that was most likely where both officers went.

However before he could truly begin his pursuit he was stopped in his tracks by two soldiers, the apes pointed their swords at him and charged with a loud war cry. Hunter being swift on his legs sidestepped to avoid a thrust and ducked under the second sword without even slowing down. He then leapt at one of the soldiers while he raised his weapon for another attack, with the cheetahs weight pressing on him the soldier couldn't keep his balance and fell to the ground. Hunter rolled forward while tearing the soldier's weapon from his hand, he then quickly got up and with a swift spin unstrapped one of his daggers and flung it at the standing soldier. The ape caught by surprise couldn't dodge it, the blade impaled itself in the soldier's throat, without wasting any time the feline rose the sword above his head and plunged it into the chest of the fallen ape, a gurgle and blurt out blood from the soldier's mouth was enough of a sign to tell that the thrust was a fatal one.

Recovering his dagger, and picking up the sword Hunter continued his pursuit, he could hear the soldier's shouts from behind him as they began to chase him, but he didn't care about them, he is fast, he can outrun them with ease and by the time they'll find him the Atlawa will be here. Hunter whistled a tune that only his flying companion could understand, as soon as he finished he could hear a falcon's cry in the distance as if in acknowledgement. The first call was soon followed by two more, which ordered haste.

Hunter nodded slightly, his message was understood, nobody can escape and the two officers are way too powerful to be handled alone. Nevertheless he never stopped, he had a goal to stall them, and he will accomplish it no matter what. Soon he picked up the trail, the two elites weren't really bothering to cover them, probably thinking that the soldiers would stall him long enough to give them time to escape.

The trail with each second became more and more apparent, he was gaining on them and soon he will catch up with the two soldiers. As he scanned the ground his keen eyes noticed disparity on the ground, his eyes widened when he realized that someone was meddling with it, it only meant one thing- this was a trap.

Years of experience and natural reflexes allowed Hunter to dodge the trap in the last second, unfortunately he wasn't able to avoid entirely the swinging black club appearing from behind a rock, the spikes caught his arm, tearing out fur and flesh, luckily for him the spikes didn't go far, yet the hit from such a massive weapon even if not a clean one managed to throw him off balance. Hunter couldn't regain his stability and fell on the ground face first.

The hero orc smirked as he turned to face the fallen cheetah while rotating the massive club in his hand " Told you he would come after us"

The ape commander stepped out from behind his cover while examining the disparity on the ground with a frown " You also told me that he would trigger the trap and be dead by now"

The orc shrugged " A small detail that can be easily corrected" he narrowed his eyes on the cheetah " Time to get ourselves a pelt"

With a roar the orc charged with the club raised above his head, Hunter rolled to the side just in time to avoid the strike, bits of grass and dirt bounced off his face as the club hit the ground. The ape commander charged his magical scepter, the air became suddenly cold, Hunter knowing what was happening reached down his pantleg and with a swift move threw a dagger at the ape. It didn't strike the commander but the blade managed to collide with the ape's weapon throwing it slightly to the side.

It was then when the ice bolt was released, bits of ice managed to scar the cheetah as the magical projectile shattered just a few meters from his body. The orc attacked again, and once again Hunter rolled away from the spiked club but this time when the strike missed him he adopted a crouching position and made a quick swing with his leg dragging it across the ground. The orc toppled to the ground with a grunt as he was thrown off balance.

Hunter instantly jumped forward above his fallen enemy, just in time in fact to avoid another magical missile. With a roll he unstrapped his bow and while in crouching position he spun around and immediately released arrow after arrow in quick succession at the ape commander. The projectiles never found their target since the orc rose in their way and blocked their path with his heavy shield.

When the last arrow shattered on its metallic surface the orc lowered his shield and with a roar pointed his weapon at the feline, the red gem was already glowing with energy. A red beam was set loose soon after, Hunter jumped to the side, as he rolled the scent of burning material invaded his nostrils. Only when he got up he realized that the beam melted entirely the bottom side of his cape.

The moment he rose Hunter released an arrow at the orc to prevent him from charging his weapon again, his enemy of course blocked the shot with his shield but it was enough to stall the orc even if for a little bit. He could feel the pulse of magical energy as another missile was being thrown at him, Hunter swiftly leaned his body backwards, the ice bolt flew just past his eyes. Even if the attack was a miss, the bolt still managed to leave an icy painful trail on his chest.

He won't be able to keep up with his enemies at this close range, he might be fast but everyone has his limits, the constant dodging was tiring and exhaustion only mean slowness. He had to retreat to a safer distance, he isn't a fighter, he has no chance of survival in close combat against such powerful opponents. Hunter didn't really have the time to come up with a plan since the orc charged immediately.

The orc flung his weapon vertically, the cheetah sidestepped avoiding the blow just to pin the weapon to the ground as he put his legs on the orc's arm just to leap forward above his enemy head to land behind the orc's back. It didn't went as he planned, as he was in the air the officer somehow managed to slightly fling his heavy shield, it was a slow move, even for a beast like him it was quite a feat to raise such a shield above his head. Unfortunately for the cheetah it was enough, Hunter managed to avoid most of the spikes but one found its mark, the black spike tore his coat and the side of his body leaving a bloody cut on his left side.

Hunter roared in pain but unfortunately for him that wasn't the last of his worries, the ape commander irritated by his constant misses tried a different approach. He charged a shockwave that didn't require a clean hit to be effective, the ape pointed his scepter outwards and released the charged spell. Hunter only grunted when he was hit by the invisible force, he was shot from the sky just to be flicked like he weighted nothing into the nearby rock, the shockwave forced the hero orc to teeter and fight for his balance.

Cracks appeared on the stony surface as Hunter collided with it, he felt as an electric pulse ran through his spine, to make things worse blood started to trickle down the back of his neck, the impact left a cut on the back of his head that was bleeding profusely. Not to mention he had difficulties to let out a single breath, the world swirled before his eyes, the dizziness made him sick.

During his near fainting state he noticed the ape commander approaching him, he couldn't really tell but he thought he was laughing. He saw the ape unsheathing a sword, Hunter tried to pull up but every attempt ended with him hitting the ground, he saw the ape raising his sword and then everything went black, before he lost contact with the world he was glad that at least he was spared the sight of his own death.

* * *

Surprisingly Hunter managed to force his eyes open, through his blurry vision he saw the commander sprawled on the ground in front of him shredded by arrows. He could also hear some muffled sounds coming from the many indistinct forms littering his sight. He couldn't focus on the shapes since soon his vision was once again was shrouded by darkness.

* * *

Hunter opened his eyes again, but this time there was a blurry image of a member of the Atlawa tribe kneeling before him. The lama's green eyes were observing him closely, the cheetah tried to make out some features but the only thing he managed to discern were the tribesmen's whitish wool with a steel blue hue in the middle that ran upwards and circled around the lama's eyes. A pointy mane was situated on the creature's head between two long ears, the mane just like the ears had the same color his wool had, with the steel blue covering the upper side. Hunter could also see the lama's leather armor and a tip of a spear protruding from behind his back, he tried to focus and make out some other details but his eyes were already closing, the last thing he saw was the tribesman waving for someone to approach.

* * *

Hunter's eyes opened yet again just to see nothing else but his avian companion standing before him, the bird looked at him, parted its beak and let out a cry. For the cheetah's dizzied sense it sounded like the most beautiful lullaby, the feline drifted away momentarily.

* * *

When he opened his eyes this time he was in entirely different place, instead of an azure sky a wooden ceiling greeted him. Hunter slowly looked around the room, it looked like the typical bedroom one could find in every village located in the wilderness. A simple closet, a nightstand with a burning candle placed on top of it. There was also a table in his new room with all sorts of medicine laying on its top, starting from simple bandages just to end on some strange looking mixtures.

The sound of an opening door reached his ears, he looked in the direction from which the sound came and saw two female lamas entering the room while laughing cheerfully, one of the females was carrying a bowl. Their laughs ended abruptly when they laid their eyes on him, the female who carried the bowl leaned towards the other one

" Go get Kane" she whispered and the second lama disappeared in an instant.

She smiled as she began approaching the cheetah " Good morning"

Hunter focused his eyes on her form, she was wearing some simple brown pants, a white tank top and an apron on top of it. A khaki wool covered her body which turned more crimson around her red eyes

" Who are you?" Hunter asked in a muffled tone

She giggled while placing the bowl on the table " Don't worry I'm not some sort of a guide who wants to take you to Werint"

" Werint?" the feline repeated the unknown name, he also noticed crimson stripes of wool on her mostly khaki arms, the crimson color also covered the top of her ears

" That's right I've forgot completely" she kneeled next to his bed " You are not familiar with our customs" she placed her hand on his forehead

Hunter surprisingly relaxed under her touch, he began to examine his surroundings " Where am I?"

She smiled, stood up and approached the recently placed bowl " You are safe" she uncorked a bottle and filled the bowl with its contents before mixing the substance with a spoon. After a short while she poured the mixture into a mug and turned towards the cheetah

" Welcome in Atlawa territory" she announced

Hunter adopted an alarmed look, he only had brief dealings with the lamas before, or more likely the dragons had, he only observed the creatures from a distance. He only heard rumors about the Atlawa, that despite their peaceful nature they are barbaric people who worship strange gods and commit all kind of atrocities in their name.

He is far more open minded than any cheetah but that doesn't mean he can just ignore the knowledge his tutors passed onto him, specifically the lessons about rumors, his tutors always repeated that they always hide some truth. They always told him that uncertainty means usually danger, that was enough to make him cautious, not to mention that he was now deep within Atlawa lands.

Remembering his lessons Hunter narrowed his eyes on the cup " What is it?" he asked with palpable alarm in his voice as the lama was approaching him with the strange concoction.

" Poison" she replied without any emotion in her voice, just right after he finished his sentence

Hunter's eyes shot wide open, he began to wiggle in the bed just to get as far as possible from her but he just couldn't his strength left him completely. " Don't come any closer"

The lama dropped to her knees right next to the bed, placed the mug on the ground and threw her arms upwards while staring at the ceiling " Oh great Werint hear your humble servant!" she exclaimed

He started to thrash more fiercely, being defenseless right next to such crazy girl triggered more fear in him than the earlier fight with the orc and the ape.

" I present you this sacrifice! Feast on his life force and let us seep from your glory for all eternity!" she squealed while pulling her ears down before dropping her head onto the sheets.

The bed shook slightly when her head hit the sheets, he DEFINIATELY needs to get out of here, the girl is clearly out of her mind, the rumors are true after all. Groaning Hunter began to pull himself up, the adrenaline pulsing through his veins allowed him to push himself to a sitting position despite his lack of strength.

" Relax!" she exclaimed and pushed him onto the bed once again, while still holding his shoulders she grinned and looked him straight in the eyes " I'm just messing with you" she giggled

Hunter panted, he tried to shake her off but couldn't, the simple move tired him completely, without nothing else to do he looked into her red eyes. Surprisingly they weren't filled with evilness or craziness, they were radiating kindness, happiness and youthful jauntiness. Just looking into her eyes calmed him.

" Why would you do that?" he finally asked when his breathing returned to normal

" You sure ask a lot of questions" she pulled away from him " I saw that glow in your eyes, I had dealings with dragons before I can recognize it. You thought that I'm some crazy chick wanting to eat you or something" she reached down

Seeing her eyes from up close he just couldn't help himself but to feel guilty " I'm sorry, I didn't want to offend you"

She stood up " Don't sweat it" she offered the mug to him " Bottoms up!"

Hunter curled his nose, even if the female really seems to be a kind person his instinct still warn him to not touch the unknown " No thank you, I'm not thirsty" he replied, perfectly hiding his cautiousness

She raised her brows in sincere awe " Niiiice you are making progress, you tell me to bug off without being rude" she raised her thumb " Point for you!" she once again offered him the mug " But that doesn't change anything, you still need to drink it"

" It's not necessary, thank you"

" Oh come on! It will get you back on your feet. Promise!"

Hunter delicately leaned away from her " I already feel better"

She placed one of her hands on her hip " I can see that, you again try to run." she sighed " Ok we will do it like this, either you are going to drink it yourself or I'm going to shove it down your throat"

He considered his options, the lama didn't see like the aggressive type, he was quite certain that she is bluffing " I'm sorry but I still have to decline"

" Damn!" she stomped her foot and leaned closer towards the cheetah " I wasn't really intimidating was I?"

Hunter's eyes widened when seeing her reaction, he didn't say a word, he just shook his head

The female snorted " Every single time" with a shook of her head she straightened up " What would convince you to change your mind…" she mused loudly, after a while her eyes widened " I KNOW!" Hunter jumped slightly on his bed after her sudden squealing shout " What if I'll take a sip first? That way you will see that it isn't poison or anything. What do you think?"

" Ummm… that's a good idea but…"

The lama bounced happily " YAY!" after her shout of happiness she adopted a more serious posture and raised the mug " Ok here goes!" she dipped her lips and as soon as the mixture flew down her throat her face curled in abhorrence " By the gods" she muttered in disgust " This is horrible! And here I thought people were complaining only because they wanted to make fun of me. Ugh. I need to really work on the taste"

She shrugged and smiled " Anyway your turn now! Now when you think of it this thing can't be poison right? If I wanted to kill you I would give you something far more sweeter" she offered the mug again " Here you go"

The lama had a point he couldn't deny it, if she really wanted to poison him she wouldn't try to force him to drink something disgusting. And if she wasn't acting then that was truly medicine, and medicine usually has a bitter taste, he learned it the hard way. Hunter took the cup from the lama's hands and sniffed the mixture, surprisingly it didn't have any scent at all. With a sigh he moved the mug towards his lips.

" A word of advice before you drink it!" she blurt out, Hunter looked at her surprised.

The female giggled " I shouldn't say anything since I've made this potion but you should drink it all at once, don't take any sips just drink it. This thing is disgusting, and I mean REALLY disgusting, so…" she clapped her hands and smiled " Bottoms up!"

Hunter regrets it already, but he had to do it otherwise he really doubts that she would stop pestering him. With a breath he poured the mixture into his mouth and swallowed

" And, and, and?" the lama blurt out excitedly while staring at him closely with her fingers crossed in front of her face

Firstly he couldn't feel anything, but after some seconds the most disgusting taste invaded his palate, stomach and all the other parts of his body responsible for digesting liquids. Momentarily he began to gag.

" Bowl!" she exclaimed in horror " Bowl, bowl, bowl" she repeated quickly while looking around the room, after a while she grabbed the bowl which she brought here moments ago, emptied it through the window and offered it to the feline.

With one of his hands covering his mouth,he motioned for her to stop with the other one while shaking his head. After a few more gags everything returned to normal. Hunter exhaled a breath of relief.

" Delicious" he smiled weakly

" You didn't throw up!" the lama threw her hands up, the bowl hit the ground with an audible clatter

" You look surprised"

" Of course I am surprised! Everyone who drank this potion threw up soon after, firstly I've thought that they are overreacting but it happened to EVERYONE! But you…you managed to hold up" her tail waggled happily " I'm making progress! And here I thought that I used the wrong ingredients"

Hunter narrowed his eyes on her " You want to tell me that you are a healer who doesn't know what she is doing and is experimenting on her patients?" he sighed " A comforting thought"

" Oh no, no, no" she shook her head " I'm not a healer, I just love mixing stuff and see if it works. Since nobody here wants to test my products you volunteered"

" I don't remember that I volunteered for anything"

" Or they volunteered you when you were knocked out. Doesn't matter, it works! And that's what's important!"

" You were sent here to experiment on me?" Hunter blurt out indignantly

She raised her hands defensively " No! Nothing like that! I aspire to be a healer you see, but I also love making all kinds of healing potions and since all of my mixtures were failures until now, Kane forbade me from testing them on our people, but since you are not one of us…ummm…yeah"

" That is experimenting" he replied coldly

She bit her lip and folded her arms behind her back " But you feel good right? It seemed to work…but ok I shouldn't have done this" she chuckled softly and shrugged " Sorry?"

Hunter shook his head, he couldn't believe his own ears, however somehow she managed to help him recover " So it seems I'm lucky that you have a natural talent for healing"

" Talent?" she scoffed " I suck" she leaned closer " Between you and me I have no idea what effects the potion I gave you has, I wanted it to be rejuvenating but you know…" she smiled with a shrug " I suck"

Hunter sighed deeply " Just drop it" he narrowed his eyes on the lama when she suddenly kneeled next to his bed " What are you doing?"

" Questions, questions, relax I need to check you out" she cupped his head in her hands " I've mastered the basics don't worry" with a grin she delicately moved his head to one side " Does it hurt?"

" No"

She began to move his head to the other side, when their eyes met she smiled kindly. He knew her only for a while, she seemed to be infantile but there was something to her that made his heart pump blood faster.

" Nothing" Hunter said when his head was moved to the other side, anticipating her question

She let go of his head " Great, your spine seems to be fine, now I need to check out your senses" she suddenly pressed her forearm to his nose " Sniff"

Hunter eyes widened when her soft wool touched his nose, to say that she is impulsive doesn't give her all the credit. However he did as he was told, her wool brushed his nose. Besides the delicate scent of a female, he could also smell an intense scent of someone who was hard working and didn't have the time to properly clean himself, yet out of politeness he decided to conceal the fact.

" You smell nice"

The lama smiled " How nice of you to lie to me like that but I exactly know how I smell" she withdrew her forearm and sniffed it herself, her nose curled in disgust " Gods I stink! That's what happens when you spend all day in the fields and don't even find the time for a proper bath" she sniffed her forearm again " Ugh"

She clapped her hands " Anyway since you can hear and see me I say your other senses are fine, despite the fact that you threw yourself at the whole contingent of enemies who just tossed you like a ragdoll"

" Somebody had to stop them" he replied confidently

" Yeah I know, but ALONE? I've seen what you did to some of them, pretty amazing but stupid nonetheless" she giggled " Who I am to judge? I'm not perfectly sane myself, besides someone will lecture you soon enough"

" Who?"

She waved her finger " Oh no, no, no, it doesn't work this way. Now it's my turn to ask questions" she dropped to her knees, placed her elbows on the sheets of the bed just to rest her chin on her palms while observing the cheetah intently " You must be really tough to be able to survive such beating, how did you manage to withstand so much pain?"

Hunter impulsively touched his wounded arm " Years of training and fighting teach you resilience"

" You are being taught to fight as a child?"

" Yes"

The lama frowned " That sucks, it leaves no room for true childhood"

Hunter frowned also, he wasn't really following the cheetahs traditions himself, but to hear someone mocking his people way of life was irritating " This is a dangerous world, if you won't prepare to face its dangers you will fall"

" Whoa, I've accidently found a soft spot" she smiled " Change of topic. All of you are so fluffy?"

" Fluffy?" he repeated confused

" Yeah, fluffy. I know that this is a stupid question but I've never seen a cheetah before, I don't know where to start"

Hunter's eyes widened " I am the first cheetah you see?"

She waved her finger threateningly " Hey don't forget that it is my turn now" she scolded him " But yeah, you are my first so to speak. Don't look at me like that, I've lived here all my life"

He pitied her, he was so close to share her fate, but he followed the dragons, abandoning all the traditions he was taught from childhood. To not be able to see the wonders of the outside world, a cruel path he was so close on following all those years ago.

" I'm sorry, I can only imagine how hard it had to be for you"

For the first time he saw her sincerely irritated " Sorry? For what? Maybe I didn't see the world but I lived a happy and interesting life here. There is always something to do in the jungle"

At least now Hunter knows they both have one thing in common- both of them respect the customs of their own people, no matter how far they stray for them " I shouldn't say anything"

" Don't sweat it" she smiled and tenderly touched his wounded arm, where now a fresh bandage could be seen " Freedom comes with a price, I can only imagine how it had to hurt, you are basically injured from top to bottom, luckily the cut on your head wasn't a deep one" she looked at him with shimmering kindness in her eyes as if she tried to force him to stop thinking about the bad things that happened recently " Wanna see how good I am at bandaging?"

Hunter smiled " Sure, why not"

She grinned " Sec" with that she jumped from the bed and rummaged through the room, moments later she approached him carrying a mirror " And?"

He looked at his reflection, there was nothing special in the way she bandaged, one thing that he really noticed was the fresh material wrapped around his head. This was a very painful mission " Thank you for patching me up"

She withdrew the mirror " And it's been a looooot of work let me tell you, especially down here" she grabbed the sheets and flicked them to the side revealing his bandaged chest. The lama delicately ran her fingers across his bandages " Didn't they tell you that a cat should avoid a dog? Still it healed pretty well thanks to that thing in your bags, you have some amazing stuff there. How did you make it?"

Surprisingly Hunter didn't try to get away, something in her touch took all the pain away " I didn't make it, it's the work of our healer"

" I had to use plenty of that stuff, you were wounded absolutely everywhere" she grinned " You know what's the best part of this job? I got to strip you naked" she beamed proudly

Hunter blushed " Oh…is…is that so?"

" Yeah! And I've checked every part, you know you have to be thorough when it comes to healing"

He didn't say a word, he just laid there without even looking at her

The lama laughed " Relax I didn't go below the waist"

He looked at her, his blush slightly fading " I see"

She shrugged " I only took a peek"

His blush returned with greater intensity " This is embarrassing"

The lama burst out laughing " You are so serious! I'm kidding, I'm not perverted" she patted his chest " Cheer up!"

Hunter groaned in pain, she gasped and covered her mouth with one hand " Oh I'm sorry!" she muttered still giggling while she massaged his wounded abdomen with her free hand " I didn't mean to hurt you"

The cheetah looked at her, and when he noticed her chuckling face he just couldn't help himself but to start laughing with her. They both were so lost in glee that they didn't even hear the door opening

" I see Nilla that your attitude is already affecting our guest here" a male voice echoed throughout the room

Startled she pulled the sheets over the cheetah's chest and instantly jumped to her feet " Kane don't sneak like that! I've almost had an heart attack"

The male lama smiled and began to approach the bed " How is he feeling?"

Nilla pointed at the cheetah with her open hand " Ask him yourself, but you better hurry since he loves questions himself" with that she began to pack her things

Kane stopped just next to Hunter's bed and watched him carefully, he didn't say a word until he heard the door opening " What is your name?"

Before he could answer his eyes traveled towards the door where the girl dropped a mug on the ground, he saw her picking it up and cleaning it with her apron. She was taking her time, the lama was really giving much attention to the mug, just like she tried to make it shine. The feline eventually focused on the male next to him

" Hunter" he introduced himself, his eyes again traveled to the now closing doors, the female lama was gone

" I'm Kane" the cheetah's eyes returned to the male lama

Hunter narrowed his eyes on the tribesmen, he was certain that he saw the lama kneeling before him when he struggled with dizziness. The hue of his wool a clear sign of that, white color with a steel blue pattern as an addition, it seems his avian companion managed to lead the leader of the Atlawa to him.

" Nilla worships the god Ummers, his disciples cherish happiness among other things. The glee together with her jauntiness makes her rather eccentric and tiresome at times"

The cheetah chuckled " She is alright"

Kane took a deep breath " Tell me Hunter, are you suicidal?"

He was surprised by the lama's sudden change of topic and overall mood, yet he didn't betray his sock" No"

Kane huffed " Yet we found you fighting alone two Dark officers. If your bird wouldn't lead us to you, you would be Muril's snack by now"

Hunter furrowed a brow " Muril?"

" Cowardly creatures which feed on dead and weak" the lama shook his head " Unimportant" with that he narrowed his fierce gaze on the feline " Why did you attack the whole group?"

" Because they were a threat to safety of innocent beings"

Kane sighed " You cheetahs are so short-sighted, you don't respect life"

Hunter growled, there was something in the lama's tone that he didn't like very much " We are trained from our earliest years to fight, it's our duty to protect the ones who can't protect themselves"

" And by doing so you stand against superior numbers. Sorry Hunter but this is pure waste"

" Then you propose to allow the next group that slips through roam freely through your territory?

" Of course not, but you are missing the point. Vanquish the enemy when you have the chance, but don't blindly pursue them or you might get yourself killed"

" That is the fate of every warrior"

Kane shook his head disappointed " When you cheetahs will finally see the big picture. By letting yourselves get killed you waste your extraordinary skills which in the future might save even more lives"

" The present is important, not what will happen tomorrow"

" This is going nowhere, you are just like the rest of your kind." Kane exhaled a breath " What are you doing here?, I don't remember calling for help"

Hunter frowned " You've sent two of your people to Warfang seeking assistance so stop pretending like you don't know anything"

Kane nodded " Yes I did send my men to the Dragon City, but they didn't seek the Guardian's assistance. I've sent them for Spyro, his tribe needed him"

Hunter knew the story, Spyro after saving the Atlawa from Cynder's forces was to be worshipped by the lamas as a god yet he declined. Kane trying to show how grateful he and his people are made Spyro a member of his tribe, with or without the young dragon's consent.

" Spyro couldn't make it so I took his place"

" They shouldn't have sent you. Atlawa business is for Atlawa only but since you are already here…" Kane reached down his pocket and withdrew a small dark red crystal, he threw the gem towards the cat " Here, take it, I know that Spyro has a talent for solving troubles and mysteries"

Hunter grabbed the crystal with ease and examined it, it had a dark bleak green color, as he turned it around he noticed a drop of dried blood on its back. There was something familiar about the gem, he could swear he saw it somewhere " Where did you get it?"

" The hero orc carried it"

The cheetah nodded " Thank you"

The lama returned the gesture and made his way towards the door " I don't want to sound rude but when you will feel better I want you to move on, we will of course escort you to the border." Kane opened the door " Don't forget to take that bird with you, it's scaring my people" the door closed

* * *

Some days later Hunter emerged outside, fully dressed into his now sewn clothes with a falcon sitting on his shoulder. He took a deep breath, how nice it was again to feel the fresh air, as he opened his eyes he noticed the familiar female lama standing before him with her thumbs hidden inside her pockets.

Nilla smiled at him, yet it wasn't the same beaming smile he got used to " Leaving already?"

" Yes, I'm sure they are getting worried in Warfang" he smiled " Thank you again for taking care of me, the potion seemed to work"

She averted her gaze " I'm glad"

" Let's go Hunter!" Kane yelled from further down the road " Time is of the essence!"

The cheetah nodded " Best of luck in your experiments"

Nilla smiled and went her own way without saying a word

Hunter joined his escort and the group made their way slowly towards the thick jungle, as his legs carried him onwards Hunter couldn't help himself but to look behind his shoulder.

They've been marching for some days now, mostly in silence. He didn't know much about the Atlawa, people said they are strange and mostly keep to themselves. Which is true, but even in such a secluded community there are people who stand out from the typical superstitions. His reflection was ended abruptly by Kane's raised fist, the group halted instantly.

Hunter could hear something ahead, many creatures were not far from their position, they didn't notice them yet, their chaotic movements proved that. The group sneaked forward with their weapons at the ready, Kane signaled for the rest of the team to split and take flanking positions. He, Hunter and some other lamas pressed forward.

After they've peeked from their cover a gruesome scene welcomed them. Blood drenched the green ground, lots and lots of blood, bones were scattered all around the place, pieces of flesh were still hanging from some of them. There were also bodies of three dead dragons, their bellies ripped open, entrails laying on the ground, parts of their bodies ripped off to the bone.

Perpetrators of this scene were some small goblin like creatures, with huge eyes and scaly hides, they were jumping all around the places with their maws drenched with blood and pieces of flesh. Dead bodies were laying everywhere, Hunter figured out that this have be the Muril's Kane spoken about. He strung his bow but Kane with a motion of his hand ordered him to lower it.

The lama unstrapped a horn from his belt and blew it, the creatures screeched in horror and scattered in every direction. Kane stood up and approached the massacre carefully examining the scene.

" What happened here?" the lama muttered under his breath

Hunter with his scout's instinct fallowed in the lama's wake, firstly he approached the fallen dragons, their bodies didn't have any visible mortal wound, but something killed them. His eyes traveled across the drake's body until he spotted the odd angle of the dragon's head. The drake had a broken neck, he examined the rest of the draconic bodies, all of them had broken necks. It was strange, dragons are known from their powerfully built bones, to break their necks they would have to fly straight into an obstacle headlong without even trying to slow down.

He moved then towards the pile of bones, he crouched and tenderly poked the remains with a stick. He frowned, he could tell from the remains that the creature was just about his height and nothing else, the bones didn't resemble any being he was familiar with.

He tenderly picked up a bone, looking for a way to understand this mystery, as he turned the bone in his hand a red drop appeared on its surface. He ran his finger across the drop and rubbed it between his thumb- blood and a fresh one at that. Another drop appeared on the bone, they seemed to be coming from nowhere, momentarily another one splattered on the bone's surface. The drops were clearly falling from above, Hunter looked up and his eyes widened in shock.

He dropped the bone " Kane! I need help over here!" the cheetah yelled at the top of his lungs


	30. Chapter 12 Book II

Chapter 12

Tireless labor of the two brothers granted the many inhabitants of the Dragon Realms the opportunity to carry on with their more or less mundane lives. Between the constant changes of vigil of the sun and moon a caravan was slowly rolling down through one of the trade routes connecting Warfang and the moles capital city the Munitions Forge. Fours oxen were pushing the caravan forward, with a single mole directing the animals.

The caravan consisted of two long wagons which were filled with all kinds of different metals from the rich mine depths of the Munitions Forge to be traded for food and medicine, resources that the moles barren land couldn't produce. Now the two wagons were being also occupied by four other creatures that joined the mole in his way back to the capital city. One wagon consisted of packed food and a purple and black dragon, the other one filled with medicine housed an oddly looking fire drake and a glowing dragonfly.

As the caravan slowly rolled onwards the hatch on the second wagon's upper part opened and a dragonfly emerged through it.

" I'M BORED!" Sparx exclaimed, his shout had a whiny tone to it

The mole leading the caravan and the two dragons in the first wagon rolled their eyes, when the two males looked only tired as if they heard the same thing over and over again, the female black dragon on the other hand had a mixture of tiredness and irritation plastered on her snout. With a soft growl she pushed the hatch open and climbed on top of the wagon

" Will you shut up already?" Cynder growled at the dragonfly " You are giving us a headache!"

" But that's the truth!" Sparx whined " Why can't we just fly there?"

" Now you are so eager to do something all of a sudden?"

The dragonfly yawned " Whatever, think what you want, now crawl back into the wagon Naughty, you are ruining my fresh air"

Cynder snarled " Say it again"

A fiery drake burst through the hatch but the dragonfly didn't budge, he was entirely concentrated on the dragoness ahead " Crawl back into your hole Naughty" he pronounced each word slowly in a provoking manner

Her claws delicately scratched the wooden surface of the wagon " I'm warning you" she hissed threateningly

Sparx raised his hand and mimicked her mouth yapping " Blah, blah, blah"

" That's it!" she roared and wanted to pounce at the dragonfly but her attempt was stopped by someone pulling her tail

" Cynder just leave him alone" Spyro said as he emerged through the recently used opening

The dragoness growled " Let me go and I'll make life easier for both of us"

" Just ignore him and he will stop"

After a moment of silent staring at her prey she finally snorted " Fine" her posture relaxed a bit

He let go off her tail seeing her reaction " You will see, it will work"

Sparx smirked and took a deep breath " I'M BORED!" he exclaimed at the top of his lungs

" You are dead!" Cynder roared and pounced at the dragonfly

Spyro sighed

" You've gathered an interesting team my friend" the mole's voice caught his attention

Spyro sat next to the caravan master " A team like any other, if you can even call us like that. We are just bunch of friends, nothing special"

The mole laughed " Please, modesty doesn't fit here. A dragonfly, you as a Savior, the odd drake and Shadow herself, and you want to tell me there is nothing special about you?"

" We just do what we need to do"

The mole shook his head " No, that is my job, you do something far more greater and I have a feeling that you'll do even more in the days to come"

" You are mine now!" both Spyro and the mole ducked when they heard the female shout, momentarily Sparx darted above their heads with Cynder right behind him.

Both the dragon and the mole straightened up casually like nothing ever happened, just like they've done this countless times before

" But honestly I have no idea how can you stand those two" the caravan master continued

Spyro chuckled " After a while you get used to it"

The mole laughed " I see"

" They usually just keep to snide remarks, this trip is weary on all of us"

The rodent nodded " Can't argue with that" he motioned with his head towards the oxen " At least one of us is having fun"

Spyro followed the mole's direction and smiled when he spotted Flare walking next to the animals clumsily mimicking their moves " Yeah"

" Forgive my inquisitiveness but what kind of creature is he exactly?"

Spyro observed his new companion carefully " He is a dragon, there is no doubt about that, he just looks different"

" If he is a dragon then what has happened to him? I've never seen such a dragon before"

" You and me both, honestly I have no idea why he looks like that, I doubt he does either. Maybe he was born that way"

The mole raised an eyebrow " A half-breed? Is that even possible?"

Spyro shrugged " I dunno, Volteer firstly thought that he has an avian lineage but this is a very unlikely scenario, his second guess was that Flare's appearance is a result of an evolution or something"

" A bird? He has lizard eyes if you ask me"

Spyro frowned, the mole might be right, just like Volteer. Wherever the truth may lay one thing was certain, both their theories were just a tiny drop in a river full of possibilities

" Your guess is as good as mine" the dragon commented somewhat sadly, yet not without his natural curiosity hiding somewhere in his tone

" Whatever his heritage is he still is an unique creature, one can only wonder why is he basically burning"

Spyro observed his fiery companion, there was definitely a story behind his naivety and odd reactions. Impulsively his mind raced through every troubling event, starting with Cynder's strange behavior, then the veil near Boven with the golem just to stop on the bug-like creature of Munitions Forge.

" One problem at a time" Spyro muttered thoughtfully

" I pity you, there seems to be a lot on your shoulders" the mole looked at the fiery dragon and the two figures flying above " Perhaps to solve such strange riddles special measures are required"

The purple dragon sighed, the rodent most likely was right, yet no matter how big his group may become he really wished they wouldn't have any role to play in the future events. There was only one way to find out

" How long till we get to Munitions Forge?"

" A few more days" the caravan master grinned as if trying to lighten the mood " Just enjoy the ride"

Spyro chuckled " We will do just that"

There was a sudden yelp behind them, they turned around just to see the dragonfly spinning wildly down from the air towards the ground just like a gust of wind blown him from the sky, a black dragoness was speeding after him. Instead of hitting the ground Sparx fell through the hatch of the second wagon, there was a rumbling sound when he collided with its wooden surface.

Cynder landed on top of the wagon and peered inside with an evil grin " We will see how will you like this" she began preparing a delicate wind breath

Her attempt was interrupted by a brown powder bursting through the hatch that Cynder involuntary inhaled. Her eyes watered instantly as the powder began tickling her nose intensely, she couldn't control her reaction. The powder caused her to sneeze while accidently powering her elemental attack, she accidently released the gust of wind straight into the opened hatch.

The power of the breath caused the wagon to jump and emit a loud howl and rumble. The oxen after hearing the noise cried startled and darted forward dragging the caravan behind them, for such typical slow creatures thy still managed to speed up the caravan thanks to their strength.

" What are you doing? What have I done wrong?" Flare exclaimed shocked after the scuttling animals

" Easy now! Easy!" the mole yelled trying to calm the rushing animals while batting the reins

The oxen didn't listen, they tossed the caravan from side to side. The moment the animals made a sharp turn the whole caravan was forcefully yanked to one side. Cynder couldn't keep her balance, the strong shake of the wagon threw her off her paws and with a yelp she rolled right into the opened hatch.

Spyro wasn't lucky either, with a similar startled yelp he was thrown from the caravan, only his reflex saved him from being shot completely off the wagon. The moment he rolled from its wooden surface he latched onto its wooden edge with his claws. The dragon's hind paws were thrashing desperately looking for a foothold while his tail kept swinging wildly, its uncontrolled moves were a clear signal just how fast the caravan raced through the road.

" Easy! Easy!" the mole kept repeating the same words yet to no avail, the animals just didn't listen.

Spyro grunting began to pull himself up but then the caravan made another sharp turn, not only did he slid back down but also the turn pulled his body away from the surface of the wagon, his sunken claws into the boards kept him from falling, for a brief moment he fluttered just like a flag. Everything returned back to normal when the animals began to pull the caravan in a straight line again. The change of direction slammed his body into the wagon's wooden surface, with a groan Spyro realized that he just returned to the starting position.

The mole tried his best to calm the animals but they just didn't want to stop. When the rodent thought that they have to brace themselves for another sharp turn a fireball exploded just right before the racing oxen.

The animals cried, their hooves sank into the ground making dust shoot in the air as the creatures slowed down dragging their hooves across the ground. Yet it was still enough to swing the caravan like it weighted nothing, the oxen prepared to renew their run but were unable to since one of the wheels of the caravan got buried in the earth. The oxen pulled and pulled but were unable to move the caravan, after a while the animals lost much of their strength and calmed on their own.

" You guys are ok?" Flare shouted when he began to descend from the sky

The mole exhaled a breath of relief and wiped his forehead " Nice job kid, finally it's over"

" What happened?"

The caravan master looked behind himself with an angry frown where two heads prtotruding from the hatch of the second wagon belonging to a black dragoness and a dragonfly could be seen " I don't even have the patience to explain this" he hissed

Cynder and Sparx turned to face the mole when they heard his voice, the moment they saw his furious stare both of them averted their gaze and lowered their heads in shame.

Spyro with a grunt pulled himself up so just his head protruded from the cover, when he noticed the mole's meaningful stare he cackled nervously " Sorry"

The caravan master snorted " There was a reason I signed to be a merchant, I hope this is the first and last such action"

The purple dragon nodded confidently " Nothing like that will happen again. Promise"

* * *

" WHAT ON EVERYTHING THAT'S HOLY IS THIS?!" the mole screamed furiously when he looked inside the second wagon

The inside of the wagon didn't resemble the interior he once knew, the walls, floor, basically every wooden surface was covered with all kinds of herbs, ointments and who know what else. The grimace on his snout deepened when he spotted that some of the bags of medicine were torn apart, some flasks were empty with their contents spilled all over the place.

" WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT TOUCHING THE MERCHANDISE?!" the rodent screamed again

In the middle of the chaos stood a sole fire dragon with his body, paws and claws covered in the same kind of odd mix like the whole wagon was. Flare bent on his paws, lowered his head just like a guilty dog and looked at the mole with puppy eyes

" Don't give me that look!" the rodent snarled before the dragon could utter a single word

" What is going on here?" a male shout echoed from behind the mole

Momentarily two dragons appeared behind the mole, their eyes widened when they noticed the havoc inside

Cynder put her head inside the wagon " Flare what did you do?" she muttered while looking around the interior surprised

" I-"

" This is not what I've expected when I took you with me!" the mole snapped

" What's this noise all about?" another male shout reached the group, soon the hatch opened and a dragonfly peered inside the wagon " Whoa" Sparx eyes widened " Dude I didn't know you had a knack for painting" he flew inside

" But-"

" This is medicine, you weren't supposed to touch it. Didn't I make myself clear when I took you with me?" the mole almost growled

" Yes, but-"

" These are TRADING GOODS!" the rodent snapped furiously making the dragons behind him jump startled " I was supposed to bring them intact!"

" Sorry I-"

" This is my job! Every delay, every mistake costs me!"

" We'll cover the loses" Spyro interjected

" HOW?! You'll friend will fart out a golden egg suddenly?!"

" Hey!" Cynder blurt out offended, but the moment she saw the mole's hateful gaze on her she decided to remain silent, knowing that she deserved it after her earlier action with Sparx.

" You missed a spot here" Sparx announced casually while pointing at a place where a tiny bit of wood was spared the gruesome fate.

The mole clenched his fists and gave the dragonfly a murderous stare

" Not now Sparx" Spyro muttered through clenched teeth

The dragonfly shook his head " No appreciation for art"

" Sparx!" the purple dragon admonished his brother when he noticed the mole turn red from anger

" Flare you have to explain yourself" Cynder interjected seeing as the situation was slowly getting out of paws

The fiery drake bent on his legs even further under the weight of so many eyes on him " I t-t-t-though that t-t-t-this-"

" Are you kidding me?" the mole exclaimed in disbelief interrupting the dragon's barely coherent stutter

" Flare stammers when he is nervous" Cynder explained the situation

" I can't believe this" the rodent muttered while turning to the fiery drake " This doesn't change anything, I still want to know why you did this kid" the caravan master addressed the dragon in a more calmer tone as if in understanding

The red drake swallowed " After t-t-t-that situation with your a-a-animals I wanted to c-c-cheer you up"

" And to do this you ruined my merchandise along with my wagon?!"

" Don't bright colors make people happy?"

The mole stared at the dragon as he processed the unexpected revelation" Maybe… they do, I don't know, what does that have to do with you ruining my stuff anyway?"

" Laughter is the best medicine right?" Flare nodded towards one of the destroyed bags with the herbs " This is medicine so together with bright colors-"

"WHAT?" the rodent exclaimed " You want to tell me that you thought that by covering my wagon with all this stuff you are going to make me laugh? You took the idiom literally? Are you INSANE?"

Flare's eyes widened after the mole's outburst, he lowered his head intimidated "B-b-b-but I've h-h-h-heard-"

" This kind of medicine doesn't make you laugh! Where do you get your ideas?"

Flare bashfully pointed a claw at the dragonfly

Cynder rolled her eyes " Figures"

Sparx threw his arms aside as if in confusion " What? I've only said that laughter and bright colors make people happy. I'm not responsible for the rest"

" You are!" the dragoness snarled " You exactly know how Flare misinterprets idioms and the like!"

The dragonfly shrugged " Not my fault"

" Don't you have a brain kid?" the mole blurt out

" He is not stupid, it's just that…" Cynder's voice trailed off as she looked for proper words " It's hard to explain" she sighed " One thing is for certain, Sparx took advantage of it"

" Hey, hey, hey!" the dragonfly protested " Don't you put it all on me!"

" Enough!" the mole exclaimed " You two" he pointed at the dragonfly and the red dragon " Get out of here and get inside the first wagon! I don't want you around the medicine. Spyro and his friend will take this one" the mole turned towards the exit, as he was leaving he threw the purple dragon a meaningful look

Spyro scratched the back of his head with a bashful smile " Sorry"

* * *

" It's awfully quiet in there" the caravan master muttered interrupting the sound of clicking hooves.

Spyro impulsively looked behind his shoulder, besides Cynder sprawled on top of the second wagon bathing in the sunlight there was no one else there. He turned towards the road with a sour expression, he had a bad feeling about this.

" They are sleeping probably" he lied to the mole

The rodent frowned " I think it was a bad idea to move them to a wagon full of food. Was it a bad idea?" he voiced the question quickly, as if thinking loudly

" _Yes"_ Spyro mused " No" he presented the mole another lie

" What if they are ruining my second wagon as well?"

" I'm sure they've learnt their lesson" he felt terrible lying to the person who in all his kindness spared them the strenuous flight but it was the only way to give the mole some comfort

The caravan master went silent for a while " I don't like this" he stated after moments of wordless contemplation.

" Everything is all right"

Again silence, then suddenly the mole stopped the caravan " I'll better check it out" he made his way towards the hatch

Spyro despite his better judgment followed the mole. The hatch opened and both of them peeked inside. Exactly in the middle of the wagon on his back lied Flare, snoring, the dragonfly was nowhere to be seen.

The sun rays penetrated the wagon and shone on the red dragon's snout interrupting his peaceful slumber. Clicking his tongue Flare opened his eyes and smiled when he spotted two of his companions up above

" Thanks for the gift" he yawned while stretching " That was very nice of you"

" Gift?" the mole repeated the single word surprised and somewhat scared " What kind of gift?"

" Oh no" Spyro muttered under his breath

Flare sat up with a grin " Oh no, no, no, you aren't going to trick me, I know what a BOG is-"

" What is he talking about?" the mole whispered to the purple dragon next to him, looking for some kind of answer

Spyro only shrugged

"…that's a very nice tradition, I like it" Flare finished his sentence preserving the same cheerful tone

The rodent entered the wagon tired of this game " Show me this BOG or whatever, I have no idea what it is"

The red dragon chuckled " Ok, I'll play along, Bog stands for bag of redemption-"

" Oh no" Spyro muttered once again, he exactly knew where this is going, he knew only one person who could think of such a stupid name and that means the caravan master won't like the final outcome.

" Bag of redemption?" the mole repeated after the dragon somewhat terrified

" The bag with all the food as a sign of letting bygones be bygones?" Flare replied with a chuckle " The bag of redemption?"

The mole only gave him a confused stare

The fiery drake laughed " Stop acting I've seen through your plan"

Moments later the rodent shook off his confusion, anxiousness and anger taking control " Enough of this game! Tell me what's going on"

Flare jerked back when he heard the mole's outburst " All right, relax" he made his way towards all kind of containers packed with food, he shuffled through some of them until he dragged an empty large bag, crumbs and all other remains of once appetizing looking food fell from it.

The mole's eyes widened at the sight " What have you done?" his lower lip twitched

Flare cocked his head " Come again?"

The rodent bit his finger " Where is the food from the bag?"

The fiery dragon threw a surprised brief glance at the empty bag before he focused on the mole again " I ate it" he announced bluntly

" YOU WHAT?!" the rodent roared furiously

Flare jumped backwards startled " I a-a-a-ate it" he stammered

The mole began to pace around while pulling the fur on his head " Why would you do THAT?! Ruining the medicine wasn't good enough for you?"

" I t-t-t-thought y-y-y-you were t-t-t-trying to a-a-a-apologize"

" ME?!" the rodent blurt out with a cackle, he almost sounded like a madman " It was you who destroyed my wagon!"

Flare swallowed " B-b-b-but the b-b-b-bog?"

" it was a bag filled with trading goods!" he kept roaring at the drake

The red dragon's head fell down in shame " T-t-t-then you w-w-w-weren't t-t-t-trying to r-r-r-redeem y-y-y-yourself?" he stuttered an question yet he already knew the answer

" Redeem myself? For what?"

" For y-y-y-your o-o-o-outburst?'

The mole poked his forehead " Are you hearing yourself kid? You were the one who ruined my wagon! Why on hell would I-" he froze for a while just like a lightning bolt would struck him " Wait. Gift, bag… you thought that I left it here for you? Bag of redemption…" he pointed his finger at the dragon " Yes you did!" he burst out laughing through tears "I can't believe this!"

Flare remained speechless, a blush covering his snout precisely showed how he felt right now.

" A guy ruins my wagon together with my merchandise and I'm the one who should apologize" he emitted a chilling cackle " Dear Ancestors I wouldn't believe this if I heard it from someone else. This is so stupid that I can't even be angry anymore"

" I o-o-o-only w-w-w-wanted to-"

The mole raised his hand stopping the drake's stutter " I don't care, start using your brain kid. I'm done here it's a waste of time anyway" he left the wagon, the moment he climbed onto his driving seat he turned towards the purple dragon " The moment we arrive in Munitions Forge I want you out of my sight, get that dragonfly and the dragon together and tell them they will follow the caravan from now on" he rubbed his forehead " You should really surround yourself with normal people"

" We will pay you for your losses" Spyro tried to soften the atmosphere

" I don't want to hear this" the mole interjected firmly

The purple dragon sighed " Sorry"

* * *

As he sat on top of the wagon he could feel it bouncing slightly as its wheels rolled on the uneven road, the landscape was moving past by his eyes as he stared at the horizon. It didn't really matter that the trip is taking so long, it was peaceful here without any bloodthirsty beasts after his hide but even with this usual serenity the trip on the caravan still had its downsides.

" Not really the most enjoyable travel you imagined it to be huh?" a cheerful female voice he was so accustomed with reached him

Spyro chuckled as he threw a quick glance at the black dragoness sitting right next to him " You could say that"

" It really bothers you doesn't it?"

He sighed " Yeah" he felt guilty about everything that happened recently, the mole took them out of his good will only and they've repaid him like that " I should have done something, this is so wrong"

Cynder snorted " This is your idiot brother we are talking about, nobody can predict what he's up to, not even you"

Spyro eyed his female companion, not really caring who is to blame " You seem to be in a good mood"

" That I am" she beamed

" Really? From a completely casual atmosphere the whole trip turned into an extremely tense journey"

Cynder shrugged " Feels like home"

" It's not so bad in Warfang"

She gave him a meaningful look and smiled " You are a terrible liar. Anyway who would have thought that being Malefor's sidekick will pay off eventually? Now not even a single tension bothers me"

He smiled " I need somehow learn this resilience"

" Easy, we just need to find you an evil guy to follow around" she winked

They both laughed

" What's so funny?" Sparx asked appearing before their eyes

Cynder waved her paw " Oh nothing, we were just discussing your intellect"

" Hilarious" the dragonfly stated bluntly

She laughed

Spyro looked to the side where Flare was following the caravan slowly while looking around his surroundings " You better try to not get spotted by our kind driver he might not like it"

Sparx snorted " Like I care, I'm innocent"

" Of course you are" both dragons replied in unison, seconds later they looked at each other and smiled

He shook his head " Damn bro, she put a spell on you, you better wake up or you will turn crazy" he gave the dragoness a blunt stare " and ugly"

Cynder shrugged " There's a nut for every bolt"

Sparx looked her over " it has to be one hell of a nut"

She followed his gaze and looked at her magenta chest " These are muscles" she smiled

" Of course they are"

Both her and the dragonfly chuckled

" Hey Sparx we are not allowed to do that!" Flare's shout reached the three of them

Not only the three friends heard the red dragon, the mole also turned around and gave the dragonfly an angry stare

Sparx rolled his eyes " Great, The All Seeing Eye is staring at me, should have expected that Flare would give me away"

" You wouldn't have to hide if you only behaved" Spyro admonished his brother

The dragonfly threw his arms aside " Hey man it wasn't me!" he pointed at the fiery drake " That guy did it!"

" Yeah, like I don't know you"

" Why did you do it anyway?" Cynder asked

Sparx shrugged " For fun and…" he threw his brother a challenging look "…to prove that I still got the touch"

" No way" Spyro blurt out " You were taking revenge for that failed prank with the cook?"

He nodded

" That's just stupid" Cynder commented

" No it isn't"

" Yes it is" Spyro agreed with his female friend

Sparx sighed " Dude, you are no fun"

" There is no fun in ruining someone else's property"

" Firstly it isn't ruined, secondly I did it for pure teaching reasons"

" it's still stupid" Cynder once again stated

Sparz waved his hand " Ok I'm tired of you two, no appreciation for art. I'm going back to my favorite dragon, see ya" he flew away towards the fiery dragon

The dragoness watched him talking with their new red companion " Whatever stupid reasons Sparx has for doing the stuff he does it seems he really took a liking to Flare"

Spyro followed her gaze " Looks like it, who would have thought right?"

" The mole is right you know"

" About what?"

" About Flare, I myself don't get how can you not see if you are doing the right thing or wrong, even if you've been trapped your whole life you should be able to see the difference"

" I'm not so sure about that, he doesn't know about the outside world much, he spent his entire life in a single room"

" I don't know, you should at least stop and think for a while. I would, you would"

Spyro averted his gaze " I…I agree"

" I mean, how naïve can you be?"

" Yeah…"

* * *

" _We did it bro!" a dragonfly exclaimed while he was making cheerful flips in the air " WE DID IT!"_

_A young purple dragon pounced on the ground in joy " It's great!" he shouted_

_Both children were pouncing above the swampy ground, the rain was pouring wildly onto the landscape below but it didn't bother the two of them. It was their free time, it was their first time on the rain, their organisms were finally capable of resisting the toxic fumes of their homeland. When the rain started they just couldn't miss such an opportunity and barged into the open from the safety of their home, they remained outside since then, playing in the rainy weather._

" _I feel just awesome!" Spyro roared happily " No headache, no dizziness, I should be laying sick in the bed by now!"_

_Sparx beamed with pride " Didn't I tell you? Rain is just that awesome!"_

" _Dad said that it has nothing to do with rain, it feels so good because our bodies are now able to defend themselves against the fumes"_

" _Blah, blah, blah" the dragonfly rolled his eyes " What can grown-ups know? I tell you it's the rain, have you seen any grown-up happy in the rain?"_

_Spyro stopped in his tracks, he thought about it and came to a conclusion that his brother is right, most of the grown-ups he met complained about the rain " Hey you may be right, even our parents sometimes whine about the rain"_

" _Of course I'm right bro, seriously, when I was wrong the last time?"_

" _When we first got out in the rain you said that the fumes won't harm us"_

_Sparx waved his hand " Not my fault that the elixir didn't work on you"_

_Spyro snorted " Elixir?" It was still juice"_

" _Hey! When I said that I wanted to give you a special brew I really meant it. It was a honest mistake, I took the wrong bottle" Don't look at me like that! I never lie!"_

" _Yeah? Then why did you say that you talked with our Mom back then when in truth you didn't?"_

" _I did! She just had to forget it, she was in a rush that day"_

_His purple brother nodded " Yeah right" he replied sarcastically_

" _Don't believe me? Then look around" Sparx waved his hand across their surroundings " Didn't I tell you that rain also changes the landscape completely?"_

_Spyro looked around, his brother was actually right, the landscape did change, everything was covered in a wet coat, not to mention that the swampy ground obscured parts of the local fauna. He had second thoughts about his brother's words, the landscape had really changed, maybe he wasn't lying just as he says so, maybe everything that they went through earlier was just a consequence of a simple mistake._

" _What now?" Spyro asked excited, finally making his mind_

_Sparx grinned " Now bro we will show people what the rain does, they will look at us from a different perspective after that" he waved his arm in a wide arc " Follow me!"_

_Both foster brothers pranced through their home village, their youthful energy was unending, everything was strange and exciting for them. However even that becomes boring after a while when you don't recharge your power with some playing. The grown-ups mostly didn't understand them, some even dared to scold them for their innocent pranks, yet it didn't bother the two kids, it was their moment of glory._

_Suddenly as they've been making their way through the village Sparx shoved his brother to the side._

" _What are you doing?!" Spyro gasped_

_The dragonfly covered his brother's snout " Shhh!" they hid behind some wet bushes. He pointed his finger ahead " Look"_

_Spyro looked in the way his brother pointed, through the pouring rain he could make out the form of an ordinary house. He threw his brother a confused glance._

_Sparx leaned closer to the purple snout, his yellow hand still covered the dragon's maw " You know what that is? He whispered in a dramatic tone _

_Spyro shook his head_

" _This is the home of the…PLANETAR"_

_The purple dragon furrowed his brow and emitted a muffled sound._

_Sparx with a disgusted groan removed his hand from the dragon's snout and wiped it on his purple scales ' What were you saying?"_

_Spyor licked his mouth " I've asked what is a planetar"_

_The dragonfly placed his palm on his forehead with an audible slap " Dude please" he whined_

_The purple dragon jerked his head back " What?"_

_He shook his head" How long have you been living here? How can you not know what a planetar is?"_

" _Then tell me!" Spyro growled impatiently_

" _Be quiet!" Sparx admonished him with a firm whisper before leaning even more closer " Planetar is a guy who can jump between worlds using some sort of portals"_

_His purple brother stared at him for a while, then out of a sudden he burst out laughing " I'm not falling for that!" This is probably the most stupid thing you had made up ever! Portals!" he snorted " Portals to another worlds don't exist"_

_Sparx frowned indigenously " You would be surprised" he hissed angrily_

" _Let's get out of here" Spyro turned around_

_The dragonfly grabbed his brother's horn " You know the guy who wears all those funny hats?" he pointed at the house " He lives there!"_

_The dragon shrugged " So what?"_

" _Remember when you asked him from where he gets his stuff? What did he tell you?"_

_Spyro opened his mouth to voice some sort of a snide remark but then suddenly realization struck him and his expression turned more serious when he remembered the odd dragonflies' words " From places you will never reach" he quoted _

_Sparx pointed his finger at him " Exactly!"_

" _Then, then if he is a planetar how does he travel between worlds?" Spyro blurt out with an excited and hectic voice_

" _Dude slow down, I saw once how he did it"_

" _How?" he once again blurt out in the same tone_

" _I'll tell you when we find it. Come on!" he waved for the dragon to follow him_

" _Find what?" Spyro began to walk after his brother_

" _Patience bro"_

_Both of them began to move across the street, it was then when they realized that it stopped raining, it made them wonder just for how long they've been talking that they didn't notice the change of weather. Their interest was soon shifted from the shining sun towards the house they began to approach, whatever the planetar's secret is they will soon discover it._

_As they kept sneaking around the house Spyro kept thinking, it all made sense to him now. He knew the dragonfly who lived here, he always wears some strange hats that nobody else does, not to mention that he never saw the inside of his home since the curtains were constantly dragged across the windows. Not to mention that he rarely sees the dragonfly at all, only all the reason to believe that he truly travels between worlds._

_The dragon's excitement grew even bigger when Sparx motioned for him to stop since he found an open window. Spyro nodded, he knew exactly what to do, he lowered on his paws and moved towards the window while Sparx flew inside through the small crack. The dragon pressed his body to the wall and began to scan the surroundings while waiting impatiently for his brother to give a signal that the house is clear._

_Soon the dragonflies' arm emerged through the crack and motioned for Spyro to enter, he did exactly what he was told. When his claws clicked on the floor of the planetar's house Spyro began to look around with wide eyes._

" _Look at this" he exhaled a breath of awe " What is this stuff?" the house was filled with strange vases, statues and all other strange stuff that he has never seen before_

" _Hell if I know"_

" _Maybe he brought all of this from another world?"_

_Sparx paid no interest to the things surrounding him " I don't know man" his eyes stopped on a door " But we better find that portal before the guy comes back" he flew towards them_

_Spyro followed him, the brothers entered a very dark room " I can't see anything" the dragon whispered_

" _Sec" the glowing shape began to float all around the place, soon a tiny ray of light illuminated the room as one of the curtains was slightly drawn to the side to let the sunlight in. _

_The room itself wasn't big but it sure was interesting, It was mostly empty, only a single carpet on the ground and some paintings on the walls were comprising on the room's simplicity. It looked like some sort of a presentation room or something like that, a room where people wanted to exhibit some stuff._

_The most interesting thing stood in the corner, the thing that was covered behind some white sheets was rather thick and reached almost towards the ceiling. Both brothers looked at each other for a brief moment before Sparx darted forward and pulled down the sheets. The foster brothers gasped when the cover cascaded down onto the floor._

" _Here it is" Sparx muttered in awe_

_They were looking upon a very thick twisted tree, it's small branches curled in every direction, some of them even delicately scratched the ceiling, what really caught their attention was a rather appreciable hollow in the middle of its dark brown trunk._

" _How does it work?" Spyro asked intimidated_

_The dragonfly approached the strange tree and reached inside the hollow " He teleports through here"_

_The dragon followed in his brothers footsteps " It doesn't seem to work, nothing's there"_

" _We need to activate it first" Sparx placed his hand on his chin thoughtfully Now I just need to remember…" he began nodding his head the moment his voice trailed off " Yes… a portal appeared when a couple of dragonflies flew inside the hollow at high speed" he mused loudly_

" _Then what are you waiting for?!" Do it!"_

" _Dude weren't you listening? I've said COUPLE, we won't be able to…" his voice trailed off once again when he looked at his purple brother" That's right!" he exclaimed and began circling the dragon while intently examining his body" Yes that would work"_

_Spyro's head constantly turned as he tried to keep up with the dragonfly " What? What will work?"_

" _We might not need any more people here, you will be enough I think"_

_He jerked back " Me?"_

" _Yeah bro, all those other guys would make quite a mess, besides this place would be crowded. But you…let's face it you are a fat dragonfly, you have a size ten times larger than an normal dragonfly"_

_Spyro frowned " I'm not fat!"_

_Sparx rolled his eyes " Whatever, what matters here is that you would be able to open up the portal. How cool is that?"_

_The dragon's eyes shimmered " Then let's do this!" he exclaimed without hesitation " What do I do?"_

_He pointed at the trunk " See that hollow? Run into it at full speed"_

_Spyro looked at the tree " I don't think I'll fit"_

" _Dude no worries, this thing stretches the moment a portal opens"_

" _You sure?"_

" _Don't worry I've got this covered"_

_With an anxious gulp Spyro made his way to the opposite side of the room. There was a turmoil going on inside his head, as he looked upon the tree precariousness and curiosity fought between each other._

" _You sure this is a good idea?" Spyro shuffled his paw along the floor nervously_

_Sparx gave him a firm nod " Yes bro, just run and jump, the hollow will stretch automatically. There is nothing to worry about"_

_After a deep breath Spyro has made up his mind, no risk no fun after all. He started to run, just when he was nearing the tree he jumped in the direction of the hollow. However instead of teleporting himself to another dimension the world went dark and on top of that only his upper body fit into the hollow, his rump remained outside. Grunting Spyro kicked with his hind legs, swung his tail and jerked his lower body as sharply as he could, but to no luck._

" _Sparx I'm stuck!" he exclaimed in horror, the sound of his shout echoed inside the tree_

_Sparx covered his mouth with his hand and began to laugh hysterically_

" _Sparx!" the dragon kept thrashing_

" _I hear you dude, chill!" the dragonfly exclaimed breaking his laughter with difficulty_

" _Help me!"_

_Sparx chuckled while he began circling the tree " Told you that you are fat"_

" _And I've told you that I wouldn't fit!" Spyro growled_

" _Yeah, yeah"_

" _And why it didn't stretch like you said?"_

" _How can I know? The magic-" his voice was cut off when a sudden sound reached him, someone just entered the house, and he wasn't alone " Oh shit" Sparx cussed_

" _What?" Spyro exclaimed horrified ' What's going on?"_

_The dragonfly hastily began to pull the dragon's tail " Someone's here"_

_The purple drake wanted to say something but his eyes only widened at the growing sound of people talking._

" _Get me out of here!" Spyro yelled_

" _I'm trying!"_

_The noise intensified_

" _Faster!"_

" _Be quiet!" Sparx pulled the tail with all his strength, but unfortunately with a tired grunt his hand slipped from it " It's not working"_

" _Try again!" Spyro screamed_

_The dragonfly looked around the room, his eyes narrowed on the sheets laying on the floor near the tree. He picked them up and covered the tree with the protruding purple rump under them " Be quiet and don't move"_

" _What are you doing?!"_

" _Dude be quiet and don't move!" he replied with a hushed tone and left the room through a window_

" _Sparx! Sparx!" Spyro called after his brother in a muffled whisper, but he didn't return. He wanted to shout again but then he heard the door open._

" _This way please" he shivered at the sound of a new male voice_

_Momentarily the room was filled with the sounds of chatter, many of these voices belonged to children. Spyro could hardly make out any words thanks to the noise but from what he could tell the person to whom the male voice belonged to was giving a tour._

" _What is that?" a childish excited voice could be heard_

_Spyro's blood froze when he felt someone stopping just mere meters from his tail._

" _This is my special project" the male voice replied " I don't have a name for it yet since I just recently finished putting it together from the parts I've acquired. You want to see what's behind the sheets?"_

_The cheerful cry made Spyro cringe_

" _You will never forget this sight! Hope you aren't frightened easily!" the voice announced with the most creepy voice he could muster and pulled down the sheets_

_There was a loud gasp of surprise that soon was replaced with a cheerful laughter._

" _What's so funny I-" the male voice trailed off for a moment " What is this?!" he yelled_

" _Dear Ancestors! Is that you Spyro?" the dragon's eyes widened at the sound of a familiar female voice, he exactly knew to whom it belonged to_

" _Mom…?" he muttered_

* * *

Spyro laughed at the memory, he naively believed in the whole planetar story. In truth, the dragonfly who owned the house they so mercilessly broke into was just a collector of all kinds of weird stuff from all around the world. In a way they were lucky that their Mom was taking care of the children at that time, they managed to avoid more serious consequences thanks to Nina's charming personality. At least Sparx didn't lie about one thing back then, people did really look at him from a different perspective.

" What's so funny?" Cynder asked

" Oh nothing, just remembered an old memory. You wouldn't believe in some of the things I would tell you if I would recall all of my childhood memories. Crazy stuff"

" Oh I don't know, I'm pretty open-minded when it comes to crazy. I mean look, we are now facing portals to another worlds. Nothing is impossible"

Spyro smiled inwardly at the irony, he never thought such things like portals existed and now years later he is dealing with the exact thing he never believed in " I suppose you are right"

" I'll tell you more, I think that's only just the beginning, more crazy stuff awaits us"

Spyro smiled " Everyone tells me the same thing, luckily for us we are specialists when it comes to crazy stuff"

Cynder giggled " Tell me about it we-" her voice was cut off and her mouth remained opened when she spotted a shape among the trees in the distance. She narrowed her eyes and the form became more solid, among the trunks stood a purple shape she was so familiar with, the dragon from her dreams was staring at her intently. She blinked, she isn't sleeping there is no way she could see him, yet no matter how many times she fluttered her eyelids the dragon remained standing there.

" Cynder what's wrong?" Spyro's voice brought her back from her trance, she shook her head and looked at him " I…" her gaze returned to the direction where she saw the dragon, however this time he was nowhere to be seen " I…"

" What did you want to say?"

" What? Oh right I…" she smiled weakly " You know I've lost my train of thought, since I've forgot what I wanted to say it had to be unimportant" she chuckled and turned her gaze towards the trees again

Her smile faded instantly, the last time she saw that dragon was when she fell asleep in that lake, she brushed her lips. After that crazy dream the dragon stopped tormenting her, for the past few days she slept like a hatchling, basically she forgot about him. This time however freaked her even more than the dreams, she saw her nightmare while being awake, what does it mean? Why now? And more importantly why he torments her in the first place?

" We are here!" the moles shout caught everyone's attention

As the caravan began to roll down from a small slope, a bridge came into view that connected the island of Munitions Forge to the mainland, the land slowly became more barren, in the distance hot ash and sparks fell from the sky. What really caught everyone's attention was the growing shape of a huge active volcano, Boyzitbig, the home of the moles.

" Boy is it big" Flare mumbled with a voice full of awe the moment he landed near his two companions.


	31. Chapter 13 Book II

Chapter 13

After some long and mostly boring days the group has finally reached their destination. Munitions Forge, the home of the moles and their bipedal relatives that favor undergoing habitant- the Manweersmalls. The home of the moles was nothing else than a mine shaft leading straight into the deepest depths of the volcano.

The outside area surrounding the mine was stripped from any flourishing flora, the volcanic rock that the island consisted of prevented any life green life from thriving there. One could think that also the occasional streams of hot steaming magma rushing through the parts of the terrain would effectively scare any breathing life form.

However that was not the case, some creatures really enjoyed the hot and ashy air. Magma Worms, Fire and Buffalo Beetles were among them. These creatures were unmoved by the high temperature, some of them, like the worms for example even enjoyed a quick swim in the many pools of flowing magma.

Luckily for them no such creature was in their way, when Spyro's travels brought him to Munitions Forge for the first time, which happened during the Corrupted Cynder reign the area was filled with those hostile beasts, which made the road towards the mine shaft so much harder to travel.

During the peaceful time after Malefor's defeat the moles regained finally control of their island, it took them a while to achieve a full domination but eventually they managed to do it, driving the beasts far away from the trading routes. Now as the dragons explored the surrounding area from their vantage point on top of the wagon, they could see some packs of these creatures closely being watched by mole watchman from the safety of their watchtowers.

A small eruption of Boyzitbig caught everyone's attention, Spyro's companions were staring at the volcano intimidated, for him however the noise and sound was familiar, it forced all those unpleasant memories come back to him. The hot ash falling from the sky, bulging flowing lava, sparks dropping on the ground, he had seen all of this before.

His first visit to Munitions Forge happened some years ago, the area surrounding the volcano looked much different back then, the island was still filled with the choking atmosphere but there was no bridge connecting it to the mainland for example. Not to mention that the previously mentioned creatures roamed this area freely, effectively keeping the moles in check inside their underground home.

Spyro didn't come here for a reason, if not for a certain specific someone who involuntary led him here he would never have been here. It was here in Munitions Forge where he fought his way through the underground city filled with Manweersmalls slaves who were forced to fuel Cynder's ape army with new weapons. His goal was to save Terrador when the corrupted dragoness imprisoned the green dragon in the volcano's deepest pit to sap his power into a crystal which she later used to make an attempt to bring Malefor back from his prison in Convexity.

It was here also when he encountered Cynder for the first time, after Spyro saved Terrador the volcano exploded and during his escape he fell right into the dragoness' claws. He remembers the moment perfectly, he was never so scared in his life before, if not for Ignitus who tackled her he would never make it out alive.

Spyro blinked, with a barely noticeable flash the world returned to the way it is now, even after so many years he still returned to the Munitions Forge while on a quest and probably just like before he will encounter something he would never want to see for the first time. If a thing like destiny exists then it seems he is tied to his own and there is no way to liberate himself from it.

Spyro looked at the black dragoness walking next to him, if his fate is sealed, if he is tied to an endless loop of unfortunate circumstances as a purple dragon, he will make the best of it. If his destiny is to face danger after danger that it throws at him he will in all his might repel and counter those attacks. She is the perfect example that if one tries hard enough there is a possibility to bend the rules to your advantage, an example that despite every circumstance one can still walk down his own path.

" What?" Cynder asked playfully seeing his amethyst orbs observing her " There is something on my nose?"

" Nothing" Spyro replied cheerfully averting his gaze

" Don't lie to me, I've seen that smile" she nudged him impishly

" I was smiling?"

" Mhm"

" I…" his voice trailed off the moment he looked at her, he just couldn't help himself but to smile

" Where is it?" Cynder giggled while rubbing her nose

" There is nothing on your nose!" Spyro chuckled

" Then what's with the grin across your whole face?"

Spyro watched his friend closely, perhaps he is destined to struggle with dangers all his life, but if his persistence wins such precious things like her from fate's iron grip than the fight is not for nothing. She is the beacon of hope, she is…the reason for his existence.

" I'm just…happy that you are here with me"

She jerked her head back " Oh?"

" You are the reason for my existence"

His words struck her like a needle directly into her heart, waking it up from its slumber without any painful aftertaste. She averted her gaze blushing " Was that a compliment? Are you sick or something?" she tried to hide her feelings behind some humor

He smiled seeing her embarrassment, besides seeing her smile that was his second best view, even if it was perhaps a bit cruel to think so " If I am then I never want to get healthy again" somehow that revelation about destiny made him voice all his feelings without any waver in his speech, as if his heart was dictating him what to say.

She let out a stifled giggle, she could hear her heart pounding at her chest, she could feel her lungs sucking out all of the air, not to mention that she felt her cheeks becoming hot " I…I…"

" We are here!" a male shout came from ahead of them

Spyro threw a brief glance in that direction before looking at his friend again " Promise me you won't go anywhere"

" I…I…"

" Get a move on you two!" Sparx shout reached them

Spyro's smile widened " Come on, we better get going" he made his way forward

" I…I…" Cynder muttered once more, she raised her head only when she heard him moving away. Her glistening emerald eyes were watching him go.

" I love you" she whispered and with a slowly calming heart followed him

" it's a mine shaft Flare" Sparx sighed with a roll of his eyes

" Are you out of your tree kid?" the mole hissed jaded

Flare looked around confused " I…I guess, I've been with you guys the whole time"

The mole looked at the dragonfly with tiredness in his eyes.

Sparx just shrugged, he then folded his arms when he noticed the two approaching dragons " Hey guys, you are early" he scoffed

" Sorry, something came up" Spyro explained and looked behind his shoulder with a smile

Cynder averted her gaze with a shy giggle

Sparx' eyes widened, he quickly descended towards his brother and patted him in the shoulder " No way, you finally found out? Congrats"

The dragon furrowed his brow " What are you talking about? Found out about what?"

The dragonfly jerked back " I though…" he threw a quick glance at the blushing dragoness, she watched him with confused eyes. With a sigh the dragonflies' shoulders slumped down " You still got it"

" Got what?"

Sparx flew away " Why did I start pestering Flare again?" he muttered under his breath

" What was that all about?" Cynder asked when she joined Spyro

The purple dragon shrugged " That's Sparx, good luck in finding some sense"

There was a metallic grind as the mine's steel door opened. The mole took a deep breath inhaling the scent of mined metal " Home sweet home" he then returned to the caravan

" Wait!" Flare exclaimed horrified when he looked down the slightly steep tunnel " You never said that we were going underground"

Sparx shook his head " Dude what part of _mine shaft_ didn't you understand?"

" What has that to do with anything?"

The dragonfly massaged his temples " Dark underground tunnels are mines"

" Why didn't you say so earlier?!" Flare exclaimed accusingly " I would have never gone with you if I knew!"

" What's the big deal man?"

" I hate cramped places!"

Sparx' eyes widened " I don't believe it. You are clueless, naïve, dim-witted and on top of that claustrophobic?" Boy your teachers must have been proud of you"

" I'm not any of those things! And most definitely I'm not claustrophobic! I just hate tight spaces!" the red dragon growled

Sparx smirked " Do you know what _claustrophobic_ means?"

Flare opened his mouth to voice another protest but his attempt was ceased by realization of his ignorance. He looked at the ground " No"

" I thought so. Is there anything that you can do that can possibly help us?"

" Sparx cut it out" Cynder admonished the dragonfly before turning towards her red companion " Flare why didn't you tell us about your phobia?"

Flare looked at her with confused eyes

" Fear" she corrected herself

The fiery drake shuffled his paw along the ground while staring at it " You never asked"

" Told you Cyn, now we just need to figure out what we didn't ask about yet" Sparx sighed

The dragoness admonished him with an angry frown

" Relax Flare, the city isn't that cramped, it's actually pretty big and there is always an opening in the ceiling you can easily fly away if you want, just remember to time it right" Spyro comforted his fiery companion

The red dragon looked clearly relieved " Really?"

" Yup"

" But… what do you by _time it right_?"

Spyro smiled " You'll see, it's pretty awesome" the caravan has rolled inside, the purple dragon motioned with his head for his companions to follow him " Come on"

The group followed after the caravan, they could hear its wooden wheels rolling down the rocky tunnel, the sound of the moving caravan was becoming less and less audible the longer they walked. Their pace was so slow on purpose, as Spyro led the group down he constantly looked behind himself to check up on his fiery companion. He never met anyone with a phobia before but Ignitus taught him that such fears shouldn't be trifled with, the pace was solely set for Flare, to let him adapt to the new surroundings.

The tunnel took a sharp turn soon after they've entered the mine, the change of direction caused the light of the outside world vanish almost completely, now only the dim illumination of the torches shone on the path. It was then when Flare's breathing intensified, it was obvious he was struggling but despite his fear he was pushing forward. Cynder comforted him the best she could as she slowly escorted him down the tunnel, perhaps it was her soothing words and gestures that made him press onwards.

Soon the tunnel was filled with muffled sounds of people, creaking machines, rolling carts and all other noises a true underground mining city should consist of. Flare's eyes widened at the sight of the first rays of sun dimly illuminating the end of the tunnel, with a sigh of relief his body instantly relaxed.

The temperature noticeable increased but it didn't bother anyone from the little group, such change was expected since this is a city located inside a volcano. As they progressed forward the tunnel was slowly adopting a dark red hue, it had to be a natural light coming from the volcano since no torch, candle or any other light source could be visible farther into the tunnel.

With one last turn the group has reached its destination, every one of them sighed in awe, the reaction was expected from Flare since he never been here, it was somewhat surprising to see also Cynder in shock, or perhaps it was a good thing, the last time she was here she imprisoned the inhabitants of this city, all the better if she can't remember it. However the reaction was completely unexpected from both foster brothers, they have been here already yet it didn't prevent them from gasping in awe at the sight, the city has evolved after their last visit.

The group found itself in a very vast round cavern, what really caught their attention was the perfectly smooth walls, not even a single stalagmite or stalactite could be seen, the rocky spikes were completely removed to ensure safety for the inhabitants. What really was interesting about this city was the peculiar placing of buildings, all of the structures looked like a part of them were inserted into the volcanic walls, the structures formed a one big circle.

In the middle of that circle was a huge hole surrounded by tall metallic walls which weren't here when Spyro visited Munitions Forge for the first time. The hole served only one purpose, since the city is located within an active volcano every now and then it erupts sending all the lava and ash that comes with it up in the air. The wall protected the inhabitants from accidental spills of the magma to the sides, thanks to the wall the moles only concern during an eruption was the slight shaking of the ground, but they lived here all their life, nothing can be done about it so they most likely got used to it by now.

Building a wall without leaving the magma a place to escape was pointless, but as in every volcano there is always an opening in the ceiling to let the lava burst out into the world. A similar opening was located in Munitions Forge, up above was an hole the same size as the one below, when the volcano explodes every product of such eruption is sent flying through that open hole in the ceiling. That way life can thrive underground without interrupting the natural cycle of Boyzitbig while also keeping an eye on the actual time of the day.

What really catches every visitor's attention was the huge hourglass embedded inside a wall. The hourglass was filled with sand and was held by some mechanism gripper device. It was hard to tell if the thing was operated manually or not, whenever the volcano erupts the hourglass is pushed out of the wall and turned around using the gripper devices before settling it into the wall again. Whoever constructed it or is operating it now has a very responsible job, life here would be difficult without knowing exactly when the volcano erupts.

Just like an every mining city should this one also had rails all over the place, above, near the ceiling, below in the hole, outside of the metallic wall, basically everywhere one could see rails. The tracks disappeared into the many holes in the walls that connected them with the other important places in the city. The carts riding the rails had all kind of different metals, gems, weapons or even people inside them, all of the carts rode with open lids. However the moment the volcano erupts and the hourglass changes its position the lids shut down instantly protecting the valuable contents. The eruption lasts only seconds but the immense heat that is produced would melt anything in its why, it was surprising to see that the wall and the carts withstood it, one could only wonder from what they are made of.

The eruption not only shoots hot bulging lava but also produces a great amount of suffocating ash. All of the moles living here would be long dead if they haven't solved that problem. That's why to prevent such horrible outcomes from happening two special mechanism that were folded on the opposite walls of the eruption hole. The moment the volcano exploded and the steaming lava shot above two constructions in the shape of huge bellows unfolded from the walls and started to produce strong gust of air that pushed all the remaining ashes outside through the opening in the ceiling before folding again after a while.

Munitions Forge was built almost like Warfang but instead of going up like in the Dragon City another sections of the town were located on the lower levels. The top level on which the group was right now consisted of many types of shops, starting from simple shops filled with working tools, to jewelers just to end on smiths, smithies in particular are in majority. There were also some barn-like building where all kind of caravan animals were kept before they were escorted by cheetahs back to the surface, there was no chance they would survive otherwise.

Just like carts, also the ground levels were connected with tunnels, there were two more "shop" levels, located adjacent to one another. Basically everyone could find here something that interested him. Like in every city there was also a guard post every now and then, safety is crucial after all.

Some of such tunnels didn't lead into another section of the top level, instead many of them consisted of elevators or stairs leading down below. The middle section of Munitions Forge was filled with houses, hospitals and all sort of other building that are necessary for a city to prosper, including the City Hall. This was the level where the biggest crowds were formed, this section was even louder than the one below it and that's quite a feat.

The lowest level of the town consisted mainly of all sorts of mines, smelters and all other buildings that were necessary to properly prepare the mined metal for further processing. On this level were also tunnels that led to actual mines filled with all kinds of metals, there was no telling just how deep one could go, if there is anyone who might actually find out the line it's the Manweersmalls.

To find out more about the problem with the strange creatures harassing the inhabitants of Munitions Forge the group has to talk with Mole-Yair, the leader of these people. The housing district is located on the second level so that's where they are most likely going to find him.

Finally managing to shake off the paralyzing awe the group still pretty intimidated pressed onwards. Nobody seemed to pay any attention to them as everyone was extremely busy with their work.

" This place is soooo cool" Flare blurt out in sincere admiration

Spyro smiled " Told you it won't be that bad"

" I take it all back, I will never ever again say that I don't want to go with you, I swear!"

The purple dragon wanted to give him a cheerful answer but was cut off by some angry yelling. He looked behind his shoulder and spotted the caravan master who was so kind to give them a lift arguing with one of the Manweersmalls, the former mole was pointing a blaming finger at them. Spyro winced, even without hearing the words he somehow knew what the argument was all about.

" We better hurry" he muttered

Flare out of a sudden darted forward and began scratching the ground with his claw " What's this for?"

The group joined the fiery drake and examined the thing that caught the red dragon's interest. It was a grate with magma flowing beneath it, as far as they could tell it served no purpose

" I don't know" Spyro said " There are many things I don't understand about this city. Let's just leave it and go, we caused enough trouble already"

" They look funny"

The group looked in the direction Flare was staring at, it was obvious that by _they_ he meant the Manweersmalls. Nobody could deny the fact that the red dragon was correct in a way. These creatures were different from the moles living on the surface. They are smaller than a normal mole and they all look alike, at first glance they only differed by the intensity of the greyish coat covering their bodies. These creatures had longer snouts together with bigger claws on their hands and legs, it was a great asset for a creature which spends most of its life digging.

Living underground has also its downfalls, the most tragic one was a weak sight, living in the dark tunnels unfortunately makes the eyes lose their valuable focus, that's why Manweersmalls wear iron hats with a candle on top of them to somehow enhance their vision even if for a little bit. When one of the senses loses its value the other ones try to make up for it, the inhabitants of Munitions Forge have improved sense of hearing and sharp sense of smell.

Because of this sharp sense one of the Manweersmalls started to sniff at the air, moving his nose in a very rat-like fashion.

" SHE'S BACK!" the rodent exclaimed horrified after a while and out of nowhere pulled out a crossbow and pointed it at Cynder while slowly approaching the dragoness.

The dragoness made a slight cautious step backwards " Perfect" she hissed while narrowing her gaze, she was ready to defend herself if necessary

" No, no, no, no, you got it all wrong!" Spyro tried to calm the situation in a very hectic manner

" SHADOW HAS RETURNED!" a cacophony of shouts echoed throughout the cave

The yelling stirred a loud commotion as every available guard started to run towards them with crossbows at the ready

Sparx let out a tired sigh " Here we go again…"

" Please listen to me!" Spyro shouted

His voice managed to stop some of the guards " Spyro is here!" one of them exclaimed joyfully

" Don't let her get away!" the Manweersmalls surrounded the little group, the rodents were so close that the dragons could see their own reflections in the silvery tips of the bolts which were just mere inches from their noses

The purple dragon delicately pushed the tip of the bolt to the side " There is no need for that!" She's with me!"

" She won't get away this time!" the crossbows rattled, especially one of the rodents had troubles to keep his nerves in check, even through the noise they could hear his shaking weapon.

Behind the plenty silvery tips aimed at them and their owners Spyro spotted a shadow being dragged unnaturally towards them, only one dragoness he knew was capable of doing such a thing

" Cynder don't" he whispered warningly, the situation would be far more worse if she would lose her temper

" It's for you" she whispered back, her green eyes never left the guards " I don't want to see you get hurt because of me"

" I'm not going anywhere" he replied bluntly

" There is someone here I don't recognize!" one of the guards yelled

" It has to be one of Cynder's beasts!" a second guard added

" She is here to enslave us again!" the horrified shout of the third guard caused even more uneasiness, the crossbows rattled once again, the shaking of one of the weapons intensified. The only thing preventing the Manweersmalls from releasing a barrage of bolts was Spyro's presence.

" Why I am the beast?" Flare's voice stirred the guards even more, Cynder's eyes rested on the young rodent with the shaking hands who aimed his weapon now at the red dragon

" Dude it's not really the time for this" Sparx whispered

" You better put that weapon down kid or you might accidently shoot someone" Cynder said coldly, the young rodent turned the weapon towards her, the dragoness narrowed her eyes on him

" You are not my master!" the young manweersmall cried out, the crossbow rattled in his hands " You won't tell me what to do!"

" Ok everybody, take it easy" Spyro said firmly, gaining the attention of some of the guards " Cynder doesn't mean you any harm, she's with me and we just came here to solve your bug problem. We need to speak to Mole-Yair so if you please let us pass" he threw a quick nervous glance at the shaking weapon of the young rodent

" You and your brother can go" said one of the guards " You are most welcome here, but she and that strange thing is staying with us"

" Hey!" Flare growled " I'm not a thing!" the crossbows now aimed at the fiery drake

" Dude what did I tell you?" Sparx whispered " If you want to keep your hide shut up!"

" I'm not going anywhere without them" Spyro challenged the manweersmall

" Then we have a problem" the guard responded

" I'm not a monster!" the red dragon growled baring his teeth

" You are a dragon, now chill dude or you get us all killed!" the dragonflies' mumbled nervously

" Shadow you better calm down your pet" one of the guards hissed threateningly

" Flare is not my pet!" Cynder snarled " You better show him some respect!"

The crossbows now aimed at her " Beasts don't deserve respect"

" Stop calling me a beast!" Flare growled, the silvery tips sifted instantly at him

" Guys please!" Spyro's plea reached deaf ears

" Silence your freak Shadow!" a guard exclaimed

" I'm not a FREAK!" Flare roared

Cynder noticed the guards backing down nervously as the dragon adopted a offensive posture, their weapons were set on her new companion, especially the young rodent caught her attention, he seemed to be barely holding it together. All of the crossbows were now at a brink of being used, she could hear their strings stretching to their limits. She has to do something or someone will get hurt because of her past actions.

Cynder adopted an offensive stance, her move didn't go unnoticed

" Don't do anything stupid bitch" a guards hissed mockingly, making some of the other rodents together with the young one aim at her

Cynder ignored the insult and the warning, the dragoness roared furiously and jerked her body forwards as if she prepared to pounce, yet it was only a provocation, she remained in place. It was then when the sound of a released bolt was heard, momentarily there was a scream of pain.

Everything went silent, Cynder looked over her body, she noticed some blood on the ground but there was no wound ripping her scales. Then she spotted a purple shape groaning on the ground just in front of her paws. Her senses returned to her the moment she noticed a droplet of blood which was growing in the place where the bolt got stuck in Spyro's purple scales.

Guilt, hate, pain and sorrow struck her heart all at once filling her with such uncontrollable rage, her green eyes flared up and with a roar of rabidity she threw herself at the shocked young mole. The rodent let out a scream of anguish as the claws of one of her paws sunk into his shoulder and brought him to the ground with the dragoness on top of him.

Driven by rage Cynder rose her second paw in the air, claws at the ready to steal the young life " I'm going to tear you to shreds!" she roared

" Shoot her now!" a horrified guard's order sounded

Before the crossbows could fire there was a sudden earthquake that violently shook everybody.

" ENOUGH!" Spyro roared as soon as the stony round cover turned transparent just to fade completely moments later. There was something in his voice that made everyone stop in their actions and look at him with respect " This is where pointless arguments lead us! We defeated Malefor just to fight with ourselves?! What if a new threat arises? We won't be able to work together because stupid superstitions will..." Spyro groaned as the bolt protruding from the place just next to his elbow sent a painful sting.

" Spyro!' Cynder exclaimed fearfully and darted towards him

Sparx beaten the dragoness however " Bro, are you alright?

The purple dragon winced " I'm fine"

" Dude you have a bolt stuck in you, we need to get a healer here!"

" Sparx' right, we are getting you out of here" Cynder added with a voice full of concern

" I'm sorry!" the young guard shouted as he got up to his feet

" Just stop talking" the dragonfly replied coldly without even throwing the manweersmall a single glance

" Cynder you know exactly that a single bolt won't kill me"

" Still you shouldn't pull it out yourself when there is a healer around here somewhere" Cynder admonished her purple friend " What if the tip breaks?"

" Get a healer here!" one of the guards barked an order towards one of his subordinates

" It won't break relax" Spyro comforted his female friend before groaning, he began to lower on his paws " I just need to lie down for a moment before I pull it out" With a painful wince plastered on his snout Spyro dropped on the ground

Cynder lowered her head towards him " I'm sorry Spyro" she whispered tenderly

He smiled " No harm done" they both impulsively looked at the protruding bolt, his smile widened when he looked at her " You know what I meant" she giggled weakly

" I hate seeing you get hurt"

" I hate to see you getting hurt also, but unfortunately it's our job, we need to bare it"

" He did WHAT?!" an outraged male voice not belonging to any of the guards rang through the cave " I swear the next time this kid will-" the manweersmall's eyes widened when he spotted the group of companions ahead " Get out of there!" he shouted at the top of his lungs

They all looked confused at the running rodent

" I"VE SAID MOVE!" there was a sound of the hourglass shifting and momentarily the whole cavern began to shake slightly

Before the group could react it was already too late, the grate below them heated instantly, they looked down just to see a steaming flame heading in their direction, their eyes widened there was no chance they could avoid the hot flame now.

" Get close!" Flare yelled while grabbing the dragonfly in his paw while spreading his wings to cover both of his draconic companions just to place himself in between them

Cynder let out a stifled yelp and closed her eyes when she heard the burning flame burst through the grate, yet somehow she didn't feel the flame reaching her, somehow she wasn't burned. The dragoness slowly opened her eyes and gasped at the sight, her reaction made also Spyro to look around his surroundings with wide eyes.

They were encased in some sort of a bubble, some sort of transparent shield that protected them from the heat outside, they could see the flames spreading all around the shield making it burn, if they weren't in a life threating situation this was quite a sight to behold. Between both of them was Flare with his head hanging low and eyes closed, a frown of pure concentration was plastered on his snout. The whole protection shield lasted maybe for a minute before it vanished and all the dancing flames were dragged into every fiery part of Flare's body, the fiery parts seemed to emit a brighter flame the moment the volcano's fire connected with them.

Sparx burst out from the red dragon's paw the moment the coast was clear " Dude that was AWESOME!" the dragonfly exclaimed letting out all of the nerves in one shout " You saved our asses there"

" That shield looked almost like the shield that Ignitus created when we crossed the Belt of Fire" Spyro commented thoughtfully " However there was something strange to it"

" Who cares?" the dragonfly blurt out " It protected us!" he patted the red dragon in the shoulder " Dude it seems you have your uses, I could kiss you!"

" Flare?" Cynder asked concerned seeing as he was still remaining in the same position

After a moment the red dragon took a deep breath just like he would resurface after swimming underwater for a while. He then opened his eyes, it was then when a gasp escaped from Cynder's snout, for a brief moment she saw two dancing flames inside his yellow eyes, seconds later his slits again adopted a black color.

" Happy to help" Flare's voice was hoarse and stripped of any emotion

Despite the pain Spyro pulled himself up, wincing in pain as he did so " Are you alright?"

Flare quickly averted his gaze and shut his eyes " I'm fine" there was still the same hoarse sound to his voice yet this time he seemed to be agitated

The three friends looked at each other in confusion, then Cynder approached the red dragon and touched his back, his whole body shivered

" Thank you Flare" she said with a kind voice full of gratitude " You saved our lives"

He took a wavering breath " No problem"

She furrowed her brow, it was odd that after saving someone else's life he doesn't show any sign of happiness, Cynder didn't give up she approached the dragon once more

" I mean it, we wouldn't be here if not for you'

With another breath he looked at her and smiled bashfully " You're welcome" his demeanor slowly returned to its normal self

Sparx delicately elbowed his brother " There is something seriously wrong with this guy" he whispered

Spyro observed their new companion closely, he was unsure of his full capabilities but it seemed that whenever Flare is using his abilities he pays for it dearly which all in all was very strange since dragons are supposed to be naturals when it comes to wielding elemental powers.

" What are you waiting for?" the manweersmall healer shouted " Get out of there!"

Concerns regarding Flare were put aside for the time being as the yell reminded the whole group in what position they are currently in, luckily for them the guards after the recent events stopped bothering them. It was a relief for all of them to leave that deadly grate behind.

" What were you thinking?" the rodent admonished them

" What we were thinking?!" Sparx blurt out outraged while pointing at the grate" We almost got toasted there! Who in the hell puts a grate that spits flames in the middle of a town?!"

" You have the nerve to put this on me?!" the healer growled irritated " If you would find the time to read the warning signs nothing like that would happen!"

The dragonfly snorted " What warning signs?" he once again pointed at the area where the grate was placed " Look and tell me where do you see a sign saying " Warning! Fry-ass zone!"

The manweersmall threw his hands in the air " And they call us blind!" he then looked in the direction the dragonfly pointed at and squinted. With a focused frown he began to adjust the candle on his hat to see better.

" Fucking hell!" the rodent blurt out causing everyone to jerk back at his sudden and unexpected outburst " I've forgot to place that damn sign again!"

" AGAIN?!" Sparx repeated in disbelief " Just how many people you fried on that thing!"

" Cry me a river. You are alive aren't you? So stop bothering me" the manweersmall hissed even more irritated

" Why the hell did you put that thing there?!"

" Man, we are small, you can't seriously expect us to defend ourselves with crossbows when we are nearly blind. This is our new defense system, I admit that it is yet in its initial phase hence the accidents but when it will be ready we will be invincible! And then let Cynder show her tail here again, we are going to toast her and throw her carcass to the worms!" the rodent cackled menacingly

" Charming" Cynder scoffed

Sparx folded his arms " Then I guess you aren't aware that she is standing just right next to you"

" Wha-" the healer didn't finish his sentence, the moment he laid his eyes on the dragoness he jumped back screaming horrified " Shadow is here! Kill her! Shoot her now!"

Spyro growled and stepped in between his friend and the screaming rodent, if there was a guard that still thought to rise his weapon at the dragoness he never pursued the idea seeing how the angry purple dragon stood in her protection.

" You will stop yelling things like that!" the dragon snarled " She is my companion, and my companions deserve respect whether you like it or not! So please stop acting on superstitions because it leads to misunderstandings and provocations that end like this!" he growled and pointed at the bolt sticking out from his hide

The manweersmall stared at the drake for a while with wide eyes and opened mouth before his gaze lowered and focused on the wound. The bloody spot that was now covering the purple scales of the dragon forced his healer's instinct to kick in, his concentration returned in a mere moment, it almost looked like he completely forgot about everything around him, his attention was solely drawn to the injury.

" So you are the guy that idiot shot" the healer stated with his typical pleasant attitude, pulled the hem of his shirt and approached the dragon

" Accidents happen"

The healer snorted " He is dumb, and dumb people should never carry weapons"

Spyro threw the guard that shot him a quick glance " He's still young, he will learn"

" Yeah, you tell me that again when you get a bolt between your eyes" the rodent began to examine the injury "A nasty wound" he unstrapped a bag from his belt " Still it's pretty amazing to see you walk after this, everyone else would be moaning themselves to death"

" Dragons can take quite a beating until they fall"

" I know that, I'm not an idiot like that guy over there, stop bragging"

Spyro rolled his eyes, being polite has its cost

The healer firstly wiped off the blood from around the bolt before he started to smear a greasy substance around the wound. He then grabbed the protruding end of the projectile

" I'm going to pull it out slowly but it's still going to sting a little"

" I'm ready. This isn't my first time" the moment Spyro stopped talking he let out a stifled scream of pain as the bolt was removed from his body with one fast move

" What happened to _slowly_?" he hissed wincing in pain

" Stop bragging" the healer replied coldly while he covered the bleeding wound with the same greasy substance " This will stop the bleeding, your regeneration will take care of the rest"

" Thank you, while we still here could you tell us where can we find Mole-Yair?

The rodent packed his belongings " The building he's in is just below us"

Spyro nodded " Thank you again" he motioned for the rest of the group to follow him

They've made their way through the upper level without any further accidents, even the guards left them alone. The group was only greeted with glances filled with nervousness and despise.

" What is this?" Flare asked when they were passing by a stony floor with a lever set inside it. A similar lever was seen just in front of the vertical structure of metallic rails that the floor used to slide on as it moved

" That's a lift" Sparx explained

" What does it do?"

" it allows us to change levels without using the stairs"

Spyro glanced towards the mentioned stairs " Let's use the lift"

Cynder smiled after hearing his proposition, as a group they have to look out for each other. Flare in his excitement jumped into the lift as first. Cynder nodded towards the lever when everyone was inside

" Pull it"

" Wait!" a shout reached them, soon three manweersmalls appeared smiling gratefully, however when they spotted the black dragoness their expressions changed drastically

" Wrong lift" one of the rodents announced and shoved the other two out of the group's sight

" Cynder was in there!" the loud whisper didn't go unnoticed

"Why they hate you so much?" Flare asked " You are so nice"

Cynder blushed at the compliment

" Her kindness intimidates them" Sparx' sarcastic remark made two dragons who knew the truth laugh

" Pull the lever Flare" Cynder said smiling

The red dragon did as he was told and the lift began its descent, after he shook of his fascination by the strange machinery he looked at the dragoness again " So? Why do they hate you?"

Cynder sighed " it's a long story Flare, at the end of which you will no longer find me so nice anymore" she smiled flirtatiously " And I would like to stay nice for you"

Spyro observed them in silence, something about the way they were talking made his heart sting, the view also filled it with unexplained dislike for the fiery dragon.

Sparx smirked seeing his brother's reaction, to nag him further he started to hover just right next to his head

" Seems like you have a competitor" he whispered

The purple shook his head " What?"

The dragonfly turned towards the two talking dragons " Flare is playing it well, Cynder seems to enjoy it"

Spyro narrowed his eyes on his brother " What are you talking about?"

" Makes you wonder if she will fall for his advances, they would make a good couple"

The purple dragon growled " So? She can do whatever she wants"

Sparx looked at his brother with a corner of his eye, a devilish twitch could be seen on the corner of his mouth " And you would be absolutely ok with it?"

Tiny flames shot from Spyro's nostrils " Of course!"

" Huh" the dragonfly turned towards the two dragons again " I wonder if they will kiss" he said after a moment of silence

His foster brother let out a stifled roar " I'm going to-" his voice was cut off by the lift's sudden stop, it seemed like it has reached its destination. Both cheerfully laughing dragons left the lift with the dragonfly following them. Spyro however remained in the same spot, watching the red dragon with almost hateful gaze.

Both young dragons stopped their happy conversation when they figured out something is missing. Flare turned towards the lift

" Hey, are you coming?"

Spyro growled quietly before he left the lift, as he passed by the fiery drake he fixed him with a cold gaze " Follow me" he announced with an irritated tone

Flare furrowed a brow as he looked at the dragonfly " What's got into him?"

Sparx adopted a dramatic expression " A heart is an irresistible advisor" with that he flew past by the two dragons

Cynder and Flare looked at each other in confusion and shrugged before they started to follow the two foster brothers.

At first glance this level of Munitions Forge seemed more chaotic than the upper one, it was almost like they would be entering the city center of a huge town where people rushed through their lives always seeking the goal they have set for the recent day. Munitions Forge was no different, the group was moving in between crowds of manweersmalls and the moles from above, even a cheetah every now and then could be seen, surprisingly nobody paid them any attention, not even the guards that patrolled the streets bothered them. The word must got out of their arrival, and it seemed like it already spread.

Even if they couldn't see anything they could still sense the hostile atmosphere hanging in the air, but at least this time nobody tried to put their feelings into action. Moles were running back and forth, some were seeking shops but not the traditional ones with food, pottery and the like, most rodents found their way to shops filled with all kind of tools, mechanical parts and other whatnot that were scattered on this level. Technology geeks for life.

As the group progressed through the level a building in the distance caught their attention, it looked like a big mine shaft, but instead of going down the tunnel led straight into the volcano's wall. They were absolutely sure who will they find inside thanks to the sign carved above the entrance saying _Munitions Forge Core. _Even regarding signs the manweersmalls were true to their mining nature.

They've entered the building, despite its outside look the interior didn't resemble a mine at all. Just like in every other structure in the city this one also avoided any wooden surfaces, everything was made out of stone or metal while also being adorned with all kind of gems. This place seemed to be a home and a meeting hall in one where the manweersmalls could seek guidance of their leader.

The mole they were looking for was in the room occupying a big stony table all by himself, the room was completely dark, if not for the light shining from outside thanks to the opened door they would never see the manweersmall in the first place. Mole-Yair didn't look special, he had the features like any other natural inhabitant of Munitions Forge, he even wore the same looking iron hat with a candle on top of it, there were only slight differences between him and the other manweersmalls.

The first characteristic that really stood out was his coat, it had a more darker hue, almost reaching the point where it adopted a complete black color. He also was the owner of the longest whiskers they ever seen, two long silvery tendrils dangled down from both sides of his long snout. The last characteristic that differed him from the rest of the population couldn't be seen from afar, it was his eyes. While the manweersmalls still retain a portion of their sight, the same thing couldn't be said about their leader, Mole-Yair was completely blind. However that disadvantage didn't stop him from retaining the position of a leader.

Mole-Yair sniffed the air the moment the door closed and shrouded the entire room in complete darkness " Ah Spyro, long time no see" he lit a candle on the table

" _See _is a wrong verb here" Sparx commented

Spyro delicately slapped his brother with his wing to hush him

" I see…" the manweersmall pronounced the word slowly with a bitter tone "…that your brother is with you. Good, everyone enjoys his company"

Sparx ignored the sarcastic and somewhat rude tone, he elbowed his brother " I'm popular"

Mole-Yair sniffed the air again " One scent I don't recognize but I'm way too familiar with the other one. Way, way too familiar to my liking"

" I've told you that I needed a bath!" Cynder blurt out quietly at Spyro, keeping a playful mood even despite the mole obviously wasn't sharing her feelings

The dark colored rodent sat there in silence, his claws were slowly tapping on the stony table " Come closer girl" he said sternly after a while

Cynder threw Spyro a surprised look, he however returned her the same glance. Both dragons looked at the mole again just to focus on each other moments later. Spyro delicately nodded towards the leader of Munitions Forge, the dragoness sighed, her friend was right, no need to make the situation any more worse by disobeying. Cynder stopped in front of the rodent, her green eyes slimly shone, illuminated by the burning candle.

Sparx grinned and put his hands on both sides of his mouth " And what do you see?" he exclaimed and cackled

Spyro fixed his foster brother with an angry look " Sparx shut up!" he hissed

Mole-Yair ignored the snide remark, he watched the dragoness with his milky eyes, suddenly he touched her snout, that made her jerk back in surprise " I may not see the world around me anymore, but losing one of your senses makes the other remaining ones more sensible. I can feel things other people don't and right now I feel that you have changed girl"

Cynder gulped " That's good?"

The mole didn't answer, he just leaned closer " What do you think of Spyro?" he whispered

Her green eyes widened for a moment, luckily for her the mole had no chance to see her surprise " He's my friend, I would do anything for him" she whispered back

Mole-Yair smiled " My, my, the irony" he took a breath " The once greatest enemy of the Realms fell in love with our Savior. Ancestors have a wicked sense of humor"

" Wha…how…." she closed her eyes to calm herself down " I have no idea what are you talking about"

" Don't deny it girl, don't forget what I told you about my senses. I could hear your heart jumping in your chest when I mentioned his name"

Cynder narrowed her eyes " I don't see how my personal feelings are any business of yours"

His milky eyes focused entirely on her " Denial, the most common way of showing that we are harboring secrets. And from what I can tell that's not the only secret you have"

" Damn" she huffed with faked amazement " You sure developed some skills"

" Sarcasm, another betrayer of secrets. But you won't fool me girl, even if I can feel that you changed, deep down you remained the same. Only someone who experienced your cruelty first hand will recognize that Shadow has a way of concealing herself."

She bit her lip, she can't deny the fact that there is something happening with her that she can't explain. The strange dreams and hallucinations, hard to say what it all means but one thing is certain, they scare the hell out of her. However she can't admit it, she won't give the rodent the satisfaction " Stop it, if you plan to tell on me then do it, I'm tired of your games"

Mole-Yair sighed " I'm trying to open your eyes, you are torn between love and reason. You need to give up of the first feeling, the sign that you are scared of the thing that happens to you is a good omen but it won't last. I've seen the darkness in your eyes, I've seen what you are capable of, you better leave and never look back or you might hurt the people you love"

Cynder snorted " I'm not going anywhere. You lost your sight I get it, happens but give me a break and spare me the typical image of a blind sage who can see the future. It's tiring"

" I'm not trying to talk big, I'm trying to open your eyes to your ignorance. Why do you think Malefor chose you? Maybe because you already possessed the corruptive force within you that he only activated? Didn't you think about it? Perhaps the darkness is fallowing you like you Shadow were once following us. If you care for the people you are with, you will go your own way"

Cynder growled " Listen, stop telling me what to do, I can take care of myself and more importantly I can take care of my friends. Don't worry"

" Is that so? Then how do you explain Spyro being shot for your crimes just a moment ago?"

" I…" her voice trailed off, he hit the right spot. Spyro's injury was all her fault " I won't let anything like that happen again"

Mole-Yair shook her head delicately as if trying to bring her to her senses " You can't possibly promise that, even you can hear the uncertainty in your voice. Leave before things get worse, if you won't be distracted there is a chance you might win this fight with yourself"

" Oh, now you are suddenly worried about me?"

" Your fate is no concern of mine, for me Shadow should disperse together with The Dark Master, but that's not the case right now. You need to leave, that's the only way you will protect your friends"

Cynder narrowed her gaze, she could barely hold back her temper. She did wrong, she deserves all kind of punishment and insults thrown her way but the rodent has no right to demand that she abandons her only harbor of normality in this world. Even if she wanted to leave she just wouldn't be able to.

" I'm not going anywhere. Live with it" she whispered firmly

Mole-Yair shook his head " Then go and enjoy the happy moments while you still can because evil never rests. May Ancestors watch over us all" he leaned back into his chair and looked at the group gathered in the distance " Come closer, I'm too old to shout!" the mole's voice changed completely, the bitter tone was replaced by sincere happiness, just like nothing ever happened.

The group approached the table where the manweersmall was seated, as they got closer everyone looked at Cynder. Worry shined in Spyro's eyes when he noticed just how agitated she is.

" I know that I'm repeating myself " the rodent continued " But I hope the next time we meet will be under better circumstances"

Sparx turned from Cynder towards the manweersmall, he eyed the rodent with an angry frown " Let's skip the sweet-talking and get to the point"

Mole-Yair fixed the dragonfly with an irritated glance, however he remained silent as if waiting for something. Uncountable moments later he let out a sigh while throwing the dragoness a defeated quick glance " There is no much I can tell you I'm afraid" he focused on the purple dragon again " That's why we sent you one of the bugs we managed to capture hoping that Volteer will make any sense of it, and more precisely find out a way to exterminate them completely"

" That's not a bug" Flare corrected the manweersmall

Sparx rolled his eyes " Dude, give it a rest"

" What?"

The dragonfly shook his head " Be quiet"

" I just hope Spyro that you know what are you doing by bringing your friends here" Mole-Yair said

The purple dragon ignored the rodent's worry and focused solely on their mission " What caused the bugs to appear?"

" That's the problem, we don't know. The critters just appeared in the tunnels one day and started attacking the miners, we had several casualties already. I'm aware that you have done enough for us already but you are the only one that can change the unknown and prove victorious. So here I ask you, will you help us again Spyro?"

" No"

The manweersmall jerked back horrified

" No, I won't help you because I wouldn't be able to. However WE will help you" Spyro put emphasis on the word _we_ as if mocking the rodent's skepticism from before " I am nothing without my companions, I want people to finally remember that"

Mole-Yair dropped his head down in shame, even if reluctantly " Of course"

" Tell us where to go, no need to put more innocent lives at risk by wasting time talking"

The rodent smiled gratefully " I'll show you…"

* * *

The group stood at the entrance to one of the mining tunnels

" The miners inside will fill you in. Let's just hope that The Dark Master didn't have a paw in this. Best of luck to you" Mole-Yair patted the young dragon on his shoulder and returned slowly the way they came here

Spyro looked down the dark tunnel " So guys, what's the plan?"

Cynder stepped into the tunnel, the darkness embraced her lustfully, she turned around and smiled " We improvise" with that she continued her descent

Flare observed his companions slowly disappearing into the darkness ahead " I hate cramped places" he muttered and slowly began to follow the group. The moment the darkness touched his red scales he gulped " I have a bad feeling about this"


	32. Chapter 14 Book II

Chapter 14

The tunnel was exactly what one could expect it to be, it started wide at first, if somebody wanted he could fit a small army in there without the risk of getting someone trampled. However the longer the tunnel stretched forward the jagged walls began to close in effectively thinning the once big open space.

Just like in almost every part of Munition Forge there were also rails here, it seemed like they were running through the tunnel, but from the group's perspective it was hard to judge just how exactly deep the rails went. Carts are essential way of transportation for every respectable mine, however these carts either seemed to be broken or they were currently unused due to the recent events since every now and then they could spot an empty cart sitting on the rails.

What really was interesting about this tunnel was the light, one could expect the tunnel to be dark or at least dimly illuminated but here it was quite the contrary. In the place where the tunnel spread into the wider cavern that held the city and when the group thought that it would look like this through the whole journey it only got brighter farther down.

It was no surprising that the lighting changed since the manweersmalls could barely see they needed all the light they could get to enhance their poor sight. For the recent arrivals it was too much however, the group had to squint to push through the almost already blinding tunnel. No matter how uncomfortable the situation was the group pushed forward relentlessly, they have a task to complete and to finish it they need to find those miners Mole-Yair spoke of.

Not only the tunnel got brighter the lower they went but it also got slightly hotter, the air slowly began to become more dry, after a while the sounds the group emitted were hardly resembling calm breathing, instead their lungs and throats let out sounds that resembled wheezing. How the manweersmalls could work in such conditions was beyond their expectations, perhaps it's only a matter of getting used to the stale air, or perhaps only this part of the mine was so annoying, or this living conditions are solely for the natural inhabitants of the underground caverns. Whatever the case may be, the group wanted to, without any exceptions to finish the task they were given as fast as possible and get out of here to taste the wind on their hides again.

One rasp breathing stood out from the others, while the three breaths were showing the normal signs of stuffiness in a problematic breathing environment, the fourth breath was not only showing signs of deepened airlessness but was also strangely wavering. Discomfort was not the only emotion the owner of the fourth breath was struggling with right now.

Cynder looked worryingly behind her shoulder, the red dragon was following them at his own slow pace, he had his eyes closed and kept muttering something under his breath

" Flare, how are you holding up?" she asked tenderly even if the answer was obvious

" I'm fine" he replied automatically, only for a moment opening his eyes to check the road ahead him before shutting them again " Everything is ok, everything is ok" he whispered the last sentence barely audible before his voice completely died down again

Cynder just couldn't stop but to feel pity for their red companion " If it's too much you can wait for us outside"

" I'm fine" he repeated " Everything is ok, everything is ok"

Sparx sighed " Just give it a rest, can't you hear? He's fine and everything is ok" he scoffed

The dragoness stopped in her tracks and turned towards the red dragon, she extended her paw towards the approaching dragon with closed eyes. The moment her paw met with his scales Flare jumped backwards with a stifled startled yelp. She gave him a meaningful look.

The dragonfly stopped near the dragoness' head and pointed at the fiery dragon with his open palm " See? That was perfectly normal, he's fine"

Cynder paid no attention to the dragonflies' sarcastic remark, she was entirely focused on their new companion " Talk to me Flare"

The red dragon swallowed hard and wiped his sweating forehead " I'm fin-"

" Oh please don't give me that _I'm fine_ bullshit" she snapped back at him, only when she noticed his shocked look her expression changed back to normal. She realized her outburst was an unnecessary one, yet Mole-Yair's words still affected her and she just has to prove to herself that she can take care of her friends.

" I'm worried Flare, are you sure you can make it? Who know how deep we will be going" she asked, however this time her voice was stripped of any anger, it was only fueled by sincere kindness

" You don't need to worry about him, if he really didn't want to go he wouldn't be here" Spyro commented with a somewhat cold and irritated tone

She turned towards him with an angry frown " What the hell is your problem?" she snarled

The purple dragon growled " I don't have any problem"

" Yeah? You are acting strange since we left the lift, wanna share what's so upsetting you?"

He snorted, part of him really wanted to throw out all his feelings, but there was still the other part which held him back. Combined they made him confused, and that confusion was what angered him " I'm acting strange? What about you?"

She growled " There is nothing wrong with me, but you seem to have a problem with Flare, care to explain?"

Spyro threw the red dragon a quick irritated glance before he focused on the black dragoness " I don't have a problem with Flare, you are delusional. Besides it was you who triggered this argument by attacking me all of a sudden, care to explain why?"

Cynder eyed her purple friend intently, tiny green flames were wafting through her nostrils " No"

The purple dragon sneered " You demanded an answer from me but you won't answer my question? Why?"

" Spyro, drop it" she hissed threateningly

" I've answered your question, now I want you to answer mine"

" Spyro…"

" Hey, leave her alone!" Flare snarled and approached the purple dragon despite the fear tying his paws

" Stand back" Spyro hissed as he threw the red dragon a furious glance " This does not concern you"

" You have no right to speak to her like that!"

" Flare, mind your own business"

" Just because you are a purple dragon doesn't mean you can do everything you want! I won't allow it to happen again!" Flare growled angrily

Spyro furrowed a brow seeing the dragon's aggression, his fighter's instinct was slowly kicking in but he held it back" What are you doing?

"You won't fool me you are just like the others but out of respect for Cynder I'm trying to put some sense into you"

The purple dragon snorted " What sense? What am I doing wrong? I just asked her a simple question which I want her to answer, nothing else"

" Don't talk like I'm not here" Cynder growled

He turned towards her" Just answer the question, why you don't want to?"

" BECAUSE I'M TIRED OF PEOPLE TELLING ME WHAT TO DO!" she roared

Spyro jerked back, her sudden outburst caught him by surprise. In a mere moment everything came back to him, realization struck him in the hardest way possible. He realized that there was no logical explanation for his anger towards Flare, hell he didn't even know why he was angry at him in the first place, it was all so stupid. Then he remembered that Mole-Yair called Cynder for a quick eye-to-eye talk and how distressed she looked after it.

Spyro lowered his head in shame " I'm sorry guys" he muttered in a hurt tone

" No way!" Flare growled " You are not goi-" his eyes widened in surprise " Wait, what?"

He looked at the fiery dragon " I'm sorry Flare, you have all the right to voice your opinion, you are a member of our group now, like it or not our business is also your business, mostly"

He stared at the purple dragon with eyes filled with disbelief, not really caring about the whole monolog, he only focused on the first part of the sentence " You are sorry?" he muttered shocked " I never heard a purple dragon saying sorry before" instinctively he looked at the black dragoness, remembering her words

Cynder greeted him with _I told you so_ expression " It's ok Spyro, you don't have to apologize" she stated calmly, as she turned to face her purple companion, her rage finally gone " We both acted stupid, irritation did the rest"

Sparx yawned and pushed himself of the wall he was leaning against " You are done finally?" everybody looked at him with tired eyes " Now imagine that we were somewhere deeper into the tunnel and were surrounded by bugs and you start argue. They would eat and crap us out in the corner by now, how awesome would that be?"

Every dragon acknowledged the dragonflies' story with a frown

" You get my point don't you? If you really want to argue, AGAIN, do it where…" he extended his hand with his forefinger above his thumb and began slowly pushing them closer to each other "…it's a little bit safer. OK?" he whispered

The dragons looked at each other, it was unlikely that any bugs were here in such a still hospitable part of the mine but there was no denying that Sparx was right, they can't let their emotions get the upper hand when danger is so close.

Seeing as the drakes were considering his words Sparx flew next to Flare and pulled him to the side by yanking one of his horns " Word of advice Dude, when those two are arguing don't interfere, you are only going to make it worse by picking sides"

" What? How?" Flare blurt out " I defended Cynder because it was the right thing to do, he was pushing things way too far. That was wrong"

" it doesn't matter who was right or not, trust me Dude, I've been through this many times"

The red dragon furrowed a brow " That wasn't their first time? Just how many times do they argue?"

Sparx sighed " Plenty, I've lost count a long time ago"

" I don't get it, I've thought they are best friends"

The dragonfly nodded " They are, they spend a lot of time together and that's what makes them argue"

Flare observed the dragonfly pondering his words " I don't understand" he said after a while

Sparx sighed " Argument not always means that you don't like the other person"

" I still don't understand"

The dragonfly rubbed his forehead " Am I the only one seeing what is happening?" he muttered to himself. He clapped his hands " Ok Dude, I'll give you a hint and maybe you will figure it yourself because I really hope that you are blind and I'm not crazy. What caused the argument?"

Flare shrugged " Something about a problem, probably with me"

" Close Dude but you are not the point of focus, dig deeper, read between the lines. What made Spyro bitter?"

" I don't know, he is a purple dragon, maybe a little different but he is still purple, they usually don't make sense, or hide it very well"

" Ok we try a different approach, when they start arguing again, pay attention to something other than the words, pay attention to what triggers the argument"

" But why?"

Sparx raised his forefinger " One, as I said before I want to see if you are blind or if I'm crazy" he raised his middle finger " Two, because I'm bored and want to play a game" he raised his ring finger " Three, show you why you should stay out of this"

" Ok, I'm going to risk my head here" Spyro finally gathered enough courage to ask her the question that bothered him, that's the best time for it since she is obviously calmer " What Mole-Yair told you?"

Cynder smiled inwardly, despite the shouting earlier he still put her well-being as a priority " Your head will be fine" she said with a slight giggle " And don't worry about Mole-Yair, what he said was nothing drastic, I can take care of it"

" I can help"

She smiled " I know you can, but this is something I need to do alone. Be sure that everything I'm doing is for you guys, you are my friends after all"

" WHAT?" Flare blurt out excitedly and ran towards the dragoness barely keeping his glee in check " I'm your friend?"

Cynder's smile widened as she noticed the dragon's expression " Of course Flare, maybe we don't know each other for long but you are willingly travelling with us, you are part of our group that means you are my friend"

The fiery drake visibly beamed " Cool! I've never had a friend before I don't know what to say" he lowered his gaze, searching for the right words on the floor

" You don't have to say anything"

He lifted his eyes, there was a great dose of sincerity and gratitude shining within his fiery sight " I'm proud to be considered as your friend. Nothing better ever happened to me before"

Cynder was taken aback by his comment, his words filled her heart with a tremendous amount of joy and bashfulness, leaving her speechless

Spyro smiled as he saw her reaction, there was that strange and unexplained hatred for the fiery drake gnawing at him but it was effectively quenched by the feeling of pure joy as he watched his best friend's spirit being lifted up.

A tear appeared in the corner of her eye " I… Flare… I…" she swallowed the gulp in her throat " Thank you" she said with watery eyes

" Whoa, whoa, whoa" Sparx exclaimed and began circling the three dragons before hovering in front of the dragoness " Did you just call me your friend?"

Cynder wiped her eyes and smiled " Perhaps"

The dragonfly began rubbing his chin " I don't know Cyn, are you really sure that we should take our relationship to the next level?"

Cynder laughed, it was somewhat nice that Sparx broke the awkward moment with some humor " I would rather not but I'm forced to take what I've got"

Sparx pretended to ponder the proposition " Ok fine for me" he spat on his hand and extended it towards the dragoness

With a grin Cynder spat on her paw and both friends shook on it

Sparx clapped his hands " So friends how about we go celebrate this union with our digging friends, huh?" he dashed towards the exit

Spyro blocked him with his wing as he began descending deeper into the tunnel " We are going forward"

Sparx sighed with a shrug " It was worth a shot" he muttered defeated

The purple dragon waited for his female friend to catch up with him so he could walk next to her " If one day something will start really bothering you, share ok? I'm here for you"

She smiled, there was no one who can possibly replace him in her heart and she is constantly reminded of that, how her life would turn bleak if he ever turned his back at her. However from now on, she has a friend that is from outside their little group, what a relief that is on her burdened existence, what a relief that is to be able to rely on someone else. Perhaps Mole-Yair was wrong, and everything would turn out good in the end, anyway, at least this is a start.

" Promise" she said with a broad smile

* * *

The descent was a slow one, every now and then they had to stop to allow Cynder to comfort their fiery companion so he could overcome his fear and push forward. Seeing in what state he was she wanted to convince him to leave and wait for them in the city but no matter how hard she tried the dragon just wouldn't listen. It was hard to tell if it was only a simple stubbornness, the urge to learn more about the world or something completely else. Whatever the case may be Flare's persistence remained unhindered.

More and more lanterns dangled from the ceiling as they progressed farther into the mine, eventually the light started to become more dimer as the tunnel began to narrow almost to the point that forced them to crawl, they could feel the rough edgy walls scratching their scales, the dragons had to be very careful while swinging their tails to not send sparks flying which might accidently hurt someone.

Spyro was leading the group so he was the first one who picked up a noise that sounded like a muffled conversation, he motioned for his brother to come closer to check if he is not hearing things. Sparx understood the sign and started to listen intently, after a short moment he nodded confirming his brother's suspicion. They pushed forward, here the tunnel grew completely dark and even more narrow than before.

It just occurred to Spyro that the last wagon that was meant to transport the mined metals was last seen just before the tunnel got more tighter, why mine in a place that is not suitable for comfortable transportation was beyond him, however that was unimportant right now, curiosity has to be eclipsed, his main concern right now were the muffled voices coming from ahead.

The voices became louder and more comprehensible as he crawled farther into the tunnel with his companions closely following him. The tunnel was becoming more dark with each step but now it turned completely black, even the natural light Sparx emanated wasn't much helpful. Spyro's only way of knowing what surrounds him was the feeling of the rough surface of the walls on his scales.

He frowned thoughtfully when his tail ran across something metallic and smooth, he would check it out but there was no time, besides his whole concentration was now focused on the loud voices, there was no doubt about it now, these have to be the miners Mole-Yair spoke about. Seeing that this very hateful crawl will soon end Spyro pushed forward with great determination, it was only a matter of seconds before they reach their goal now.

" OW!" Spyro yelped when he bumped into a solid invisible barrier just when he thought he will reach the miners

" I CAN'T BELIVE IT!" a furious, slightly muffled shout came from ahead " Another idiot didn't read the sign and hit the door! How are we supposed to squash the bugs when they are sending me morons!" the manweersmall reached for the handle of the doors and opened them " Listen dipshit I won't be-" his angry yelling came to an abrupt end when he peeked inside the door and spotted a purple dragon inside who was rubbing his nose

Spyro fixed the rodent with an irritated glance but not for the manweersmall's insult but for his own clumsiness, he curled his nose a few times and pushed himself into the cavern

The mole bowed deeply while tightly clenching his iron hat near his chest " I'm deeply sorry I didn't mean to offend"

" It's alright" the purple dragon assured the mole and began looking around the cavern while wiping his watery eyes

The cavern he found himself into was way wider and bigger than the tunnel he just left, much to his relief, he is not claustrophobic but he hated that cramped place, he could only imagine how Flare felt. Here they have found the lost wagons that so suddenly disappeared back into the tunnel, the carts were pushed down from their rails and their lids were wide opened, nothing was inside them excluding a simple crumpled blanket, it looked like the wagons served as makeshift beds.

All kinds of tools, weapons, metals and other things were strewn all around the cavern, what really worried him was their look, many of them were dented and practically everything was covered in blood, be it fresh or dried. The tunnel ahead that led deeper into the mine was also narrowed almost to the point that even a fly could have troubles squeezing through, to sum up the whole cavern looked like some sort of organized chaos.

And in the middle of the chaos were the miners, there was quite a big group of them, however the overall sight was disturbing. The miners seemed to exchange their working tools for something more practical when it comes to fighting like swords, but also a pickaxe could be seen every now and then. Just like the tools the manweersmalls were strewn all around the cavern, some were sleeping, some were laying on the floor, others were walking all around the cavern with their noses pointed at the ground, others were intently staring at the tunnel leading out of the cavern while others were doing something completely else.

What they had in common was a bloody injury, practically all the miners were wounded one way or the other, starting from annoying cuts to deep lacerations, some of them even had missing claws, or other body parts, the rodent that so politely greeted him for instance had his right eye replaced by a bloody bandage, it seemed like the miners had a really rough time here.

However the culprits also received their share of failures, many of the bugs to Spyro's surprise were now being served as a snack, the sight made his stomach curl.

" Please forgive my outburst" the manweersmall continued to apologize with a hurt tone " With the bugs constantly pestering us we are all on edge" his eyes traced a glowing dragonfly for a while as he left the tunnel " These days you can never be sure when some horror decides to show itself"

The rodent yelped and his iron hat clattered on the stony floor when he recognized the emerging black snout of a dragoness. Almost every miner looked in the direction of their screaming leader, when they spotted the shape of a black dragoness, in trained unison they reached for their weapons and adopted a defensive stance.

" WHAT IS THIS?!" the one-eyed manweersmall exclaimed horrified while threateningly waving his sword in front of the black snout.

Some other rodents joined their leader and directed their weapons at the dragoness, forcing her head back and preventing her from completely leaving the narrow tunnel, only the upper part of her body was completely free of the cramped space.

Sparx dashed towards the commotion and patted the dragonesses head " This is Cynder"

The rodent remained silent, he only eyed the dragonfly with shock filled eyes.

Sparx cocked his head pretending that he doesn't understand the mole's reaction " You know, the chick that enslaved you and made you her bitches. That Cynder"

" I KNOW WHO SHE IS!" the manweersmall blurted out furiously, if he could roar that would be the best way to release all that boiling anger. In his fury the rodent yanked his word closer to the dragonesses' head, pointing it directly between her eyes. She had to jerk her head back even more to avoid the sharp tip

" I'm more concerned with finding information telling us what this slut is doing here!"

" She is with me" Spyro growled while he approached the rodent, his voice was filled with intimidating anger. The irritation gnawing at him basically since he entered the Munitions Forge now combined with sheer fury after hearing someone with no regard insulting his best friend made him boil from inside.

The manweersmall threw his hand up " Are you insane Spyro?!" You know who she is?!"

The purple dragon looked directly into the mole's eyes " She is my companion and a friend"

" A frie…She had to put a spell on you or something!"

" She didn't do such a thing"

The manweersmall observed the dragon with wide eyes " She seduced you! I can see it in your eyes !" in panic he looked into the direction of his co-workers " Chop her head off!" he yelled

Spyro roared and grabbed the mole by his shoulders before slamming him into the wall which made the whole cavern shake slightly " DON'T YOU DARE!" he roared again while turning to look at the gathered miners, red flames bursting out through his nostrils

" What are you doing?!" the pinned rodent hissed through clenched teeth, pain ripping his back after the impact

" Spyro!" Cynder shouted and wanted to jump towards her friend but the sharp tips of the swords that yanked in her direction made her slid back into the tunnel again

" Put down your weapons" Spyro growled while eying the gathered miners with a cold gaze

" Don't listen to him!" the one-eyed manweersmall exclaimed before a grunt escaped his throat as he was once again slammed into the wall

" I won't repeat myself" the purple dragon snarled at the pinned mole

With a cough the rodent slowly raised his head " And what are you going to do?" he looked into the dragon's amethyst orbs " Kill me?" the rodent's eyes widened when there was no reaction from Spyro, not even his pupils dilated " By the Ancestors…you would, wouldn't you?"

" Order your men to put down their weapons"

The rodent closed his eyes defeated " You can't even see what you are doing" he sighed " Do as he says"

The miners did what they were told, not even trying to hide their hesitation. Cynder despite everything that's happening let out a breath of relief, even if it looked safe she still crawled from the tunnel slowly with her emerald eyes fixed on the miners.

Spyro let go off the mole " Was it so hard? Everything would turn out differently if we had only started like this"

The manweersmall stumbled for a short while before he straightened up, recovering his balance " You are right about that" he massaged his sore shoulder " We would never know how seriously she brainwashed you"

The purple dragon didn't answer, he just stared at the rodent in complete silence.

The mole shook his head " How can you not see it?"

" What I see is blind superstitions and unexplainable level of despise. I'm tired of it"

" Wake up Spyro! She wrapped you around her claw"

Spyro growled quietly, the gnawing irritation mixed with the mole's annoying words created a most unwanted combination that he struggled to fight back " I know what I'm doing"

The rodent frowned " Do you really?" You just raised your paw on an ally! And to top that you threatened to kill me, you would sacrifice everything for her. She had to put a spell on you!"

" I've never said that I wanted to kill you, it's just your imagination" the dragon corrected the mole, yet he couldn't deny the fact that he was completely overwhelmed by fury back then " Besides you wanted to kill my best friend, I had to do something"

The injured manweersmall shook his head " I just don't understand how can you call her a friend"

" And that's exactly the reason behind every argument, ignorance"

The rodent snorted " Ignorance? This is not ignorance but reason. You haven't lost everything and everyone because of her, we on the other hand lost our friends, families and children. It doesn't matter that perhaps Shadow now somehow turned younger and seems calm, her other self is still there. You have to lose much to be able to notice it, because people Spyro don't change at a day's notice. If there was evil in her before then it is still there but hidden"

" You are not talking about reason, you are talking about hate"

The manweersmall narrowed his gaze on the drake " You really believe it is possible to change that much?"

" Yes" Spyro replied without hesitation

" Then tell me, if Malefor, the one responsible for Ignitus' death would show up one day and just like her he would be filled with guilt and sorrow, would you believe in his change of heart without a doubt?"

Spyro opened his mouth but no words came out, he averted his gaze, the manweersmall had a point, it would be really hard to forgive him. But on the other hand this is a completely different situation, one was a creature of pure evil while the other was forced into the decadence.

" You can't compare the two" he answered finally with a wavering confidence

" I can and you know it, you deny it because you want it to not be true but unfortunately it is and you can do nothing about it" the rodent leaned closer " She will be your downfall"

The purple dragon didn't look at the mole, he was watching Cynder with a corner of his eye while pretending to stare at the wall in contemplation.

The mnaweersmall without any more words rubbed his painful shoulder, picked up his iron hat, straightened up and started to walk away " Let her in" he announced emotionlessly

Cynder slowly crawled from the tunnel while intently eyeing the retreating miners, the glimmer in their eyes was enough for her to know how pleased they were with their leader's decision, however she was glad to finally free her body from that tight place. As soon as she left the tunnel she immediately darted towards Spyro.

" Bro that gave me the creeps" Sparx started to circle around his brother's head " You really need to get a hold of yourself"

" And what was I supposed to do?!" the dragon snapped back in a loud whisper

" You know I have a high tolerance for crazy but that was reckless even in my book"

" Yeah Spyro, what has gotten into you?" Cynder inquired

" I don't know ok? I've been walking angry basically since we got to the city. I don't know what's happening I can't explain it"

Sparx shook his head, he elbowed Cynder and urged her to say something with a nod of his head. He had a hunch that only she is able to calm his brother.

The dragoness threw the dragonfly only a brief glance before she approached her friend " I know it's hard to quell emotions, believe me I do, but you cannot allow them to control you"

" I can't stand how they treat you" he snarled angrily " Not only they insult you but also try to kill you. I won't stand idle and watch"

" I know you won't and despite what I usually say I'm glad that you watch over me"

Spyro's mouth twitched into a brief smile " Good to know that my head is safe"

" You know how temperamental I am, you know in how much trouble I get because of that, but you cannot be like me, you are the idol of these people and you need to give them an example. You can't end like me, I beg you Spyro don't go that way, do it for me" she mumbled pleadingly

He looked at her with guilty eyes " You don't need to beg, you just need to ask"

Cynder smiled gratefully " And if as every hero you will need a shoulder to lean on remember that I'm here for you and only for you"

Spyro felt that a weight was lifted from his heart, a great sense of relief overwhelmed him, completely destroying all that boiling anger within. Her words felt like needles and pins piercing directly his heart, it felt like something he just waited for. Not only his heart began to race but that strange feeling in his stomach returned, it was somewhat painful but also oddly pleasant at the same time.

" SOMETHING"S COMING!" one of the miners exclaimed while he rushed into the direction of the tunnel Cynder just crawled out from.

" HOW?!" another miner yelled shocked while he gripped his weapon tightly " IT"S IMPOSSIBLE!" he dashed towards the tunnel, a strange reddish light was emanating from within.

The one-eyed manweersmall turned towards the tunnel, the strange light made him alarmed, but then he noticed the recently arrived dragons, they weren't panicking in the slightest. It could only mean one thing.

" Let him or her in" the rodent ordered with a tired sigh

The miners took some steps back yet they were still carefully watching the inside of the tunnel.

" Boss that is no dragon!" one of the miners shouted nervously when a pair of reddish eyes appeared illuminated by the fiery flames protruding from the creature's red body

" What the hell is that thing?" some other miner exclaimed

The disfigured manweersmall approached the three friends " You've brought backup?

" We wish" Sparx scoffed

Suddenly there were some startled gasps when the creature clumsily popped from the tunnel and dropped flat onto the stony floor, seeing the hanging mouths of his co-workers the one-eyed rodent quickly entered the scene of amazement.

The moment the rodent did he didn't look different than the rest of the miners, all of them were stating at the slowly raising creature, their confusion was broken by the three friends breaking through their little circle of shock.

" Man, you look like crap" Sparx announced straightforwardly

Despite the bluntness of his words, the dragonfly was right. By spending countless time stuck in that tight tunnel Flare lost even more of his vigor. He was shaking, every muscle in his body was flexed to the point of stiffness, even his scales lost the bright red color, paleness taking its place.

" You brought a claustrophobic here?" the one-eyed manweersmall blurt out shocked " Are you insane?"

" He insisted" Spyro replied

" Forgive me that I won't ask what the hell he is, I have enough shock for one day. Come kiddo, I'll give you something to ease your nerves, then let's talk business"

" I've told you to go back Flare" Cynder hissed irritated

" Everything is ok" the reddish dragon replied with fear and extreme hoarseness in his voice " Don't worry about me" to avoid any more explaining he quickly followed the manweersmall

" I feel like this is going to be an interesting trip" Sparx sighed " Why it can't go well for once? We need to retire bro"

" Come on Sparx it's fun, you always complained that you are bored anyway" Spyro joked

" Hey I have nothing against some fun but I would rather like…" he rubbed his neck "…some fun that doesn't put my head on the line"

The purple dragon smirked " Don't worry I've got it covered"

The dragonfly folded his arms " Very funny smartass"

" You feel better Flare?" Cynder changed the topic as soon as she noticed the red dragon approaching with the one-eyed manweersmall following him

" A bit but I would really want to do what we came here to do as quickly as possible"

" Agreed"

Sparx clapped his hands " So…" he turned towards the rodent and his eyes widened instantly when he noticed that the mole was chewing the remnants of the bug they were sent here to investigate " YOU EAT THAT?" he exclaimed shocked " That's disgusting!"

The rodent shrugged and as if to provoke the dragonfly he took a bite of the small bug again " I've seen more disgusting things" he answered while throwing both Spyro and Cynder a cold glance before he waved his hand gesturing to the group to follow him " They are pretty eatable if you don't have any other options"

He stopped by the exit into the deeper parts of the mine " Ok so situation looks like this, first some bad news" he pointed at the tight tunnel " We had to narrow the tunnels so we could spot those uglies better, they are quite fast so be careful, stay sharp, one mistake and…" he pointed at his missing eye"… this might happen"

" By narrowing the tunnel we shook the whole foundation of the mine, so if I were you I would avoid using any earthshaking powers or you might cause a cave-in. Also no flame breaths, as you already noticed the air is pretty stale here, you don't want to suffocate after all" he looked at the fiery dragon " I don't know how you will manage kiddo since you are practically a walking fire but if it were up to me I would also change dented weapons for dragon claws"

A miner carrying three strange looking helmets approached them, the one-eyed manweersmall smiled and took the helmets into his own hands " Now for some good news" he thanked the rodent with a nod of his head before he presented one of the helmets to the group.

The helmet looked like an iron cap with two holes in it and a leather strap attached to both it ends, on top of it there was a candle burning encased within what looked like glass " This is not iron don't worry, your necks will be fine. I won't bore you with names so let's get straight to the point, this helmets are made from a very light metal" he pointed at the candle " This here is not glass but a very transparent metal, it focuses light so instead of a candle illuminating the area around you get a beam of light allowing you to see some meters ahead of you. Useless for creatures with weak sight but for dragons like you it can make wonders"

He placed the helmet on every dragon's head, Spyro's and Flare's horns perfectly fitted into the holes. Flare laughed when he looked at Cynder " You look silly!"

" Took you a while to notice that, Cyn put down the helmet it didn't help you" Sparx commented

The dragoness just playfully poked her tongue at him

As the dragons tightened the straps around their jaws the manweersmall looked at the dragonfly apologetically " Your natural light will have to suffice, I'm afraid we don't have a helmet for your size"

" That's ok, he is used to being unnoticed" Cynder smirked

Sparx darted towards the manweersmall and placed his hand on the rodent's shoulder while eying the dragoness " Maybe you will reconsider chopping her head off?"

The miner shook his head after seeing the dragoness smile and yanked his way out of the dragonflies grasp " During the eruption" he quickly changed the topic " by yet unknown reasons fresh air manages to slip through. It's not much but for someone like you who aren't used to stale air this will be quite a breather" the rodent waved for them to approach " As far as we know the bugs are poor diggers so their nest shouldn't be hidden well"

With a wave of his hand he excused the two guarding miners to make more room for the group while he himself took a brief peek inside the tunnel " Find the bugs and find a way to stop them" he turned towards them " Good luck, you are going to need it"

" You are not coming with us?" Spyro asked

" My orders were to fill you in not to accompany you, besides we would only get in your way anyway"

With everything clear and their mission set for them the group's only choice now was to pursue their quest. Cynder took the lead, the moment she wanted to enter the narrow tunnel a dragonfly beat her to it.

" Hey!" she blurt out " What happened to ladies first?" she asked ironically

" What _ladies?" _Sparx' shout came from inside the shaft

" Ass" Cynder giggled and entered the tunnel with Flare closely following her. Just when Spyro was about to join his companions he was stopped by the manweersmall's hand

" You are supposed to be a leader one day so start acting like one. Sometimes you need to put the feeling of your underlings aside. What are you doing now is reckless, trusting a vile creature and bringing a kid who is claustrophobic. Evil and fear can be overwhelming."

" First of all" Spyro replied calmly " They are not my underlings but my friends. Secondly they came with me because I respect them, I'm not their boss, they can do whatever they want. Third, thanks for your advice but we will manage"

The manweersmall sighed " You have yet much to learn"

Without any more words Spyro entered the tunnel, reckless or not he has a job to do and if his friends want to help him they have every right to do so. When will people finally learn that he is just a common dragon willing to help innocent people not some sort of a leader. If the manweersmall believes that by sorting people by their feelings and emotions is right he will prove him wrong, they are a team and only together they will be able to accomplish everything.


	33. Chapter 15 Book II

Chapter 15

It was like the whole scenery of Munitions Forge just changed in a moment's notice after they entered the tunnel, leaving the serenity and normality behind. Despite the fact that they were traveling through underground tunnels dug in the deepest parts of the volcano there was a barely noticeable chill hanging in the air, or perhaps it were just shivers. It was unimportant what symptoms incited the misgiving, what really mattered was the actual feeling, a feeling that they were unfortunately in their young age very familiar with, it meant danger.

It felt almost like they would step into an entirely different world, leaving behind the one filled with noise and light and entering a dimension that was entirely opposite. The tunnels here were completely dark and unsettlingly quiet, every now and then they could hear something moving inside the walls, but they kept telling themselves that this is only their imagination, the miner said that the bugs hated digging after all, they cannot be distracted by fear of the unknown.

The tunnels here were completely devoid of light, if not for three shining beams appearing on the walls, the mine would look like some kind of abandoned crypt. The only noise that broke the eerie silence was the hoarse breathing and clicking of claws, however putting all that creepiness aside there was actually one good thing- the tunnel after the miner's camp was undoubtedly bigger and wider, yet it was only a tiny drop of positive thinking in a river full of misgiving.

" I don't like it here" Sparx wavering whisper echoed through the shaft " I propose to wait here for some time and tell the rats that we dealt with the problem"

Cynder rolled her eyes " Stop whining coward"

" I'm not scared, I'm cautious" the dragonfly shivered

" Yeah, in your case it makes a big difference. Just relax, it could be worse"

" Worse?!" he scoffed " What's worse than a big dark mine filled with small bugs with an appetite for eyes?"

The dragoness smirked " A dark mine with big bugs"

" Lookie here, a jester, we will see how you will sing when they will claw out your eyes"

" Hmm" she huffed thoughtfully " I would go for something dramatic and worth of remembering, eye-catching so to speak"

Sparx sighed " Please bro do something to shut her up, I would suggest a blow to the head"

Spyro smiled while he turned his head towards his brother, he was already familiar with the way how both of them deal with stressful situations, he decided to play along " I won't risk that, I value my life too much"

The dragonfly pushed his hands outwards joining them in front of his eyes to block the beam coming from the dragon's helmet " Dude not in the face!"

The purple dragon quickly turned around " Sorry"

" I have no idea how the rats did such a thing with the light, what the hell is that thing anyway"

" Achromantine" Spyro replied instantly

Sparx frowned " What?"

The dragon poked the container holding the candle on top of his helmet with his claw, a metallic sound was emitted just like he would touch any other metal " Pure achromantine, a metal which is harvested in the brightest places of Munitions Forge that looks like glass, you know the merchant in the smithy told us about it"

" That's right" Cynder huffed remembering the situation " I knew it was familiar but I forgot where did I see it" she smiled " You really did remember every detail, I'm impressed"

Spyro shrugged " No big deal, I just listen when people have something interesting to say, I need to feed my curiosity somehow"

" That's interesting for you?" Sparx shook his head and placed a hand on his brother's shoulder " Bro find a hobby"

All of them gasped when a crashing sound came from behind them " What was that?!" the dragonfly blurt out

The beams instantly were focused on the tunnel behind them, they stopped on the raising form of a fire dragon. Flare winced to protect his eyes from the beams while he pushed himself up " Sorry, I've tripped"

" Dude seriously get a hold of yourself!" the dragonfly exclaimed " You want to give us a heart attack?"

" I've said I'm so-" his eyes widened when he spotted the thing behind his misfortune, it was a small arm laying on a stone with three claws missing. It laid here for a while because the coat fell of completely revealing an extremely pale skin. Even if the hand was clumsily cut just below the elbow it was clear that it once belonged to a manweersmall

Flare's mouth shut when he thought that the arm shook slightly, he brought his head closer to check if he was not imagining things. Then the severed hand moved again, he frowned and delicately poked the arm with his claw. Flare screamed in horror after he did that, tiny worms pushed out from the inside of the arm. Screaming he forcefully pushed his body to the opposite side of the tunnel, he didn't care that the jagged rocks tore through his scales.

The moment he connected with the wall he felt as if worms began to slither down his shoulders, with another scream he jumped to the opposite side of the tunnel.

Cynder kicked the arm away and rushed towards the fiery dragon and looked directly into his wide unfocused eyes " Flare, Flare look at me"

He didn't respond, the sound of his hoarse rapid breathing was the only answer.

" Look at me" she pinched him

Flare jerked back and looked at her with horrified eyes.

" Calm down Flare they are gone"

Her words didn't cause any reaction, he still panted uncontrollably.

" Calm down"

Finally her tender and stern words had a reaction, he threw a glance at the wall just behind her, there were bugs crawling on the wall. He closed his eyes.

" There is nothing there. Breathe slowly"

He listened to her advice, his rapid panting began to slow down, yet when he delicately opened one of his eyes he could still see bugs crawling on the wall.

" Slower"

Even if she was speaking tenderly to him there was something in her voice that left no space for argument. He slowed his breathing even more and the moment he opened his eyes the bugs were gone.

Cynder smiled inwardly when she noticed focus returning to his eyes " That was only your imagination, nothing is there"

Flare looked at her, embarrassment and gratefulness shining in his eyes. It was such a strange feeling to know that there is someone who actually tries to help you wanting nothing in return " I'm s-s-s-sorry"

She smiled " You don't have to be"

" Yeah right!" Sparx blurt out indignantly and grabbed the red dragon by his horns " Dude you seriously need to chill, we know now that the bugs mean business so stay focused"

" I'm trying to" Flare mumbled

" Think man! What can a tiny worm do to you when your ass is literally on fire? They won't even get close"

Spyro examined the red dragon, he had that unexplained fear of worms but now they also discovered that he is claustrophobic, the tunnel here isn't that cramped but still those two phobias added together can't be really pleasant " Flare maybe you should wait for us outside"

" No" the red dragon replied sternly

" Hey bro that wasn't nice!" Sparx folded his arms " Why you never propose me that offer?" he turned towards the fiery drake " I would take it if I were you"

" No"

" Oh come on man, don't be stubborn"

" No"

Sparx threw his arms up " Why not?" he whined

Flare lowered his head " I don't want to be alone again" he muttered

Cynder frowned, it all made sense right now. He was locked in a cage for all his life and the captors there clearly abused him, there is no one else in the world who could better understand what being someone's puppet means than her. She can relate with his situation, if by luck you manage to claw your way out of that horror you need an anchor to hold onto or the past and the feelings it drags with it will consume you and eventually drive you crazy.

Cynder delicately raised the dragon's head and smiled kindly " Flare, clean sheet, remember? You have already added friendship to it and you know what that means? It means that no matter how far life may throw us away from each other we will still remain friends. You will never be alone again"

Flare tried to look into her eyes but just couldn't, her words and the glimmer in her green orbs intimidated him, impulsively he averted his gaze blushing slightly " I d-d-don't know w-w-what to s-say"

She giggled, the light stammer meant he was nervous and she was the one that caused it " Hehe, I'm to die for"

He was nervously shifting his claw alongside the stony floorl.

" Oh come here you" she hugged him causing a surprised gasp from his side as she squeezed him.

Sparx grinned and instantly dashed towards his brother and elbowed him " Now ain't that sweet"

Spyro observed his two companions closely, it made him happy to see that Cynder tries to help Flare as best as she can, he knows how important someone else's support is but on the other paw the sight made his stomach turn for unexplained reasons and the longer their closeness lasted the worse he felt.

He coughed gaining everybody's attention and interrupting the friendly bonding " We better concentrate and get moving, that arm was real and we don't want the bugs to surprise us"

As they progressed farther down into the mine Spyro could hear happy chatter and giggling coming from behind him, it was perhaps Cynder's way to take Flare's mind off his phobia but no matter her good intentions he just couldn't take it. Not really understanding what is happening with him Spyro sped up trying to get as far as possible from them without raising any suspicion.

" Where is he running off to?" Sparx muttered breaking the conversation between the three of them

" Spyro what are you doing?" Cynder exclaimed in a loud whisper " Slow down!"

" _Without suspicion my tail" _the purple dragon mused and slowed down, he had to come up with a good excuse to keep his charade up " I thought I've heard something" he said after a barely noticeable break

Cynder furrowed a brow, he would probably fool everyone else but not her, she spent with him more time than anyone else and she just can tell when he is lying, however she didn't understand why he is doing it.

" Just wait!" she exclaimed quietly again " We are going to-" her eyes widened when the beam of her candle illuminated a top shelf of the mine's wall with a hole in it, inside there were four small critters the moles warned them about, to make things worse they have already detected the purple dragon

" Spyro watch out!" Cynder yelled while she dashed towards her friend directing the beam she emitted to somehow blind the creatures if that was even possible

It turned out that light didn't bother them but thanks to the months of experience while being chained to each other Spyro understood the warning she sent him immediately. He jumped and flipped in the air so his back was turned towards the ground, at the same time he charged his electrical energy. The moment he looked in the direction her light pointed he spotted four incoming bugs leaping at him with their sharp pincers at the ready, the dragon instantly released an Electric Orb at the incoming creatures.

Before he hit the ground the cracking yellowish orb struck the attacking enemies, it exploded sending small electric pulses through the cave illuminating it slightly while throwing the incoming enemies upwards. The bugs were shot into the air with such a force that when they collided with the ceiling they were turned to a pulp. When Spyro landed on his back with a grunt the only thing he could see before the strap below his jaw unstrapped itself and his helmet slid down his forehead blocking his vision were four green stains on the ceiling above. After hearing the sound of delicate clatter he yanked his helmet up and spotted Cynder's snout directed at the ceiling above before her half closed eyes focused on him, he only smiled bashfully.

A smile of her own appeared on her snout as she leaned closer towards him " Good to know that you are fast, you know, for a guy" she yanked his helmet a little higher so she could open her eyes fully " but you still need to work on your carefulness" she tightened the strap below his jaw, he could already tell that the helmet was now laying properly on his head.

" There" with a grin she withdrew her head and her eyes returned to him again, she just couldn't help but to notice how cute he looks when he gives to his natural clumsy childish nature

" What?" Spyro asked seeing her cheerful stare, he smiled " Are my horns sticking out?"

Cynder laughed and with a grin gave the newly set helmet a firm pat " No daydreaming, get your lazy tail up"

" Bro damn" Sparx huffed proudly while observing a small piece of a chitin husk stuck between the rocks in a nearby wall " You blew those uglies to pieces"

" Whoa" Flare mumbled shocked " What did you just do? And how?" he bit his lip realizing that he pushed to far demanding answers from him and the best solution out of this situation was to take it all back somehow but a brief glance at the black dragoness changed his mind.

Spyro pulled himself from the ground " The attack I used is called Electric Orb. I created it by charging my electric energy" he frowned when he turned towards the fiery drake, something didn't add up " You've spent your whole life around purple dragons and you don't know what I did?"

Flare lowered his head humbly " I've thought you only breathed fire"

It was strange to know that the red dragon doesn't know anything about his kind, as he said he spent his whole life around purple dragons as crazy as that sounds. If Flare was living in a training facility as he previously thought where purple dragons were in charge then how is it possible that he doesn't know anything about them? Were they keeping information from him, or perhaps it wasn't a training facility at all? Spyro decided that there is too many questions and to little answers, in time they maybe will figure out what's going on but in the meantime he is able to lift one mystery, at least for their new companion.

" Fire and Electricity are only two of my powers, I also wield Earth and Ice"

The red dragon's eyes widened " Four? Seriously?"

" Yup, but I will tell you about it some other day, now it is not the time" Spyro raised his head and directed his beam of light at the spot where the bugs leapt at him, it was currently being examined by his brother " it worries me that the bugs managed to surprise us, they weren't supposed to dig"

" They can't" Sparx replied from above " The hole was made after a loose stone fell off or something. They didn't set up an ambush either, we interrupted their dinner. They have a taste for meat, good thing that I'm used to seeing disgusting things or I would puke here and now" the dragonfly descended down and placed his hand on Cynder's shoulder " Thank you for that" he said with faked gratefulness and a wicked grin tugged at the corner of his mouth

She snapped her teeth and forced a startled yelp from the dragonfly as she scared him away.

With a deep breath Spyro turned towards the dark tunnel ahead " Ok guys enough fooling around, focus, there are probably many more holes up ahead where the bugs might be hiding"

With that the group continued their venture into the unknown darkness, this time however no one spoke, they have tasted danger here and it requires great deal of concentration to prevent it from escalating. They were now progressing with a careful pace, examining closely every corner and loose stone, it's better to be prepared for everything.

Soon Spyro stopped and with a motion of his paw he gave a clear signal to the rest of his companions to do the same. The moment everyone stopped Spyro began to listen intently, it turned out that he wasn't imagining things, there were actually some clicking sounds coming from inside the walls.

" There seems to be quite a lot of them" Cynder whispered after a moment of silent listening

Spyro inwardly voiced his agreement, even if most likely every draconic member in this group was a capable fighter it would still be difficult to face that swarm all at once. It would be in their best interest to not alert the bugs to their presence, For the moment they had other things on mind like examining their surroundings for instance, so they forgot about the clicking sounds if only for a moment.

The cavern they were currently in was quite big so they decided to scatter to cover more ground yet for safety precousions remained at speaking distance to each other. This particular part of the mine seemed to be in worse condition than the previous ones, many of the surroundings walls were cracked and had holes in them where once were the many rocks responsible for the walls integrity.

There was debris practically all over the place, starting from the rocks scattered across the ground, to parts of broken rails, to end on completely destroyed transportation wagons. Not to mention the bodies or what was left of them of bugs and manweersmalls alike, whatever happened here happened quick and pretty unexpected leaving the ones unfortunate enough who stayed near the affection zone without a chance for survival.

" We've got a problem" Flare's voice echoed in the cavern, he instantly gained the attention of his companions. The three friends made their way towards their fiery companion who was now closely examining a wall, illuminating every part of it with his concentrated light.

" It's a dead end" he continued his monologue the moment his companions stood next to him

Two more beams of light were added to the wall, as they examined this obstacle they had to agree with Flare, this was their only way forward and it was now blocked by a wall of stones. However it wasn't natural, thanks to their experience in cave crawling they could easily discern that this blockade was created by a recent cave-in it most likely was caused by the manweersmalls integration into the mine's foundation when they narrowed the tunnels to their camp.

Sparx clapped his hands " Ok team time to go home, as much as I hate to say it but unfortunately our deadly mission has to end here. Tragic but what can you do"

" We have our mission and we have to finish it, there is no turning back" Spyro stated while he began to examine the wall from up close

The dragonfly darted in front of his brother's eyes and spread his hands wide open gesturing at the wall " Bro can't you see? It's not like we can make a decision here"

His amethyst eyes never left the wall " We can hear the bugs moving on the other side, we know that they attacked the miners in the camp somehow so there is a way deeper into the mine we just need to find it. If we can hear the bugs moving then this wall cannot be thick"

Sparx folded his arms " Fine do what you want but I'm staying out of this, I'm telling you this is a dead end"

Without hearing any more words of displeasure the dragons began to work, inch by inch they carefully checked the wall, careful not to cause too much noise. Spyro decided to walk alongside the wall where the clicking sounds were the loudest, he was certain that there has to be a way across this fallen rocks, the noise is just too loud. With great care he examined every part of the collapsed wall that his beam of light allowed him to, he was making sure that he didn't miss a single spot.

After a long annoying while Spyro stopped for a moment and cocked his head slightly, either it was his mind playing tricks on him, finally tired of this boring endeavor, or the clicking sound of the bugs reached him without the usual echo for a brief moment. He started to listen intently, it turned out he was right, there was a barely noticeable change in the cacophony of noises and it was coming not far away from him.

When his other two draconic friends started letting out tired and bored sighs he pushed with greater determination. Spyro moved slowly, concentrating on every barely audible sound and he followed it. As he pushed forward the noise he was looking for began to intensify, barely but it was still a clear sign of progress, he kept moving until the sound was coming just from the spot he was currently standing on.

However no matter how long he stared at the wall in front of him he couldn't see any entrance, running on pure instinct he began to examine the wall on every level starting from the ceiling and getting lower. It was when his head was directed at the ground that the light from his helmet created a shadow that was no longer a solid black spot below his paws but was now somewhat more flattened just like the light would find a place through some cracks where it could shed its beam even more. He dropped to the ground and his eyes widened immediately after the discovery.

" Found a way through" Spyro announced

Everyone was shocked by the revelation but momentarily the three remaining companions darted towards the purple dragon. Cynder grinned as she bent on her paws and noticed the features of a tunnel when her head was hanging just slightly above Spyro's.

" Atta boy" still grinning she patted and tenderly rubbed his back.

Spyro's tail waggled happily for a short while after hearing her praise.

Sparx on the other paw was not happy with the discovery in the slightest and he didn't even try to hide it as he kept gesticulating and muttering something under his breath while hovering in front of his brother's snout and staring into the opening ahead. With an angry frown he turned around and pressed his forefinger to the purple dragon's nose which made Spyro jerk his head a little.

" I hate you" the dragonfly hissed

Being already accustomed to his brother's whining Spyro paid it no heed, he instead concentrated on the matter at paw.

The beam coming from the candle at the top of his helmet illuminated the passage perfectly, it didn't look good. Besides the jutting rocks from the fallen wall the tunnel was tight, there was no space to maneuver, the passage was extremely narrow.

Seeing him in deep concentration the two other dragons decided to join him in his contemplation, Cynder dropped on the ground to his left while Flare bent on his paws to his right. Six draconic eyes were now assessing the situation.

" It's going to be a tight fit" the dragoness next to him commented

" Yeah" Spyro agreed worryingly " We will have to go one after the other"

As if out of spite the clicking sounds intensified.

" I don't like this one bit" Cynder added " There seems to be a lot of bugs out there somewhere, how do you propose we get past them?"

" We will have to crawl all the way and hope they won't notice us"

The dragoness eyed him with a frown " That's not much of a plan. What if they will find us, what then?"

She had a point there was no denying it, with their bellies pressed to the ground they won't be able to inhale enough air to even let out a dangerous breath but unfortunately they didn't have a choice in this matter, this was their only way.

" We still have our claws" Spyro said

The dragoness huffed " That's comforting" she replied sarcastically and sighed " Ok, make me some room"

" What?" the purple dragon turned his head towards her

" I'm going in"

" No way!"

Cynder narrowed her eyes on him " And why is that?"

" I'm going first"

Sparx rubbed his forehead " Here we go again…"

She snorted " What makes you think that?"

" I can zap them if necessary"

Cynder snorted once again " You won't even charge enough power to shock them"

" You don't know that" he replied slightly offended

" I'll go first, I can cover myself in venom"

" I'll go" a third male voice muttered

" These are bugs Cynder…" Spyro shook his head " They are probably used to toxic environment. I'll go first, I'll form an electric orb around myself"

" That thing that shoots pulses?" she snickered " You would most likely zap us than those tiny bugs, what if you miss one? We would be defenseless. I'll go, I can scare them off"

" Bugs Cynder, remember? You don't even know if your Siren Scream will work on them. I can turn into a boulder"

" That one with the spikes? Please, you would send the whole tunnel down on us with those things. I can be more subtle by releasing my fear empowered ghastly orbs"

" They explode with a concussive force, you know what the manweersmall said about even the slightest earth-shaking attacks. I should go I can suspend the bugs and finish them easier after that"

" I'll go" a third male voice muttered

" If more than one bug jumps at you, you won't be fast enough to trap all of them in your position. I however don't need much time to release my shadow breath, I'll suffocate them"

" There is barely any air here, you would pull us with them" Spyro sighed tired of this unending argument, she is stubborn, he has to give her that, there is no point in recalling their elemental powers any further, if he is going to win this fight he need to focus on some mundane arguments.

" I'm stronger" Spyro straightened up proudly trying to force his point across

Cynder wasn't impressed by his display in the slightest " I'm faster" she retorted

" Argh, will you two shut up already!?" Sparx exclaimed in a loud whisper and pressed his hand to his head " You are so annoying" he rubbed his forehead " Decide finally who is going first or we are going back"

" I'll go" Flare stated with a louder tone, instantly gaining everyone's attention

" You?" Spyro blurt out surprised

" You?" Cynder mimicked her purple friend's reaction

" You?" Sparx did the same

Flare just nodded, not really shocked to see their dumbfoundedness

" Dude you know that we want to live right?" Sparx added sarcastically " Leave it to the pros"

" Flare, that tunnel is very narrow" Cynder said caringly " You are claustrophobic and to top that bugs may attack you. You really want to do this? Remember that you don't have to prove anything"

The fiery dragon stared at the tight passage and gulped " I don't want to do this but I don't have any other choice, I don't want you to get hurt only because you risked going there without your powers"

" That's sweet of you but we can handle ourselves" she raised her paw and nodded at her claws " We have got these"

" They won't help you when a bug jumps at your back from a hole you didn't see"

Both Cynder and Spyro looked at each other, that wasn't a thing they have considered earlier. Their new companion was right, it would be problematic to fend of enemies that would strike like that.

" You were arguing who should go first, pointing out your powers as your arguments, trying to convince everyone that you are the most suitable dragon for the task, however both of you already know that either of you isn't"

" Damn Dude" Sparx interjected while eying the fiery drake closely surprised to see such a sudden change in his behavior. For the very first time he could not see any gullibility, no uncertainty, no shyness in the drake's eyes that are so typical for him. Now he was speaking with confidence and reason, these emotions were mixed with fear of course but that didn't change the fact that he was actually making some sense.

" Who are you and what did you do with Flare?" the dragonfly quipped

The fiery dragon frowned, he didn't understand what the dragonfly meant by that.

With a grin Sparx opened his arms " There he is!"

Flare cocked his head he wanted to ask what he is talking about but decided not to, there are more important things right now. He shook off the confusion.

" I've spent my whole life as a prisoner" he continued his interrupted monologue " I know a thing or two about survival and I tell you that I'm the most suitable for the job" he raised his paw and presented his claws " My wings are not the only thing I can heat"

Momentarily tiny flames appeared at the tip of his claws, the whole silvery layer was being covered by mirage, just as if his claws would be burning. With palpable confidence Flare delicately moved his risen paw, trails of flame were left in the air after his burning claws.

" Whoa" the three remaining companions gasped in awe

" I… I've never seen anything like it" Spyro mumbled " With difficulty I could convince myself that heating your already burning wings was normal but to see someone that can actually heat his claws, it's just…wow. How do you do that?"

Flare threw the purple dragon an alarmed gaze "Secret" he replied icily and lowered his leg. The flames died down the moment he placed his paw on the ground with a deep breath " Every creature that touches me will fry"

" Every power has its limit, how long can you last like that?"

The fiery drake fixed him with a stern gaze " Long enough"

" Why do I even ask?" Spyro muttered under his breath, blaming his curiosity for ignoring the palpable hostility in the drake's eyes

" It's settled then" Cynder interjected quickly just to end the palpable tension in air " Flare is going first"

" Sparx you will be his scout" Spyro added

" What?!" the dragonfly blurt out

" You are small, you will fit there together with Flare without problems, you will his another set of eyes, warning him of incoming danger" Spyro bit his lip realizing that he rushed things again " If that's ok with you I mean" he muttered as he looked at the flaming dragon

" Sure" Flare replied

" But…but…" the dragonfly muttered as he looked over every dragon, their draconic eyes were set on him meaningfully, with a sigh his shoulders slumped down " I hate you"

" Let's do it" Spyro politely moved out of the way and looked at the fiery dragon meaningfully

Flare with shaking confidence took Spyro's position and dropped to the ground, he was now staring into the stretching narrow passage ahead of him, he had a hard time swallowing everything that's happening, literally.

" Flare are you alright?" Cynder asked seeing his uneasiness

" No" he replied with a wavering voice

" You don't have to do this"

He could feel his every muscle tensing, anxiety curled his stomach and he was most likely deathly pale by now. However despite those barricades he pushed forward, he has his first true friend now and he just can't let her down.

" Wait a sec Dude" Sparx stopped in front of the dragon's snout " Heroes first" he turned towards the tunnel and shook his head before looking at the red dragon behind his back and pointing a finger at him " If I die I'm going to kill you" he hissed threateningly and flew inside the tunnel " Come on Braveheart"

With a deep breath Flare followed the dragonfly, he stifled a terrified gasp the moment he crawled inside the tunnel and the rough walls brushed his scales.

" He's not going to make it" a male whisper belonging to the purple dragon reached him

" I believe he will" this time he heard a female whisper.

The male's voice was irritating and demotivating, however the female's voice had a greater effect on him, encouraging him to push onwards despite the odds. It was extremely tight here, as he kept crawling his scales just slid across the walls leaving scratches all along his body. Not to mention the jutting rocks from the ground that in this conditions resembled tiny spikes that pierced his orange underbelly. He kept hissing in pain as he pushed forward, some of those rocks managed to pierce his leathery armor sending a painful sting through his body, not to mention the dripping blood from the ground that he smeared all along his underbelly and floor as he crawled forward. He wasn't alone in his struggles, the two remaining draconic companions that followed him had the same problem.

However the physical pain was the least of his worries, he has to go through an ordeal that he would rather avoid. He kept crawling forward, and the longer he did so the more he kept thinking just how narrow this tunnel is, just how little space he has to breath, that every escape route is blocked. Not to mention the clicking sounds that only seemed to intensify with each passing moment, the only thing that was missing were the worms, or perhaps they were here already but he just doesn't see them? After all they've ran into some already.

He kept following the glowing shape of the dragonfly, trying to set all of his concentration on him but the thing he was fighting with can't be defeated by simply gritting his own teeth. Flare kept thinking just how close these surrounding walls were and what would happen if they would actually move towards him. What if the clicking sounds aren't created by the strange bugs but by worms slithering across rocks just as he is right now?

The unending cacophony of clicking noises was giving him a headache, with each passing moment his vision started to become more blurry. Moments later he started to feel dizzy, his focus returned to him when he noticed that the walls started to move in his direction, ready to crush everybody. He wanted to scream but couldn't utter a word of warning, Flare found himself unable to move, the walls were barely leaving him enough room to breathe, it won't be long now before he will choke. Flare shut his eyes preparing himself for the impending doom.

After what felt as an everlasting moment he opened his terrified eyes, the walls returned to their former place and the glowing shape of the dragonfly was floating ahead.

Flash.

His heart jumped to his throat when suddenly the light of his candle died down and shrouded the whole tunnel in complete darkness, he was now alone in the most terrifying place in the world.

Flare blinked not wanting this to be happening.

The light returned, he was once again looking at the floating dragonfly ahead.

The dragon closed his eyes and started to breathe slowly convincing himself that this was just his imagination playing tricks on him. He opened his eyes and the choking fear gripped him again when the barely illuminated tunnel was now filled with many old bones that crunched under his weight. He shook his head forcefully trying to convince his mind that this is just an illusion.

Once more the bright tunnel appeared, a tiny glowing shape was rounding a corner ahead, he tried to follow it but something blocked his path. Flare looked down and screamed, a severed draconic head was laying on the ground, he could barely control his beating heart, nothing seemed right here. He thought that he will never again see this image again, how is it possible that it appeared before him? Didn't he escape from that prison? Everything was so confusing now.

Flare raised his gaze, his heart almost jumped from his chest when to the piles of bones were added the bodies of many draconic creatures, some of these carcasses were fresh, the blood was still pure crimson, while others started to decompose leaving only portion of rotten flesh on the remaining bones. Flare shook his head, this can't be happening, he can't be in this hell again, he got out, he had to.

Eyes opened.

Everything was gone.

Sowly growing glowing yellowish shape was heading in his direction. Why does he keep seeing it? Is this some kind of new torture developed by his captors? To give him a bit of hope? Flare shut his eyes, the echoing laughter, that tormenting laughter filling the dark passage. Panic, tears, he needs to get out of here. He barely moves forward, bones and body parts block his way, he tries to grab onto a wall, it's so slick and sticky, blood is streaming down from it.

Scream,

Once more the glowing yellow shape appears in front of him, it is swinging its arms chaotically. Why does it do that? He ignores his question, he just doesn't want the only source of light in this tunnel vanish again, please let the glowing shape stay. The walls shift, laughter fills the passage again, the shape disappears, darkness engulfs him. Flare trips, his paws crack through something, whimpering he raises his paw, its sticky and slippery. The light from his burning parts illuminates the ground below him, he screams when he sees his paw. He pierced the chest of an already rotten draconic body, dried blood and thousands worms covered his paw. The stench, that horrible unbearable stench.

He doesn't want to be here, he needs to get out, he needs to get out.

Eyes opened once more.

The shape was now just in front of his snout, it was some kind of glowing flying bug, there was fear in its eyes. It raises its hand, why? Does it want to comfort him in this horrible moment? Or is it an apparition of relief? Is it here to finally take all that fear and pain away? It takes a swing.

A slapping sound could be heard in the cacophony of loud clicking and hissing noises " Dude! DO SOMETHING!"

A stinging pain was sent through his cheek. Flare rubbed the painful spot, did he just got smacked across his snout?

" FLARE!" a female shout shook his entire body

Impulsively he looked ahead, the tunnel in a blink was once again back to its normal tight self, yet this time it wasn't empty. Bunch of bugs with their jagged pincers at the ready were pouncing at him, before he could react one of these creatures clamped one of its pincers on his shoulder. Flare groaned painfully when the critter yanked its pincer back, drawing blood and ripping bits of his scales. The second pincer took the same toll before the aching dragon grabbed the critter and flicked it away.

Flare didn't have the time to breathe as another one of these creatures leapt at his eyes. The drake blocked its advance with his paw, the creature furious about it failed attempt in rabid anger burrowed its round maw filled with razor sharp teeth into the obstacle. Flare yelped in pain as the creature tore into his paw before he threw the bug away.

Another attack was coming his way, the dragon realized that the situation is getting out of paws, after that enlightenment adrenaline kicked in. A bug jumped on his folded wings but before it could land a strike the burning ground below it blurt out flames, the creature didn't even let out a noise as it fried momentarily.

Flare grabbed another attacking enemy, the bug wiggled and grunted agonizingly in his grasp before it was turned into a crisp. More oblivious critters blinded by their primal instincts jumped on his back and every single one of them burned. Flare slashed with his flaming claws and cut one of the leaping bugs at his snout, there was only a hiss of flame before the insides of the creature dropped onto the ground together with its severed in half body.

The dragon repelled attack after attack and with each deflected one he felt better and better. He was unstoppable, he could feel the power rushing in his veins, let the lesser beings burn and die at his paws, they are only a foretaste before the main treat, a stop to his true goal.

All that boiling hate vanished the moment a loud rumble shook the entire mine, even the remaining bugs scattered in fear.

" What the hell is happening?!" Sparx exclaimed

Before anyone could answer there was another violent shake and a deafening rumble, the mine kept trembling violently, it seemed like there was no end to it. All of the group members yelped in shock when suddenly a ray of white light burst through the ceiling and into the ground, silence has befallen on the mine after that display.

" Did the volcano erupt or something?! The dragonfly exclaimed once again

A familiar sensation shook Spyro's entire body, the tingle was so strong that he trembled uncontrollably for a short while before he recovered control of his limbs. Spyro raised his foreleg and clenched his numb paw " No…" he muttered " that was something else"

Before he could elaborate on his thought the cavern shook violently once again, an extremely loud roar and rumble filled the tunnel as rocks burst from the ceiling and blocked their path ahead. Dust filled the passage, draining almost completely the scarce air making all of the companions cough. Their eyes widened when suddenly a bug dropped onto the ground from one of the holes in the ceiling, then another one and another, in mere seconds it started literally rain confused bugs from above.

" Oh fuck" all of them muttered, they might be powerful but they have no chance against such a swarm in their vulnerable positions

The swarm of creatures recovered their bearings and took notice of their presence, the critters ignored the fact that it constantly rained more of their little companions, instead they focused on their vulnerable prey, hissing the bugs leapt at them. However before they could reach their destination large rocks burst through the ceiling and smashed into the ground squashing the impatient bugs.

Another violent shake, loud cracking noises filled the cavern. Flare began to look for the source of the sound, his eyes widened when he managed to locate it, cracks started to appear on the ground below them.

"GET BACK!" the fiery dragon yelled

It was too late, the already weakened floor gave up and with a loud rumble it collapsed like it was made from blocks for children dragging the shocked, scared and screaming dragons with it into the pitch dark void below.


	34. Chapter 16 Book II

Chapter 16

The Manweersmalls are born diggers, instead of getting a simple toy as a kid they received a pickaxe, so if that young and fresh digger still wanted a toy he had to earn it. Since Manweersmalls have no interest in gold the only way such a young miner could get a toy was to recover a metal from a mine. More valuable metal meant a better toy, such metals can only be found in the deeper parts of the mines and since kids like to show off there were plenty of young miners willing to go deeper and deeper to find the perfect metal.

Yet even the bravest of souls had an embedded border in their heads which they wouldn't cross for any treasure in the world, it was way too dangerous for youngsters like them to ignore that line. However not every youthful being had the comfort of knowing where such a line is or it they have crossed it already.

Like the four friends who have entered the mine recently, they didn't even have the opportunity to consider where such a border is. If they would rely on their imagination to tell them how exactly the mentioned border looks like, most likely every single one of them would say that it creates a mental barrier where one could feel only threatened by the unknown, or more literally- where there is only overwhelming darkness. The group of friends would probably figure that out, if they wouldn't be preoccupied with more pressing matters of course.

The only noise that vibrated throughout the mine was that of crumbling walls, deafening rumbles filled the entire cavern as huge and small rocks began to fall down into what seemed to be an empty dark chasm. If not for that terrible noise one could also pick up the terrified screams of three dragons who were the unfortunate victims of this resulting mess.

The sudden cessation of solid footing caught Spyro by surprise which he voiced with a loud scream that was instantly deafened by the rumbling noise. Momentarily everything went dark, at the beginning of his involuntary fast descent he could only feel some of the rough rocks bouncing off his purple scales. His sight was limited to the light emitted from the burning candle on his helmet, but even the brief glimpses of reality before a rock after rock struck his head were enough to fill his heart with worry.

Not far away from him Cynder was fighting with the same horrible situation he was, just past her he could spot the reddish illumination of Flare's body parts. He wanted to do something, somehow help them but he was unable to, the falling rocks effectively blocked every attempt of channeling an elemental power. It was a hard realization to swallow but it looked like they were on their own.

A somewhat curious insight occurred during their fall which in every other situation Spyro would probably make a mental note about it. The three of them were airborne creatures and as airborne beings their first survival notion when fighting against unwanted and fast descent was to spread their wings. In any other circumstances Spyro would find this situation peculiar and somewhat ironic, for all the bragging done by some of his more arrogant kind about the extraordinary differences which presumably made one special. All the arrogant dragons failed to notice that deep down they are all equal.

That interesting observation was pushed aside and concentration shifted back to reality when Spyro unfolded his wings, or at least when he tried to. The rain of rocks effectively blocked his flying potential, every time he opened his wings rocks started hitting his membranes, it was just impossible to withstand the jolting pain, impulsively every muscle and bone in his body forced him to hide his wings. However he didn't listen to his body, it was painful but it was the only way to slow down a little, the dragon kept folding and unfolding his wings, it didn't help much but it was always something.

As he hissed in pain while in the air Spyro could see his two other draconic friends doing exactly the same thing, he saw as rocks bounced of their scales scarring their bodies. That sight was enough to awaken the pain of his own wounds, he probably didn't look much better himself.

Spyro had no idea just for how long they were falling, for him it felt like forever and that terrified him. He knew that his profession isn't exactly the safest one, an unwanted chance to lose his life waited on every turn from the very beginning of his existence, one could probably say that he was accustomed with life threatening situations like a normal person is accustomed with breathing.

He wasn't.

He was terrified in fact, he is most likely going to die, buried deep down under tons of rocks within what seemed like an unending chasm. Spyro's concentration was torn in half, one part tightly gripped the probability of survival, fueling his aching body with new energy. The second one succumbed to powerlessness, this part of his kept thinking about things he will lose with the end of his young life. Everything he loves will be gone, his home in the Swamps…jokes…laughter…his parents…Sparx…and…

He never got to finish the thought since a grunt of pain was forced out of his throat. Spyro collided with some sort of a steep wall, the pain in his every bone intensified when he began to quickly roll down from it. In this swirling world he only recognized the tip of his own tail as it kept spinning by his eyes. He was shot from the ledge when the steep ground suddenly ended, the only thing he saw in front of him was a big solid wall.

Spyro managed to scream only for a moment before he collided with the rough wall, he impulsively extended his paws to cushion the impact but unfortunately the force of the collision still kicked the breath out of him and sent agonizing pulses throughout his entire draconic body. When he jerked his head back and opened his blurry eyes he noticed a stain of blood in the spot where his mouth was. Spyro felt like he was being pulled backwards, his body was torn from the wall just like an used sticky tape. He fell down with all of his legs extended upwards.

Another grunt of pain, another aching shock when he bounced off some other hard rough surface with his back. The impact turned him around, before he began to fall down Spyro spotted through blurry eyes a mix of red and white light below. There was a deep grunt and a squeal when he made contact with the surprisingly scaly and pleasantly soft ground. With a familiar female groan the ground started shifting below him.

" Get off me you ugly bug" a muffled female voice reached him.

Suddenly the soft ground below started to rise, it lifted him up and just when he was high enough the ground jerked sharply. Spyro's stifled yelp of surprise was quenched by his own grunt of pain when he landed forcefully on his back, this time however on the rough stony ground below.

When he heard a surprised squeak he opened his eyes just to see five silver-white sharp tips coming at him. He quickly jerked his head to the side, his grunt mixed itself with a more softer one the moment more additional weight was added onto his chest. Spyro relaxed when the sharp tips that missed him turned out to be the ends of five from six familiar silver-white horns.

Cynder's battered and bruised body was sprawled on top of him, she was laying on her back with her tail reaching almost to the middle of his own and her head hanging just next to his right cheek with one of her smaller horns nipping at his scales and a nearly closed tired eye directed at him. Spyro felt as her body was sliding down, reacting by instinct to prevent any more harm from befalling on her he wrapped his forelegs around her, gripping her tightly.

Cynder jerked sharply as if trying to escape from danger, her only visible eye snapped wide open instantly revealing a huge shocked green orb aimed at him. It only took a while for her to relax, in seconds she realized that danger was gone and she was in safe paws, literally. She offered him a bloody, aching and apologetic smile

" Sorry for calling you a bug" she breathed heavily and looked him over with her one eye " I'm not taking _ugly_ back however, you look like hell"

Spyro laughed inwardly, after hearing her snide remark, he couldn't come up with a clever response at the moment as he was completely preoccupied by the feeling under his crossed paws. He could feel bloody cuts on her belly but luckily it wasn't anything serious, from here he could tell that the left side of her snout was in overall good condition, minus the cut lip.

He offered her a tired smile " Still better than the bugs I hope" he decided to continue as a victim of her innocent game

Cynder looked him over once again " Eeeh" she muttered meaningfully

Spyro laughed and hissed a cheerful grunt of pain " Damn" he touched his stinging mouth, his lips were also cut " Those rocks have better crushed all of those damn bugs"

The dragoness looked at the dusty ceiling above, it had a big hole in it, through which they most likely fell into this cavern " I'm too old for this" she sighed and threw her head back and closed her single visible eye while breathing heavily

" Oh come on, don't say that you don't like uncontrollable falls and rough landings?" he panted

She exhaled deeply two times, as if in deep sleep " I can land on you anytime"

Spyro's masculine ego reached its summit, his whole body twitched nervously as he tried to hide a broad grin and a sudden strange shock pulse directly into his heart which was oddly pleasant.

Cynder watched his reaction through supposedly closed eye and cursed her weakened senses and tongue for the inconsiderate words, but on the other paw it felt damn good to be in the safety of his embrace and she was just too tired to fight with her boiling emotions.

" My back" Flare grunted as his fiery form twitched just next to the two dragons, he slightly pushed himself from the ground to stretch his aching back " Damn, whatever fell on me weighted a lot" with one last stretch he dropped flat on the ground, panting.

An awkward silence has befallen on them, nobody said a word, Spyro's heart still pumped blood slightly faster, he really wanted to wait and ponder at the somewhat odd pleasure but his adventurous spirit urged him to move on.

" We…we better get going" he muttered while shifting his body. His eyes widened when he felt claws wrapping themselves around his retreating paws

" Shhhh… let's rest for a while" Cynder whispered barely conscious, she delicately let go off his paw, automatically an uncontrollable smile tugged at her lips as she felt the grip around her body tightening itself " Just hold me" she uttered barely audible, finally giving up to the exhaustion and boiling feelings, letting her body completely succumb within his embrace.

Spyro was tired himself, all this time crawling through narrow edgy tunnel and then the fall burnt out most of his energy, what he needed was rest. Before his eyes closed completely he wanted to make sure that his friend will forget about all the bruises and relax. Impulsively he started to gently massage her chest with one of his paws to comfort her, something inside him urged him to do so.

As he continued to massage her bruised scales for a while he spotted that Cynder's mouth was slowly hanging open, as if she was sleeping. However that observation was quickly pushed aside by the strong feeling of her scales under his paw, everything else seemed unimportant suddenly. As he rubbed her belly scales he just couldn't believe just how soft they were, he just couldn't get enough of that sensation.

Driven by sheer instinct Spyro trailed his paw up and down her underbelly, slowly and gently, not wanting to miss even a single inch. As he continued the gentle rub he had to accidently touch a sore spot since suddenly Cynder let out a stifled moan. Strangely it didn't bother him in the slightest, his paw never left her scales, in fact he began to explore her body even further, trying to find another sore spot, he couldn't explain it but he just wanted to hear her moan again.

His heart pounded at his chest like some sort of a huge hammer kicking the breath out of him momentarily when she once more let out the desired sound. Cynder's head fell even farther down, she started drooling from the corner of her opened mouth, her body relaxed completely. Spyro saw her eyes moving behind the closed eyelids, he had no idea where her mind drifted but judging from her expression it had to somewhere pleasant. It seemed she wasn't having a very calm dream, If her rapidly moving eyelids where any clue that is.

Her entire body shivered on top of him, her tail slid left and right across his own. Not only her underbelly was pleasurably soft, the pressed black scales on her back were no different. She kept twitching restlessly and the constant rubbing of her scales against his underbelly made his heart race. A strange lustful sensation was building within him which overcame every other emotion with ease. The feeling was so strong that he lost track of his surroundings, he ignored absolutely everything, even the sound of a male grunt and a clicking sound just next to him.

Spyro was concentrated only on the twirling body on top of him, he just couldn't have enough of it, he just needed to watch her from up close, he just needed to look at her from as close as possible. Blood started flowing through his veins at increased rate the moment he pressed his wounded mouth to her shoulder and heard her exhale a wavering squeaky breath, he now knew that he liked to watch her.

The longer he observed her moving body from up close the more he became certain that it was the best sight he has ever seen. After all they've been through since they have entered Munitions Forge and now the ordeal through this mine, all this things combined were the reason behind their tiredness.

Her chest was moving up and down rhythmically in sync with his own chest, his cheeks got extremely hot when he suddenly noticed her rapid breathing, she was panting just next to him. For a moment he focused entirely on that sound, and the moment he did he knew instantly that it was the best sound he has ever heard. Her panting mixed with her heaving chest created the perfect combination, he just laid there, panting with a racing heart as he observed and listened to every move her body made, to every sound her throat emitted.

Spyro's eyes began to travel across her whole body seeping every detail until they finally stopped on her exposed neck. The source of all his from now on favorite sounds was just in front of his eyes, he trailed her sleek neckline with hungry eyes, even the choker on her neck didn't ruin his enthusiasm, strangely seeing the silvery piece wrapped around her throat roused him even more, there was something very intoxicating in the metalic ring around her neck. A strange feeling of domination boiled within him, she was here defenseless within his grasp with a choker around her neck, she was vulnerable, and she was all for him.

He looked at her snout and for a moment all those feral feelings disappeared, impulsively his eyes travel towards her neck again but soon returned and stopped at her enthralling expression. The wounds covering her body didn't bother him in the slightest, he was captivated by that black snout, he couldn't get his eyes off her, she was just so…breathtakingly beautiful.

Spyro gripped her tighter and let out a quenched and passionate warm moaning breath directly at her exposed neck. The shiver and a squeaky moan she let out soon after shot all of his senses to the orbit, he started to feel numb, he started to lose control of his own body.

And then suddenly everything returned back to normal, the bubble of enthrallment burst. Spyro's eyes shot wide open and his instinct kicked in when there was an unwelcome hissing sound, out of nowhere one of the small bugs was falling down on them, directing its pincers at Cynder's sleeping body.

" Cynder!" Spyro yelled and shook his body violently to wake her up, she stirred on top of him, but he knew that it was already too late, their enemy has taken advantage of his surprise attack in the fullest. However before the bug managed to reach them a fiery tail wrapped itself around the bug's form, momentarily the surrounding area was filled with the odor of burning flesh.

" Move you two!" Flare shouted as he hurled the remains of the bug at another incoming enemy.

Cynder's eyes shot wide open, adrenaline fueled her veins instantly, with a forceful yank she rolled off Spyro's muscular body and unceremoniously sucked the trickling drool with an even more unceremonious slurp. With a quick breath she took her wounded scales into the air.

The bugs were falling down from the familiar hole in the ceiling, the light on her helmet showed her that most of the bugs were dead, their chitin armors broken, some were not strong enough to survive the strong collision with the rough walls. Unfortunately there were also bugs which did survive, and there was plenty of them.

She could hear hissing all around her in the surrounding darkness as she flew up. She just kept cursing under her breath as she proceeded forward, she blamed herself for everything. The moment Spyro grabbed her a devil and an angel popped on her shoulders, the angelic Cynder urged her to get up, warning her that this is not over yet, trying to force her body for to accept another dose of pain. The devilish Cynder on the other paw told her that everything is over, that she deserves a moment of respite, to relax within the grasp of someone she loves, just for a little while of course, nothing bad can come out of it, she won't regret it.

She listened to the devilish figure, explaining to herself that she will rest only for a little while and then get up, however it went differently, she lost control and completely drifted away within Spyro's grasp. But she had to admit that it felt great, his strong paws around her, her imagination running wild, the beating of her heart deafening every other irrelevant sound, all those things created the perfect dream, it was just…. Damn it felt great.

Now she blamed herself for her moment of weakness, with a corner of her eye she saw the angelic Cynder shaking her head slowly, fully disappointed. The dragoness understood now that her act was selfish and so inane, there was a swarm of bugs on their tails and she just decided to ignore the threat and concentrate all of her focus on her feelings. Poor Flare paid the price for her moment of forgetfulness, as she rose she saw him fighting already with a couple of surviving bugs, with some other laying dead by his paws.

With a growl of anger and guilt she slashed with her claws forcefully, the hissing bug heading her way was cut in half, greenish gore shot from the severed body. Flap of black draconic wings blew the nearby bugs away from her, she ignored the flicked bugs, there was no time to chase after them, there was something far more important to do if she is to redeem herself for her mistake.

The light from her candle showed her that the bugs kept falling into the cavern from the hole in the ceiling, remembering how many of those creatures were up there, there was no doubt they will overcome them if she won't do something. Luckily for them she knew exactly what to do.

" SPYRO!" she roared releasing all the boiling anger inside her, the discharge of her emotions fueled another slash with her silvery claws

Spyro just dropped a bug while fighting side by side with Flare, he instantly looked up after hearing the feminine roar, there was no doubt about it, she was calling him and it seemed urgent. He looked at the fiery dragon, his companion was completely focused on fighting, the dragon just fried two jumping bugs with his wing while tearing through another one with his claws. One of the creatures cut his jaw, Flare didn't even hiss as he got wounded, he instead took revenge by snapping with his razor sharp teeth breaking the natural armor of the bug momentarily, greenish blood started trickling from the dragon's mouth as he spitted out the remains.

Spyro looked once again up, the beam of light showed that many more bugs were approaching, without hesitation he took to the air. Flare was a fierce fighter when cornered, he will take care of himself, he has to. Somehow they needed to stop the advance of the critters before they get swarmed, the urging roar of his friend made him realize that she has already come up with a plan.

Cynder spun in the air avoiding two bugs just to deflect with the silvery bracelet on her forepaw an attack of another one of the creatures before she sliced through the critter with the blade-like tip on her tail. She was close to the hole, it was time to put her plan in motion. The dragoness began to channel her Wind element, moments later she opened her mouth and powerful gusts of wind cut through the air, the bugs instead of going down began to rise with tremendous speed.

Cynder unrelentingly pushed forward continuing her offensive, those damn creatures won't get her friends, not when she is still breathing. She reached the opening in the ceiling and began to hover just below it constantly breathing air inside it, blowing all the falling debris, broken husks and living bugs up. She only stopped her attack once Spyro reached her.

" Freeze the damn hole, I'll hold them off" she growled a stern command and despite the nagging exhaustion continued her offensive

Spyro wanted to say something, he knew that tone, he wanted to tell her that it was all his fault, it was because of that awkward moment before that the situation looks like this, but he thought better of it. He didn't know how to explain this to his best friend that he considered her to be beautiful, hell he felt really strange himself about this. Probably every other girl would be thrilled to know that he, the purple dragon considers her beautiful, but that was Cynder, his best friend, you shouldn't say such things to your friends, it was just wrong in his opinion. However oddly enough a part of him wanted to scream those words out, yet he never decided to do so, he was just afraid of her reaction. He gave it a rest, there was no chance that she won't blame herself for the whole thing regarding the bugs, he knew her just too well.

He immediately got to work, with a couple of swaps of his wings he reached the far end of the hole. Freezing it will require a lot of elemental power but currently it was their only option, he channeled his Ice element and seconds later a stinging cold breath was sent at the wall where the hole began. Icy mist began to raise in the air as the stone cracked under the freezing breath and began to turn into ice.

With Cynder covering him he didn't have to worry about anything surprising him, he could concentrate fully on his work. As the block of ice began to turn solid and thick he flapped his wings forward to push himself slowly back so he could extend the freshly created block of ice through the whole dimension of the hole.

He was tired, the usage of his elemental energy in his wounded state didn't make the situation any better, but no matter how exhausting this is he just won't stop, his friends and brother are counting on him and he won't fail them, not again. Safety comes first.

Then his eyes shot wide open, time seemed to freeze for a while, unconsciously he stopped channeling his power, only a barely visible icy mist hung near his agape mouth as he suddenly ceased his work. Spyro felt as his lungs crushed, his blood froze and his heart jumped to his throat, he just couldn't breath as a sudden realization struck him like a thunder.

" Sparx" he muttered inwardly and still in shock turned towards the ground below

" SPARX!" Spyro emitted a terrified wavering roar, but there was no response he so desired to hear. Flare was the only source of light down below.

" SPARX!" he roared once again

" Spyro what are you doing?" Cynder stopped her attack to let out an admonishing heavy breath

The purple dragon darted towards her " I can't find my brother Cynder!" he uttered completely scared and turned towards the ground again " SPARX!" he yelled

" He is hiding somewhere probably, you have to keep going" she urged him before she once again began to breath air into the hole as soon as she spotted all of the things she blew away quickly returning

" SPARX!" Spyro shouted again, still no response " He's not here Cynder" he muttered terrified

" He has to be" she replied irritated

" BUT HE'S NOT!" he roared at her, the callous tone of her voice angered him, he didn't care about her personal redemption right now. The startled shiver of her body after his unexpected roar made him feel guilty beyond imagination, that is not how you treat your best friend, he bit his lip after his outburst

" I need to find him" he mumbled more calmly this time, apology ringing within his voice

Cynder released another gust of wind into the hole, there was no way she can make up for her mistake all by herself " We need you here, we won't make it without you"

" You are strong, you will hold them off"

" Spyro…"

" He's my brother Cynder!" he exclaimed pleadingly " I have to find him!"

The dragoness shook her head and sighed, she wasn't disappointed with him but with her, she has no idea what family means and how important it can be for someone. There was no stopping him even if she wanted to, not that the idea crossed her mind anyway, her mind was preoccupied with blaming her for her stupidity.

" Then go" she said and determined began to fill the hole with the strong wind again

Spyro pointed his claw up " I have to go up there"

" What?!" she exclaimed, the wind coming from her mouth ended with an audible whizz " Absolutely not!"

Spyro threw his paws to the sides " Look around, he is not here. There is only one option" he pointed his claw up once again " He has to be somewhere up there"

" Are you insane?! Do you know how many of these things could be up there?"

" I don't care, I'm going after my brother" he hissed sternly and began to fly inside the hole

" Wait" she shouted, hardly swallowing the fear in her voice. She just didn't want him to go inside where the heart of all their trouble is located.

Spyro stopped and looked at her

She exhaled a nervous breath " I'll give you a lift" with that she freed her Wind element once more, wanting this to be over as fast as possible

* * *

Spyro spread his wings wide allowing the strong wind to spread fully through his membranes, he nodded gratefully before turning towards the direction from which the bugs were coming from. With a deep anxious and determined breath he flapped his wings strongly, one swing was enough, the powerful wind did the rest.

He gained speed momentarily as his wings went down, there was only a whizz of blowing wind cutting through the air as the freshly conceived force of nature shot him straight up like some sort of a cannonball. Using the artificially created wind he flapped his wings once more, slowly, with no rush, putting as much strength he could muster into that simple motion, tensing his every muscle.

Moments later the cacophony of hissing sounds started to break through the whizzing noise of the blowing wind, there was a lot of hissing, much more than he would like to hear in fact. The dragon was high enough for his light to illuminate the horrid scene up ahead. The drake narrowed his eyes, hardly swallowing the lump of anxiety that was stuck in his throat. There were many chitin husks floating above, they were not allowed to fall by the constantly blowing wind, many of those husks were cracked, their inhabitants long gone, lost somewhere during the fall. However there were also husks that were still occupied, and there were many of them.

Spyro tensed his body to fight with the artificially created force of nature, he needed to slow down, colliding with that swarm would be deadly for sure. Gritting his sharp teeth together he finally managed to take control of the situation, his wings already felt sore, nobody should be going through such an exhausting trail just after a painful crash with reality, literally.

" SPARX!" he roared, if there was a response he couldn't hear it, these damn bugs were effectively blocking every sound, hopefully his brother managed to hear him, if he is even alive yet.

He swallowed another lump, just thinking about Sparx being dead made him nauseatingly sick, the floating carcasses only reminded him how life is fragile, it goes without saying that the sight didn't help him to feel any better. Dark thoughts began swirling through his mind, questions he would never want to hear.

What if Sparx was crushed by the falling rocks? What if the bugs caught him and tore him to pieces? What if his body is now floating somewhere among the husks above. Even if his heart was bleeding, he had to know the answer to those questions.

Spyro tensed his sore muscles and slowly began moving his golden wings, delicately pushing them down, faster and faster with each flap, completely being in control of his ascent. He didn't want to accidently fly right into the rabid swarm, nor did he want the bugs to fall down on him when the wind will eventually stop howling and it will, despite Cynder's stubborn attitude, there was no chance she will hold out without a break in her tired state.

The bugs fell in sheer rage as soon as the purple dragon got closer, the critters began thrashing fiercely, hissing menacingly and clamping their pincers in a typical uncontrolled feral manner, trying to tear off a piece of the hovering drake's appetizing purple scales.

Spyro ignored their aggressive behavior as best as he could, however part of his mind urged him to send an Electric Orb into the middle of the swarm to silence these annoying bugs once and for all. As he circled the group of critters the aggression within him died down replaced by the slowly raising flame of hope the longer he watched the swarm. The bugs were cramped together, he couldn't see through all of these wiggling husks but what he managed to see made his heart beat a little slower, there was no sign of Sparx or his still body anywhere.

Suddenly the wind stopped blowing and the critters hissing loudly started to fall down, together with the rocks and remains of their unlucky companions. Spyro trailed the falling swarm with his amethyst eyes, first thing that crossed his mind was a selfish congratulation for his cold thinking, keeping a safe distance from the swarm was a good idea. He let out a silent breath of relief when the second realization ran through his mind, among the swirling mass there was no sign of Sparx, it was obvious now, his brother wasn't there.

In his moment of delight Spyro forgot about one important thing, all the falling things have to come from somewhere and the spot where all that mass was cramped earlier was only occupied because of the created wind blowing in one direction, the place from which they fell into the hole was somewhere else.

It didn't take him long to realize that the place he was looking for was just above his head, he hissed when suddenly something hit his head. The dragon took a glimpse of a small rock with a delicate hint of red on its edge, it was blood, and it was his own. He raised his head, the dragon's eyes widened and he immediately flapped his wings forcefully to make a swift maneuver in the air but unfortunately it was already too late.

Two bugs fell on him, to slow their descent the creatures plunged their sharp pincers into his flesh, everything happened so fast for the critters that they only managed to sink one of their pincers into the purple scales before the dragon yanked his body sharply in the air, the move made them dangle like a pair of flags.

Spyro grunted as he beaten with his golden wings, he felt as the creatures were tearing off the flesh from his bones as their bodies wiggled as he maneuvered in the air to avoid more falling debris and enemies. He gritted his teeth, the stinging pain was unbearable, he literally felt as his scales are being pulled off directly from his flesh. He needed to throw the bugs off of him somehow.

Spyro screamed when he felt another two pincers plunging themselves into his scales, the bugs were now safely attached to his back. Another pulse of pain shot through his nerves as a sudden sensation of sharp teeth piercing his leathery armor could be felt, the damn creatures were tearing and eating him alive. The dragon thrashed in the air, but no matter what he did the bugs didn't fell off and there was no way he could reach them.

Another shot of pain, blood sprinkled from his back, Spyro had enough. Growling in anguish he spun in the air, turning his body in such a way that his back faced a nearby wall. He straightened his body and with a powerful frontal flap of his wings he threw himself at the wall. Spyro grunted as shocking pain ran through his whole spine and coughed soon after when dust shot from the old jagged rocks, besides the thud created by his impact with the wall, he also could hear bunch of cracking sounds and two wails of anguish.

The stinging pain on his back was still there, without wasting any more time Spyro pressed his hind paws to the wall, using his wings and claws on his back legs he unglued himself from the wall. Gritting his teeth he straightened his body once again just to throw himself at the wall once more. Spyro let out a painful moan as another shock hit his spine, this time however the cracking sounds were much louder, the same thing couldn't be said about the wails, these seemed to turn to a barely audible hiss.

The creatures were still there, he could feel them on his back, another push and another collision with the wall. Spyro screamed, the almost paralyzing pain was unbearable, besides his shout there were also two loud cracks, like something just broke under high pressure. With the corners of his eyes he could see bits of the chitin husk flying in every direction, the stinging pain was gone, replaced by the sensation of something thick slowly flowing down his back, it was blood, but not entirely his own.

Angered by the whole situation Spyro pushed himself from the wall with an threatening growl, he directed himself upwards, these bugs were getting on his nerves, just thinking about the pain his brother has gone through if the bugs managed to lay their pincers on him before Death took him within its embrace maddened him beyond any imagination.

Spyro dodged a pair of stones just to notice a bug falling at him just beyond them, with a loud growl Spyro grabbed the critter, and forcefully shoved it against the wall, dust and some chunks of rock shot from the wall at the impact. The trapped bug hissed and wagged with its pincers chaotically, every now and then managing to nip at the dragon's paw.

Spyro ignored the pain, in mere seconds he channeled his Ice element and released a freezing breath directly at the thrashing bug. The critter hissed in agony as the icy mist started slowly numbing its every muscle, slowly turning it into a brick of ice. Spyro's paw stung, his purple scales were slowly being covered by a delicate layer of ice, however he knew the bug will be gone first, as a dragon he was more resistant to the powers of the elements than the small creature.

Moments later the hissing sounds of the bug were replaced by a cracking sound as a bluish brick slowly embraced the critter, just as soon as that started happening Spyro withdrew his delicately numb paw. He ceased his elemental attack the moment the creature was entirely encased in an icy prison, Spyro grabbed the freshly solidified sculpture and immediately hurled it upwards in the direction of all the incoming debris and the like.

He then channeled his Electricity power and sent a shock pulse directly at the raising block of ice. The small pulse cracked through the air, the prison of the frozen creature shone and sparkled brightly for a little while the moment the electric attack connected with it. Momentarily the block of ice shattered into many sharp pieces, the projectiles flied with such a speed that they were like little knifes cutting through butter which turned to be the chitin husk of more falling bugs.

Spyro roared triumphantly seeing the small carnage he caused, he wasn't even bothered by the greenish blood splattering on his snout and body, the dragon was completely intoxicated by the sweet taste of revenge and a bitter taste of fear. More rocks and more creatures kept falling down from steeper parts of the mine, it didn't stop him. Spyro pushed forward growling while he avoided the rocks and killed the bugs, ripping their chitin husks with his claws like they were made from a poor quality cloth.

He was so lost in his feral frenzy that he forgot about one important thing, he wasn't alone in this struggle. Suddenly a powerful gust of wind howled through the cavern, it caught the dragon unprepared. The artificial force of nature hit his opened wings with such a force that he was unable to control it, the wind blew the dragon aside, making him spin in the air uncontrollably.

All that boiled aggression faded, all that feral rage dispersed when he was roughly brought back to reality by a nearby wall. Spyro grunted when he collided with the edgy rocks, unfortunately the wind blew him in such a way that his head received the worst shock. The impact left him dizzy, everything spun around, lights danced in front of his eyes, most where white, some were lightly brown, even a bright yellow could be visible.

The sharp pain shooting across one of his wings made some of those lights adopt a more solid form, some of those forms were also hurled in his direction by the wind, some of them found safety in the membranes of his wings. However when the pain brought back senses to his mind Spyro understood instantly that he didn't want to be the guardian of those lights. He groaned when another sharp pain shot through his muscles, then the forms solidified completely, and one of those forms was now ripping his wing's membranes with its pincers.

Growling in pain Spyro began to fall down, for a moment letting gravity to take control of his fate, as he descended down Spyro opened his wing as far as possible and forcefully smacked it across the nearby wall. The jagged rocks pierced his wing, blood started trickling down from his newly created wounds, however he wasn't the only one hissing in anguish. The small bug that tore his wing earlier let go off his wing, its husk was cracked seriously after the strike, green blood was flowing down in streams from the gaping wounds.

Spyro spread his wings, the bug fell down from the dragon's brown membranes, however it never reached the ground since the wind carried the creature up. Before Spyro fully retook control of his body he gave the raising bug another slap with his wing, smashing the creature on the nearby wall.

The blowing wind wasn't stable, one time it was stronger, another time weaker, it was obvious- Cynder was losing her strength. He was the unfortunate victim of these unstable currents, the dragon was now in full control of the artificial force which led him to complete domination of his body.

The same thing couldn't be said about the bugs however, the changing wind blew the creatures in every direction, one such blow was unfortunate for Spyro. Many of the bugs were sent flying at him, three critters were flung fast enough and reached the dragon before the rest of the bugs did, one was coming at him from the front, two from his back. He parried the attack of the critter up ahead with his left paw just to finish it with the other one, while at the same time charging his Ice element, moments later he swung his tail, icy spark shot from his golden tip which froze the attacking critters on spot.

However that wasn't the end of his troubles, he slashed through more and more bugs, every next kill aroused the inner rage inside him, every part of him kept telling him that he won't see his brother again, there was no chance he could survive something like this. Spyro swallowed back tears, if that's how It's going to end he will make sure that the damn creatures will pay for this.

Roaring in anger he kept fighting, he kept slicing at the bugs, the bugs kept slicing at him, there were just to many of them, there was no way he could avoid them all. However the dragon wasn't bother by his wounds, he just wanted to crush these creatures for everything they had done. He kept slashing with his claws, swinging his tail and every now and then, using his elemental powers occasionally.

After some time Spyro made a decision to clean one of the nearby floating groups, without any hesitation he made his way towards the nearest one and began to lessen the group's numbers. Slash after slash, breath after breath and the bugs still kept falling, this whole situation resembled a hydra fight, the more heads Spyro cut, twice their number appeared in their place, yet it didn't discourage him.

Spyro kept attacking the hovering swarm, he was completely overwhelmed by rage, green blood shot in every direction as he pushed forward, there was no stopping him. Even in his killing spree his natural warrior instinct still worked, suddenly it warned him that something is approaching him from behind, that there is a presence behind his tail.

Spyro growled and spun around, paw raised, claws at the ready, just as he was about to face the intruder he slashed with his deadly natural blades. Spyro gasped when he set his eyes on the presence behind him, his body froze, the claws that were meant to end the life of the intruder stopped just right next to his head. He couldn't believe his eyes, there was a yellow dragonfly hovering in the air in front of him, the dragonflies' body was tense, his eyes were closed , and his expression was ruined by a terrified wince, he was readying himself for a hit.

It never came since the claws stopped just inches from his head, the owner of those claws was completely paralyzed, tears began to fill his amethyst eyes. Moments later the dragon's body began to shake uncontrollably, the tips of his claws dangled just inches from the dragonflies' head, Spyro was barely holding back his emotions.

His brother opened one of his eyes, then impulsively he looked at the claws next to him, with a gasp he jerked his head away. After a sigh of relief he turned towards his purple brother. Spyro didn't say a word, Sparx only felt a purple paw wrapping itself around him. The dragonfly yelped when suddenly the dragon carried him down.

Spyro held his brother tightly, close to his frantic heart as he quickly descended towards the cavern where his friends were. He fought unrelentingly with the blowing wind, the strong current made his already painful wings ache even more, yet it didn't bother the drake, he needs to get his brother out of this treacherous tunnel and nothing is going to stop him.

Cynder felt as her elemental energy was about to end, the exhaustion was taking its toll, she could barely keep herself hovering in the air. The flaps of her black wings were extremely sluggish making the dragoness slightly bounce in the air, she was at the brink of collapsing, the only thing that kept her going was Spyro, he needed her help and there is no way she is going to let him down.

Her green eyes widened when suddenly a purple shape appeared in the ray of her candle light. New surge of energy filled her veins at the sight, she immediately ceased filling the opening with her Wind element. Taking advantage of the calm air Spyro dashed quickly inside the cavern, releasing a glowing yellow shape as he did so.

The purple dragon got to work at once, he started to freeze the opening again, renewing his work from the spot he stopped earlier. Seeing this Cynder decided to not fall behind and renewed her attack, the wind once again howled through the cavern above. After some time the icy blocked was finally finished, all three friends backed away and observed the newly created obstacle intently.

Bugs and rocks kept falling on the thick icy block emitting muffled thuds as they collided with the newly created cold surface. More and more things kept falling from the darkness above, eventually creating quite a considerate pile of debris and living things, however no matter how big the pile was getting there was no visible crack on the surface of the icy blockade, it has held. The three friends observed it until the falling debris and bugs created a pile so big that it blocked the view behind them.

All three friends emitted a desirable sigh of relief, not even the muffled scratching and hissing from above couldn't ruin their moment of victory. Spyro once again turned towards the dragonfly when he was absolutely sure they were safe for the time being.

Once again the dragonfly didn't have the time to utter a word since the dragon quickly grabbed him and pulled him closer, effectively preventing any comprehensible sounds coming from his throat.

Spyro hugged his brother tightly, tears began to flow from his eyes " _He is alive_" he mused" _HE IS ALIVE_". All of that boiling rage was gone momentarily replaced by the long craved, tears squeezing joy.

" Dear Ancestors Sparx" Spyro muttered with a wavering voice, not even trying to hide his agitation. He pulled his brother even closer " I thought you were dead"

There was only a muffled response followed by three quick pats on the dragon's gold scales. Spyro understood the signal, he released the dragonfly immediately.

His brother gasped loudly as he pulled himself from the dragon's iron grip " Damn Dude" he took a deep breath " You nearly choked me there" he rubbed his neck and looked at his draconic brother. The purple drake was staring at him with watery eyes, Sparx felt like his heart was just being squeezed by an invisible hand

" Stop crying man" he muttered with a wavering voice, barely able to contain his emotions " What would our parents say?"

Spyro chuckled and began to rub his eyes, remembering the moments in his childhood when the two of them stood up to their parents to show just how mature they are, that true males never cry.

" Where were you? I was worried sick"

" Seriously?" Sparx blurt out faking a surprise and smirked " I couldn't tell" he cleared his throat, putting humor aside for a moment " Anyway remember bro that I fly, I can't fall down like you guys when a ground suddenly collapses under my feet. I was following you all the way down but I just couldn't catch up with you, I really thought I lost you back there but luckily for me the tunnel had only a one-way ticket for sale so…" he threw his arms aside " Ta-da!"

" I'm just so happy to see you" the dragon sobbed

Sparx poked his brother's shoulder " No way you are getting rid of me that easily" wth a smile he turned towards the black dragoness " YO! Second Tail!" he waved at her

She didn't say a word

" Give me a sec" he muttered before dashing towards the black dragoness

Cynder fought valiantly but no matter how hard she tried she just couldn't completely prevent her mouth from turning into a smile " Hi Annoyance"

He spread his arms wide open as if provoking a hug " Missed me?"

" Not really" she replied with a twitching mouth

" At least admit that you were worried about me"

" Not really"

Sparx looked her over, she was exhausted and wounded, their little adventure ripped her of that natural ominous grace, yet even despite the wounds her somewhat oddly charm still managed to push through, not that he would tell her that of course.

" Been to a claw polisher lately?"

She swelled her chest in faked pride, knowing exactly where this is going " Becoming isn't it?"

He smirked " Not really" he leaned closer " But you know what they say, there is no goose so grey in the lake, that cannot find grander of her make" with a wink he began to return to his brother

When he looked behind his shoulder he noticed Cynder giving him a silent response, he didn't have to be an expert in lip-reading to know that her happy mouth formed the " _Screw you_" phase. Sparx smiled and looked up at the icy block and the bugs trapped behind it the moment he reached his brother.

" So what's the plan? We can't go back the way we came that's for sure"

" We go down" Spyro replied " This is a mine it must have a second exit somewhere, but first let's grab Flare and get out of here. I don't know how long this thing will last, we are inside a volcano after all"

After those words the three friends descended down, towards the ground with which the three draconic friends had a really bad meeting. On the terrain below amidst many scorched remains and bloody ground stood with his head lowered a lone, wounded, exhausted fiery drake,

" It's good to know that he can protect himself when he wants to" Sparx rolled his eyes, clearly remembering what Flare did back in the tunnel and what it took to bring him back to his senses, not to mention how much panic the dragon's… whatever it was caused.

The group landed behind the dragon and examined the ground, remains of bugs were strewn all around the place, the stench of charred flesh was unbearable.

" Man" the dragonfly huffed " He surely knows how to make things dead"

Cynder worryingly looked over the dragon, she knew his story, heard what he was forced to do back in his prison but she just couldn't imagine that he could commit such a massacre, the scared dragon she knew would not be able to do it. But the dragon she was looking at right now wasn't him, at least not entirely.

He looked different, not because of the many cuts and more deeper wounds covering his scales, but because of the fiery parts of his body. The flames looked like they were alive, like they were angry and they don't even try to hide it. The fires were burning brighter and with more intensity, she could feel the heat emanating from them right here where she stood, accidently touching the dragon in one of those hot spots would be very dangerous right now.

" Flare?" Cynder asked gently while taking a cautious step towards the drake, he was her friend, and friends take care of each other " Is everything alright?"

Still panting Flare slowly rose his head " Couldn't been better" he replied without looking at her, there was something strange about the tone of his voice, it was cold, lower, distant and ominous. It sent a chill down her spine.

" Dude!" Sparx exclaimed spreading his arms, not noticing or perhaps ignoring the dragon's odd behavior and looks " Look whose home!"

Flare turned around, the three friends gasped as he did so. His snout carried the sign of recent battle, cuts and torn bits of flesh covered his jaw and forehead, a mix of green and crimson blood trickled down from his mouth. He looked like some sort of a crazy killer but his image wasn't the actual reason behind their shock, it was his eyes. They were burning, literally, just like somebody would ignite his feline pupils and start a small fire inside his eyeballs.

" Sparx you've returned. I'm so happy" Flare's mouth twitched into a very creepy smile, as if he would be trying to smile for first time in his life

The dragonfly raised his finger and pointed at his eyeball " Dude, your…your eyes…"

" Flare what is wrong with you?" Cynder interjected the moment she recovered from her surprise and slowly advanced forward

The fiery drake aimed his cold, despite the burning fires gaze at her, the dragoness shivered once more " Nothing my friend"

She didn't buy that, mainly because of the way how he said the word _friend_. It sounded more like a warning than a simple polite presentation of affection. She gulped.

" I'm perfectly fine" the dragon assured her

"Ok I'm going to repeat myself but what the hell " Sparx leaned towards his brother while covering his mouth with his hand "There is something seriously wrong with this guy" he whispered

With a delicate nod of agreement Spyro stepped out in the open so he could easier get the dragon's attention " Flare you are acting really weird, tell us what's going on, we will help you"

The red dragon narrowed his eyes on Spyro, the moment he did so his eyes and every other burning part of his body burst with fresh new flames making his three companions squint.

" Help me?" the dragon snorted in disgust " Who do you think I am to believe in such lies?" tiny red flames wafted through his nostrils "You don't know what that word means, you are a purple dragon, a deceiver, a worthless bug whose dependable on others. A weak incapable of progress lizard"

Spyro narrowed his brows, he heard and knew that Flare disliked him, that he is a victim of superstition, but the dragon was never so straightforward with his inimicalness.

" What has gotten into you? I helped you with that golem, the Keeper remember?"

Flare cackled, that was the most scary laugh they heard this day " You destroyed the Keeper because it threatened you, it is always about you"

The purple dragon shook his head, that just made no sense, why makes him think that it was a selfish act? Yet he decided to leave it be, there was no convincing the dragon anyway, he needs a different argument.

" I've fought these creatures here with you" he nodded his head towards the charred remains " Side by side"

" But then you left me here alone, at their mercy"

" Cynder called me!" the purple dragon exclaimed " I knew you would take care of them, so I went to help her"

" Deceiver!" Flare growled, more heat burst from his fiery parts " A convenient excuse, like always, but you won't fool me, you thought that I would die"

" WHAT?!" Spyro exclaimed shocked

" You are just like the others, playing your own games thinking you're the smartest dragon in the world, but you are not"

" Can you hear yourself? Look around!" the purple dragon spread his wings aside for a second "There is no bug here! If I wanted you dead than I wouldn't block that hole above our heads"

There was a sudden crack when a part of a chitin husk cracked under Flare's hot claws, that was a bad omen. It seemed like his words didn't calm the dragon but irritated him even more.

" Stop lying!" Flare growled " You noticed that your plan didn't work, that I survived so you needed to come up with a new one. But I've learned all your tricks already, so stop finally pretending!"

Spyro snorted in disbelief, perhaps it was wrong to force his point across but he just couldn't stop himself, he didn't hear such nonsense in a very long time.

" If I really wanted you dead I would try to kill you earlier don't you think? Come on Flare, we are friends so s-"

" YOU ARE NOT MY FRIEND!" he roared cutting Spyro off, the air got hotter suddenly as once again flames burst from his fiery parts

" But-"

" YOU ARE A VERMIN!..." Flare growled and lowered on his paws

Spyro's body tensed seeing the drakes hostility, he knew where this is going.

" Flare don't" he muttered adopting a defensive stance

"…and vermin needs to be eradicated" he roared

However before he pounced at the purple dragon Flare received a strong blow to his left cheek which turned his roar into a deep whimper, made his teeth rattle and his head jerk to the side. Every flame that his body was emitting died down when the dragon in his confusion rubbed his aching jaw and looked at the culprit who caused the pain with wide eyes.

" That hurt" Flare whined while massaging the painful spot on his snout more fiercely

Cynder just stood there and watched the fiery drake, slowly unclenching her paw and putting it onto the ground.

" Remember what I've told you about watching your tongue? We had a deal and I always keep my promises"

Flare wasn't angry, he remembered their conversation perfectly, the dragon just lowered his head in shame and remained silent.

Cynder looked him over, his fiery parts returned to their normal state, no extreme heat could be felt in the air. She once again recognized the dragon who she called friend in him. The dragoness had no idea what just happened but it was good to see that he sincerely regrets his actions and since she hates seeing her friends sad it was time to do something about it.

She slapped his head with the flat side of her tail tip.

" Aww!" the dragon whined and instinctively touched the back of his head " What was that for?"

The dragoness smiled " That was for calling me fat" she winked

" What the hell Flare?!" The fiery dragon's smile was gone after he heard Spyro's shout, the purple dragon approached the red dragon with fire in his eyes " You tried to attack me?!"

The fiery drake bent on his paws and pressed his nose to the ground like a guilty dog " I'm sorry, I'm sorry" he whined once more " Please don't hurt me!"

" I have no intention in hurting you! How many times do I have to tell you that!"

" I'm sorry"

Cynder pressed her paw to Spyro's chest to somehow cool his advance " Shouting won't help here" she said almost pleadingly

" No way Cynder!" he delicately pushed her paw away " I want to know what did I do to deserve such hostility! I won't be traveling with a guy who can put a knife in my back without even blinking!"

" I'm sorry" Flare whined again

" I'm sure he didn't mean to attack you, did you get a closer look at him? Something was different" Cynder explained calmly

" This doesn't change anything! Because of him the bugs almost got us in the tunnel, Sparx got lost and who knows what can happen next! I can't put you in danger!" he growled when a sudden realization struck him " The damn mole was right"

" And what?" she blurt out " You want to leave him here?" Cynder could barely hold herself back from shouting, this whole situation was irritating her also " He will get lost or worse"

" First I want to hear an explanation!" Spyro shouted again as he turned towards the fiery drake

Flare could feel the dragon's amethyst gaze on him " I'm s-s-sorry"

" Shut up! I'm tired of your whining! Tell me what's gotten into you!" Spyro growled making the red dragon shiver in fear

" I c-c-c-can't r-r-really e-e-e-explain t-this. S-s-s-sometimes d-d-during a f-f-fight I g-g-g-get e-excited a-a-and l-lose c-c-c-control"

" This doesn't explain why you wanted to attack me!"

" Alright gang!' Sparx interjected suddenly " I propose to leave this conversation for later, I don't know how about you but I feel uncomfortable here with the swarm of bugs above our heads, especially when they can crash the party anytime soon. I would want to be long gone when that happens"

" He's right" Cynder added quickly seeing as it would be a very hard task to push Spyro away from Flare's throat. Perhaps if both of them would focus on something else they might eventually sort out their differences.

Spyro growled quietly, part of him wanted to push Flare even harder but he decided not to do it. His friends safety was more important, it was time to go. A thought about leaving Flare behind crossed his mind but he quickly shook it off, it would be cruel and besides it was his decision to bring him along. He has to pay for his mistakes.

" Fine, let's go" Spyro announced

Sparx clapped his hands " Now that's music to my ears" he raised his forefinger " But there is still one little problem, Do we know which way to go?"

Spyro looked around, the light from his candle revealed that the cavern had many opening in its walls, leading probably deeper into the mines and even more dead ends. When the boiling anger inside him slightly faded, he felt a familiar tingle running through his body, he concentrated on it. it wasn't long before he located it's source, it was coming from one of the tunnels.

" This way" Spyro said and made his way towards the tunnel with his companions closely following him


	35. Chapter 17 Book II

Chapter 17

Spyro had enough of this adventure already, why didn't he listen to his brother? After preventing the world from breaking apart he should have retired, who would blame him? He is still young and was thrown into a fight nobody else wanted or couldn't participate in, didn't he do enough?

But noooo, he had to dive willingly into another whirl of swirling uncertainties and unknown danger because that's what he does! Because he has to help everyone! He risks his own life so other people don't have to! He helps the innocent because if you are strong and capable of defending yourself it's your holy duty to protect the weak! He protects them because it needs to be done, because that's how his parents raised him! Damn heart of gold…damn.

Him, Sparx and Cynder formed a great team, a team which defeated The Dark Master and brought back peace to the Realms so everyone could live happily ever after. At least that's how it plays out in the many books for children that his parents used to read him.

Now he knows those were just stories, a fiction and nothing else. People call him a hero, why? His fairytale didn't end like all the others, if it ever began in the first place that is. His worst fears came true, his gut told him that this was just the beginning of another life threatening experience, just as soon first troubles ended, new arose in their place momentarily.

And what troubles those were! Just in this place Sparx got missing, they fell down into the deeper parts of the volcano almost breaking their necks, they blocked their only one known way out. and to top all of that one of his newer companions is unstable and tried to attack him, just like that! Spyro could only wonder if it could get any better than this. He just loves deadly surprises!

The purple dragon snorted, the boiling irritation within him was insufferable, he even started to talk with himself! The only thing he needed right now was to find out that he actually said all those things aloud and his companions heard him, they would think he is losing his mind, just how awesome would be that!

A delicate anxious smile appeared on his snout as he instinctively turned off his conflicted mind for a while and began to listen intently. It was a juvenile goal, but it was a goal nevertheless, he just had to know if he said all those things aloud. Even if he was driven by curiosity he knew he had to play it cool without raising any suspicions, so the purple dragon in all of his ingenious plan kept on walking down the dark tunnel.

And most likely just like any other dragon in his place would do after creating such a deceitful plan- he slowed down his pace, that way he could focus on what is really important and leave the creepy unknown and probably even more dangerous surroundings of the newly discovered tunnel for later, simply brilliant!. Spyro kept on walking, like nothing ever happened, not wanting to spoil his amazing and very important plan.

He kept on listening but there was only silence, minutes passed, nothing changed- silence. Besides the ragged breathing of his companions there was no other sound echoing through the tunnel. His smile grew bigger, it spread itself across his whole snout forming a very broad grin which displayed rows of razor sharp white teeth.

_Victory! _Spyro screamed inwardly, his plan has worked, he didn't spoil his thoughts, he has triumphed! The sly grin disappeared from his snout moments later, when his senses returned to him. " _What the hell am I doing?" _he mused and stifled a chuckle, realizing just how stupid this whole thing was. All this time he was joking but now he realized that he might be actually going mad, oh well, nobody's perfect_._

Spyro shook off his stupid smile, this was not the time nor the place for such dumb games, just how old is he again? The dragon sighed, reality came back at him in an instant, perhaps it was stupid but at least it kept the boiling irritation and anger in him at bay for a while.

The last few hours weren't exactly the best ones of his life, the constant threat by those deadly creatures, the fear of losing his life, his brother disappearance and especially Flare's hostility. All these recent events mixed with the pounding feelings of dread, irritation and feral survival instinct put him on edge.

His troubled mind sent him constantly images of Flare pouncing at him from behind, the red dragon's fiery claws ready to peel the flesh from his bones. Spyro really tried to ignore the nudge of anxiousness which could be considered by more specialized people in the matters of psychology a first state of panic.

Yet when he succumbed to the feeling and his pupils jumped to the far side of his eyeballs to cover as much ground as possible without turning around and raising any suspicion regarding his state of mind. The purple dragon's heart worked faster every time he scanned the surroundings with a little wider amethyst orbs, his pupils kept dilating whenever he looked behind his shoulder, expecting that soon there will be a roar and once again he will have to fight for his life.

Luckily for him the images his mind created never came true… at least not yet. It was really tough to remain calm in this circumstances but he did this for his companions, he didn't want to make the atmosphere worse than it already is.

When Spyro's thoughts jumped from one horrible thing to the other, imagining probably every possible scenario to make their adventure even more disastrous, they eventually found its way to Cynder. Irritation and anger vanished instantly replaced by inexplicable feeling of guilt and…fear.

Everything inside him screamed that it was wrong to consider his best friend to be beautiful, that it was wrong to constantly think about her, that the odd sensations that accompany the thoughts about her were wrong, that it was not supposed to be like that. They are best friends after all, their relationship is based on friendship and solely on friendship, anything more than that felt like betrayal. He had to push those strange feelings aside, he can't and doesn't want to ruin the relation between them, he can't strain the trust they share between each other, he can't push her away because of his sudden obsession.

Yet whenever he tried to convince himself that the crazy thoughts that are running through his head are just the consequence of their fall, he just had to hit his head a little too hard and it confused him. No matter how hard he tried, his attempts of deceiving himself were to no avail.

Spyro's mind kept projecting images of Cynder, two to be precise, the images were quickly blinking in front of his eyes just like somebody would be jumping from one picture to the other by quickly pushing an arrow button on some kind of a panel. Both of these images represented the sleeping form of Cynder, one was from the cave where they have spent the night after their unexplained appearance in the Valley of Avalar. The second one was from this mine, it all happened minutes ago, the memory was so fresh that he could still feel her laying on top of him.

Both images were concentrated on Cynder's snout, everything else was blurry, deep down he knew the reason behind this, the answer was simple- everything else was unimportant. The images achieved their goal, Spyro kept staring at that black snout, as his eyes began to travel across it the dragon's heart started to beat faster, he could hear i tworking, it sounded like a drum. His breath became even more ragged, his stomach curled and twitched, the odd feeling of thousands of butterflies swirling inside his belly returned. No matter how strange and uncomfortable he felt, he just couldn't get enough of Cynder's black snout.

Spyro saw clearly every grimace, every twitch of her mouth as she dreamed, every black soft scale, he saw absolutely everything with great detail and no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't notice any flaw, she was just so perfect.

" _By the Ancestors, what the hell am I doing_?" he heard his own uncertain voice pounding inside his head, besides the confusion in that tone, there was also a very palpable hint of warning.

The dragon ignored it.

His eyes stopped on her fluttering eyeballs, a sign she was dreaming, he felt her soft breath on his nose, it felt like some kind of aphrodisiac, it made him dizzy, he noticed her mouth twitching into a smile, her unwittingly efforts sent shivers through his body. His pupils eventually stopped on the white markings around her eyes, they were like some sort of shining beacons, just like a pair of angelic wings which burst with a blinding light just to reveal a figure he could never possible dream of.

It was the same with Cynder, when the bright light finally faded it revealed his draconic angel to him, the sight knocked the wind out of him, she was just so beautiful. Dear Ancestors, how he loves to watch her sleep.

" _BETRAYAL_!"

A sudden scream inside his head changed everything, it was just like a thunder that hit him from a cloudless sky, he shivered as the howling noise passed through his body. The images of Cynder disappeared, together with all that strange feelings, a strong overpowering sensation of guilt took their place.

" _BETRAYAL_!"

His mind kept screaming this one single word over and over again, making the dragon focus only on that word and the feeling of guilt that followed in its wake.

" Shake it off, shake it off" Spyro muttered inwardly

No matter how hard he tried it was just impossible to get rid of this feeling, it was there like a lingering open wound that sent surges of pain whenever he tried to move. Realization came sooner, after moments of unending struggle he finally understood while the feeling doesn't want to go away. It was his conscience talking, it realized that he was weak and took matter in its own hands, effectively blocking the one road that was so very tempting on the moral crossroad he found himself to be on to.

All his life Spyro walked down the roads that he himself trampled down, nobody could sway him from that, not even the Chronicler. However it took him to live to this day to finally figure out what pushed him down those paths, it was friendship.

Because of that friendship he decided to leave the Chronicler's safe haven and help Cynder break free from Gaul's iron chains, even if their friendship wasn't developed as it is now, he just knew, deep down he knew that he has to do it.

Now ironically he was forced to take the road that sustained that companionship, he went down that path because that was what he wanted from the beginning. Yet when he thought that this road was the only good choice there was something nipping at his heart, like somebody would poke it with a needle.

Then a sudden spark of clarity ran through him, how is it possible that friendship made him throw everything away and go look for Cynder all that time ago when they barely knew each other back then? If companionship was the reason he decided to trample down his own road then why he feels the tempting pull from the blocked side when friendship is just at paw's reach? He only now realized that he felt greatly attached to Cynder from the very beginning, nobody becomes friends at first glance, then why would he sacrifice everything for her without even blinking? It can't be friendship, all this time something else led him to her, if it isn't companionship then it has to be…

" Spyro!"

The sound of his name, that distant shout bounced inside his head making the images and his train of thought waver.

" Spyro!"

With a gasp he was forcefully pulled back to reality, as he exhaled everything around him suddenly became dark, the only thing he could see were those three white beams of light illuminating some jagged rocks protruding from the walls. He found himself staring at one of these lights.

" Spyro"

He heard his name again, but this time he recognized the voice who was calling him. He turned around, the moment he laid eyes on her confusion filled his entire body, everything he was thinking about moments ago was gone. The hard crash with reality destroyed every spark of clarity, now it was total chaos. He had no idea what just happened.

" Geez Spyro!" Cynder exclaimed as she hid behind one of her black wings, the white light was blinding " Point that thing somewhere else"

Her every word came back at him with a ringing echo, his mind was slowly processing the spoken letters, as if waking from a deep slumber, step by step turning them into comprehensible sentences.

" Spyro!" she shouted again

" Ekhem?" he only uttered an incomprehensible grunt as he stared at her illuminated black form with unfocused eyes

" The light! Please!"

Another shout, this one however felt like a shrill scream, that threw away and disoriented the uncontrollable pensiveness lingering inside his mind, returning control to his body in an instant. Instinctively but sloppy he moved his head to the side.

" Thank you" Cynder replied with a delicate hint of irritation in her voice as soon as the blinding light moved away

" Sorry" Spyro whimpered as he drove his gaze into the ground

She narrowed her gaze on him " Is everything alright?" the dragoness tone changed, there was only pure kindness and sincere worry ringing in her voice " I think you dazed off there for a while"

" I'm ok!" he blurt out without thinking, failing to hide the panic in his voice. They need to move, she will know that he is lying and if she confronts him about it, he has no idea how he will pull through that, he has to protect their trust.

" Let's…let's continue forward" he mumbled and turned around

Sparx dashed towards his brother and snapped his fingers in front of his snout making the dragon balk " Hello?" Earth to Spyro, do you copy?" the dragonfly waved in front of his eyes before grabbing the dragon's horns to get his attention " There is no forward" with a delicate yank he let go off his brother and spread his arms aside pointing out at the surroundings with his opened palms " We are on a freaking crossroad"

Spyro's amethyst pupils dilated as they were getting used to the crashing reality, the still shrouded in darkness surrounding area started to become more and more solid and realistic. It turned out that Sparx was right, they have indeed reached a crossroad, which Spyro found as a very far-fetched irony. Ahead of him was an illuminated by a bright light wall with protruding sharp rocks like spines, the wall split the cave they were in into two identical tunnels. Even if he would not believe his brother, this would convince him.

" I hope that whatever you were daydreaming about wasn't creepy, you know what would people think about me if they would find out that I only just now realized that my brother is mentally sick?" Sparx commented mockingly.

The dragonfly waited for some kind of snarky response but to his surprise nothing like that happened. He sighed with another full of disappointment shake of his head, his brother is so boring lately.

" Fine whatever," Sparx snorted and looked around the cave " So which way?"

" How am I supposed to know this?" Spyro asked almost indignant, completely forgetting about his portal detection abilities

" Use your mojo" Cynder answered the question as she approached her purple friend, she didn't have to hear him say that he is looking for one of the portals, she could already tell what he's up to by his reaction. He had that focused expression whenever he felt a Veil is nearby, she'll never forget that look after their little adventure with the Keeper. However this time something was different, he somehow lost that concentrated look after some time, or she just got used to it and no longer can tell the difference. Whatever.

Her sudden appearance startled the young dragon, he barely stifled a gasp of panic, however the sight of her being so close to him will betray him eventually, he could feel it in his gut. His troubled mind started to scream.

" _She will see through your lies! She will see your confusion! She will feel your uncertainty! You will break the trust! She knows!"_

" _BETRAYAL!"_

Spyro gulped, panic was overpowering him, yet part of his mind still thought clearly, calmness still ruled there and it urged him to save their friendship and to do this they need to move, quickly so her mind can focus on something else. That's the plan.

" This way" Spyro blurt out while avoiding his friend's emerald gaze and darting into the right tunnel.

Cynder watched him go with a furrowed brow, she was right after all, there was something going inside his head, she could see it. She looked at Sparx, they understood each other without words, it was obvious they were thinking about the same thing, yet she hoped that the dragonfly knows the answer.

Sparx could feel her unspoken question hanging in the air, he shrugged, there was only one explanation " It's the stress I guess"

At hearing his answer Cynder impulsively threw a quick glance at the fiery drake. Flare was creeping behind them, with his head hanging low, he dragged his tail and wings along the ground as he moved forward. Behind this image of guilt and shame there was that proud, impulsive dragon somewhere that tried to attack her friend, Spyro has all the right to feel nervous.

" You're probably right" Cynder agreed with the dragonfly but she did so half-heartedly her feminine intuition told her that there is a second bottom to his behavior.

Spyro walked fast, the beam of the light from his candle shook slightly as his head kept twitching nervously. The young dragon walked for the sake of walking, without any goal and interest in his surroundings at all. His panicking mind kept only thinking about Cynder and her reaction when she would read his thoughts about jeopardizing their friendship.

" Get a grip on yourself_" _Spyro growled in frustration under his breath

They were in an unknown dangerous territory and all he could think about was his strange feelings and everything that was related with them, his distraction is like an invitation saying "_EASY PREY! COME AND GET IT!"_ for the bugs living here. He is putting everyone at risk, hell of a friend he is. Enough is enough, it's time to wake up.

Out of nowhere the familiar tingle has returned that sent a shiver through his whole body just like someone would splash on him a bucket full of freezing water. The portal was somewhere here inside this mine, he could feel it, yet not on this level, it was somewhere deeper. Spyro smiled inwardly, he finally shook off the confusing feelings and could now entirely focus on the matter at paw, what a relief that is. With a determined breath he continued onwards, it was time to deal with the bugs.

As the group progressed forward Spyro couldn't shake off the feeling that there was something different about the tingle that was running through his body, it felt distant but at the same time oddly strong. Like it was here but at the same time it wasn't, he couldn't make sense of it, it was all so confusing.

The young dragon in his distraction didn't notice the tiny round bit of rock protruding from the ground, he tripped over it. However countless time spent on harsh training with Ignitus regarding balance and movement prevented him from falling flat onto the ground. Spyro regained balance even before his front paws touched the floor, yet the ground was so uneven that it was impossible to retain a straight posture, the landing proved more difficult than he thought. The patchy ground shook his body as soon as his paws touched the floor, the uncontrollable force threw his body to the side and straight into a nearby wall.

The moment his left flank touched the face of the mine his body shivered with more intensity, he could feel the portal, it was past this wall. At first he had no idea how it was possible, how could a veil open itself right inside the mine's structure? There were only thick solid stones there, even as powerful and unexplained force of the portals leading to other time zones has to follow some basic rights of natural order.

Then enlightenment struck him and everything became clear- the mine had two tunnels. He remembered the crossroad, in his haste he picked this one randomly just to get moving but it turned out that his goal lays in the other path. It was clear now, the Veil has to be somewhere in that second tunnel, that's why he feels the portal behind the wall, it all makes sense now. Everything that's left now is just to change the tunnels.

" Crap" Spyro grumbled, in his panic he made a mistake and rushed down the wrong path, in any other situation nothing drastic happened, he would just change the tunnels and be done with it but now he will have to look at Cynder again, give her another reason to ask about his distraction and when she does, she will KNOW.

" Crap" he grumbled again and with a quick breath spun around and began returning the way they came, there was no other choice.

As he retraced his steps Spyro kept staring at the ground trying to be invisible but that poking inside his head told him that he is only losing his snout, at least what's left of it anyway. He raised his head, there was his brother there staring at him with confused eyes, just right behind him he spotted her, she was there watching him with the same abashed expression.

" Wrong tunnel" Spyro announced with a uptight smile before he aimed his gaze at the ground and walked past by her, quickly and without elaborating much further

Sparx and Cynder exchanged another dumbfounded glances between each other

" Wrong tunnel" both of them repeated after the purple dragon nonchalantly and fell quiet soon after. Quite used already to the drake's odd behavior.

" So? Any ideas?" the dragoness finally broke the silence

The dragonfly scratched his chin thoughtfully " It looks like your craziness is finally starting to influence him"

" Oh boy, you are right!" she exclaimed with a faked excitement " How could I not see this earlier!?" she snorted and her expression returned to the normal serious self " Idiot" with that she started to follow the purple dragon

" Crap, crap, crap" Spyro kept grumbling under his breath, his trance of sweet words was ended by the reddish light illuminating the ground, he raised his head just to meet with Flare's yellow gaze. The contact lasted less than a second since the fiery drake hastily averted his gaze and covered himself behind his fiery wing.

Spyro couldn't care less why he acts the way he does, the dragon seems to be afraid of him, his experience with the purple dragons, if that was even true since he had a hard time believing that more than two of his kind were alive at the same time, had to do something with it. Good riddance, Spyro could barely look at him and even those brief glances they shared lately triggered that stinging anger within him, the farther Flare stays away from him the better.

He eventually reached the crossroad, the moment he did he took the path leading inside the other tunnel without even slowing down. Spyro exhaled a long stifled breath of relief, this innocent turn felt like a second wind, he suddenly found strength inside to press forward without worrying about anything expect the unrevealed darkness ahead.

The group of companions made their way down the new unexplored tunnel, besides the slowly intensifying tingle that harassed him in this part of the mine Spyro could not tell the difference between this tunnel and the one they so hastily left minutes ago.

Judging from the solid and unblemished walls or by the lack of dust and tracks on the ground only one conclusion occurs- the cavern has never tasted civilization, in fact the four companions might be the first sentient creatures that ever walked through these tunnels. The still untamed mine had that peculiar slightly ominous glamour which was intensified by the surrounding darkness giving it even more malicious appeal.

Not to mention the sound, or the lack of it for that matter as if the thick darkness had the capability to block sound, the absolute silence shrouding this place only added to its creepy mysteriousness. Only the ragged breathing, clicking of claws and the occasional splatter of a drop of blood on the stony floor echoed throughout the tunnel, the noise bounced off from wall to wall sounding more like an alarm than a natural consequence of walking across solid surface, the noise the group emitted warned everyone interested in listening that some unwelcomed guests have arrived.

Good news is that this cavern is much wider and higher than the one above they so unwillingly left, the bad news is…well everything else actually. Yet it wasn't that bad as Spyro firstly thought, after some time the tunnel presented two more openings, with one of those entrances more appealing than the other.

" _Another intersection…" _the purple dragon muttered inwardly. How the Manweersmalls found their way in those maze- like mines he had no idea, dear Ancestors, he really wanted to get out of here already.

Learning from his past mistakes Spyro focused, the itching intensified, he located the path to the portal, they just need to move forward. However this time the choice wasn't that simple, instead of one there were two tunnels, delicately separated by a thin wall which granted passage in a straight line. One of those tunnels was completely dark like the rest of the mine, from the other one a delicate colorful light emanated.

He focused again but unfortunately got the same result, there was no telling which tunnel led to the portal, they were just too close to each other and he wasn't experienced enough to tell the difference. He heard Cynder approaching from behind, he'll recognize the sound of her claws everywhere, again he thought about her, such a little detail that was but it still made his heart beat a little faster.

Spyro shook his head, can he really tell that she is approaching by the sound of her claws? Who the hell recognizes such things? He shook his head again, no time to dwell on it, he needs to pick a tunnel to avoid her questions which he won't have an answer for, and he needs to pick one fast. With a determined breath the dragon took the one where the slight hint of light could be seen, for a simple reason really, he had enough of dark corridors for a lifetime.

" Seriously Dude?" Sparx blurt out from behind him " Don't you know that you shouldn't go into the light while in a tunnel?"

In any other situation his brother's comment would put a smile on his snout, but now it wasn't the right time for humor, he just was not in the mood for jokes.

" Spyro, Sparx might be right, slow down this might be a trap" Cynder added

The dragonfly snapped his fingers " There goes my good mood. " he shook his head resigned "You really know how to ruin the moment"

A trap? Here? And who would set it up? The bugs? It was doubtful that there was some deadly surprise waiting for them. She just came up with a random idea to make him slow down a little, but he won't fall for that, nu-uh he won't.

" Spyro!" Cynder hissed seeing that her friend kept going blindly into the tunnel even after her warning. He didn't listen to reason, with an irritated frown she went after him, the rest of the group followed

She's overreacting, if there was something here he would smell it or his sensitive instinct would already warn him of incoming danger and since he couldn't feel any hostile presence Spyro safely assumed that the cost is clear. The purple dragon smiled inwardly, he knew what she was up to, that was only a pity excuse to make him stop and question him, oh no, he won't fall for her trick.

He could hear the group catching up to him, Spyro sped up even more at the sound, he was more terrified of his friend than imagined danger from up ahead, nothing could stop his escape. At least he went on with that thought until he turned around the corner.

He squinted when the rainbow- like colored light hit his snout, all that blue, yellow, red, purple, and more, he could discern every hue even through his barely opened eyelids. It took him a while to adjust to the almost epileptic display of colors, yet when his amethyst eyes were ready to finally ingest the racy display and when they did he couldn't help it but to let out a breath of sincere awe. He was so enthralled by the sight that he even didn't hear the approaching angry sound of clicking feminine claws he knew so well.

" You reckless fool!" Cynder growled as she barely held herself back from pouncing at her idiotic purple friend when she approached him. His huffish attitude was getting on her nerves, she really wanted to beat some sense into him, literally.

" What? You are stopping now? Only when you think it's appropriate? You cocksure bast-" her serenade of insults ended abruptly when the colorful lights hit her snout.

" Look at this…" Cynder muttered in awe and entered the illuminated cavern the moment her eyes adjusted to the light, all the irritation evaporated when she lost her train of thought

This particular spot in the mine was quite a sight to behold. In between the jagged rocks there were inserted plenty of different colorful gems, veins of ore and who knows what else. What really was peculiar that there wasn't only one vein available here, but many more, the veins were all so stacked up together that it was hard to tell when one ended and the other one began.

Both Spyro and Cynder found themselves in more than one mine in their adventures but they have never seen anything like this. Gem upon gem, ore upon ore, were cramped together embracing the walls of the mine in their colorful web, the mining materials differed from one another, many of them were red, some blue, others purple and even some black. Those weren't the only colors that illuminated the mine but there was just so many of them that it was hard to keep track of them.

All of those metals and gems shone brightly, reflecting the light from each other, they could see delicate lines of colorful lights bouncing from one vein to the other. Depending from which angle one looked the delicate light changed colors, the illumination shifted with every move of one's eyes just like somebody would be tracing with his pupils the whole length of a rainbow, yet this rainbow was formed from many more colors.

The Manweersmalls would probably go crazy if they would discover this particular place, so many ore veins in one spot. It would be a happy mining day for all of the Munitions Forge, one could only wonder how many more secrets are hidden deep inside this volcano, so many mines are yet to be explored. One thing is for certain, the people of Dragon Realms have enough firepower to secure the safety for future generations.

" What is this place?" Cynder mumbled in awe as she spun around in the middle of the tunnel, playing with the shifting lights

Spyro's eyes shot wide open the moment she passed by his pupils, the cavern shocked him so much that he didn't even hear her approach, only the black form of her body pushed him back to reality. Wanting to take advantage of her distraction Spyro moved forward, walking past by her and slowly leaving the colorful spot behind.

" Hey Spyro…" the dragoness blurt out as she laid eyes on his tail farther into the tunnel

The purple dragon balked startled

"… you have a head for little details. Are these the metals the mole in the store talked about?"

" I don't know" he replied quickly and began to move forward again, not far, not wanting to leave his friends behind but far enough so she wouldn't be able to catch up with him so easily when she would finally shake off the enthrallment.

Smiling, Cynder raised her paw at one of the colorful lines and looked at her foreleg, she began to move it slightly back and forth, the colors on her paw kept shifting with each of her motion.

" Come on, you have to remember something" she said impassively, not really knowing why she is asking about this.

" I really don't know" Spyro answered, struggling hardly not to succumb to his natural curiosity, part of him really wanted to know what this place if made from, yet he quenched that feeling with great difficulty.

She dropped her paw to the ground and started to look around the cavern once again, the smile never leaving her snout " This place is way to pretty, these can't be metals" she answered her own question.

Sparx poked at one of the crystals with his finger " What's with girls and shining things?" he asked and made some sort of a stupid face at his own reflection.

A sudden delicate shrilling sound ran through Cynder's head, which really sounded like a whizz of an arrow " Did you hear that?" she asked startled, the enthrallment gone in a second.

" Hear what?" the dragonfly asked nonchalantly still playing with his own reflection

She began to listen intently, a barely audible hum reached her " Can you hear this…humming?"

Sparx strained his ears " Nope" he returned to his very creative activity

Cynder focused on the sound " It's coming from over there…" she muttered and followed the humming, with each of her step the noise was getting louder and louder " You really can't hear this?"

Spyro turned to watch her with a cautious gaze, he didn't hear anything but it didn't prevent him to watch over his friend anyway.

Sparx sighed and flew away from the crystal " Don't turn into my brother" he started hovering next to her and focused. Silence

" I can't hear anything"

The dragoness stopped at one of the nearby veins and began to trace her claws alongside the shimmering veins " It's coming from over here…" she kept running her claws across the stony surface.

Suddenly her claw fell in, forcing a startled gasp from the dragoness. She poked at the loose stone and it fell down shattering on the ground. The humming intensified, with an anxious swallow she reached into the freshly created hole, her paw touched something smooth, she clamped her claws around the object and withdrew her paw.

" All right…" Sparx mumbled, trying to hide the fear in his voice but failing " that was perfectly normal"

Cynder opened her paw and her eyes were greeted by the sight of an extremely black stone, the strange crystal was so transparent that she could see her own paw on the other end. It looked like some sort of black glass but strangely it was very firm to the touch.

The humming stopped.

The dragonfly stared at her paw dumbfounded " What is this?"

" I have absolutely no idea" the dragoness mumbled.

She began to observe the strange crystal intently and while she kept moving her paw to take a glimpse of the glassy stone from every angle suddenly her shoulder began to sting. She hissed from the unexpected pain.

" What now?" Sparx asked slightly terrified

" I…I don't know, my shou-" she never got to finish her sentence, there was a brief glimmer from the stone's surface, strange white glyphs flashed for a moment before vanishing moments later " Did…did you see that?" her shoulder stopped aching

" I didn't see anything"

" Oh" Cynder once again started to examine the stone, but no glyphs were visible " I..I might have been imagining things" she swayed her tail forward and placed the stone on the flat side of her tail tip before reaching to her choker and sliding a claw there to yank it forward a little

" What are you doing?!" Sparx blurt out shocked

" I'm taking it with me" she grabbed the stone with her free claws and slid it behind her choker.

" What?! Didn't the way how you found it seemed strange to you? You should throw it away!"

" It did" she let go off her choker and began to swirl her head around, the stone didn't fall out " And that's why I'm taking it with me"

" WHAT?!" Sparx exclaimed again " Are you nuts?! Spyro tell her something!"

Spyro even if he wanted to never got the chance to utter a word since the cavern started to suddenly shake. Moments later the group could hear a rumbling sound in the distance. Seconds later the cavern was filled with fresh air.

Eruption.

The purple dragon opened his mouth but once again he didn't get the chance to utter a single word since the fresh air suddenly brought a horrible stench with it that twisted the groups snouts, everyone expect Flare covered their noses.

" Geez Sparx!" Cynder exclaimed with stifled voice " Stop breathing in my direction!"

The dragonfly ignored her " What is that smell?!"

" Rot" Flare announced emotionlessly

Sparx turned towards the fiery drake " You can talk?" the dragonfly snapped sarcastically

The red dragon was unmoved by the dragonflies' response " Decomposing bodies are nearby. Plenty of them"

Cynder narrowed her eyes on the fiery drake, his taciturnly tone was somewhat troubling, yet there was no doubt he was correct " I'm afraid Flare's right"

Sparx turned towards his brother " Please bro tell us we aren't going that way. Please, please, please"

The dragonfly and the dragoness looked at the purple dragon hopefully.

Spyro focused, no good news are coming. He turned towards his friends with hurt expression

" Sorry"

" Crap" Sparx and Cynder said in unison

The situation might not look optimistic but Spyro still managed to smile at hearing their response.


	36. Chapter 18 Book II

Chapter 18

This whole adventure is turning into something much worse than any of them expected and the putrid smell hanging in the air wasn't the only reason behind such revelation, yet no one from the group denied that it played a major role in killing the remains of their enthusiasm. It had to end like this because who wouldn't want their stale air which made breathing hard enough already to be mixed with an unbearable stench.

Not only there was no sign of any refreshment coming but they also found out that this mine is nothing more than a dark maze filled with endless tunnels. Even if Spyro through their whole trek relied on his special sensing ability he still couldn't find the proper way. He sometimes wished he was a Manwersmall, that way he would locate the correct route without problems, the moles have a nose for finding their way through dark mines. Unfortunately for the group they didn't have such privilege.

Spyro led his companions through the maze to the best of his ability but most of the times it just wasn't enough. Lots of these dark passages were impassable at some point, many times when he thought that he finally managed to locate the proper tunnel it turned out that their way was obstructed. It was annoying but at least in those situations he knew what to do- turn back.

There were situation where they once more arrived at an intersection, once again it was difficult to tell from which tunnel the tingle was coming from so Spyro put all his faith in simple guessing. Later that day he found out that Luck wasn't accompanying them. Many of those tunnels he picked up randomly seemed like the correct way, whenever they crossed such passage Spyro felt the tingle intensifying like they were finally reaching their destination but then with each more step they took the shiver started to falter until it was gone completely.

Every now and then they retraced their steps and took another tunnel at the previously visited intersection, sometimes it led to more tunnels and another crossroads, yet even there the tingle died down occasionally. It was obvious they were wandering around but nobody said a word, but Spyro could tell from their stifled sighs that like him they have enough of crossroads for a lifetime. So instead of retracing his steps when the tingle died down the purple dragon pressed forward.

At first it seemed that the tingle was gone, that it was for sure the wrong road but suddenly to his surprise the shiver within awakened after some time. Unfortunately Luck was a whimsical jester and the maze was its fool's paradise, literally. Whenever a spark of hope awakened within the purple dragon it was extinguished quickly by a thick impassable wall in the groups way that at first glance looked like it was made of rocks in a motley pattern.

Good news was that the caves were actually quite big and wide so Flare could easily hold back his claustrophobic fears yet there were times when the group had to pass through some very narrow tunnels. It put everyone on edge since Flare was being startled by the tiniest unexpected sound which made everyone jumpy and forced constant looks behind shoulders as if the group was expecting an attack, not necessarily from the bugs living here.

" There are moments when I really like your company guys" Sparx let out an exasperated and tired sigh " This isn't want of them" he removed the two fingers squeezing his nostrils and took a quick breath, he grunted in abhorrence and covered his nose again

Cynder removed her wing covering her nose and impulsively took a sniff just to hide behind it once again with a whine " Would you rather want us to get attacked?" she asked with a squeaky and full of revulsion tone

" Anything to forget about this stench"

She smirked from behind her wing, and threw a quick glance ahead, Spyro was still keeping his distance. She no longer cared what was the reason behind his behavior, she was disgusted and bored to tears and needed some entertainment and nothing worked better than a little innocent teasing.

" Spyro!" she cried out

Cynder's evil grin grew wider seeing her friend balk at the sound of her voice just like he would be startled by a sudden thunder

" Are we there yet?"

" N…" Spyro let out a sigh of relief "..no"

" Ok that's it" she faked a stern tone " Slow down a little I'm going to help you"

" It's this way!" he blurt out and quickly disappeared behind a corner

Cynder closed her eyes and smiled blissfully " Dear Ancestors I needed that"

Sparx couldn't help himself but to smile " That was cruel"

She opened one of her eyes, her green pupil flickered mischievously " So?"

" I love you"

The dragoness laughed heartily.

Flare jumped and he instantly directed the light from his candle at the nearby wall, nothing was there but he could swear that he heard something moving behind it.

" We shouldn't be making so much noise" he muttered with an undeniably paranoid voice

Sparx rolled his eyes and turned towards the fiery drake " What now? You've seen a worm again? Or a shadow startled you? Or maybe the walls are moving? Come on tell us, what is it?"

" Do you hear that?" the drake muttered again, completely ignoring the dragonflies mocking tone

Spyro's brother slapped his forehead " Of course! The voices! How could I forget about the voices!? Don't be shy Dude, tell us what they are saying!"

Cynder focused but couldn't hear a thing " You are imagining things Flare"

The red dragon kept staring at the wall, his light beam slowly started to move along the wall following the sound. His paranoia might enhance his senses, or perhaps he is just crazy, whatever the reason may be he didn't care, he knew what he is hearing and that sound is definitely moving.

" There is something out there, trust me" Flare muttered as he kept following the sound

Sparx snorted " I should ask my bro what he thinks about trusting you"

Cynder observed the closing white light curiously " Flare seriously-" she was cut off when the blinding light stopped at her, she could feel it shining at her from behind her wing " Flare put that thing away!"

Flare ignored her stern request, the sound suddenly died down. Odd.

" Flare!"

Just when he was about to give up and blame it all on his paranoia it happened again but this time the noise was different, it sounded like something was clawing its way through the wall. His wide eyes instantly stopped at the illuminated form of Cynder.

" Get out of there now!" he yelled

The dragoness only managed to open her mouth, this time she heard it too but it was already too late to react.

There was a deafening rumble as the wall next to her crumbled, the dragoness yelped as she instinctively dropped to the ground, the shooting rocks flew past her head maybe just a few inches away. The noise was ringing in her head with such a shrilling tone that she was unable to hear her two companions shouting. Thick blinding dust arrived soon after, it covered the already hard breathable air with its suffocating veil, she started to cough uncontrollably, her throat began to burn after unwillingly inhaling the choking grime.

Cynder turned her head, her white light pierced the dust, not much but it was enough to see what is happening. The moment her eyes focused on the now crumbled wall with a corner of her eye she noticed one big rock slipping away from its socket in the wall and falling directly at her. Gasp of horror escaped her throat as she prepared to roll away from the deadly boulder, but then she noticed something else behind the rock, penetrating the thick grime, it was something big, yellow, slightly curved and extremely sharp, it looked like a giant pincer.

There was a sudden shake, it was so strong that it managed to lift the dragoness body from the ground, yet it didn't bother her. Cynder prepared her Shadow element to slip away from the incoming part of the wall using her own shadow but then, suddenly the pincer directed itself at her, it opened and presented rows of razor sharp claws at both its portions. The moment the pincer sprung at her everything changed.

The dragoness screamed in agony when she felt her back being pierced by rows of stinging daggers, right there and now in a sudden surge of painful realization she understood that the pincer has snapped. Luckily for her the claws didn't go deep, they only slightly pierced her scaly armor, then she felt herself being lifted from the ground. It was clear now that she is going to die, a part of her thanked for that, at least the pain will finally stop.

She noticed the huge boulder just mere inches from her, just right behind it was the other half of the sharpened pincer closing in. The dragoness sighed inwardly, at least she will be spared the agony of being impaled on the other rows of razor sharp claws and the sensation of being torn apart later on. Oh how she thanked the Ancestors that the boulder was first, just one powerful impact… and everything will be over.

Cynder closed her eyes, it is time, but then everything changed once more.

Just when she thought that she is going to imprint the form of her body on the huge rock ahead she suddenly stopped moving, she screamed again when the unexpected cessation of movement forced the pincer to shake and stretch her impaled flesh. A deafening squealing roar filled the cavern, the pincer jerked again, the dragoness shrieked.

Then something small fell on her forehead, moments later something of similar size struck the same spot again, then again and again, it felt like someone was poking at her head, forcing her paw to slap her head and made her reconsider her attitude.

She opened her eyes, the sight ahead invited the will to live and fight into her entire being. She saw the huge boulder in front of her shaking, it hovered in midair dropping tiny rocks at her. Behind it she noticed the other half of the pincer, just like the boulder it was shaking, it was obvious that its claws got stuck in the huge rock preventing the pincer from clamping itself shut and squashing her inside. The creature that so desperately wanted her dead was confused, if she wants to live she has to take advantage of its distraction, and she has to do it now or she might never have the opportunity to try again.

Another squealing roar echoed throughout the cavern and Change came with it. The whole pincer jerked to the side, she groaned through clenched teeth as the gnawing pain grew with every yank, she could almost feel her flesh being ripped apart. A grating sound reached her, it was obvious that the pincer was sliding along the ground, she turned her head just to see that it was returning through the newly created opening and to its owner no less. Every part of her body screamed in protest, telling her that this is the last place she wants to be.

" SPYRO!" Cynder cried out pleadingly like she never did before

The shrieking begging scream brought him back to his senses, Flare shook off the dizziness, blood was trickling down his forehead after receiving a solid hit from one of the shooting rocks. Through his gaze she saw his friend being dragged away, his first and only friend who saw something else inside him behind his mask, and he so wanted to cling to that something. And now that friend was being taken away and he just knew if he won't do something she won't be returning from that dark hole. With her gone he just knew that he will die, just like he died all those years ago.

" NOOO!" he roared, adrenaline instantly rushed through his body forcing his legs to carry him up. His entire body burst with fresh, red hot flames as he dashed after her.

That shriek, her shriek, he never heard her scream like that, he never heard anyone close to him screaming like that and in that moment, he knew that he was losing a part of himself. He felt his heart bleeding, a strong hand gripped it and squeezed it so tightly that he felt a dark empty void taking its place. There was a flash, he saw his heart squeezed by a massive iron hand, a drop of blood slipped through its metallic fingers, it was his own blood.

Flash.

_"And what dragonflies from this family do?"_

_They stared at each other for a while before simultaneously and happily exclaiming " They stick together!"_

Flash.

Sparx swallowed his heart that seemed to be stuck in his throat.

" BRO!" he yelled, he yelled at the top of his little lungs, it was a war cry, a war cry that only certain dragonflies understood.

* * *

The pincer bounced slightly on a protruding rock, the sharp jerk elicited a painful moan from Cynder's throat. It hurt so much but at least she knew that she was still alive and her future survival lies only in her ebony paws, her friends will help her but if she won't figure something out they will only find her mangled corpse.

She lost her train of thought when the pincer bounced once again, pain unrelentingly kept shooting through her wounded back. Cynder felt herself being lifted, she focused on her surroundings, she couldn't really turn her head much but from what she could tell she was in the possession of some kind of yellow creature, a big yellow creature. The dragoness winced when another small chunks of rocks hit her head, she looked up, there was a barely audible cracking sound, the boulder slipped some inches down, it was just at paws reach, if only she could…"

But then she was flipped around, the stone now was below her but that wasn't exactly what draw her eyes, behind the stone was something far more threatening. Her light revealed the head of the creature, at least a part of it, it was definitely one of those bugs creatures, but this one was way bigger, at least she could tell that from the size of its dark eye, its stripped of any emotions dark eye which was now examining her.

As she hung upside down she saw reddish streams and drops falling down onto the rock, part of the pincer and eventually on the creatures head. The falling red liquid was like a rain or a waterfall, she chuckled inwardly, it was funny to know that her own blood made her realize just how thirsty she is and judging from the abundantly flowing blood she really wanted to drink.

Cynder's mind was shot back to reality when the creature opened its round maw delicately, even from her she could see razor sharp teeth inside. The creature was swaying slowly while its mouth kept contracting and backing up to its normal size as it drunk her blood. It seemed like some kind of drug to it since whenever new droplets of the thick reddish liquid hit its maw it was squeaking softly as some kind of addict.

Moments later it had enough, the round maw disappeared completely somewhere inside the chitin husk. Then with a furious and hungry squealing roar the creature opened its jaw again but this time it grew to unimaginable sizes. Cynder's body shivered with pure fear, she was so overwhelmed by it, that she even ignored the wafting putrid breath of the creature, she has never before seen such a gaping maw, even the Death Hounds couldn't open their jaws to such sizes.

She felt the pincer quickly descending towards the maw, the razor sharp teeth grew rapidly, she was certain that the stone won't protect her from them, the enormous gaping maw of the creature was most likely able to crunch the boulder in two bites. It would be a bitter meal for the creature but somehow she believed that it will pull through it just to reach the main dish in the shape of her bones.

In that moment when she imagined her bones shattering between the creature's piercing teeth a red light appeared in Cynder's head, a last kick of her survival instinct. She doesn't want to die, not like this, if her destiny is to die during one of her adventures she will die as a warrior, she will fall in the heat of battle and not land in some monster's bowels while she is still breathing.

" Oh no you don't bitch" the dragoness hissed fiercely, in moments like this the will to survive puts one body to unimaginable exertion.

Cynder yanked one of her paws free, she screamed as her limb was released from the claw's sharp clutches, blood splattered in every direction as she ripped the remains of her flesh by freeing her paw. As it swung uncontrollably part of her leg touched the still shinning beam of white light coming from the candle on her head. The dragoness pupils dilated when they caught something she only appreciated, the illuminated part of her paw casted a shadow on the stone below. She knew instantly what needs to be done.

Cynder forcefully yanked her whole body forward, a feminine scream filled the cavern, it was a shriek mixed with determination, anguish and painful tears. One of the claws holding her back gave up, blood and bits of scales and flesh shot after the fierce pull. She cried, literally, she felt like her scales were pierced by hooks connected to long ropes. As she moved her chest forward she felt those ropes string and then some immaterial hands pulled them exactly in the opposite direction she wanted to go. And then there was the most creeping snapping sound as her stretched skin finally gave up under the pressure, some bloody parts of her flesh remained on the claw, making room for the freshly created wound to spread.

Cries and screams echoed throughout the tunnels as Cynder freed her trapped body parts one by one from the edgy spikes. In the cacophony of feminine anguish she eventually achieved her goal, she released her back, paws and membranes from the deadly clutches.

Her body began to fall limply down, with the last portions of her strength she raised her paw towards the light. A shadow appeared on the boulder which grew constantly as she approached the stone, when she was about to collide with the rock the shadow managed to cover all of its surface by now. Where everybody else would crash painfully with the stone she just passed through it like some kind of hole.

As she was carried through the area in her invisible protective shield she heard the echo of the stone being smashed by the round maw. Moments later she jumped out from the ground, far away from the creature, only now when she was thrown into the air she felt as exhaustion finally takes a hold of her. It was so overwhelming that the moment her paws touched the ground they bent under her and she unceremoniously dropped on her belly. Cynder with great effort raised her head and through her blurry vision saw the creature carefully sucking each of its pincer claws on which she was impaled not so long ago.

" I hope I'll give you the runs" the dragoness muttered and her head limply fell on the ground, just before darkness clouded her vision she noticed the creature turning towards her.

* * *

He pushed with all his might, he could see the white illumination gently covering the tunnel in a transparent white fog, she couldn't be far away now. It turned out that Flare couldn't be more right, with another several flaps of his fiery wing he popped inside a huge cavern. Nearly in the middle of it he saw a bright beam of white light running along the stony floor until it reached a yellowish moving shape.

He didn't care about the creature that the light was illuminating, it's exact features were unimportant to the red dragon. He took only brief glimpses of the beast but it was enough to tell that whatever attacked them was ten times their size and most importantly it wasn't really docile.

Flare saw the towering shadow closing in on the spot where the beam of light started, impulsively he directed his own white ray on that particular spot knowing much earlier what it will reveal. Yet even if his expectations were correct the sight still stole the air from his lungs. It was her, she was laying there, her wounded and motionless body never reacting to the approaching danger.

With a rush of fresh adrenaline Flare pushed even harder forcing his wings to the brink of their strength, as the dragon flied he perpetually shoved away the image of her body…her dead motionless body. However there was that nudge in his mind that aroused hope, she might be laying there but that doesn't necessary mean that she is dead, she just might be unconscious…she might be alive.

A second wind rushed through his entire body after that nudge, even if she might be alive she won't be for long, that creature will make sure of that and as a friend it is his duty to save her from that fate or at least allow her remains some honor.

After several more flaps he eventually pressed his wings to his sides and dived towards the dragoness unmoving form. With a corner of his eye he noticed that the towering shadow was just about to reach its destination. Luckily he was faster than it, he extended his paws just like a bird preparing his talons to catch an oblivious fish. Just when he swooped mere inches above her body he clenched his paws around the dragoness upper arms and lifted her hopefully unconscious body up.

Her wings flopped down across her flanks, her whole lower body together with the black tail swung wildly in the air as he ascended.

" Forgive me" Flare mumbled with sincere pain in his voice and let her go.

His ascent along an invisible arc allowed to hurl her body farther away from the creature, he didn't raise high on purpose to avoid causing any serious injury. Yet when her body crashed with the ground he felt as a very powerful bolt of lightning striking directly at his heart which sent a shiver through his whole body.

He could hear the sound of her body hitting the ground with a rumbling thud, her black form rolled a couple of times along the ground before finally stopping, then one of her black wings fell limply down covering her ebony body under its pierced magenta membranes.

Flare never got the chance to dwell on the caustic guilt that filled him after treating his only friend so cruelly since the moment her wing dropped down a massive pincer swiped him from the sky.

* * *

Sparx has entered the cavern, glad that he finally managed to catch up with the red drake, and the moment he left the freshly created tunnel behind he gasped when he saw Flare crashing into a wall just next to him with an agonizing grunt. The impact was so strong that it created a visible indentation in the wall, as the fiery drake's body began to slump down some bits of rocks followed him.

There was that shrieking roar again, the dragonfly turned his head, in the distance he noticed a beam of white light running along the ground, the metallic hand once again squeezed his heart when he realized that it was her. Then suddenly the light started to twitch slightly just as if the ground was shaking, it might have been in fact since he heard something massive walking across the cavern in the darkness. And without even laying his eyes on the creature he knew what he must do, the thing he does best- annoy.

The dragonfly grabbed one of the nearby rocks which were now loosely hanging from the wall after Flare collided with it. With the rock tightly held in his fist Sparx darted towards the ceiling, it was a safe place to plan his further actions from there, the ceiling was high so there was no chance that whatever is hiding in the shadows will get him.

From there he started to listen intently, trying to figure out from where the sound of the creature footsteps coming from, thanks to that knowledge he will safely assume in which direction it is actually looking.

Moments later everything became clear, he scurried towards the hulking monster. His natural glow allowed him to see slightly farther, thanks to that glow in fact he spotted the creature's yellowish chitin husk way before he actually reached it. There is no doubt that it is built like one of those damn bugs, remembering how the bugs looked like Sparx decided not to annoy it around its head, he doesn't want to get accidently sucked by the creature's maw by being careless.

The dragonfly decided to try a different approach, he made his way towards the monster's back. When he reached his destination Sparx raised the sharp rock he was holding.

" Take this you ugly shit!" after that shout the dragonfly stabbed the monster with the rock

The creature let out another shrieking roar as it spun around swinging its pincer wide, however it had no idea that the attacker was so small and swift.

Sparx closely followed the creature's turning back. " I'm right here!" he shouted once more and again stabbed the monster

It roared without stopping its wild spinning.

" What? Can't catch me?" Sparx spitted the words out and struck the _ugly shit_ as he called it again

This time the creature started to thrash and clamp its pincers chaotically.

When Sparx stabbed it again he began to wonder if the creature is intelligent enough to realize that he is not causing it any harm, the stone was unable to penetrate its chitin husk after all.

" Where are you bro?" the dragonfly muttered worryingly

* * *

Spyro entered the tunnel, first thing he did was to look in the direction from which the constant roaring was coming from. He smiled.

" Sparx" the dragon muttered proudly as he noticed a small glowing shape in the distance circling around a huge spinning creature.

He focused on the beast, it was nothing more than one of the bugs, yet this one was huge, almost the size of troll. It seemed like Volteer was right after all, those damn bugs can actually get bigger.

He started to look around the dark cavern in search of his best friend, the smile on his snout disappeared instantly when in the distance he spotted an unmoving beam of light. An empty void filled the dragon sucking away all the life from him, that hateful sensation was enough to say that there it the distance his best friend was laying motionless.

A moan of pain reached him, Spyro impulsively looked down to see Flare scrambling onto his twitching paws from the ground, the red dragon had to receive a one hell of a blow since he had troubles keeping his balance. Even despite their rather cold relations Spyro felt some pity for Flare, they have accidently saved him from a certain death just to drag him into more pain and near death experiences. Jackpot.

His eyes once again traveled to the unmoving light, Spyro swallowed a painful lump in his throat. He really wanted to help her, leaving her out there in the darkness all alone was way too risky, but he also knew that he had no choice in this matter, his brother needs his help, he has to leave her there for the time being. With furious tears sparkling in the corner of his eyes he turned towards the creature and with a determined, painful and angry snarl he darted towards the monster.

As he ascended Spyro scanned the creature with his light trying to determine what would be the safest and the most deadly approach at the same time. He did a quick math in his head and came to a conclusion that while he has a moment of surprise on his side the creature has no chance to reach him near the ceiling. He was quite certain though that he won't be able to stay there for long since he was pretty sure that even this hulky monster can jump like its smaller counterparts.

When he was just above the thrashing beast Spyro channeled his Earth element, he remembered that the manweersmall in the camp forbade them from using any earth-shaking abilities but since he would be dropping straight at the creature there is no risk in causing a cave-in, and if his lucky this fight will be over faster than it actually began and he will be able to focus on Cynder entirely.

While in the air Spyro curled into a ball, moments later a transparent form of a rocky round ball embraced him. He began to spin rapidly while hovering in the air and with each turn he made the transparent form started to become more solid growing thick large stony spikes in the process. He had use the trick already when he fought that ape leader in the forest all that time ago, he exactly remembered just how effective the Armored Boulder is against such opponents like the huge bug here.

The round weight that was now his body pushed him down, yet by magical means he never stopped spinning. Moments later Spyro saw the yellowish head of the creature closing in, it won't be long now, the fight is just about to end. There was a loud cracking noise when the spinning boulder that the dragon transformed into crashed with the creature's chitin husk, a noise very familiar to the sound of a shattering egg shell echoed throughout the cavern.

The creature emitted a painful shrieking roar at the impact, when Spyro bounced off the beast's husk he saw cracks running through its natural armor while it turned its head to face him. The dragon was surprised that the bug managed to survive this but he was quite certain that another strike will be enough to finish it. With a smirk he started to fall down again.

His cocky smile disappeared in a moment when he saw the roaring creature opening its maw, at first it was nothing special, a small round jaw with many sharp teeth inside it. But then Spyro's stony eyes widened when the maw suddenly grew to enormous sizes, with the creatures throat stretched like that he had no doubt that it would swallow him whole.

" Fuuuuuuuuuck!" Spyro hissed as he quickly tried to dispose of the speed and the accumulated elemental energy coursing through him. The stony barrier began to fade and flicker, his purple body parts started to slowly push through the weakened veil of his protective shell. Yet it was just not enough he was still quickly dropping directly into the creature's bowels.

" STOOOOOP!" Spyro screamed in panic just when he was about to reach the beast's maw

There was a hollow thud and the world listened to his panicked plea, instantly he felt himself diving into a very deep ocean even if he was currently in an extremely dry cavern. The boulder surrounding his body was gone, his purple body was curled into a ball hovering just above the creature's mouth with his protrusive amethyst orbs staring at it.

The bug's sharp teeth were twitching very slowly together with its meaty gullet, Spyro could hear its shriek, yet the sound was so hollow and strangely distant that it seemed like it was coming from somewhere very far away. A sensation of familiarity ran through him, he knew what it was, he has just trapped the world in a place where currents of passing days flow differently. He just had used his Time ability.

It wasn't his first time but it still felt strange, since the day of the Eternal Night he has lost his ability to stop time, but now he managed to use it without relying on any gems and strange rituals. He felt that strange energy again pulsing inside him, such addictive and powerful energy. In that moment he felt that nudge deep down somewhere inside his soul just like it has stirred it from a very long and deep slumber. In that moment he knew- the purple dragon of prophecy has awakened. For better or worse.

Regaining his composure Spyro stretched his body and extended his purple wings, he threw a quick glances and the gaping maw. He shivered at the sight when realization struck him as some kind of cold shower, he was just mere inches from meeting his end and only luck saved him. While he kept staring at that mouth he wondered if he had any feline blood flowing in him, because if that was the case he knew for sure that just now he lost one of his nine lives.

Taking advantage of the given opportunity he dashed away from the monster's gullet, as he hid behind the creature's flank he spotted Sparx. His brother's wings were sluggishly flapping, his hands raised above his head were moving with great effort like they would be burdened with tons of rocks. Also his lips were twitching releasing all that incomprehensible echo.

To Spyro's surprise his brother's body seemed to slowly break from the Time's chains as with each passing second every limb and lip was gaining on speed, from the echo that came out from his mouth the dragon could pick up single letters. Spyro felt the newly awakened energy slipping through invisible cracks, everything was returning to its normal pace, much earlier than he was used to.

" Damn, I'm rusty" the purple dragon muttered sadly

"…iot" Spyro heard Sparx muttering before he screamed when the world finally broke from the sphere that trapped it

The dragonfly jerked back and pressed his hands to his chest as if trying to hold back his heart " What the hell?!"

The purple dragon grinned.

" What are you doing here? I've seen that creep biting your stupid ass off!" Sparx blurt out furiously " What were you thinking Dude? It's about time you grew a brain finally!"

The creature shrieked like it never had earlier before, sending a shiver through both brother's bodies, it was clearly disappointed that its meal slipped away somehow.

Ignoring his brother's comment Spyro grabbed the dragonfly and darted away from the furious creature.

" I need you to check on Cynder"

" What? Why?" Sparx protested " I've been kicking this guy's ass! You don't bench the best player!"

" I'll take care of it"

" I can help"

" Cynder needs your help more than I do" Spyro whimpered

Sparx was taken aback by his brother's tone, his eyes impulsively traveled to the unmoving light in the distance.

" You have to watch over her" Spyro continued " It's too dangerous to leave her there, more of those bugs can be here and she can't defend herself" he looked in the direction of the light and swallowed " A...and if she's gone, t…tell me"

" Dude…"

" Sparx please!" the purple dragon pleaded with tears in his eyes " I have to know!"

The dragonfly felt the metallic hand once again gripping his heart as he looked at the unmoving white light, he instinctively began to rub the left upper part of his chest.

" Fine"

" Thanks"

Sparx turned towards his brother with furious frown and pointed a finger at him threateningly " But if I see you doing such crazy shit ever again I'm going to tell Dad so he can whack your purple reckless ass!"

Spyro let out a saddened chuckle.

" I mean it!" the dragonfly exclaimed before he dashed towards the white light

The purple dragon turned towards the huge bug, the creature has already spotted him, it roared grisly opening its gaping maw again.

" Now I'm going to make you suffer for everything you've done to her" Spyro growled feeling as tremendous amounts of elemental energy flowed through him.

* * *

Sparx kept flying towards the motionless light, his eyes never leaving it from their sight. His whole body ached from the constant maneuvering around that bug but no matter how much it hurt he just kept going. Inch after inch he moved closer towards his destination, and with each flap of his wings his heart began to race faster and faster.

First thing he noticed when he reached her was her black snout, besides some minor scratches it looked quite good. Sparx let out a breath of relief, maybe it isn't as bad as they thought. She was laying on her side, he moved along her whole form and gulped when he noticed that she was covered by one of her wings, the magenta membrane was pierced in many places, the wounds didn't look like teeth marks either, it looked like she had torn out her wing forcefully from whatever that seemed to hold her.

Through the holes in her wing he could see parts of her ebony body covered in red lines, scratches again. _" Not bad" _Sparx thought, yet back inside his mind was that gnawing feeling that the worst is yet to be discovered.

With an anxious gulp he strained his muscles and delicately pushed away her wounded wing from her body , when he laid his eyes on her feminine silhouette he couldn't help himself but avert his gaze and cover his mouth to stifle a horrified yelp. Taking some quick breaths he squinted and forced himself to look upon her again.

Her back was a mess, torn bloody flesh dotted her body and her black scales were hanging from the wounds in bloody strands. The wounds themselves resembled like the ones on her membranes, several puncture wounds dotted the whole length of her back. Some were smaller, some were bigger, some were covered by strands of dangling flesh and scale, others were completely revealed and all of them looked like they were created by jerking her body forcefully as if trying to break free from whatever that held her by her flesh.

The wounds themselves weren't deep, but some were worse than others. When the dragonfly examined her back his face twisted in disgust, some of those holes were so hollow, flesh was completely torn out from the middle of the wounds, some weren't that bad but they still bled profusely.

The blood, there was just so much blood, her back was completely red, some of the thick liquid was also on her visible flank and there was a pool of it just right under her laying body. She has lost much of the life-giving crimson liquid, as he stared at the red pool below he felt his own heart bleeding. Sparx looked her over with sincere pity and pain shimmering in his eyes, rubbing his forehead he moved towards her snout.

He ran his hand along the top of her head " Oh girl, what has that thing done to you…" he mumbled with palpable pity and leaned closer towards her nose.

" Please breathe, please" Sparx muttered pleadingly as he started to listen intently. Nothing, he moved his head closer, almost touching her nose. In that moment he felt a powerful relief wafting through him. She was breathing, barely, but it meant she was alive.

Sparx turned towards his fighting brother and pressed his palms to both sides of his mouth " SHE'S ALIVE BRO! SHE'S ALIVE!"

At the sound of his brother's shout Spyro ceased his fire attack, dodging under a bloody pincer he turned towards the motionless light.

" BUT SHE'S BLEEDING BADLY! SHE NEEDS HELP!"

He heard his brother shouting, part of him wanted to dash right to her but with a corner of his eyes he spotted Flare who prepared to attack the large bug but after hearing his brother shout he turned around and directed himself towards Cynder. With a growl Spyro dashed towards the fiery dragon, ignoring the flying pincer above his head.

" What do you think you are doing?!" Spyro snarled as he got close to the red dragon

Flare jumped back horrified " I…I'm going to help Cynder"

" You are not going to lay a paw on her!" the purple dragon growled

" She's hurt, she needs help"

" Not from you!"

The red dragon looked towards the unmoving light and the waving dragonfly, then he looked at the ground. Moments later he narrowed his gaze and looked straight at the purple dragon, tiny flames flickered inside his yellow eyes.

" Listen, you are strong enough to handle this thing yourself, I'm going to help Cynder"

" How about you fight with the bug and I'll go to help her!" Spyro roared

" You can't, you won't be able to stop the bleeding"

" What makes you think you can?!" the purple dragon snarled irritated

Flare raised his paw, mirage covered his silvery claws as heat began to emanate from them " I have my reasons"

Spyro took the hint, as much as he hated the idea about a backstabbing dragon helping his best friend it seemed like he didn't have a choice in this matter and the longer they wait the worse her state will get.

" Fine" Spyro snorted " But if you hurt her…"

" I won't kill her, that I can promise" Flare took to the air and dashed towards the waving dragonfly

The purple dragon jumped back as a pincer came down crashing into the ground where he previously stood.

" Just die already" Spyro hissed agitated and began to run along the bug's arm as it started to rise.

* * *

Sparx threw his arms wide as Flare approached him " What are you doing here? Where is Spyro?"

" Busy" Flare answered emotionlessly as he walked along the trail of Cynder's wounded body with his eyes entirely focused on her black scales.

The dragonfly narrowed his eyes on the fiery drake, not really happy with this whole situation " Spyro knows you are here?"

" Yes" he stopped in the spot where he could see the dragoness wounds more clearly, he winced at the sight " Damn, lacerations" he muttered under his breath

Sparx darted in front of the dragon's snout and folded his arms " Why I don't believe you?"

Flare looked at the dragonfly with great irritation and worry in his eyes " Right now, I don't care if you believe me. I'm here to help Cynder so please get out of my way because if we won't do something soon she'll bleed to death"

The dragonfly looked at the wounded dragoness with a sad and conflicted gaze, he didn't want the dragon who tried to attack his brother so close to her but he also felt that he has no other choice. How he hated that feeling of an invisible rope tying his hands. He made room for the drake watching him intently " But if you plan-"

" I will never do anything that will put her life in danger" Flare cut in, cutting the dragonfly off

Sparx was taken aback by the dragon's sincere determination, deep down he knew that the red dragon means it, yet it didn't hurt to be cautious. He hovered next to the fiery dragon's head and began to examine the feminine body with him " You have any medical experience?"

Flare swallowed " No"

The dragonfly gulped, he could hear it in his voice, the dragon was terrified, just like he was. " So…so what are you planning to do?"

The fiery drake exhaled a wavering breath and threw a quick glance at his claws " I'm going to sear the wounds"

Sparx winced, he didn't like the sound of that " You've done this before?"

" Yes"

" And it works?"

Flare shrugged " I'm still alive"

The dragonfly didn't feel any better, he impulsively looked at the bleeding wounds again " I don't know Dude, I'm no healer but won't these wounds get infected when you will sear them?"

" Probably, that's why I need your help here. While I work I need you to find me some spider-web"

Sparx jerked back " What? Why?"

" We'll use them as bandages, just make sure they are old"

" I'm not leaving you alone with her!"

Flare narrowed his eyes on the dragonfly, tired of this constant mistrust " Listen! I'm not trying to fob you off alright? We need to work fast, you are small you can get to places where I won't be able to, when I'll be done with searing the wounds you should be back already with enough spider-webs to cover the injuries. Those spider-webs are important, they produce that fungus or whatever. Anyway they work, so go get them!"

The dragonfly looked at the dragon curiously " And you said you have no medical experience"

" You'll do anything to survive. Please, go, she needs you"

Sparx sighed " Fine, how many spider-webs you need?"

" I have no idea, grab as many as you can carry. Just make sure they are old"

The dragonfly flew away.

Flare gulped when he turned towards the dragoness' still body, he touched her scales gingerly, his paw trembled with fear " Just stay unconscious please, I wouldn't bare your painful screaming again" he muttered pleadingly.

He held his breath, expecting a response, there was only silence. With a wavering breath he put his forelegs delicately on her mostly unwounded flank. He extended one of his paws and leaned forward, getting a good look at the bleeding lacerations on her back. The good news was that not every wound required searing the bad news was…well that he actually is the one who needs to do the healing.

Another nervous exhale, with it came the feeling of heating air, he looked at his extended paw, tiny flame danced above one of his extremely shaking claw. He killed the fire and looked at her bleeding wounds again, strands of torn flesh and scale hung from the lacerations resembling a black torn paper than actual skin. He had to get rid of it so he can get a better access to the wound.

He delicately raked his claws across her wounded body, he winced when he felt his claws getting moist with the crimson thick liquid, he winced even more when he sensed his claws moving across uncovered flesh, her body convulsed uncontrollably whenever his claws touched the sensitive spots.

There was just so much blood, the crimson liquid began to drip from his paw way before he knew it. if there was someone who would observe him now they would probably say that he is gutting the dragoness instead of helping her. He just couldn't stop the shaking of his paw, no matter how long he worked on the wounds it still didn't want to stop twitching, to make things worse it seemed like the shaking intensified with each snapping sound of the loosely hanging flesh and scale.

How he hated that sound, even if he could clearly see that he is getting rid of the dangling flesh he still felt like he was gutting her alive. Another snap, a piece of bloody flesh dropped on the ground, followed by the noise of a splattering drop of blood. His whole body shook uncontrollably, he shut his eyes close and let out a soft whimper. Doing this thing on yourself is one thing but doing it on someone else is way different, there is just no comparison, but if he won't do it, who will?

Flare opened his eyes again, with an abhorrent twist on his snout he renewed his work, flesh, scale and blood hit the ground as he moved from wound to wound. Some of those lacerations were wider and deeper than the others, there were moments when his claws touched the uncovered sensitive spots which forced her body to convulse. In those moments he couldn't take it and withdrew his paw just to walk on three legs in circles with the bloody paw raised in the air, taking quick breaths to calm himself down.

He lost count just how many times he did that, yet whenever he made a break he kept imagining her body bleeding, her breath slowing down, her body ceasing its convulsions, he imagined her perfectly still and cold. Those were the moments when he returned to her side and renewed his work with great vigor and determination just to ran away minutes later. His hit and run tactic eventually paid off, he did it, the wounds were clear.

Flare stared at the uncovered lacerations with watery eyes, he just couldn't say what was worse, the thing he finished seconds ago or the thing he is just about to do right now. With the unresolved conflict in his mind he heated his claw, the dancing flame appeared once more. He brought his claw to the wound and immediately the sound of melting flesh could be heard as if he would start a small cracking fire.

How he hated that noise, yet he also knew that there is nothing he can do about it, once he started there was no turning back, only when he will finish with the wound he will have a moment to gather his bearings. Her body kept shaking, he couldn't stop muttering thanks seeing this, what a relief it was to see her unconscious during this ordeal. He could only imagine how much it will hurt when she wakes up, searing wounds while you are still awake is one thing, you'll get used to the pain eventually even if with great difficulty but to wake up just to be struck by the agonizing pulses…he didn't envy her.

Even through her black scales he could spot the burn marks appearing on her body, however he knew that it was a good sign, if searing wounds with hot flames could be called like that of course, that meant that the bleeding will stop. He was right, the wounded sealed up, he killed the flame and wiped the blood away, watching the wound closely, there was no more blood, he has stopped the hemorrhage.

Flare pushed away from her and once again began to jump in circles, trying to fight the nervousness that spasmed his own body. However he knew that this was a battle he won't be able to win in such short time, with terrified expression he returned to her side.

" Let it be over finally" he muttered pleadingly when he heated his claw again

He began to close wound after wound, taking breaks whenever he just couldn't push much further, yet to his surprise he realized that with each passing moment he was able to withstand the ordeal for longer. During one of the searing process he heard a rumbling sound and then a shook of the entire cavern, yet he ignored it, completely focused on his work.

After countless minutes he killed the flame and examined her body, the blood was no longer flowing in streams from her lacerations, he did it, he has stopped the bleeding. However the mental scar just didn't allow him to feel any happiness or pride. Gingerly he pushed away from her body with the bloody paw raised in the air, he turned around, he was so flabbergasted that the sight of a wounded purple dragon and a dragonfly holding to many spider-webs next to the drake didn't have any effect on him.

Spyro's eyes flared up at the sight of his bloody paw " What have you done to her?!" he roared and shoved away the light-headed dragon as he darted towards his still friend.

Flare unable to keep his balance on three legs fell on the ground.

The purple dragon's eyes flared up with pure murderous intent when he saw the pool of blood and torn flesh " You've told me you wouldn't hurt her!" he spun around and prepared to pounce at the fiery drake

Sparx darted towards his brother side and at the sight of the state of her wounds grabbed his brother's shoulder " Bro wait, he helped her!"

" What?" he snarled " Can't you see the blood?"

" Dude it was far worse earlier, he closed up the wounds! Look, she isn't bleeding anymore!"

Spyro examined the wounds again, the looked like somebody seared them with flames, it looked like Flare did what he said he will do, yet that was not the only thing that worried him " You seem to be just as surprised as I am"

Sparx showed him the spider-webs " I wasn't here when it happened, I-"

" You left her alone with him!?" the dragon roared

The dragonfly jerked back " I…" he then shook his head and narrowed his gaze on the drake " He helped her you idiot! She would be most likely dead if not for him! There were more important things at stake than the annoying mistrust, we are in this together like it or not, so shove your accusations up your scaly ass and let us work!"

Spyro's mouth dropped down at the sudden outburst, he was speechless.

Sparx ignored his brother " Flare what we do with these spider-webs? Just put them on the wound?"

The fiery drake approached the two foster brother's " Yeah, look" he took one of the spider-webs the dragonfly offered him in his shaking paw " You have to remember to cover as much of the wound as possible" he turned towards the dragoness but then the spider-web slipped through his shaking bloody paw and fell on the ground " Leave it, we have to take another one" he reached towards the dragonfly

Sparx turned around, hiding the spider-webs from the fiery drake " Listen Dude, you did your part, get some rest, we got it covered"

Flare stared at him with confused unfocused eyes

" We can handle it I mean"

" Oh, ok" he said in a groggy tone, moved away to make some room and sat on the ground, staring at his bloody paw

Without wasting any more time the brothers started to work, carefully placing each spider-web on each laceration.

" Maybe he isn't that bad, you need to give him a chance bro" Sparx muttered as he placed another spider-web

" He tried to attack me Sparx" he whispered back

" Maybe he got confused or something, I mean Dude look at him, he is clearly shaken, this is how a murderer looks? Give it a rest, we all have our issues"

Spyro sighed " Maybe you are right but I'm still going to watch him"

" Fair enough" he placed another spider-web " Hey Flare" Sparx shouted " What about the holes in her wings?"

" I can't do anything with her membranes, they have to heal on their own"

Moments later all the spider-webs were gone, safely securing the freshly sealed up wounds, both foster brother's had to admit that she looked better already.

" We need to hide somewhere" Spyro said and sniffed the air, the rot could still be smelled " There might more of them here. Flare come on, give me a paw"

Both young dragons lifted the unconscious dragoness and made their way towards one of the openings in the walls with Sparx scouting their way.

" Listen Flare" Spyro mumbled " I'm sorry that I jumped on you, I really thought you broke your promise"

Hearing a purple dragon apologizing to him was a surprise, yet he tried to hide his shock " I understand, but to clear things up, I promised I wouldn't kill her"

Spyro chuckled " Fair enough"

" So what's the plan?"

He looked at the bouncing black snout caringly " We wait till she wakes up, she needs the rest"

Flare nodded, that was a good plan, she wasn't the only one that needed a moment of respite.


	37. Chapter 19 Book II

Chapter 19

How much time has passed nobody of them knew, it was hard to tell if it was days, hours or mere minutes. In this dark maze time flowed differently, it seemed to slow down to an unnatural pace that only creatures natural to this somber environment could appreciate.

For them it was exactly on the contrary, they were all terrified to a certain point. The constant clicking and hissing sounds, the impenetrable darkness, the shrieking roars, even the rotting smell, all those things intensified the gnawing dismay. All of them were accustomed to fear in their own way, being scared while venturing into an unknown dark mine, ready to repel any unexpected attack was one thing but carrying an unconscious friend who effectively prevented every defensive reaction was completely something else.

The gnawing fear at the back of their minds was almost impossible to ignore, especially Flare had troubles remaining focused with his pulsing phobia. Yet both foster brothers never even tried to ignore the red dragon's warnings of danger, partly thanks to his previous display of crude but successful medial expertise and partly because they were both scared themselves and the fiery dragon sensed danger before any of them did. Paranoia has its benefits it seems.

However it turned out that it also has its downsides, sometimes when Flare yelped, warning their companions of lingering danger somewhere in the darkness ahead Sparx occasionally decided to check it out with his breath tightly held inside his chest. Most of the times it turned out to be nothing and every time that happened he didn't hold back his thoughts and made it clear that this time the red dragon is imagining things.

No matter how hard the dragonfly tried he just couldn't convince the fiery drake, Flare every single time urged the group to move forward and avoid the places where the anxiousness seemed to be stronger. He always used only one argument to force his point across, that they have to learn from their past mistakes and abide by the enforced rules, since nobody of them wanted the same thing happening to them which happened to Cynder.

The brothers didn't need any more convincing than that, yet Sparx just couldn't shake off the feeling that if they would just ignore Flare's protests and somehow forced him to press forward despite his gnawing fear they would find a perfect hiding spot by now. However for the sake of the somehow renewed teamwork the dragonfly remained silent, they need themselves now more than ever, like it or not, they just have to work together.

More and more uncountable time passed as they wandered the mine in search for their Promised Land, or Promised Tunnel for that matter, and Sparx was, despite his will, raised to the position of a prophet, with his natural light as some sort of a beacon of a higher power which always pointed the right way. It goes without saying how the dragonfly was unhappy with his role, but he also knew that there was just no other choice so he played his part, even if with great difficulty.

Whenever the glowing shape disappeared into the black thick veil both dragons held their breaths, anxiously awaiting the return of their guide. Most of the times when Sparx popped out from the darkness he kept flailing his arms chaotically, urging his two draconic companions to run. With the almost paralyzing fear the dragons didn't need any more encouragement than that to hightail quickly from the danger.

All of them lost count how many times they had to run for their lives, and with each such situation they allowed the dragonfly to scan the surroundings farther and farther away from them for safety precautions. The motionless feminine body on their backs effectively prevented any fast maneuvering, yet that wasn't the only reason behind their wariness. Whenever they had to run Cynder's body bounced and twitched uncontrollably and they really had to struggle to avoid dropping her down. Even through her unconscious bobbing head they could hear her groans of pain, and just for the sake of her well-being they couldn't run all the time.

In those moments they thought that they shouldn't have left the wide big caves behind, with their wings at full disposal it would be much easier to carry her. However rationality won the battle against impulsiveness, they rather struggle their whole way than go the easier route and risk encountering another of those big bugs.

More time has passed, with it came another forced stop during which Sparx scanned the surrounding area. Both dragons impulsively stretched their legs, preparing their paws for another retreat. This time however it was different, when Sparx emerged from the darkness he wasn't flailing his arms, he just flew towards them with a surprised look on his face and his hands at his sides.

" I think we found it" the dragonfly announced unceremoniously, almost not believing his own words

Both dragons looked at each other just to focus their surprised eyes on the dragonfly.

" You sure?" they both said in unison

Sparx sluggishly turned towards the darkness and raised his forefinger " Sec" he cocked his head as if trying to look past the darkness " I'll check again" with that he disappeared into the black veil again

Moments later the dragonfly returned still somewhat shocked " We are home guys"

Spyro smiled, it was a smile of great relief " Then let's go, I'm really tired"

" Yeah, let's go and fast" Flare wriggled his shoulder with a wince " She's really heavy" after that announcement the dragon's eyes shot wide open and he bit his lip nervously " But don't tell her that, I don't want to get smacked again"

Both brothers let out a chuckle, with that slight display of joy came a great relief, they felt as if great load was lifted from their shoulders. Spyro however wasn't really surprised by Flare's words, she did feel heavy even despite he knew exactly that she is quite light, yet when your legs are about to give up after carrying something on your back for who knows how long, it seems that even a bag of feathers would feel like tones of rocks after so much time eventually.

As they have been approaching their newly safe haven through the thick darkness Sparx explained the situation to them. From his words it seemed that the tunnel they have just found was perfect for a temporary hideout, a single entrance, quite deep, without any risk of incoming surprises, however for safety precautions Spyro decided to check it out nevertheless. Better safe than sorry.

Both dragons gingerly placed their unconscious friend at the entrance, Sparx and Flare stayed behind to watch over Cynder while Spyro ventured into their hopefully freshly discovered hideout. The two companions that were left for guard duty didn't laze about, the dragonfly instantly darted into the darkness to scan the surrounding area while Flare kept turning around directing his white beam of light into every corner of the mine, just like some sort of a lighthouse warning all the approaching ships that just behind this fog are jagged cliffs.

Spyro had to agree with his brother, at first glance the tunnel looked perfect, the moment he looked inside his candle illuminated the whole length of the tunnel, a barely noticeable wall could be seen in the distance. He made his way towards it while turning his head, he only had to move his head slightly to the side since almost instantly he was greeted by a thick wall. It wasn't that bad, the tunnel was wide enough to be able to house all of them while maybe even making Flare comfortable enough.

He reached the opposite end of the tunnel, the purple dragon carefully examined the wall, scanning for every opening or loose rocks, he spotted nothing like that. Spyro turned around, yes, the tunnel would do nicely, they can easily hide in the deeper parts of it without the risk of being spotted by the bugs while they would accidently move past this tunnel.

Their hiding place had only one entrance, which had its good and bad sides. One entrance meant that they won't be surprised by a sudden attack from behind, this caves aren't big so there was no chance that one of the bigger bugs would find them. One entrance also meant that they are voluntarily walking into a trap, if a swarm of bugs will find them they won't be able to escape. However Spyro found such a scenario unlikely to happen, while they crossed the tunnels the bugs seemed not to be bothered by the light as if their eyes couldn't discern any colors or brightness. The creatures only located them when they got close enough for the bugs to feel their scent or perhaps it was the unhearable vibrations on the ground their draconic paws created. Whatever the case may be Spyro was quite certain that if they will remain quiet nothing would happen to them.

The purple dragon began to retrace his steps, this time however he ignored the side walls, he instead concentrated solely on the ceiling. Luckily for them, it was just as thick and solid like the wall behind him, just like previously no holes or loose stones could be spotted. Good, that meant no bug was holed up in there somewhere. He eventually reached the exit, his two companions looked at him anxiously, however Spyro didn't say a word, he only raised his claw signaling them to wait while he scanned the tunnel one more time, just to be sure. When another examination proved that the tunnel is sufficiently safe he invited his companions inside with a nod of his head.

Spyro and Flare gingerly picked their still slowly breathing friend and carried her to the end of the tunnel where they have placed the dragoness delicately on the ground. All three companions observed the laying dragoness carefully, this time however she looked much healthier and if they didn't knew better they would say that something has put her into a deep sleep, they would never suspect that she fainted due to blood loss. She just looked so peaceful.

When a barely noticeable noise escaped her that almost sounded like a delicate snore all three of them laughed unwittingly. With that laugh came the long craved relief, they felt like all that gathered tension they accumulated during their search evaporated somewhere, and they couldn't care less where.

Suddenly all three of them felt like their legs and wings started to become numb, just like their minds would be switching off each of their limbs by pressing button after button. They didn't care, all of them arched backwards and fell on their backs while panting heavily. They all stared at the ceiling above them, it felt so damn good to know that she is safe and nothing threatens them for the time being, for the first time in a long while they felt that long craved serenity and security which one feels usually in his own home. It felt so good that they didn't even realize that broad smiles were now plastered on their faces.

The next days or hours looked almost identical for the group, at first they all spent their time inside their new hideout, carefully monitoring Cynder's health while also constantly fixing their eyes on the exit of the tunnel. As the uncountable time passed they noticed the dragoness'es breathing returning slowly to normal, yet with good news also came the bad ones. The three companions could see the delicate barely visible forms of the bugs passing by their tunnel in the distance.

Firstly they ignored it, thinking that it might have been just an unfortunate turn of events that the critters actually walked past by their hiding place. Yet no matter how long they waited there were always bugs appearing in the distance, to make things worse the sightings of the small creatures seemed to intensify the longer they waited.

Coming to a mutual decision that it is too risky just to ignore this sightings the group came to a conclusion to send patrols of their own, ignoring this threat probably meant that they would have been discovered sooner or later. Since Sparx couldn't really defend himself, it was up to two male young dragons to get rid of this threat, knowing it would be just too dangerous to leave the dragonfly here alone with the sleeping dragoness they decided that only one of the dragons will make a round close to the tunnel. When he returns they will just switch roles with the other dragon in their group, that way their hiding place won't be left undefended, there will always be a pair of draconic eyes watching over Cynder's safety.

It was decided that first patrol route will fall on Spyro. The purple dragon waited till he spotted another group of bugs, when they passed by their tunnel the purple dragon slowly made his way towards the exit and stalked the little critters. He only attacked them when they were a safe distance away from the tunnel. In his first patrol route Spyro also managed to finish of another group of bugs before he returned to the tunnel.

The moment he returned he gave a detailed report of his findings and the overall situation in the mine, telling his fiery partner what he can expect in that thick darkness. Flare took off the moment Spyro laid by Cynder's side. The first fiery dragon's patrol route was mostly boring, the surrounding area near the tunnel was mostly wiped clean, only a couple of bugs tried to ambush him, but he easily took care of them. With nothing else to do the red dragon returned to the tunnel.

That was how they occupied themselves while waiting for Cynder to finally wake up. At first their patrol routes were only focused on the nearby area around the tunnel, on sole purpose to dispatch the wandering groups of bugs. As time passed the patrols routes slowly started to become longer and wider, Spyro explored the west side of the mine while Flare took the east one, they came to a conclusion that they will always stick to those sides, that way they will get familiar with the tunnels and they will know where they have been and what to expect.

The decision to widen their patrol routes was somewhat enforced on them, with each passing hour they were becoming more and more thirsty. Even if they were deep inside a volcano Spyro believed that there has to be water somewhere, he came across such sources in his adventures, most of the times they were found where nobody expected them to be. Thanks to that experience the purple dragon just knew that a water source has to be somewhere in this tunnels, he didn't expect to find a fountain since they were inside a hot volcano but he believed that a weak source of water has to be here somewhere, in their situation single droplets will do.

Seeing that the two dragons were working Sparx decided to also make himself useful, every now and then he went on his own patrol. However he didn't search for the bugs or water, his main point of focus were spiders and more precisely their sticky work of art. Seeing that the spider-webs that were used to cover Cynder's wounds started to become more and more dirty he decided it was about time to change her bandage. Finding spider-webs in such a dusty and dark cavern wasn't a big problem, not that he complained, a quicker success meant a faster return to the safety of their hiding place, a safety that the dragonfly accepted with a great relief.

At first both dragons explorations were fruitless, no matter how hard they looked they just couldn't find any source of water. When Spyro laid in the hiding place clicking his tongue thinking that they will have to satisfy themselves with the bitter taste of their own scarce saliva Flare barged into the tunnel grinning and beaming with happiness and excitement. The fiery dragon to both brothers surprise announced that he has located water. He found a more humid almost completely caved-in cavern where single droplets of water splattered on the ground, he also warned that it will take some time to collect enough water to quench someone's thirst completely.

None of them decided to be fussy about it, they take what they can get. Spyro immediately grabbed some stones and made cavities in the middle using his earth element, careful not to pierce the stones. When there were enough stones with holes laying on the ground Spyro found some more wider and thinner rocks, he then placed such a stone in the middle of the two with the holes and by using his ice element connected it with the two rocks. He kept going until the connected stones formed some sort of a large necklace.

Spyro smiled and examined his work, he couldn't shake off the feeling that this necklace resembled that basket Cynder invented during their races all that time ago when everything was so much simpler. He impulsively looked at the sleeping dragoness.

" You are a genius" he mused with pride

He then hung the necklace around the fiery dragon's neck and ordered him to make haste, the higher temperature of his body and the overall warm climate in the mines will make short work of the ice. Spyro told the red drake that he made the connections very thick but sooner or later they will melt away and when that happens they will have to start from scratch.

Flare didn't need any more encouragement than that, he instantly made his way towards the humid cavern. Just before he left their hiding place he received an apology from Spyro, the purple dragon was sorry that he will be doing all of the hard work while he will be laying here in the tunnel resting. Flare replied that there is nothing to be sorry about since the humid cavern he found has only one entrance and it will take some time to fill the stones using only a single droplet of water so he will have more than enough time to rest. Such answer made the purple dragon a bit more happier.

As time passed and there was no sign of the fiery drake both foster brothers began to get more anxious by the minute. With each passing second the thirst that gnawed at them seemed to intensify, both of them didn't even notice when their tongues rolled out of their mouths and their paws and hands began to rub at them pleadingly, looking even for a tiny bit of something moist. It had to be a disappointment for their limbs however, since ther tongues felt almost like sand paper.

Just like when you try to do something fast you tire more quickly, it seems that the same pattern also works with thirst. When you know that there is water close enough you become more and more thirsty the longer you wait for it, in that moment both brothers came to a conclusion that people are right when they say that ignorance is bliss.

They wanted to drink so badly that both of them didn't even realize when their eyes became blurry and they began to fantasize that they are staring at a huge fountain with streams of cold water flowing directly into their needy mouths. They were so lost in their imagined world that when Flare appeared in the entrance carrying stones of water they both thought they were traveling through a hot desert and the sight before them is nothing more than mirage.

They awakened the moment when the water splashed on their noses, with audible slurps their tongues rolled back inside their mouths and they were instantly on their legs. When Flare placed the stones on the ground all three of them pounced at the stones just like some sort of predators jumping on their prey. Yet when Spyro sunk his tongue into the water, he curled his nose, it was way too warm for his taste, he then instantly jerked his head back when an idea crossed his mind.

" Wait!" he exclaimed delicately gaining the attention of his companions, he could see in their eyes the irritation after he so suddenly stopped probably the most pleasurable moment in their lives for a long while

Without waiting for their response Spyro bent on his paws and began breathing a chilly icy mist at the stones. When his two other companions realized what is happening they stepped back and observed the scene with hungry eyes. They could see as the water started to ripple in seconds and the feeling of an icy mist on their faces emitting from the water almost knocked the breath out of them moments later.

Momentarily they all plunged their mouths into the freezing water, they filled their mouths with quite considerable amounts of water before swallowing it down. The chilly sensation the freezing liquid left in their throats and stomachs almost knocked them out cold. The quick gulping of the chilly water sent surges of delicately painful stinging directly to their heads, they felt like their brains were freezing. They didn't care, quenching the gnawing thirst was far more important than worrying about such little discomfort.

Before they knew it the stones were emptied, all of them ran their tongues along the stones inner surfaces in search of some water, making sure that even the tiniest droplet didn't escape their notice. When they were quite sure that no more water can be found inside the stones they all let out some blissful breaths and moans, they were certain that this was the most pleasurable sensation they have ever felt.

When the exhilarating sensation subsided they all looked longingly and with still pulsing craving at the empty stones. Impulsively both foster brother's looked at the fiery dragon, when they raised their gaze the red drake was already staring at them. Flare and Spyro instantly approached the necklace of stones without saying a word as if communicating through some telepathic means. The purple dragon reinforced the already melting connections and hung the newly prepared necklace around Flare's neck. With the rocks set in place, the red dragon spun around and without saying a single word dashed out into the darkness, with only one destination in mind.

The first couple of rounds when Flare returned with the water the three companions made sure they emptied all the stones completely. When they couldn't look at the water any longer, after effectively killing the annoying gnawing thirst they decided to stock up on it, so when Flare went for another round Spyro made sure to prepare some more necklaces for the fiery drake.

As time passed, more stones with the refreshing liquid began to fill their hideout, Spyro made sure that the water is well protected by covering their crude buckets with a lid which was nothing more than a flat stone connected with the water filled ones by using his ice element.

At first their plan was to gather enough water to surprise Cynder when she wakes up since she will be undoubtedly thirsty like they were. However when more and more water kept appearing in the tunnel they decided to use it on cleaning purposes. When both dragons were busy cleaning the dried mix of red and greenish gore from their bodies after disposing of so many groups of bugs Sparx carefully worked on Cynder's wounds. With his nimble hands he made sure to properly clean the healing wounds and the dried dirt and blood from her body.

As time passed Cynder started to look more and more healthy, it was a great relief to see her wounds healing, in that moment they were all glad for the draconic natural regeneration. The wounds on her back were the worst so they were still there but at least they no longer looked as bad as earlier. It seemed that her body focused on sealing up the wounds that were easier to heal, to the three companions the magenta membranes filling her black wings were now completely intact. They all had to admit that her wings looked like new, nobody would ever believe that once there were some holes in them.

While Flare kept bringing more and more water Spyro just laid there in the tunnel keeping an eye on their hideout, occasionally he left it to deal with the bugs when sightings of these creatures intensified. He had no doubt that the task that was enforced on him was important but he just couldn't shake off the feeling that he isn't sacrificing himself enough for the good of the group, he felt useless.

Then he remembered why they were sent into this mine in the first place- to stop the bugs. He had no idea how much time has passed, days, months, who knows, one thing was for certain, they haven't done anything to stop this plague and this delay made the situation probably even worse than it was before. Determination pulsed through his veins, enough, it was time to turn the tables.

When Flare returned with another rocks full of water Spyro came to a conclusion that no more water is needed, it was time to focus on the main task finally. At first Sparx protested that it was too dangerous to go looking for trouble without their full numbers but Spyro eventually convinced him that nobody from the group can sense the portals, only he is suitable for the job and that they have wasted enough time as it is. More delay meant more danger, they have to strike the bugs when they are weak, they have to know where to go when Cynder wakes up. After a while of exchanging arguments Sparx finally sighed in defeat, he still believed that it was a bad idea but he also knew that they have no other choice. With painful heart he agreed and Spyro's plan was set in motion.

To be safe Spyro disposed of the first groups of bugs, not knowing really from which direction they are actually coming from he decided that for the good of the group it is safer just to prevent the annoying critters from wandering around their hiding place. When he kept thinning their numbers over and over again, he finally located the tunnel from which they were coming from, his constant attacks bore fruit since the group of bugs looked smaller than before.

The tingle running through his body was still there, sending along his veins once stronger and once weaker pulses, strictly following some kind of sinusoidal pattern which reached once higher and once lower amplitudes. Learning from his mistakes, he ignored the shivering sensation even when it felt like the portal will come into view just around that corner… he never fell for that trick again.

Spyro had to admit painfully that the task he set on himself was harder than it looked, ambushing the bugs surrounded by thick darkness was no small feat. Not to mention that he also sometimes got ambushed by some of the yellowish critters hiding in the rocks. Yet no matter what happened he pressed forward, and whenever he entered a new tunnel he made sure to make a visible scratch with his claw on the wall so he won't get lost when he is going to return to his companions.

Even if the tingle tried to trick him he just knew that he is heading in the right direction, the intensifying putrid stench was a clear sign of that. He has already learnt during his adventures that whenever he is closing on his goal the road ahead becomes more dangerous and more bumpy, it was exactly the same in this case.

Suddenly after he left one more tunnel behind him the cavern stretched to enormous sizes, when his white light didn't meet with a wall on the other end of its beam but stopped only on open space, the purple dragon swallowed hard, he knew what this meant. Spyro balked and for a moment blood froze in his veins when he heard that familiar shrieking roar in the darkness, yet it was different than the one he heard earlier, this sounded like a cry, a very agonizing cry that escapes probably every creature when they just know that their life is about to end in this very moment.

Spyro jumped when a rumbling sound shook the entire cavern and impulsively retreated a few steps back into the safety of his own tunnel. Then moments later was that terrible triumphant shrieking roar that sent shivers through his entire body, after that the most disgusting sound of suckling and chomping reached him. Momentarily the repulsive fresh stench of insides being ripped apart hung in the air, a stench he was unfortunately very familiar with. Then in a moment's notice his sharp mind connected the dots, Flare was right, rotten bodies were behind the putrid stench they all smelled and now he is near its source, Spyro just knew that the caverns ahead are the bugs' feeding grounds.

What was the bugs main dish he had no idea since he doubted that they are always eating each other, yet there was no doubt that this was a common occurrence. Somehow his curiosity wasn't piqued, most likely his natural reaction was bottled somewhere deep behind all this stress and fear.

" Why things can't be simple at least once?" Spyro muttered indignantly

He swallowed another bitter pill of stress and craned his neck forward, he turned his head quickly sending the white light in every direction possible. Besides the one big bug in the corner who was busy devouring his buddy he couldn't see any more of these huge monsters nearby, yet he knew they are out there somewhere, he could hear them. Many of the smaller bugs were running back and forth through the cavern, some were heading his way, another patrol most likely, however they didn't bother him, in such a huge cave he can easily make use of his draconic wings.

Spyro leapt into the air and instantly pressed his fins to the ceiling above, between the quick pounding of his heart he felt his mind focusing on that single sensation which led them here in the first place. He shivered, it was close, so damn close, struck by another dose of determination he looked around, the way behind him was occupied by the feasting bug, and just when he wanted to fly in the other direction his light revealed a barely noticeable form of another one of the big bugs in the distance which with each passing second was becoming more solid.

Spyro dashed forward, scanning the area ahead of him quickly, besides some occasional stalagtite and a glimmering vein of some kind of metal on the ceiling no wall could be seen, only open space greeted him. When he kept flying ahead knowing that if he won't find a place to hide he will be discovered, he felt his every muscle flexing, in that moment he wondered if he will ever get used to the feeling of fear.

Later his light revealed an archway and just beside it some wall with holes in it just exactly his size, with renewed determination he pressed forward, in maybe a minute or two he will reach these openings and will finally hide from the hulking monsters shrouded by darkness, their constant shrieking was driving him insane.

Just when he was about to reach the wall Spyro's eyes shot wide open in horror, in the archway one of the huge beasts has appeared. Time seemed to slow down, the creature wasn't looking at him yet, but he saw as it was slowly turning towards him. In panic the dragon began to look around chaotically, the desired wall wasn't far but unfortunately it was far enough, he won't be able to reach it, the bug will certainly spot him if he is going to try that move. Behind him and on his right flank there was nothing but open space, there was just no place to hide. Driven by sheer survival instinct he looked at the ceiling and instantly he knew what he has to do.

Spyro darted towards the ceiling, preparing his sharp claws like a bird prepares its talons to catch its prey. He sunk his claws into the jagged surface, small rocks were sent down flying crushed by the dragon's natural deadly weapons. He clung to the wall like a scared hatchling clings to its mother, he pushed his body forward, the sharp jagged rocks stung his belly like hell but he didn't care. Spyro greeted his teeth, only creature's like him will know how hard it is to keep his rear end in a still posture. The dragon fought valiantly to keep his tail in straight line and prevent it from dangling like some sort of a yellowish light bulb attached to a purple string, he felt his spine stretching and his back muscles stringing, before he knew it he began to shiver uncontrollably, what an annoying feeling that is.

Then a very close rumble step shook the cave, then another one, and another, before he pressed his head to the wall he noticed the bug's yellowish huge head passing below the archway. With his nose pressed to the rocks Spyro closed his eyes and whimpered, praying in all his strength that it won't see him, begging the Ancestors to grant him invisibility.

Another rumbling noise, in that moment another soft whimper escaped his throat, he knew that the creature was just below him, he could feel it in every part of his body. He held his breath, the moment of truth, the final scene, this was the moment when everything will become clear. Either he will fly away as a happy dragon or end in the creature's belly as a delicacy.

" The first option, the first option, the first option…" Spyro kept pleadingly repeating the same words inside his head

The creature roared, a paralyzing pulse ran through his whole body, this was it, he is going to die. When he accepted his fate and was prepared to at least strike the creature in his final moments, quick rumbling steps shook the cavern. Spyro turned his head, another shrieking roar joined the cacophony when the bug which just passed through the archway crashed with the other one which was happily devouring its prey.

Spyro pressed his forehead to the ceiling and exhaled a wavering breath of extreme relief, a strong tremor ran through his body, relaxing every muscle. His tail limply dangled in the air while he kept his forehead pressed to the ceiling and his eyes closed while breathing shallowly as if having a heart attack. When another painful shrieking roar echoed throughout the cavern Spyro's eyes snapped open, for a moment he wondered if the bug didn't smell him because of the hanging stench in the air or the Ancestors listened to his plea and granted him invisibility.

He let go off the ceiling, just when he removed his claws bits of rocks fell from the freshly created holes, he was surprised just how deep they were, he had no idea he put so much strength into that cling. A hollow pain ran through his paws, his claws stung like hell, but even despite the pain he was glad to be a dragon, more precisely he was glad that his claws are so strong. Good genes for the win.

Impulsively he shook his paws to get rid of the numbing pain and concentrated on the holes in the wall he spotted early. He will only take a quick peek and get the hell out of here, when he will return here with his companions they will have to fight their way through, like it or not, and it's not going to be easy. He sighed, his life is full of crap.

Despite the ongoing fighting behind him Spyro dashed forward towards the early spotted wall, just to be safe he threw a quick glance behind his shoulder, the constant roaring was somewhat stressful. As his light the area behind him a familiar rumbling shook the cavern, in the darkness he noticed one of the big shadowy forms collapsing on the ground, with the other one towering above it. It was horrible to see members of the same species wiping each other out, but it also meant that the winning bug will be distracted which meant an easier return for the him.

First things first however, Spyro dived into one of the openings in the wall, he purposely took one of the upper holes in the wall, since he knew the bugs could climb and since there are similar holes below the one he took through which the critters will easily pass they have no need to climb so high.

The dragon placed his paws on the jagged ground, he found himself in a tunnel, it wasn't wide, just an opening connecting both ends of the wall. It was just a perfect observation point. Cautiously, as to make no sound, with his light directed slightly on the ground for safety measures Spyro made his way forward. Just when he was about to reach the other end of the tunnel he was suddenly struck in his right flank by some kind of shockwave. The force threw him at the wall, the sharp rocks had no trouble tearing through his scales on his left side.

His paws bent at the impact but he kept standing, groaning Spyro tried to push forward but then another pulse pressed him to the wall. His whole body started to shake violently, despite the confusion the dragon knew what the familiar tremor meant, the portal they have been looking for is nearby and on the contrary to his previous encounters with the Veils this one was opened, pulsing with raw cracking energy.

Pulse after pulse invaded his bones, the force of the strikes was so fierce that his body needed a while to get accustomed to them. Taking some deep breaths and groaning Spyro began to slowly raise on his paws, the constant tremors running through his body made this usually trivial task the most difficult one in his life. With a grunt of struggle he finally managed to stand still, when that happened the pulses started to become weaker, the violent convulsion tearing his body slowed to the pace of a numbing shiver. It was uncomfortable but he can get used to it, not like he has any other choice.

" Whoa" Spyro blurt out and shook his head as if winning against the effects of a very powerful drug

With some difficulty he made his way cautiously towards the end of the tunnel, he dropped to the ground and waited. Nothing happened. He sniffed and coughed, he could only smell the horrid stench of decaying bodies. However he could hear somewhere in that darkness ahead lots and lots of bugs, big and small.

With gnawing curiosity he decided to take a peek, the dragon craned his neck and looked around the cavern. It was vast, wide and high, that's good, open space meant more room for maneuvering which undoubtedly will be useful soon since a fight is unavoidable. Down below he could spot the forms of many little bugs scuttling back and forth through the cave, his amethyst eyes also noticed some of the big bugs walking and eating in the cavern. Yet there is a limit how far his light can reach, there were plenty more of them hiding in the darkness, he could feel in in his guts.

However the critters didn't draw his concentration as they wanted, the dragon's focus was entirely concentrated on the intense tingling sensation. Somewhere there, perhaps in another vast tunnel or two is their goal, somewhere there past this thick darkness is the reason behind all this mess, somewhere out there is their final destination, the end of their quest. Finally.

How to stop the bugs from crossing that portal, or how did they opened it in the first place he had no idea, but he didn't worry about that now, they will figure it out when the times comes. For now it was time to return to his companions, warn them of the danger and prepare themselves mentally for the battle to come. He felt a needle stinging his heart when an image of sleeping Cynder crossed his mind, his heart urged him to make haste, for unknown reason he wanted to be by her side when she wakes up, everything else became suddenly unimportant. Spyro got up and retraced his steps, as quickly as he could.

* * *

" Dude!" Sparx exclaimed in a muffled tone when the silhouette of his brother appeared in the cave entrance to their hideout " What took you so long? Flare was going crazy, he was worried about you!"

The fiery drake jerked back his head surprised as he laid on the ground with the sleeping dragoness behind his tail " What? That's not true!"

The dragonfly waved his hand dismissively " Yeah, yeah don't act tough now, you can't fool me ,I've seen your girly side"

" What are you talking about? It was you who couldn't stay in one place! It was you who kept flying constantly back and forth through the whole tunnel with your arms crossed! You were worried sick, not me!"

Sparx slapped his forehead a couple of times with his opened palm " Stupid! I wasn't worried! I was lost in focus, planning our future actions!"

" Oh, pfff!" Flare snorted

The dragonfly balked " Pfff?" he mimicked the snort " What meant, pfff?"

The red dragon grinned " You are lying"

Sparx crossed his arms " Oh? Suddenly you are so clever?"

The grin on the red dragon's snout only widened " Yeah, I'm learning!"

" Is that so? There is a worm behind you" the dragonfly replied casually

The smile from the dragon's snout vanished instantly, his eyes narrowed on the dragonfly, after a short staring Flare cackled " Oh no! You are not going to trick me again!"

Sparx shrugged " I'm just warning you, that's all"

" You won't fool me!"

" This one is huge"

" I'm not listening!"

" Man if you could see its slimy body" Sparx shivered " Disgusting"

Flare shook his head confidently and pressed his paws to the sides of his head " Not listening!"

" Its slithering up your tail"

" Nu-uh!'

Sparx made his way behind the red dragon " Dude! If you could only see its mouth" the dragonfly fainted a gag " I think I'm going to throw up"

Flare's body shifted nervously " Not listening!"

" It's on your back now"

The red drake gritted his teeth as suddenly an itch ran through his back, he whimpered and his whole body shivered.

" I think it's looking for something" " Dude!" Sparx exclaimed making the dragon shake violently " You are wounded, there is a small hole in your scales, it's slithering towards it!"

An audible whimper escaped Flare's throat through his clenched teeth.

" It's about to get In there! I can't grab it it's too slippery!"

A strong tremor shook Flare's entire body.

" it's getting in!" Sparx exclaimed " Do something!"

The red dragon screamed and started to thrash, he kept spinning around and flapping with his wings chaotically, occasionally he rolled on the ground while throwing quick terrified glances on his back.

" i-i-i-is it g-g-g-gone?" Flare stammered horrified

Both foster brother's burst out laughing.

The red dragon growled while narrowing his eyes on the dragonfly " I-I've told you not to d-do this a-again!"

Sparx grinned while eyeing the red drake with his arms crossed and an arrogant expression plastered on his face " Works every single time, you would think that after like tenth time he would finally get a hold of himself, but nope"

" it's not funny!"

Still grinning Sparx turned towards his brother " Hi bro"

Spyro threw Flare a quick glance and chuckled before he focused on the sleeping dragoness " How is she feeling?"

Sparx shrugged " Still snoring. So what did you find?"

" I think we-"

Spyro was cut off by a sudden feminine mumble. All three companions threw quick surprised glances between each other.

Her whole body shifted for a while before her eyes opened sluggishly.

Darkness, white light, and in that light that huge bug towering above her, ready to kill her. She began to thrash and mumble something terrified.

Spyro touched her back gently and dropped in front of her snout with his two companions following him " Hey, hey, calm down you are safe"

Cynder slightly relaxed under his touch but her blurry green eyes were still seeing something that wasn't here.

" it's me Spyro, Cynder relax, you are safe"

He had no idea if it was his touch, or if his words that forced focus to return to her green eyes, but he was happy to notice that she was looking at them.

A painful smile appeared on the dragoness' snout " My favorite boys…" she muttered in a very hoarse tone.

All three of them smiled.

"…and Sparx"

Sparx rolled his eyes " Oh good, she is awake" he sounded resigned but the smile never disappeared from his face

She tried to giggle but she only emitted a painful groan " W-what happened? The last thing I remember was that bug ready to eat me"

Spyro opened his mouth but was interrupted by Flare's excited shout

" Spyro kicked its ass while me and Sparx took care of your wounds. Then me and Spyro carried you here to this tunnel so you can rest while we keep an eye on you!"

Cynder threw shocked glances between her red and purple friend " Wait, you were working together?"

" Yeah!" Flare exclaimed happily, while Spyro just shrugged

She frowned " How long I've been out?"

Spyro laughed

" We don't know" the red dragon stated sadly " It's impossible to say how much time has passed"

Sparx shook his head " Dude that was a rhetorical question"

" A what?"

Spyro grinned ' As you can see, it wasn't that long"

Cynder tried to laugh but the stinging pain on her back only turned her shout of joy into a hiss of pain " My back hurts like hell, what did you guys do to me?"

Flare winced while he impulsively looked at his claws " You don't want to know"

The dragoness noticed his painful expression and just smiled " Whatever you did Flare, thanks, I owe you"

" No you don't"

" How are you feeling?" Spyro asked concerned " Besides the obvious pain"

Cynder licked her mouth, depressed that it was dry like sand, yet she decided not to say anything, they did enough for her already and she won't act like some kind of fussy damsel

" I'm fine"

Spyro has seen through her deceitful attempt and smiled " Close your eyes"

She looked at him surprised " What?"

" Just do it"

She eyed him curiously for a while, before reluctantly closing her eyes.

Spyro sent a chilly mist at one of the stones filled with water before grabbing it soon after, he removed the lid " Stick your tongue out"

One of her eyes snapped open, the emerald orb observed him intently.

" Trust me, you won't regret it"

She had no reason not to, he was her best friend after all. With gnawing curiosity her tongue rolled out from her mouth.

Spyro's smile only broadened when he began to raise the stone, the moment he dipped her tongue in the freezing water Cynder's eyes snapped open

" Wathser?

All three of them chuckled

Her tongue rolled back inside her mouth with an audible slurp " Where did you find water?'

" Doesn't matter" Spyro replied " Enjoy" he placed the stone on the ground

Cynder's tongue instantly began to lap at the chilly liquid, not quick so she could enjoy its thirst killing effect for longer.

" Just drink it, we have plenty of it" Spyro urged her seeing her cautiousness

" I love you" she blurt out and dipped her mouth into the stone. When the cold liquid caressed her snout she realized what she just said. She began drinking the water slowly, glad that her snout was hidden inside the stone, that way he won't notice her fierce blush.

" _You damn idiot_" she mused while swallowing another amount of water, surprisingly it wasn't as pleasurably chilly as she expected it to be

Spyro only stared at her with a wavering smile on his snout, suddenly he felt that odd feeling once again, not only that but he also heard her last words ringing inside his head. It was driving him crazy, he wanted to do something, to say something but he couldn't utter a word, he just kept staring at her with shimmering eyes.

Only when he spotted his two other companions staring at him reality struck him like a powerful thunder. He then in panic grabbed a couple of more stones in his shaking paws, removed the lids and froze them before darting towards the exit of their hideout.

" What was that all about?" Flare whispered curiously

" This mine not very bright friend is the reason behind their arguments" Sparx replied

" I don't understand"

" I'm shocked"

* * *

When all the emotions finally vanished, Cynder's wounds healed entirely and Spyro explained the situation to his companions the group stared at the thick darkness that shrouded the caverns ahead of them.

" So you say we have to fight our way through?" Cynder asked with an anxious wriggle of her shoulders

" Yep" Spyro replied

" And it's not going to be easy?"

" Nope"

Her emerald eyes flickered with sheer vengeance.

" Good"


	38. Chapter 20 Book II

Chapter 20

Boyzitbig the home of the Manweersmalls and what's more important the place where mine upon mine could be found inside the volcano's depths. Many of those mines were already explored and their riches mined fervently by the inhabitants of the Munitions Forge. The Manweersmalls practically knew the mines like the back of their paws, they knew where to find the desired metal, and more importantly what to do with it.

However deep down inside Boyzitbig were mines where even the moles were rare guests or couldn't be seen at all. These caves stretched probably through the whole volcano, hiding riches nobody could even dream about. Such caverns awakened mysteriousness, every now and then a stream of lava illuminated the tunnels, allowing those willing enough to take a peek inside the mines souls.

Most of the times these caves were shrouded in thick impenetrable darkness, effectively blocking the sight of many prying eyes, not even allowing to take a glimpse of the things that lay behind the black veil. A surprisingly deafening silence accompanied the mysteriousness, an eerie creepy serenity hung in the air, almost giving the darkness its own pulse of life.

However not all tunnels were like that, if from above a soul brave enough would venture down ready to face the mine's horrors it would find out that not everything is as it was supposed to be. If that soul would crawl into a very narrow tunnel, fell down through a still delicately chilly hole, passed through who knows how many tunnels, beaten who knows how many intersections, passed through a freshly created hole in the wall just to venture through another similar maze of caverns until it would find a tunnel with many wet stones stacked at its end.

In that moment the brave soul would hear an intimidating feminine roar which would even force the darkness to hide into its own hole. In that moment the brave soul would hear two more male roars and a one male shouting followed right after that feminine scream. It would hear the trepidation hiding behind those roars and shouts, it would be surprised to find these scared screams here,in this place, before it arrived. In that moment the brave soul would realize what courage is, it would realize that courage is not living without fear, courage is being scared to death and doing the right thing anyway.

* * *

Blood freezing shriek echoed throughout the whole mine which came from a cavern located some distance away from their recent hiding place, the cavern from where the shriek came from was so loud with the mix of hissing, shrieking and roaring that it was difficult to hear own thoughts.

Cynder closed her mouth, her Siren Scream ended the moment her lips connected, the swarm of bugs ahead which charged her was in panic, most of the critters were running blindly just to be far away from the terrifying dragoness while other enemies were paralyzed with fear. Cynder didn't waste time, she instantly dashed at the petrified bugs and sunk her silvery claws into the defenseless creatures. Greenish gore was shooting in the air as she kept jumping from one bug to the other, she didn't even realize that she was growling the whole time, fear mixed with the lust for vengeance pushed her fighter's spirit over the edge.

The whole cavern kept shaking as her three friends kept fighting with the bigger bugs somewhere up above, she could barely hear anything thanks to the constant shrieking, roaring and deafening hissing all around her. Swarms of the little bugs were charging her from the surrounding darkness, she knew they had encircled her by know and are closing for the kill, yet she wasn't bothered by that.

At first they planned to leave the grounded creatures alone since most of the fighting they will do will be with the big bugs and to challenge the hulking monsters they will have to use their wings. However she forced them to reconsider that option, who knows how many big bugs are hiding in the darkness, if one of the creatures will shoot them from the air they would fall directly at the swarm below, and it goes without saying that the bugs would make short work of the still dizzied dragons.

The moment the group agreed to her decision Cynder unhesitatingly jumped into the cavern and landed gracefully on the ground leaving her surprised friends behind her. She then turned around scanning the area around her, the hissing intensified, yet only a small portion of the bugs spotted her.

Without any second thoughts she roared, she roared such an intimidating roar that even startled her friends. In a moment's notice the hissing reached a deafening cacophony which was only intensified by the shrieking roars from the bigger bugs. It was enough to shake her friends back into reality, with war cries of their own the three males joined the fight.

As Cynder kept turning around she saw the swarm of bugs closing in, the critters surrounded her from all sides. Yet the only thing she did was to smirk, as she turned she noticed the familiar purple dragon from her dreams staring at her with his brown burning eyes nodding in approval. She didn't care, she was only focused on her enemies and the flowing dark addictive elemental energy within her, she felt powerful, she felt like she could wipe all of these creatures with a blink of her ominously flickering eye. The bugs will pay for everything they have done to her, she will rip them apart and she will do that with a broad grin on her snout.

Her arrogance led her to wiping out one of the portion of the swarm by paralyzing the creatures with her Siren Scream. The remaining swarm was about to reach her, but Cynder wasn't bothered by such trifles. The black dragoness instantly began channeling her Wind element and as she did so she jumped into the air. Her bones and veins were momentarily filled with whizzing air, making her light as a feather. She pressed her wings to her sides and began to spun around, kept in air by a magical force.

A howling wind immediately filled the cavern, dust, loose rocks, living and dead bugs, everything that was close to her was sucked by the wind that now embraced the dragoness. She turned into a Reaper, and she accepted her fate with great pleasure, with her Twister ability channeled Cynder began to move through the cavern while spinning wildly and hovering slightly above the ground. As every Reaper she sowed destruction, and she enjoyed it.

Rocks, debris, living and dead bugs were being shot in every direction as the destructive tornado passed through the whole cavern. Those critters who were close enough to her were sucked by the wind just to be hurled at the walls moments later, those bugs who found themselves exactly in the middle of the tornado were torn apart in seconds in display of flying gore, husks and greenish blood.

Die you horrible monsters for everything you've done to me, die you horrible monsters for everything you've done to my friends. Die because I want you dead, die you pitiful worms because you make me sick.

DIE!

A greenish blood splattered across her snout, Cynder licked her mouth and swallowed the blood down, it was delicious. She began laughing, together with the masculine voice inside her head, the greenish liquid still visible on her razor sharp white teeth.

* * *

Spyro pushed away from the big bug him and Flare were fighting and turned around, somewhat startled by the intensity of the howling chilly wind. He spotted his friend spinning wildly, hurling everything that stood in her path in every possible direction, by the looks of it she puts more energy into it than its actually needed.

He knew Cynder for her fighter's spirit and vengeful attitude when someone will provoke her, seeing as one of these bugs wounded her he wasn't surprised to see her in such condition. He was surprised by the fact that the dragoness seems to take pleasure from slaughtering her foes. Maybe he is just overreacting, after all she has all the right to make the bugs pay for everything, yet no matter how hard he tried to convince himself he just couldn't shake off the feeling of misgiving. He only saw his friend enjoying such a killing spree when…

The whole cavern shook ruining Spyro's train of thought, he directed his light up and saw dust and some stones falling from the ceiling above. The manweersmall warned them about the risk of a cave-in if they try using any earth-shaking abilities, and an artificial tornado inside a mine surely counts as one. However they didn't really have a choice, besides they are not the only ones behind weakening the mine's foundation. The heavy steps and huge pincers slamming against the walls have to leave a mark, yet the cave holds, it seems the mine's foundations are more solid than the manweersmall gave them credit for. It would probably require something extremely big to slam against the cave's walls to actually send down the ceiling on their heads.

Speaking of earth-shaking abilities, from the dark came several blood freezing shrieking roars, in this chaos it was difficult to pinpoint from where exactly the roars came from, but Spyro was certain that it wasn't just an illusion, the shaking ground confirmed this, more of those big beasts are running towards them, ready to join the fight.

Spyro turned towards his opponent, better to take the bug down before the rest of them arrives. However it wasn't the monster that actually caught his attention but the dragon who was fighting with it. He saw Flare dodging under a swinging pincer, moments later the drake pushed away from the bug and stretched in the air, his fiery wings began to burn with more intensity. The growling dragon pushed his burning wings backwards as far as he could just to move them forcefully forward.

Spyro's eyes widened when he noticed that something was actually released from his wings. Two burning edged forms that looked like the sharp ends of a razor blade were sent flying directly at the bug. When they hit the creature the bug shrieked in agony as two extremely bad scorch marks appeared on its chitin husk, even from here Spyro could feel the stench of burning flesh.

Flare repeated his attack two more times, before his tongue lolled out, whatever he did seemed to tire him greatly. Just like Cynder down below Flare also put more energy into the attack that was actually needed, tearing through the bug's solid armor in a single strike was impressive but so reckless, there are more of these creatures out there and using almost all of the elemental energy just to kill one bug is just stupid. Now he will have to survive long enough for it to recover so he can use that trick again.

Spyro remembered Ignitus' fire trainings, how he spent days and months teaching him how to control fire, even if he isn't a dragon who has a natural connection with the element Spyro had troubles keeping a cool head during battle. It has to be even harder for Flare, he is a fire dragon after, a strange one, but still a fire dragon. If he would learn how to control that impulsiveness he would be a very powerful dragon one day.

Spyro's natural curiosity has awakened, he was intrigued by his new companion's abilities, he never seen a fire dragon doing such a thing before. In that moment he realized how unique Flare is, maybe that's why the purple dragons from his time, if they were any, kept a close eye on him. Whatever the case may be one thing was certain, there is much more to Fire than he thought. He could only wonder what else Flare can do.

The bug shrieked again, yet his time it managed to block the attack with its pincers, only one razor managed to find its mark. The beast tried to protect its sensitive spot, and it accomplished its goal but at the cost of one of its arms, it was completely fried, the arm looked like a dark coal. However the creature kept standing, Spyro wasn't really surprised by its resilience, yet even that won't help it.

He channeled his Earth Missile ability, a green ball of energy formed itself on Spyro's mouth, the moment it was released the ball exploded into four miniature earth missiles. The bug didn't expect it, what was previously hard to penetrate by using any kind of attack, now was completely fragile. The scorch mark on the creature's chest made it's armor extremely fragile, the missiles went through it like knifes through butter. The bug's shrieking ended abruptly, whatever vital organs it had were now most likely destroyed by the earth projectiles.

The combined effort of the two dragons sent the creature down, when it crashed with the ground with a rumbling sound it squashed some of the little bugs.

A shrieking roar, a very close roar.

Spyro's instinct kicked in instantly, in moment's notice he channeled his Earth element, a giant swirling bomb and a slight glowing green chain appeared from his mouth. Spyro instantly spun around in the air, the green chain extended itself, straightening the connection with the bomb at its end. The moment the dragon turned around the bomb hit a huge pincer that was about to crash the purple drake.

There was a roar of pain when the swirling bomb threw the pincer away creating cracks on its surface, greenish blood started to leak through them. Spyro noticed a second pincer heading his way, this time however he doesn't have the time to strike it with the Earth Flail, the impact threw him away also. He ended his concentration abruptly and dashed towards the creature's wounded pincer.

There was a shrill whizz of air when the second arm of the bug cut through the air, Spyro sunk his claws into the creature's wounded pincer, exactly where the cracks were to get a good grip of it. The beast tried to shake the annoying dragon off but its efforts were futile. Spyro awakened his Electricity power, a cracking orb of energy appeared around the purple dragon, sending shock pulses through the creature's arm.

It didn't wound it but it was enough to freeze the arm in place, Spyro without wasting any more time began to ascend the arm with the orb still around him, he had to really put some strength into his steps to be able to penetrate the beast's husk with his claws. Just when he was about to reach the bug's shoulder the monster opened its gaping maw, seeing that it tries to suck him in Spyro momentarily leapt from the bug's arm to the side while spreading his wings and channeling another Electrical attack.

When he turned to look at the monster, Spyro released an Electrical Orb directly inside the bug's opened mouth, the stupid creature swallowed it whole. Spyro to quickly get away sunk the claws on his front legs into the creature's raised second arm, with the claws in place Spyro made a swing, let go off the arm and shot into the air right behind it just like a skilful acrobat would do by using a straight pole attached to a wall.

The speed he gained through that move allowed him to push away from the creature's quickly. As he turned around he noticed the bug making a step towards him, but then he heard a blast, like something would explode in a tightly closed container. The bug froze in place, a yellowish light shot from its mouth followed by some electric pulses, seconds later the creature's legs bent under it and it came crashing down onto the ground. Whatever vital organs it had, they were unable to withstand such strong electrical shock.

* * *

" Nice" Flared huffed in sincere awe as his eyes like saucers observed the crashing bug

Nice? You think that's nice? It was just a pure display of a weakling dominating over an ever weaker worm. You can do so much better, you will warm up on those pathetic disgusting creatures before the main event of today's carnage. You will show what true power is, you will create a moment he won't forget, a moment which he will see for the last time, a last glimpse of reality before you rip the worm of its pitiful life.

There is so much shrieking, there are many of them out there and I'm tired, I need a moment to recover. I won't be able to help, I need my energy. I need some time. Flare's white light revealed two more of the big monsters charging him, they are closing in very quickly. There is no time.

Help? You do not help, as well as you don't need rest, you are strong, there is more energy within you than you can feel. A moment is needed, a second and you will feel that power, a moment and they will be destroyed, every-single-one of them.

But-

There is no buts about it, this is who you are, you don't want to change it, you cannot change it, it's all you. Simple? Of course it's simple, this is your nature, now it's time to demonstrate to those worms what a REAL dragon can do.

Let me show you.

The exhaustion was suddenly gone, Flare could feel tremendous elemental energy flowing through him, it was so vile, so powerful and so destructive that a long time ago part of him wondered how he is able to withstand it, no creature should wield so much power. Now it didn't matter, today the cautious voice was no longer present, everything that mattered now was to take advantage of this energy and make the best use of it. Today is the perfect opportunity to do so.

Shrieking roars shook the cavern, yet it didn't bother the red dragon. Flare narrowed his gaze on the approaching monsters, two tiny flames flickered inside his eyes. He roared and started to fly headlong at one of the charging creatures while the fiery parts on his body spitted out intense red flames. As he moved forward, his burning wings left a tongue of fire behind him. If a complete random person would be in this cavern and look up he would say that a meteorite has just entered the atmosphere through an invisible crack in the ceiling.

As Flare pushed forward he noticed the purple dragon backing away while covering his squinted eyes behind his paw as if protecting himself from the sun's rays. For a moment the cave was illuminated with a bright red light, all of his amazed companions impulsively looked around the cavern taking mental notes about the number of defenders. Flare didn't bother however, they will all be destroyed anyway.

The bug stopped and adopted an intimidating pose while emitting a roar that clearly meant that it is not to trifled with. Flare didn't care, as he was closing in at the creature the drake pressed his wings to his sides, rolled into a ball and began to spin while heading directly at the bug, with the burning flames tightly embracing him. He looked like some sort of a fire projectile released from a catapult.

The bug prepared to crush the arrogant lizard, its pincer was already ready to deal the deadly blow, however it didn't go as the bug planned. The moment the drake turned into a ball he suddenly appeared near it, the flaming ball cut through air so quickly like it was blown by an invisible strong gust of wind.

The bug didn't even manage to swing its pincer as the flaming ball collided with its chest. The monster's shrieking was ended abruptly when the ball hit it and exploded in a display of shooting flames, when the fire died down slightly a charred hole appeared in the middle of the beast's chest. The bug's arms fell limply forward, its body followed soon after, as the creature's lifeless body fell forward, right behind it a flaming dragon raised in the air triumphantly.

Flare spotted the second bug, with a roar he began to once again fly directly at it, yet this time the flames that surrounded him were not so intense. The bug turned towards him and let out a furious roar before renewing its charge. This time however Flare didn't curl into a ball but kept flying directly at the advancing monster. When the creature was about to reach the drake in three or four more steps the dragon suddenly dashed to the side.

Spyro's eyes widened when that happened, he thought that Flare was making a dodge, but in fact he did something he never seen anyone doing in his life. When the red dragon darted to the side, a flaming shape appeared in his place. It was completely burning, resembling Flare's flying silhouette and it was headed directly at the charging bug.

The creature swung its pincer at the burning form, but instead of hearing its painful scream the creature only heard its own agonizing shriek. When the pincer hit the burning silhouette it passed right through it like through some extremely sharp blade, the pincer was cut in half, yet no blood erupted from the wounds as the intense heat emanating from the burning shape stopped the bleeding momentarily.

Seconds later the flaming from passed right through the bug's torso, just to appear behind it and explode, shooting flames everywhere. The bug froze in place, just like somebody would stop its movement by pressing the appropriate button on a remote controller. Then a barely noticeable green line started to appear through the beast's torso, moments later the bug's legs bent slightly, arching its body in a very unnatural angle. It was then when the upper part of the creature's body slid down towards the ground, while the lower part kept standing still for a while before the lifeless legs could no longer hold it. The flaming shape severed the creature in half, just as previously there was no blood, but the sight was still disgusting.

Flare didn't cherish his victory, he instantly raised vertically in the air, just when he was about to reach the ceiling he made a backflip. With his head directed at the ground he pressed his wings to his sides and began falling down, very quickly. Some seconds later he curled into a ball again, the flames that surrounded him once again roared with great intensity.

After some minutes there was an audible smack when the flaming ball hit the ground, for a moment there was silence. But then the cave began to shake, the ground crack around the place where Flare collided with it and then there was a roar. Walls of fire shot from the impact zone in every possible direction, the deadly obstacles ran along the ground, frying everything that was on their path.

* * *

Cynder blinked, something was different, the air that howled around her spinning body was no longer chilly, the air around her became warm, even quite hot at some point. It was already hard to breathe in this mine but now with the warm air it was almost like choking, she had to stop her attack.

Her spinning vision slowly started to calm itself, to her surprise she heard some very audible agonizing hissing noises and surprisingly the sound of cracking fire. She quickly turned around, the surprising heat seemed to come also from the direction of the odd sounds.

Cynder gasped when she noticed the whole tunnel behind her illuminated by a very bright light, yet it wasn't what really shocked her. She saw four fire walls running through the tunnel in all possible directions, what of those walls was heading directly at her, for a moment she felt pity for all those little bugs that kept running trying to avoid the deadly fire.

The bugs seem to have some survival instinct, since those critters which survived her deadly twister weren't really inclined toward a quick revenge, seeing most likely that it would end with their death one way or the other. Instead of attacking the bugs that were hidden behind the dragoness' body decided to scatter, just to not end up fried by the hot wall.

Everything around her ran in every possible direction, hid in shadows, holes, anywhere but to be far away from the incoming blazing obstacle. Cynder on the other paw, started to run directly at the incoming wall, the escaping bugs didn't even care about the running dragoness, they ignored her like she was just a simple moving rock in their way.

With each step she made the air began to feel more dry, and the sensation of heat intensified, she had no idea how hot the fire wall actually is, but seeing that she had to squint just to be able to look at it meant that its temperature was quite high. A contact with it most likely meant a very quick and fiery relationship which would burn out even faster than it started.

Soon a very unnatural shadow was slightly growing under her tail, also a barely noticeable dark smoke, which at close inspection turned out to be a tiny swirling shadow began to emanate from the back of her upper thighs like some kind of dark mist. Just when Cynder was about to reach the flaming wall, a sudden pulse of gloomy energy shot through her body, the swirling shade blasted into the air from the back of her upper thighs like smoke from a recently fired cannon. The shadow underneath her grew momentarily to match the size of her body, just to suck her in moments later.

However the shadow kept moving towards the fire wall like she would still be running. The blazing obstacle passed right along the unnatural shadow leaving in its wake the sound of cracking flames. Seconds later, Cynder jumped out from it, the shadow disappeared. She turned around, a breath of relief escaped her throat as the heat was slowly vanishing with the fire wall drifting away.

For all the hate and misfortune her corruption brought her she was thankful for one thing- her powers. Even in her shadow form she could feel just how hot the wall was, if she wouldn't be able to sink into the ground and appear just behind the fiery obstacle she wouldn't be most likely able to avoid this wall. Just like the many small bugs hissing somewhere behind it right now.

Unleashing such a devastating attack while your companions are nearby is plain stupid, someone doesn't know what teamwork means. She turned around once more, and saw a fiery drake rising in the air, she didn't have to lay eye on him to know that Spyro would never do it, when this is over she will need to have a serious talk with Flare. Just like that. She wasn't even shocked by his unusual display of power, one who Is labeled a killer must have some unique skills nobody believed existed, she knows it from experience.

The fiery havoc lasted for maybe a minute or two, leaving burn marks on her scales and swarms of fried bodies in its wake. Yet even if the cave was filled currently with piles of burn husks the bugs were far from defeated, especially the big ones.

There was a roar she was so accustomed by now, and her light revealed a flying pincer from above directly at her. Cynder with her natural agility made a backflip, the huge arm hit the ground, cracking it at the impact and sending small stones flying in the air that cut her scales. The dragoness landed gracefully on her paws, and had to make another flip but this this time forward as the bug swung its pincer dragging it along the charred ground with a rumbling sound.

By that time her Phantom Fright ability was already ready, four ghastly orbs surrounded the raising pincer which later exploded with a strong concussive force. The bug staggered when its arm was forcefully thrown away with tremendous strength. The creature roared as if trying to voice its displeasure from this whole situation.

Hissing sound joined the roar as the still living small critters arrived at the scene. The noise seemed to be less intense than before, it turned out that the fire wall effectively thinned the bugs numbers. Cynder seeing what's happening remained on the ground on purpose, provoking the small creatures to attack her while she kept acrobatically avoiding the towering bug's attacks.

Soon her white light revealed that the small creatures were about to reach her, judging from the noise they were approaching from all sides. After another dodge, Cynder made two quick backflips and found herself a safe distance from the big creature but landed directly in the middle of the charging small bugs.

Yet her landing threw the bugs away, it gave her enough time to put her plan in motion. Cynder spun around and let out her shadow breath. It didn't suffocate her foes, just like she expected, the creatures are living inside a volcano after all, they must have a natural resistance to such choking smokes. There was a part of her that hoped that her Shadow Fire would do the trick, but her faith was futile.

The dragoness wasn't worried about that however, she demanded something else from her attack and her breath listened to her demand. Both her shadow attacks leave the same effect, portions of the shadow magic linger in the air coating the enemy's eyes, confusing them into attacking their own allies.

This is precisely what happened to the bugs, small clouds of shadowy smoke filled their even smaller eyes. The hissing intensified even harder when all of the small critters pounced at their opponent, and it wasn't the dragoness. Cynder just stood still observing closely the freshly brewed situation.

Agonizing and furious hissing, clamping of pincers, clanging of claws, all these sounds echoed throughout the mine with great intensity as bug fought with bug. The creatures didn't even realize that they were decimating their own numbers, yet this was only a happy turn of events, she used her power for another purpose and she has achieved it.

The big creature roared furiously as some of the smaller critters began to nip at its legs or climb up its limbs to close their pincer on more sensitive spots. The towering beast kept swaying its arms and stomping with its legs chaotically, throwing away the critters on top of it or smashing the ones that surrounded it. Yet no matter what it did the bugs just kept coming.

The big creature fought valiantly but in the end it had to acknowledge the superiority of its smaller, not so long ago, allies. Cynder had to jump away to avoid being crushed by the massive falling body, when it collapsed the entire mine shook and when dust shot in the air time seemed to freeze for a moment. It was hard to say if her spell worn out or the sudden realization of their deed made the bugs snap out from the confusion, when the bugs spotted the hunkered black dragoness they immediately attacked her. Cynder was expecting it, but this time she decided to rely on her claws, and save her elemental energy for later.

* * *

When another one of the big bugs fell Spyro realized that the battle is turning into their favor, he just needs to get rid of another of the incoming hulking monsters and then they will finally push through the first tunnel, and somewhere beyond it, their destination called to them.

Cynder's arrogant stance in the fight effectively thinned the swarm on the ground, she even managed to fall some of the bigger monsters and she did it all by herself, mostly, not counting Flare's reckless area attacks. He never seen her fighting with such a vigor before, it was like something put more strength into her attacks, she acted like killing is done with ease. Her offensive posture was effective he couldn't deny that, but he still felt that cold touch of worry poking at his heart whenever he looked at her blood covered body.

His purple form wasn't in better shape either, red and green patches of blood dotted his entire body like black ringlets cover cheetahs furs, even if at first glance it seemed that there were lots of red blood patches on his body, in fact his wounds weren't that severe ,it were only minor deep cuts, and that is thanks to teamwork…with Flare.

Spyro couldn't shake off his amazement when suddenly they started to work together, falling bug by bug in a display of true and powerful draconic capabilities. He had no idea it the fire drake was helping him on purpose or it was just mere luck that they targeted the same enemy but it seemed to work. Yet whenever Spyro yelled to get Flare's attention the red dragon just kept attacking as if ignoring him, or not acknowledging his presence at all, as if he fell in some kind of blood rage. It seemed like he was the only one who kept a cool head during this onslaught which he would rather avoid, these creatures might be feral but they still deserve to live. It pained him greatly to see that his paws are tied and he can't do anything to prevent the slaughter, and every new bug, as the one which now appeared before him, proved that this fight will only end when one side is completely wiped out. Sadly.

The creature roared angrily, expecting an attack from above. This constant fighting showed the bugs are actually intelligent, they learnt something from their slain kin, they adopted to the situation, forcing the dragons to try different approaches every time they attacked. This bug in front of him was especially prepared to fend off probably every airborne attack, that's why Spyro with his fighter's instinct dropped to the ground.

In a moment's notice burning possessive energy embraced his body, he lowered his head directing his gold horn at the bug's let leg and charged. Comet Dash was activated, tongues of flame surrounded him, the burning force coming from his horns served like some kind of unnatural gust of wind, forcing the dragon's paw to run at extreme speed.

The bug didn't manage to react when the fiery from struck its leg, Spyro's ignited horns melted the chitin husk and went deep, the dragon could hear the crashing of a bone. The bug's leg cracked unnaturally below its knee just like a match, shrieking in agony it supported its painful healthy leg on its massive pincers.

When Spyro withdrew from the crouched bug there was an intense flash of red from above, Flare with an eruption of flame cut through the air, he looked like a fast moving comet which was headed directly at the left side of the creature's head, for a brief moment Spyro could notice the drake's horns, they were burning like some kind of devil's horns and his burning mane only added to the overall image of incoming destruction.

Flames shot everywhere when Flare made contact with the beast's head, Spyro shivered when he heard the audible sound of something very important fracturing. Charred chunks of the bug's natural armor, green blood and burned flesh flew everywhere like rocks after something really heavy would be dropped to the ground from a very high building. Flare pulled out and the bug's lifeless body dropped to the ground, greenish blood momentarily covered the ground, flowing in streams from the hole in its head.

Spyro took to the air, no matter how many fights he fought he will probably never get used to the sight of slaughter, especially when they are the ones behind it. He understood perfectly that death is a part of every fight, and where is Death there are bodies but even in situation like this there has to be a line somewhere, there has to be respect for your opponent, even the most hated one. You don't strike someone with more force than its needed, even in ending someone's life there has to be some measures, and it seems that his two draconic companions seemed to forget about that. So much blood and for what? For pure pleasure of displaying your dominance?

It is sickening.

Two more bugs appeared in his way, but Spyro decided to slip through them, Cynder and Flare can handle the situation, with much ease it seems. The bugs adopted a defensive posture as the flying dragon approached them, they prepared to strike, but before the creatures could swing their arms shrieks of shock filled the cavern when the dragon flew just past them.

Later when he pushed into that darkness, he could see a flash of red light, he didn't turn his head, the triumphant roar was enough for him to understood what has transpired. Spyro spotted an edge of a rocky wall, just past it another cavern starts and somewhere deeper their destination lies. Spyro narrowed his gaze, It's time to close this book finally.

The tingle intensified, in that moment he knew he was closing in on his destination, the edge of the wall was nearly there, one flap of wings, second, third… he is in. When that happened Spyro's eyes shot wide open when he spotted a big pincer appearing from behind the wall with its claws already ready to welcome the surprised embrace.

The damn bug had ambushed him, he never expected it and now he is going to pay for it, yet then something he forgot about happened. A strong dull pulse sounding like a single beat of a huge heart cut through the mine. The shockwave was so strong and so unexpected that it flung the surprised dragon directly at the wall.

Spyro didn't even feel the pain as the sharp rocks pierced his scales, the sight of a sharp pincer passing just mere inches from his flank was enough to kill all that pain momentarily. The big bug roared after realizing that its plan failed, Spyro pushed from the wall, but then another strong pulse pushed him towards it again with an audible slam.

With a corner of his eye he noticed the bug swinging its extended pincer sideways, ready to swat him just like some kind of a purple fly. Spyro was unable to recover from the strong shockwave, his body didn't adjusted itself to the magical pressure, he instead raised his head and released an Electric Orb directly at the wall just into the upper left part above his horns.

The orb exploded, it created a shockwave of its own that shot the purple drake towards the ground at a sharp angle. Spyro groaned as the electric pulses of his own attack shook his body, the electric shock paralyzed his limbs to a point where he no longer cared about the huge pincer slamming into the wall just above him.

Just when he thought that he will crash into the ground another side pulse struck him and flung him at the wall once more. All of his waking muscles cried in agony.

" Come on, not now" Spyro hissed " Control it dammit!" he urged himself

This time the huge creature flung its opened pincer vertically at the drake, running it alongside the wall. Seeing what is happening Spyro pushed from the wall again. Another pulse, another collision, but this time it wasn't such a strong one, focusing on the tremors running through his bones Spyro managed to prepare some of his muscles for the unnatural strain.

When he tried to push once again, trying to avoid the incoming pincer a strong gust of wind cut the air, if not for the artificial hand holding him he would have to fight in the air to keep his balance. The waft was so powerful that it managed to stagger the bug, then from the darkness a black dragoness emerged and attacked the bug, soon after a fiery drake arrived.

The screams and the roaring didn't bother him in the slightest, he was only focused to get himself unglue from this wall. With difficulty he pushed away, another pulse, but this time it only shook his body. Another shock tried to get him but this time his body was more than prepared for it, instead of feeling like a solid blow from a muscular drake the pulse felt like a delicate caress of a feather. There is no stopping him now.

The battle kept on going as he pushed forward ignoring every bug that threw itself at him, leaving all of the bugs that attacked them at the mercy of his bloodthirsty companions. With each flap of his wings the tingle grew more intense, excitement and surprise together with it. The reason behind his excitement was the fact the soon this is going to end and for the first time in his life he will see a true time portal cracking with energy.

He was surprised for an entire different reason, he was closing on his goal, tunnel after tunnel, he expected them to be filled with the yellowish bugs, both small and big. But it turned out that either they are hiding from him preparing another unexpected assault or there is only just a scarce portion of them left. There were some bugs here that tried to attack him but there were only small groups of them. In that moment he realized that perhaps most of the colony lies dead behind him, it almost felt like genocide to him even if he knew that the creatures are not a part of the current world it still filled him with even greater disgust.

After some time he spotted it, he didn't have to rely on his almost paralyzing tingle to realize that, in the distance he could see the wall glowing with an eerie bluish light. Just one more turn and he will be there, one more turn, just around that corner and he will be…

…disappointed. Spyro froze in the air, the whole excitement gone instantly, he had spotted the portal and it was…lousy to say the least. In the middle of the tunnel, on the ground just few inches from the wall there was a swirling mist with a glowing blue frame around it, he had no doubt, it was one of the Veils, but it wasn't what he expected!

The strong pulses that ravaged his body made him imagine the portal like some giant tunnel to an another universe, cracking with different colorful sparks, shaking and weakening the walls around it, emitting such a powerful sound that it would sizzle any sound sensor. He imagined the portal to something truly awe inspiring not some…some… barely visible steam emitting an even barely hearable hum that sounded like a lazy moaning. With a discontent sigh Spyro made his way towards the portal.

* * *

Flare dropped another bug with a triumphant roar, the stench of its charred body fueled his rage. Weakling all of them, and as every weakling they met only one fate that is meant for them- death. Yet this was just a warm- up, this was a foreplay before the main act which will only end with a single satisfying roar. His yellow eyes flickered when he spotted a black tail disappearing into the glowing tunnel. The dragon smirked it, he will make a last run around the mine just as he was told to do, roleplaying is sometimes a part of the main act also. He can go for that, but after it, it is time for a really rough game.

* * *

" This is it? Sparx asked not hiding his disappointment while he hovered next to his brother staring at the portal

Spyro sighed " Yep this is the Veil"

" I can't believe it, all this trouble for a trapped fart?"

" Yeah…" the dragon muttered, he wouldn't use exactly those words to describe the portal but it's as good comparison as any probably.

Sparx extended his finger towards the mist, but when he was about to reach it he curled his forefinger and withdrew it quickly with a snort of disgust.

" Can't you do something with it?"

" Like what?"

" I don't know, you are all the powerful dragon here. Inhale it or something"

" Gosh Sparx!" Spyro exclaimed wincing in abhorrence, his brother's comparison clearly ringing inside his head, waking up his imagination…

" …shut up!" the drake finished his sentence and shook his head to get rid of the horrible image

The dragonfly shrugged " What? I'm only trying to help. Try it maybe it's not so bad, I bet it smells like roses…"

" Seriously Sparx, cut it out!"

The dragonfly rolled his eyes " Whatever Princess"

" Sup bitches!" Cynder exclaimed in a childish tone and pushed herself in between the two brothers " We rocked that party didn't we?" she threw quick glances between the two brothers.

" Hey Cyn. Take a sniff" the dragonfly said casually

" Sparx!" Spyro admonished his brother before he cut his stern gaze at the dragoness next to him, for the first time after that turmoil inside his head he didn't feel nervous around her " Enjoyed yourself back there?" he asked firmly

The dragoness turned around and narrowed her gaze on her purple friend " What's with that tone?" she asked irritated, the playful tone gone from her voice

Sparx threw his arms " Guys! Not now! Can't you see what an important discovery this thing in front of us is!?"

Cynder with a snort turned towards the portal and cocked her head " That's it? it looks like a trapped-"

" Don't finish" Spyro cut her off

The dragoness craned her neck forward and examined the veil from up close, the blue shimmering light bouncing off her snout " You sure this is what we are looking for?"

The purple dragon didn't say a thing, he just raised his paw, it was shaking.

She threw a quick glance at his raised foreleg " Ok then" her head returned to its natural pose " What now?"

Spyro sighed, his eyes never leaving the portal ahead, they are so close and he just sits here and does nothing.

" I have absolutely no idea"

" Remember the portal where we found Flare? Why this one looks different? Any ideas?" she looked her two male companions

" No clue" both brothers replied

The three of them stared at the portal until Cynder clicker her claws on the ground " Maybe it works like the ones in Warfang, just ran your paw through it, we'll see what happens then"

Spyro nodded, realizing that this was an excellent idea, he extended his paw but he only raised it in front of his snout before halting its advance, the disgusting thoughts once again returned " I… I don't think it's going to work"

Sparx shook his head " Dude, just imagine it's a steam, you know, like from hot water"

The purple dragon wriggled his shoulders as if cold chill ran through his body " It's only steam…" his paw moved forward " It's only steam" once again, the purple foreleg moved forward

"… a very hot and stinky steam… coming from an a-"

Hearing his brother's words his imagination renewed its work, Spyro withdrew his paw immediately " I won't do it!"

Sparx laughed " Come on, bro I was kidding"

" No!"

Cynder rolled her eyes and grabbed Spyro's paw soon after, the purple dragon only manage to emit a stifled gasp of surprise before his paw found itself in the mist. Realizing that it wasn't smelly or anything like that, Spyro more relaxed this time began to sway his extended foreleg back and forth, ripping the mist but nothing else than that. He withdrew his paw.

" What are the chances that it's broken?" Spyro asked, just for the sake of asking

" Probably as high as Sparx' IQ" Cynder said casually

Sparx let out a faked laugh before ending it abruptly " Funny"

* * *

Flare landed quite a safe distance behind the group, so they wouldn't hear him, with a quick glimpse on his heated claws he began to approach the purple dragon.

* * *

Cynder kept scratching her choker thoughtfully as she tried to come up with an idea. Moments later the scratching stopped " Hey listen, remember when you said something about the apes appearing and vanishing suddenly back in the forest?

Spyros head kept bouncing slightly up and down ash he traveled back in time to that very moment, realizing already what she is trying to say " You think there was a portal there somewhere?"

" Why not? It fits, something appeared that shouldn't be there. You sensed it, that's a confirmed fact, you can do that."

" But if there was a portal there, why I didn't see it?"

" Maybe it was hidden? Who knows what makes those thing tick, they can pop anywhere for all we know. Now focus and relive those moments again, maybe you opened it but don't realize it"

Spyro followed, his friend's advice, he could feel the gnawing anxiety from that time, the thick darkness covering the forest, that strange tingle. He almost remember his every step, he following that tingle like some sort of a luring call, he only stopped when…when

" The bush!"

* * *

Flare froze at hearing the unexpected outburst, he was just mere meters from his goal, he can't fail now, the element of surprise is everything. They don't see him, they all stare at that strange mist, and he prefers to stay invisible until he strikes.

* * *

Both of his friends looked at the purple drake curiously.

Spyro turned towards them with excited eyes " I remember! There was that bush there, it looked like something was moving there, so I hid and waited for it to appear. I waited and waited but that thing just didn't want to come out, but it had to be still there since the twigs were rustling all the time. There had to be a portal there!"

Cynder nodded thoughtfully " Ok… let's assume it looked like this one. What did you do next?"

" As I said I waited and waited, but whoever was there didn't want to come out. So thinking that someone is taunting me I tried to ignore that person but eventually I got provoked and jumped into the bushes. I had to do it, I so desperately needed to get…"

The purple drake narrowed his gaze on the portal "…to get in there" he muttered and instinctively extended his paw towards the mist

* * *

Flare already sneaked behind the purple dragon, nobody could see him, they were all enthralled by the portal. His paw already was in the air, one swing of his hot claws and the game begins, gentle at first but then all that rough fun starts. There was a sudden blue blinding flash that startled him and forced his muscles to flex.

When the red dragon opened his eyes something was different. His eyes immediately traveled to the place where the mist once was, the steam was now replaced by a big portal in the shape of a zero with a bluish frame. There was a single image presented by the portal, it looked so realistic that Flare felt like he was staring into a mirror reflecting a completely other world, it was like a window to an another place.

In that mirror he saw a dark cave, just like this one, it was coated in a delicate colorful light coming from the many different strangely looking stones inserted into the walls. It was wide, high, HUGE is an appropriate way to describe it. It was mostly empty, if not for one shape, he narrowed his eyes, it looked like…

Oh no

" T-t-t-that's a b-b-b-bug" Flare stammered

The three companions acted like they never heard him, which was most likely true since they didn't even notice his natural red light ceasing its illumination, they were all staring at the portal with wide eyes. Spyro's extended paw froze in midair.

All of them were staring at the moving shape, a slithering shape to be more precise. The creature behind that window was nothing more than a brownish worm, it was massive, it looked so fat, it was surprising to see it moving in the first place. Yet it did move, and with great dexterity in fact, its massive body coiled and uncoiled itself like some sort of spring. Eventually it turned towards them, they could see the creature's gaping round mouth opening, sets of razor thick teeth danced inside it, its mouth was slightly bigger than the maw of the big bugs. They could see the beast sucking bits of loose rocks as it emitted a deaf roar.

" Wow" Sparx huffed " Now that's one ugly worm." The dragonfly craned his neck forward " If you look closely you can see similarity to Cynder" he straightened back again " At least now we know from where you got your looks from"

Cynder observed the growing form of the worm intently " Shhh, or someone might hear it"

The dragonfly smirked and concentrated on the portal again, his smile slowly began to vanish as he found that the shape of the worm was getting bigger and bigger with each second

" It can't see us right?" We are the only ones who can see its private parts?"

Spyro shrugged " I guess" he muttered uncertainty

Sparx shook his forefinger " Now, now Bro" he admonished him with a facetious tone" That was not what I wanted to hear, I don't want to listen to uncertainty, I want to hear confidence. I want you to say that you are completely sure that it can't see us and its slithering precisely in our direction is pure coincidence"

" M…maybe their portal is closed, just like ours previously and there is something just standing there which it likes to eat…"

The dragonfly snapped his fingers with a smack of his lips " _Eat_ is not a very assuring word right now" he kept his facetious tone of voice on " Confidence Bro, confidence"

Cynder observed the growing image, she could spot dirt shooting from the walls as the worm's massive body accidently slithered alongside the walls " What makes you think that it's closed? The bugs got here somehow"

Sparx pointed an accusing finger at the dragoness " Now that is what I didn't want to hear!" he exclaimed, fear clearly hearable in his voice right now

" I don't know the rules of this game Cynder" Spyro replied, swallowing a lump of anxiety stuck in his throat

The could see the worm parting its maw again to emit another roar, strangely when that happened the portal seemed to hum a little louder than before, drawing the attention of the three of them instantly.

" Close it" Cynder ordered when her green eyes returned to the image of the worm, it was bigger with every second. A familiar chilly sensation ran through her spine, fear.

Swallowing hard Spyro extended his paw, not really knowing what to do, he gasped when his claws sunk into the portal like into some kind of tingling water.

The worm from the mirror hit accidently one of the walls with the back part of its massive body, the walls coughed up dust. The whole portal flickered.

" Right. Now." Cynder ordered again, emphasising the words as best as she could

Spyro's eyes kept jumping between the slithering worm and the frame of the portal, he strained his muscles, frown of concentration covered his snout. Nothing seemed to happen.

" Spyro…."

His pupils kept shaking, worm, frame, worm, frame. He began to sweat, his heart began to race. Another deaf roar, the portal hummed louder. Worm, frame, worm.

Dear Ancestors it's so close.

Frame, worm, frame. He groaned in effort, his whole body began to shake.

Worm, frame, worm.

" I can't do it!" he emitted a squeaky yell, as a frustrated child close to crying and dropped his paw.

" Focus!" she barked at him

With another groan of effort he pushed his paw forward, his whole body strained automatically. His mind traveled back to the forest, to the fight with the apes, to the moment where he had sincerely enough.

_Oh how he wished he was back_

The creature roared, the portal hummed threateningly, his blood froze, his muscles relaxed.

" I can't!" Spyro yelled, letting out all the accumulated air in one single shout

" CLOSE IT DAMMIT!" Cynder roared

Her commanding roar shook his body, there was something strangely familiar to it, strangely scary, before he knew it his paw was already back into the portal. The worm hit another wall, the whole Veil flickered, Spyro shut his eyes and focused, sweat began dripping from his chin. His mind raced back to the fight with the apes, to that single thought.

_Oh how he wished he was back_

A tingle ran through his body, that seemed to connect every nerve inside his body, the portal began to ripple but this time the worm didn't cause this. He felt the power of Time coursing through him, he felt that strange energy. The portal hummed, he didn't care, not this time, when he is so close. He felt himself drowning into that tingle, like his whole body would be turning into a jagged shock pulse. He felt himself being pushed through some freshly made connections inside his body, he flew, and flew until he appeared in a big chamber with a gold heart in it, it was pulsing with life, yet there were parts of it covered with rust.

He was sent flying directly at the vital organ, when he struck it sparks of electricity covered it, the heart began to beat faster and faster as if waking up from deep slumber, the rust started to fall off, but then to his surprise it slowed down and eventually returned to its normal pace. In that moment he knew that he was too weak, too weak to remove the rust completely and release his full potential.

He felt himself slipping, a strange force was pulling him back through the freshly made connections, the chamber with the heart disappeared, the only thing he could see where some flashing images as he was being forcefully pulled back. With a loud gasp Spyro returned to reality, his eyes opened, the tingle was gone.

" Run" he found himself saying emotionlessly

This one almost depressed word was enough for the group, all three of them in complete unison dashed to the side while flapping with their wings forcefully. The portal hummed and hummed, until there was a blue flash and a terrifying roar filled the cavern, all of them looked behind their shoulders to see a huge massive and extremely fat worm jumping through the portal while snapping its gaping maw shut as if expecting to catch its prey. The creature leapt directly at the wall and collided with it, its roar wavered for a moment at the impact.

The whole cave began to shake violently, somewhere in the distance they could hear a loud rumbling sound and crashing of huge stones. There was an audible cracking noise as a huge cut split the ceiling above them, rocks kept falling down like solid raindrops. The cave was already weakened by their battle from earlier, the collision the worm caused tipped the scales, the mine gave up finally, the scenario the manweersmall warned them about is happening- a cave-in.

The worm didn't care, its roaring was renewed with deep guttural sound, the creature turned with surprising grace and began to slither towards the group, its body kept swaying like that of a snake while its mouth opened to enormous sizes, it was capable of swallowing the three of them all at once.

" TO THE HIDEOUT!" Spyro let out a terrified commanding roar and instantly flapped his wings with great strength, gaining speed instantly. Cynder and Sparx followed in his wake.

Their hiding place would be a perfect escape route, the caves there are small, there was no chance that the worm will fit there.

The worm kept roaring while it chased them, for such a big creature it was extremely fast, inch by inch it was gaining on them. The group however was fueled by breathtaking fear, it felt horrible but it pushed their bodies to their limits, there was no pain, no exhaustion, just sheer survival instinct. In other circumstances they would most likely lose the creature, but here it was difficult, the whole mine was shaking, it was dark, and to top this rocks kept falling everywhere.

After some time it got only worse, at some point they kept flapping their wings but they were hardly moving, Spyro looked around confused, he was pushing forward with all his might but everything he managed to do was to jerk slightly a few inches forward.

" it's sucking us in!" Cynder screamed from his left side

She was right, suddenly there was a powerful gust that seemed to wrap itself around their hind legs and pull them back, the dragons groaned and jerked, fighting with all their strength to not give to that force. They didn't move forward, but at least their powerful wings prevented them from falling completely into that beasts gaping maw, the creature was only pushing them towards it by mere inches. The jerking draconic forms in front of it weren't giving up that easily, but it will get them eventually.

However not everyone had the strength of the draconic wings. Sparx' eyes shot wide in horror when at some point he completely froze even if he was flapping his wings quickly, in that moment a cold finger touched his heart as he realized what is happening.

" HELP!" the dragonfly screamed at the top of his lungs as the powerful gust coming from the worm's mouth began to suck his spinning body in.

Cynder jerked her right forepaw and clenched her fist, but the spinning dragonfly slipped through her grasp. Spyro seeing what's happening with great effort swung his tail, his brother's body cut the air as a speeding arrow, yet driven by such a force that only siblings could understand he did the impossible, he wrapped his purple tail around the dragonflies' body and began to push forward with even greater intensity.

Spit shot from Sparx' mouth when the tail wrapped itself around him ungently stopping him in a very rough manner, yet he didn't care. He was saved and that was all that mattered, he patted the purple tail appraisingly. However the joy was gone when Sparx noticed that the worm was gaining on them and they are not moving, on the contrary, they are being pushed backwards.

" Do something guys!" Sparx yelled staring at the gaping maw with wide eyes

" Suck on this" the black dragoness hissed

Spyro's eyes went wide open " Cynder don't! You don't know if it's going to work!"

It was already too late, Cynder spread her wings to the sides and straightened up, the powerful gust dragged her backwards instantly, yet she remained in a still posture. A boiling green glob was pushed out of her mouth, which for a brief second remained hanging in the air. The moment she craned her body forward and her wings began to flap again, the glob shot backwards like a greenish cannonball, the dragoness had to duck her head to avoid the boiling projectile, yet a tiny drop of lethal venom fell on her head, there was only an audible hiss as it evaporated, one drop was too weak to hurt her.

The clueless worm crushed the glob in between its teeth, thinking that its some kind of tasty treat, the moment its sharp razors pierced the boiling ball streams of venom shot in every direction. The worm shrieked agonizingly, the sucking breath ceased, the dragons renewed their escape, yet the worm didn't stop. It only opened and closed its maw several times before emitting another guttural roar and started to slither after the dragons with even greater ferocity.

Spyro pushed with all his might, his muscles were filled with even more vigor as the trap that held them back was gone. Sparx however wasn't that much happy, he kept staring at the worm and now even at the shape of a black dragoness flapping her wings fervently in front of it. His heart skipped a beat when he noticed the creature was gaining on her.

" Bro do something! It's going to eat her!" Sparx shouted at the top of his lungs

Spyro impulsively looked behind his shoulder, his brother was right, her bravado caused her to lose the essential meters of advantage. If he won't do something this is the last time he will see his friend, he has to stop the worm, literally. He spun around, and began to hover in the air, he could see Cynder's green eyes growing in shock.

" Wha-"

Those were the only three letters coming from her he could understand, everything else was a dull echo. He once again awakened his previously dormant ability, he could feel his Time power sucking out his energy quickly, he definitely needs more practice to return to top shape, but for now it will have to do.

Spyro began channeling his elemental energy, but the moment the first surge of energy crossed his body he thought better of it. This thing is massive, there is no chance he can stop it with ordinary attacks by his own. He began to look around for a way out of this situation, in that moment his eyes were dragged to the ceiling and a wall connected to it. The shaking cavern made short work of the bonds that hold rocks together, only a delicate nudge is needed and they all will come going down, and the hideous worm was just below them. Spyro released two earth missiles and the loose rocks, there were only two loud crashing sounds as his projectiles were destroyed at the impact and nothing else, but he knew it was only a calm before a storm, and the fading Dragon Time energy from his body will soon arouse that storm.

There was a hollow whizz, everything started to return to its normal pace, Spyro could only hear a word of two coming from Cynder's mouth before the tunnel was filled with a deafening rumble. The rocks from the wall above gave up, they kept falling down in piles like some kind of small avalanche, the huge worm roared angrily when the piles of rocks landed on the lower part of its body, trapping the creature under their weight. The monster roaring furiously began to thrash viciously, it swirled from left to right chaotically like some kind of fat snake with its tail trapped.

Spyro grabbed Cynder's paw and pulled it behind him, dragging her confused eyes to look at him " Don't look, we need to get out of here!"

The dragoness followed her friend, after perhaps two flaps of their wings she froze in the air as strong realization hit her, filling her heart with extreme worry. In that moment she realized something was amiss

" Where is Flare?!" the dragoness exclaimed, guilt clearly palpable in her voice, she was the one who told him to scout out the tunnels one last time after all

Both foster brothers began to look around, only now realizing that their companion is missing. There was a rumbling sound accompanied by a struggling roar, they turned to look in its direction just to see the bug slowly pulling out free from its trap.

"Guys, it's breaking free!" Sparx yelled and pinched the purple tail nervously, to get the attention of his brother " Let's move!"

Spyro swallowed, even if he has some disagreements with the fiery drake they still managed to form a good team when Cynder was unconscious. The bug kept thrashing fiercely, Spyro realized that there was nothing they can do now for the red dragon, he could only hope that Flare in his panic will try to find his way to their hideout, with luck they will meet there.

" Come on Cynder, we can't stay here. You know how Flare reacts to worms, I'm sure he is in our hideout already"

The bug roared, some rocks rolled on the ground and its body pushed slightly forward, it was obvious that it will soon break free.

" Listen Cynder" Spyro kept going seeing her uncertainty " Flare can take care of himself, you've seen it that with your own eyes. For now there is nothing we can do for him, we need to take care of ourselves. We need to move, and we need to move now, the worm will soon pounce at us, if not it the falling rocks will finish us for sure if we are going to stay here. Let's go!"

The black dragoness threw an angry and guilty look at the worm, blaming it for all their misfortunes, when things started to finally look good it had to ruin everything. He hates being powerless.

" Fuck" she hissed sadly and reluctantly renewed her escape. Spyro followed suit.

Both draconic figures shot forward maneuvering effectively through the crumbling dark tunnels, before long a rumbling sound and a furious roar broke through the crumbling cacophony of noises, the worm broke free, much earlier than any of them wished.

" It's coming!" Sparx yelled horrified

They didn't really needed to hear him say it, both dragons already knew that, yet his words triggered another chilly shock shooting through their spines. Their made their way through tunnel after tunnel littered with the bugs corpses, the falling stones took care of some of them, creating a rocky grave atop of their carcasses which will most likely never be found again. The cave-in made scape all that much more difficult, the worm was gaining on them quickly because of this, when the dragons had two avoid the already fallen or still falling obstacles the creature just moved through them like a troll.

Then happened something they partly expected but didn't want to think about it, the whole mine shook fiercely as the ceiling in front of them gave away and split apart. Tones of rocks were sent flying down, some of them like huge boulders. The rocky debris created such a thick impassable barrier in front of the two dragons in mere moments, blocking their way back.

It all happened so fast that the dragons had only seconds to adjust to new situation, Cynder thanks to her natural agility adjusted her body properly, stringing every possible muscle to the brink of their capabilities. The dragoness made a sharp turn, knowing that her purple companions is slightly less skilled in the air Cynder wrapped her tail around his front paw, dragging him behind her.

She yanked her body so that her belly was directed at the wall, with her paws dangling just inches from the rocky barrier she lowered them down and began running along the wall, before jumping off of it moments later. Spyro followed her every move, he wasn't surprised by her quick reaction, they were shackled to each other for many moons, during fighting they can understand each other without words.

The worm chasing them had no companion to help it adjust its body, the creature pounced from the corner behind them and collided directly with the freshly created barrier in front of it. The cave shook violently, more stones fell on the beast's body. However the creature wasn't discouraged by this small delay, it instantly began to slither after the two drakes with a furious roar, scratching its hide along the wall the dragons used as a jumping platform.

As they progressed further more and more stones kept falling down causing more of the previously opened passageways to be impassable. As they kept flying onwards the worm was once again catching up with them, Spyro never stopped looking for a way out of this mess. It was during this search he noticed the familiar archway, now completely blocked by rubble, a sign they are not far from their destination.

Just next to it he spotted the even more familiar wall with the openings inside them. He whistled gaining Cynder's attention, he nodded towards the wall and instantly began flying towards it, the dragoness followed him without protest, clearly understanding the signal and the moment of changing leadership.

When Spyro was about to enter one of the smaller opening he pressed his wings to his sides, this simple landing technique allowed him to touch the rocky ground with much grace without losing the previously accumulated speed. As the both dragons kept running through the narrow passageway they could hear a guttural roar bouncing off these tight walls. The worm instead off slithering its way around the blockade decided to go right through it, with a roar it pounced directly at the wall.

The shaking caused both dragons to totter and bounce off the narrow walls with painful grunts, yet no matter how bad the situation got they kept pressing forward. Another shake and another throw at the walls, the shudder made Spyro topple on a lose rock, yet with luck he managed to retain his balance. When the next shake came they were already out of the tunnel.

For a moment there Spyro thought to turn around and release his Convexity power through the opening directly at the nagging worm, but then he thought better of it. The attack would most likely finish the job but with the trembling mine it was just not worth the risk, one sudden strong shake and the powerful beam would hit a wall that would cause all the surrounding rocks to fall down in tones, most likely burrowing them below them. Not to mention that the attack would weaken him greatly, which in this situation meant nothing else but suicide.

He had no idea if it was the panic or simply his sharpened intuition that made him get back to the place he scouted not so long ago all by himself, whatever the case may be, it worked and it won't be long before they will finally hide from this ugly creature.

When a barely noticeable crack appeared on the wall's surface which coughed out dust like a deep wounds coughs blood Spyro decided it's time to get a move on. They flew through the now familiar tunnels where piles of bodies were strewn about, big and small, all of them belonged to the bugs. The purple dragon looked around the scene with disgust in his eyes, wondering if he really is the good and best hero people take him for. If they could see the trail of bodies and blood he lefts behind him they would change their opinion.

_"...and he " Spyro sees Prawlus' claw pointing at him " A dragon who caused all of this, a dragon who was supposed to bring peace to the Realms, instead of that he gave us Malefor and it doesn't matter that he defeated him, damage was already done. He is no savior, he isn't a protector, he is a harbinger of destruction, wherever he goes Death follows in his wake…"_

He was right, the damn arrogant cheetah was right. He is no hero, perhaps he fights for his people, perhaps he tries to protect them but what is the cost? His enemies bodies lay strewn on the ground like torn ragdolls and he just keeps pushing forward thinking that there is no other way, thinking that he has to do it for the better future. He is no hero, he is a harbinger of destruction, and most people put him as a role model for their children. Open up your eyes you damn fools, he is a blight for this world wrapped in a beautiful present box, open it and you release hell staring at you with its presumably innocent purple eyes.

Savior my tail, I'm just a killer with motives, but still nothing more than just a killer. Nobody should be able to wield so much power, maybe that's why purple dragons are born so rarely, because the world needs time to digest the crap they leave behind. He has no golden heart, people just pretend to not see the dark flaws scarring it.

Open up your eyes you damn fools.

" FLARE!"

Cynder's excited scream made him lose his train of thought, with a blink of his eyes he rose his gaze from the carnage below just to notice a reddish illumination in the distance that only one type of creature he knew emitted. As they progressed towards the red light discouragement and resignation crept into Spyro's heart. It seems Flare thought about the same escape route as they did, he was already there near the tunnel which led to their hideout, which was now blocked by tones of rocks which the red dragon scratched and removed one by one as if trying to dig his way through.

" Flar-" Cynder's shout was interrupted when she had to duck under a stone that the fiery dragon threw behind his shoulder

" Flare!" she renewed her call the moment no rocky projectiles were sent flying. The dragon didn't react, he was still scratching at the stones.

Cynder noticed a quite a big pile laying already at one side of the tunnel, he had to be digging for quite a while, probably not even realizing that there was absolutely no chance he will push through. The way to their hideout is blocked.

" Flare!" she called his name again, still no reaction. She ducked under another stone and quickly dashed to his side.

" Flare listen-" she didn't finish her sentence when her green eyes focused on the red dragon's snout. His mouth kept moving as if chanting an incomprehensible prayer. The slits in his eyes were bigger, almost round, hid behind a veil of blurriness and horror.

There was another scratch and her eyes immediately were drawn to the source of this sound.

" By the Ancestors, Flare…" she muttered with palpable pity ringing in her voice.

The rocks the dragon was scratching were colored with streams of crimson blood, his blood. His paws were pleading profusely from the cuts his constant scratching caused to his legs. The dragon's claws were solid, but they also have their limits. She winced when she heard and noticed a bit of his claw breaking on one of the stones.

She grabbed one of his paws firmly, he stiffened at the touch " Flare stop, I beg you" Cynder mumbled pleadingly, wincing at the sight of his soaked paw.

" it i-i-i-is c-c-c-coming" Flare stammered with a barely hearable voice as if voicing the same lien for like a hundred time

Worry shimmered in her eyes when the horror never disappeared from his gaze " Flare we need to go"

" it i-i-i-is c-c-c-coming"

" Stop…"

" it i-i-i-is c-c-c-coming"

" Please, stop…"

" it i-i-i-is c-c-c-coming"

She spun him around so his snout was directed at her

" I said STOP!" she roared almost at the brink of tears.

" _The guilt will kill you"_

" it i-i-i-is c-c-c-coming"

" What's going on?" Spyro asked the moment he entered the tunnel

Cynder dropped the red dragon's paw, it numbly touched the ground. She wiped one of her eyes and retreated farther into the tunnel.

" He…he's in shock"

" it i-i-i-is c-c-c-coming"

Spyro began to approach the fiery drake " Hey Flare we need to go right now. This tunnel is blocked"

" it i-i-i-is c-c-c-coming"

The purple dragon jerked his head back at the sight of his eyes almost devoid of life. He saw such similar eyes before. Spyro put a paw on his shoulder and shook him delicately

" Flare, do you hear me?"

" it i-i-i-is c-c-c-coming"

Another shake " Flare?"

" it i-i-i-is c-c-c-coming"

The whole cavern shook violently, rocks fell from the ceiling from the cavern behind them. A familiar scary roar echoed throughout the crumbling mine.

" Guys I don't want to ruin your reunion" Sparx yelled, still safely wrapped in his brother's tail "…but we better go, our friend is about to break free"

Spyro shook the fiery dragon more violently " FLARE?" he growled

" it i-i-i-is c-c-c-coming"

" Don't make me do this" he hissed

" it i-i-i-is c-c-c-coming"

" Last warning"

" it i-i-i-is c-"

Flare never managed to finish his stammer as he received a solid punch to his cheek that threw his head to the side making his teeth rattle and blood gush through his mouth.

" We-need-to-go" Spyro pronounced each word slowly, so the dragon could understand the tone in them. He shook his paw, he really put much strength into that punch and strangely he didn't care. This strike felt surprisingly pleasurable, like he just wanted and need to do it for a very long time. He could sense his heart and pride grinning mischievously telling him that the red dragon's halted attack on him and the tremor in his head from earlier weren't the only reasons behind his aggression. For an unknown reason Spyro's purple eyes ventured towards Cynder for a brief moment, a smile tucked itself on the corner of his lips when he noticed her shocked expression.

Flare slowly turned his head towards the purple snout, the blurriness no longer visible in his eyes. He ran his paw along his lower lip and lowered it to look at it. Blood. He raised his gaze, he wasn't that much surprised.

" You punched me? he asked emotionlessly

" Yes" Spyro replied unhesitatingly

Flare lowered his gaze to look at his paw again, just to raise it soon after " Thanks"

Cynder approached the two dragons still slightly surprised by his purple friend's ferociousness " There are moments when I see a completely different Spyro in you"

The true Spyro turned towards her " And?" he asked with an arrogant smile on his snout

The dragoness gently wiped the blood from Flare's lip " I don't like him" with that she made her way towards the exit of the blocked tunnel

Spyro's eyes never left Cynder's moving body, his smile was long gone by now, and the stabbing pain at his heart was so powerful, it was like a thousand knifes would be piercing his heart at the same time, he has never felt so much pain before.

The mine shuddered forcefully, roar echoed throughout the cavern as upper part of the worms body finally broke through the blockade. It roared furiously ready to renew its chase after its escaping dinner, but when it pushed forward the weakened wall crumbled burrowing the lower part of its body under many rocks. The worm roared again and began to wiggle chaotically, stones and dust were sent flying in every direction as it slowly, inch by inch slipped from its prison.

" What now?"Spyro asked as he finally gathered enough courage to stand right next to his female friend

" We fly, and hope to find an exit somewhere" Cynder replied

" That's not a plan!" Sparx protested

Another roar, the worm slithered out of its trap even more farther.

" We don't have many options" the dragoness answered him, hardly swallowing the lump in her throat

Flare craned his neck and looked at the worm, the moment he did that his eyes widened and his wings clutched to his sides. He then began to shake and in complete terror shying away until his back touched a wall.

Cynder turned towards her red friend and placed a concerned paw on his shoulder while blocking the view ahead of him. His yellow eyes focused entirely on her " Just fly Flare, and don't look back" with that she tugged him gently urging him to move forward.

When the dragon was close to the edge of the tunnel he leapt into the air and immediately spun around so his back was directed at the worm and dashed forward into the unknown darkness. The two dragons followed in his wake.

For a moment they flew unhindered by the roaring worm, they only worry was to dodge the falling rocks and blocked paths. But moments later there was a loud rumble and an extreme shake as the creature broke free from its prison. The ceiling above them gave up under the pressure after the strong tremor, all of them with a gasp of fear quickly dashed in every direction to avoid the falling piles of rocks.

After the dust settled down all three of them renewed their escape, expect Spyro.

" Wait!" the purple dragon shouted, gaining the attention of his two draconic companions.

He pointed upwards with his claw " Up there!" he yelled and instantly flew inside the freshly created hole.

All of them wondered why didn't they thought about this sooner, the only way out of this hell hole is going up, they will eventually have to arrive in Munitions Forge, there was just no other option. The two remaining dragons followed their purple leader, hoping that the worm won't be able to follow them up here.

The upper level didn't differ from the lower one, this was just another set of extremely wide caves, they didn't really have the time to admire them since just in front of them the ground cracked and the huge worm burst through it. it could jump, it seems, that was very bad news.

The three dragons momentarily spun around and started to fly in the opposite direction, then something they never paid much attention to happened. The volcano wafted another dose of fresh air throughout the mines, in that moment they realized instantly where they have to go, if there is a way out of this mine it has to be in the place from where all the air comes from. Boyzitbig is a volcano, which means it has to have a way to let out all this lava and they knew how it looks like, and most importantly they knew where it leads- to Munitions Forge.

Since all the mines are located inside the volcano itself there was no doubt they all are connected, and that point of focus has to be exactly in the spot where all the magma boils ready to be erupted. That's their way out, and the slowly ebbing gusts of fresh air will be their guides.

Remembering from where the air blew out the group made every effort to push themselves into that direction. Unfortunately for them the worm seemed to become smarter, or it was just annoyed of the constant cat and mouse game. When they made a turn around the corner the worm didn't follow them, instead it pierced a wall just in front of them.

Screaming the three dragons straightened up and started to chaotically flap their wings to dispose all the speed. The worm roared and pounced at the surprised drakes, its gaping maw went directly at Spyro. The purple dragon's eyes widened seeing the dark and bottomless gullet, when the teeth were about to snap around his form a powerful gust of wind blew him to the side and at the nearby wall with a loud thud.

The teeth clamped shut, but to the worm's displeasure they only pierced the air, it turned its attention to the dragon who was so arrogant to prevent it from feeding. Its gaping maw opened at the sight of a black dragoness hovering in the air, the worm roared and pounced at the drake just like a snake that would snap at its victim.

Cynder's natural agility allowed her to avoid the enormous maw, but it wasn't enough to avoid the massive worm's body entirely, she bounced off the creature's hide and the collision sent her down towards the ground, she rolled on the rocky floor for a while before stopping eventually with a groan of pain.

They could hear the worm's furious roar from behind the wall it just pierced, yet it wasn't the thing that caught Spyro's attention. From the tunnel the creature created the dragon could a delicate red light emanating from it, his heart flared up with hope, either it's just another mine full of strange metals or it's the escape route for all the magma. There was only one way to find out.

Spyro turned his head in search for his companions, Cynder was on the ground slowly pushing herself up, Flare however hovered in the air, completely frozen in place. There was a roar, instantly Spyro felt as his instinct is scratching at his mind, pointing him in the right direction.

" Flare!" he shouted at the top of his lungs and dashed towards the paralyzed drake.

Cynder was now on her paws and turned her head towards her screaming friend. Rumble, roar and then a very strong tremor, the wall next to her crumbled, she had to jump out of the way of the incoming rocks, but that wasn't the thing that scared her to death. The worm pounced from the upper part of the wall and headed directly at the frozen red drake, finally discovering an easy prey, she could feel the warmth of its massive body as her eyes trailed its huge dexterous form.

Spyro wrapped his paws around the drake, completely ignoring the heat emanating from his body that slowly charred his purple scales, it had to be the shock that triggered his defensive reaction. The creature missed them by mere inches, Spyro could hear its loud snap of teeth behind him as he sent himself and his fiery companion towards the ground.

Cynder instantly ran to their rolling friends, Spyro eventually rolled from the top of Flare's body and screamed in agony from the burns on his body. It had to be the rough landing that shook the confusion from the red drakes eyes that clouded his eyes, the heat emanating from his body instantly died down as the gears in his head began to work and connect the dots. He instantly joined the black dragoness who was pushing the purple dragon on his legs.

" I'm so sorry!" Flare exclaimed at seeing Spyro's burns

" Not now Flare!" Cynder interjected through Spyro's hisses of pain " Help me!" she shouted concerned and extremely angry as she was lifting up her purple companion , but not at the red drake but at the worm that hurt both of her friends.

" Let me feed!"

" Let me feed!"

" Let me feed!"

Cynder heard a strangely familiar male voice ringing inside her head the moment Spyro's scales pressed to her magenta ones.

" Let me feed!"

" Let me feed!"

" Let me feed!"

A stinging sensation ran through her neck, as if something was poking at it through the inside of her choker. She scratched it impulsively and a sting hit her shoulder that made her hiss. She shook her head.

Before she even realized it they were already in the air, as if her mind split the task, while her conscious was dragged towards the strangely familiar voice her body was moving on its own. There was a shake, the worm didn't return, it seemed it had to get stuck somewhere and now was fighting to break free.

" Let me feed!"

" Let me-"

" I'm ok guys, let's move, I can see the light in that tunnel" Spyro wiggled his way from his companions helping paws, the pain was insufferable but he didn't want to let them know about it.

" Hurry" he began to fly towards the freshly created tunnel

Cynder observed him closely, her heart pounded in her chest, this is the dragon who she fell in love with, caring and supporting of others.

" Spyro!" she yelled after him

He stopped and turned around " Cynder this is not the ti-"

His voice trailed off as she planted a soft kiss on his cheek, this was the worst moment for this but she didn't care. She smiled lovingly seeing his wide eyes.

" This is the Spyro I like" she winked and flew inside the tunnel. Spyro watched her every move.

" Bro stop daydreaming! Move your ass the worm is behind us!" Sparx yelled from behind him, still safely wrapped in his tail.

The stabbing pain was gone, with a strangely wide smile he started to follow his two other companions.. All the thoughts about Cynder were once again flashing through his mind, his heart began to race, he felt as he could move the mountains if he only wanted to.

" _BETRAYAL!"_

Fuck you. Shut up.

It was gone, whether it was good or bad he didn't care for the time being.

The group made their way towards the glowing tunnel, yet they weren't the only ones who decided to take that path, Sparx' terrified screams and the roaring confirmed that once more they have their unwelcome stalker after their tails. This path of shaking caves was much more different than the rest of them, mostly for the fact that the stale air here was considerably warmer, almost hot. This discovery meant only one thing- lava, and with lava comes their means of escaping this hellish place.

The tunnel was long, very, very long, as they progressed through it they realized that the reddish light wasn't coming from the pool of lava somewhere in the center of the volcano but of the many streams of magma leaking through the cracks in the walls around them. Even if their hope wavered they still pushed forward, it was still better than fly around in the dark mine without even knowing where to go.

The worm chased them relentlessly and eventually caught up with the flying dragons. At first it directed itself at the purple drake on its left, the beast opened its gaping maw, coiled its body and shot like a spring directly at the drake.

Spyro following his brother's hysterical yelps pushed himself towards the ground. The sound of snapping teeth and the warmth of the worm's slippery body brushed above his horns. The creature collided with the nearby wall, yet it didn't break it, these walls seemed to be more solid than anywhere else in the mine. A delicate stream of lava splattered across its body, the reddish magma hissed on the worm's hide burning itself through its layers of protection. The creature emitted a guttural painful noise but still acted as it was unhindered.

The worm pounced crosswise, this time aiming to devour the black dragoness on the other side of the tunnel. Cynder pushed up, her back scratched the ceiling above, the roaring creature stopped below her on the wall. Just as before the rocky obstacle coughed out its sizzling blood.

The worm roared but still pressed forward, with an extremely quick coil of its body it sprung at the ceiling. Cynder sharply jerked to the left side, the worm bounced off from the ceiling like some sort heavy roaring rock before it hit the ground with a loud thud. The collision with the ceiling didn't trigger any lava leaks but it seemed that the foundation above was weaker than the one below. Rocks started to fall from the ceiling, some were flying directly at her purple friend, Spyro quickly dashed towards the safety of the upper part of the tunnel.

" Let me feed!"

Cynder grunted when Spyro's scales brushed against hers after his sharp ascent, the slight collision made her totter in the air.

" We have to think of something" he panted, the constant running had to take its toll finally " We can't outrun it"

The dragoness scratched her choker, but this time it had nothing to do with thoughtfulness

" Just keep flying, I'll stop it"

" What?" Spyro blurt out shocked" I'm not leaving you here!"

" I'll be right behind you, just keep moving, I need some space" she scratched the choker even more forcefully, the nagging stinging behind it was infuriating

" What are you going to do?"

She reached behind her choker and withdrew a black glassy stone, when she looked at it strange white glyphs flashed for a moment on its surface.

" I don't know" Cynder replied with sincere honesty " Just keep moving"

Spyro threw a quick glance at the strange stone in his friend's paw, then looked at the slowly recovering worm just to with a sigh aim his eyes forward directly at the red natural illumination from ahead which was quite effectively blocked by the form of a reddish drake in the distance.

Cynder hovered in the air and stared at the recovering worm while not even realizing that she clenched and unclenched her paw making her claws to delicately brush against the stone's surface.

" You want to feed?' Cynder muttered, the worm never leaving her sight " Then you will feed" with those words one of her claws sunk into the stone, its surface cracked momentarily releasing a puff of dark smoke through the created holes.

Nothing happened. The worm prepared itself for another pounce.

Then something weird occured, her shoulders ,eyes, back and head began to sting, also she felt like something would grab her very essence and tried to pull it out from the deepest parts of her soul. With a painful dull scream she arched her body forward, there was a white flash and only the irritating stinging remained.

Cynder couldn't believe her eyes, the white light materialized into a form of a dragoness that she could swear looked like her in her adult years, the blinding dragoness headed directly at the worm. When it struck, the creature let out an agonizing howl, the artificial dragoness exploded, dark ring shot through the tunnel at the impact.

Cynder didn't feel anything as it passed through her, she focused her dumbfounded eyes at the scene ahead. The dark ring hit the walls around the worm, the rocky structures couldn't withstand any more beating and gave up, lava shot through the holes.

The worm's howl intensified, it was being devoured by an unknown force and the leaking lava, it thrashed fiercely trying to slither away from the danger but it was already too late, the magma has already eaten through the hide on its lower body. Moments later the worm's howls ended abruptly when the thick reddish substance progressed further and devoured the creature, the magma only burped like a well fed person and the creature was gone.

Yet it didn't stop on that, the lava kept pouring into the tunnel, the constant unending stream pushed the magma forward down the tunnel, towards the dragons, yet it was moving slowly, Cynder had no doubts that it won't threaten them.

Then suddenly an icy finger touched her spine when she heard a agonizing familiar male scream behind her, as she turned Cynder could feel the finger tracing down her spine. When her spin was complete the invisible freezing hand reached her Lumbar vertebrae and paralyzed her in spot. Ahead she saw Spyro dropping to the ground, his screams were so terrible that they squeezed tears from her eyes. When the dust settled from his impact her awareness returned.

" SPYRO!" Cynder yelled at the top of her lungs and the paralyzing feeling was gone only to be replaced by the sound of her pounding heart. As she towards her fallen screaming friend she saw a glowing yellowish shape slipping away from the safe embrace of his purple tail. She could barely take a breath, her inhales wavered, she wasn't that terrified in her entire life.

" What happened?!" she yelled when she stopped at her friends side, not even trying to dispose the speed as she was landing, long scratch marks a sign that she used her claws like some sort of hooks to be able to slow down, fresh blood lines clearly said that a dragon should never land in such a way. She didn't care.

" I don't know!" Sparx shouted as he was circling is brother, he was just as terrified she was.

Spyro screamed again, his chest arched forward just to moments later slam his back on the ground, his purple paws were closing and opening themselves chaotically on his gold chest scales as if trying to catch and hold something back that a mortal paw was unable to touch.

Cynder grabbed his paw and squeezed it tightly, while examining his body, she ignored the pain in her leg when Spyro's paw gripped it with such a strength that it almost squashed her foreleg

" What's going on!?" she sobbed

" I don't know!" Sparx yelled again, his own display of anger wavered with worry

" PAIN!" they could hear Spyro utter through his painful screaming, his body arched up once again before falling down seconds later. He wriggled on the ground like an inpatient hatchling.

" Lava?" Cynder blurt out between tears and searched for any burn marks, there weren't any " Lava fell on him?"

Sparx shook his head " I don't think so, he just dropped to the ground, like a lighting would hit him or something"

Spyro screamed again, Cynder jerked back startled. It was then when she noticed the slowly intensifying reddish illumination on the wall ahead. She turned her head just to see the lava closing on their position.

" We need to get him out of here!" she shouted and leapt into the air, the dragoness wrapped her paws around Spyro's wriggling body and began to push up with grunts of struggle. However his purple body was lifted just mere inches from the ground before it dropped down, Cynder tried again, grunting she began to push with all her feminine might, but the result was the same. She just wasn't strong enough.

" I can't lift him!" she sobbed defeated

She began grunting again, tears were flowing through her closed eyelids, Sparx tried to help but even their combined efforts were futile. Cynder with a groan of sadness began to look around the tunnel, they need another male, but he was nowhere to be seen.

" FLARE!" she cried, literally, her pleading feminine shriek echoed throughout the tunnel

Flare froze in place when he heard his friend's shriek vibrating from the walls, the horror filling his soul was pushed back down, replaced by something more powerful, a feeling he was never truly familiar with. He spun around and determined began to retrace his path, fear won't stop him. Moments later Flare spotted the black shape of his friend trying to desperately lift Spyro from the ground, just behind them he could see streams of hot lava, almost ready to swallow them. He pushed even more fiercely.

Cynder lifted her watery eyes when she noticed Flare approaching them

" We need to get him out of here! Flare I beg you! Please help!" she cried

There was something in her cry that his heart couldn't bare, he felt a massive hand gripping his vital organ and vocal cords, he just couldn't utter a word. He momentarily got to work, he couldn't watch her cry, the sight was killing him, if saving a purple dragon will make her happy he will do it, he will do everything to make her happy. That's what friends are for right? At least that's what he heard.

Flare lifted the somewhat less screaming dragon from the ground and began to fly in the direction from which he came " Come on, I saw an exit there!"

Cynder wiped her eyes, the terror filling her heart slightly weakened.

" Thank you" she sobbed sincerely

The exit Flare mentioned wasn't far from their position, they reached a open space with an ocean of bulging lava below them. More openings dotted the sides of the tunnel, leading to even more unexplored mines. They didn't care, Cynder's eyes immediately went up, she knew where she was, somewhere up there is Munitions Forge. In other circumstances they wouldn't have to hurry, the volcano erupts, but there is a very long pause between each eruption, it all may change when the lava she released will reach the pool. Boyzitbig will have to get rid of the excess of the magma, and there is only one way the volcano can do it.

As they pushed up Spyro's screams slowly ceased, now only painful hissing remained, the worst part was over. In the distance they could see the delicate forms of rails and moving wagons, they are so close now. The lava reached the poll down below, the volcano began to shake, ready to blurt out another stream of lava. A bulging sound below them meant that is exactly what happened.

The air was growing hotter and hotter together with the image of the thriving mole city up ahead. Flap, flap, flap, beating of wings so quick that it almost sounded like thousands of bats would follow them. The artificial lights from the many lamps blinded all of them, but they didn't care. Cynder was already prepared, when they reached the tall metallic wall she unleashed her Wind element, the strong gusts of wind dented the barrier. With the obstacle weakened the two dragons began to ram into it.

One, two, three…

The lava was almost near them.

Four, five, six…

The heat was unbearable

Seven, eight…

And the wall gave away, the dragons thanks to the momentum shot inside the Manweersmalls home, the moles exclaimed in panic and shock when the three dragons and a single dragonfly collided with a rail and rolled on the ground soon after. They were even more surprised by the lava shooting from the freshly created hole.

Cynder didn't care about the people slowly starting to surrounded them, she spun on her belly and crawled towards Spyro who was laying on his back panting heavily.

" Spyro?" she asked with eating worry

" I'm ok" he huffed

The dragoness exhaled a long wanted breath of relief, exhaustion finally taking the reins. She dropped her front paws and her chin on Spyro's belly forcefully, making her friend jerk and gasp for air.

" Don't you ever do that to me again" she whispered and turned her head to look at him, while heaving her chin still pressed to his torso " You hear me?"

He raised his head to look at her " I can do that" he smiled

" What happened exactly?"

Spyro sighed and impulsively wanted to rub his chest but when he felt her paw there he instinctively jerked his leg away " I… I don't know, I never felt so much pain before, it was like…like something was tearing my whole life away through closed wounds. I…it hurt"

Cynder took a wavering breath " I think I did that"

He could hear the guilt in her voice " No, you saved us, you stopped that worm. A little pain was worth it. Thank you"

She didn't buy that, but also didn't want to dwell on it. Spyro's alright and that is all that matters.

" A Veil huh? Who would have thought?" she changed the topic for her own peace of mind

" Yeah…" Spyro muttered worryingly

" I just wonder why the bugs didn't pass through it in more numbers when they could see it"

" I don't think they could, I only started to feel the portal when that strange white ray appeared out of nowhere. If that ray somehow strengthened the portal…" he shook his head " You know what that means?"

Cynder sighed, the answer was so obvious

" No rest for the wicked"

End of Book II


	39. Chapter 1 Book III

The Legend of Spyro: Path of Delusions

Book III: Hey Time, you're no friend of mine

Chapter 1

The gold text shimmered constantly under the pressure of the flipping pages, the letters on each next page greeted enthusiastically with their golden curves. The excited shaking caused the book to slip from under the guidance of its yellow light, the fading illumination hid its secrets effectively. Yet those secrets weren't allowed to hide, with one final tug the book returned to its natural place, the golden text sparkled again with great efficiency.

* * *

_A pair of grey eyes were staring through a window at the black expanse beyond it, somewhere there among the spinning paradoxes and unfathomable phenomenons was the slight layer of the world these eyes graced upon. A world these eyes recognized and no longer understood, that layer was just like the black void that surrounded it. A veil these eyes could discern but no longer penetrate._

_The void around that once familiar and now completely alien layer was unsteady, uneasy, cracking with white powerful rays. The layer flickered under that pressure, but those eyes knew that no matter how hard the shake will be it won't be the rays that will eventually shatter it, but they will play a big part into bringing its unavoidable destiny._

_The grey eyes glistened, glistened with a liquid these eyes thought were no longer present, but they had to acknowledge the fact these alien sensation is still there, an alien sensation for this place and this eyes that should be cast out from the eyes existence is still there, and always will be. After all its those eyes who partially started all of this, this eyes caused that layer to flicker, but it wasn't the tremor that caused these eyes to glisten, it was something far more important that squeezed this strangely unfamiliar liquid from them, something these eyes believed, despite the facts, it was theirs own._

_The glistening eyes turned from the sight of the void ahead, already knowing its progress, assumedly unavoidable in the other, mostly now dominating eyes' opinion. The ruling eyes were now different, in that layer some may recognized them, especially someone would who these eyes protected by not thinking constantly about that certain someone, preventing that recognition from being devoured by this place's stillness. Currently ruling eyes especially wanted this recognition to be sustained. _

_The azure light emanating from the jiggling crystal dangled across the ground as the eyes eventually stopped on a book with a golden text shimmering from its pages. The eyes paws closed the cover and lifted the extremely heavy book, yet it had only a handful of pages. The eyes understood the secret behind its weight, the book is heavy not because of the number of pages that it currently consists of, its heavy from the number of still unwritten pages that would fill its heavy cover._

_The eyes never left the book as it was placed on the pedestal, the cover flipped open and stopped on a blank page which every other eyes would see, but this eyes were different, in that blank page was something more than a white sheet and only these eyes could see it._

_These eyes examined the blank page from top to bottom, not even realizing when a single drop of that strangely unfamiliar liquid splattered on it. These eyes are seeing something in that empty page that squeezes that strange liquid from them, these eyes glisten with pity. Yes it was pity, and a feeling much more powerful these eyes could no longer spell but knew that is started on l…_

_**Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant**__**.**_

_The delicate quill broke under the pressure of imprinting the hopeful words unto the essence of life of that special someone for these eyes. The enigmatic text swirled, flickered and finally melded into the blank page, completely fading within its snowy embrace._

_One of the greyish eyes blinked after that forbidden act, the broken quill returned into the sight of both consciousness. That single eye shone with confidence and certainty which radiates only from great cold wisdom and knowledge. The broken quill scribbled the words that one of the eyes didn't want to read but unfortunately both of them knew they were true._

_**We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell.**_

* * *

" Come on guys!" Sparx blurt out indignantly and threw his hand in the air in resignation " Don't tell me I'm the only one seeing this!"

A pair of yellow and amethyst eyes were focused at the same point, birds chirred from the trees around them, people walked back and forth through the Grand Plaza not paying the dragons more attention than it was absolutely necessary, they were already used to the sight of the drakes return from their journey to Munitions Forge.

Flare narrowed his eyes, bent on his paws, cocked his head just to get a better angle, but no matter what he tried his attempts bore no satisfactory fruit, at least for the dragonfly.

He shook his head and pushed his craned neck back " I can't see anything"

" By the…" The dragonfly uttered a stifled shout throwing his hands and eyes to the sky, his fists shook and fingers curled themselves in a futile begging attempt to an unknown divine force. With a sigh his shoulders slumped down.

" Bro be my man and tell me you see the difference" he muttered with resigned plead

Spyro narrowed his gaze, his pupils dilated trying to find even the smallest change but they were powerless.

" Sorry Sparx I-"

The dragonfly rubbed his forehead, utterly defeated " I don't believe this"

Cynder rubbed her claws on one of her paws on her chest scales, raised her leg to admire the claws from every angle just to place the paw back on the ground with a bored sigh moments later. She raised her gaze to give an irritated look at the prying pairs of colorful eyes.

" Are you done?"

" I don't know Sparx, Cynder's markings look perfectly normal to me" Spyro finally withdrew his somewhat obtrusive gaze from his female friend

" Come on!" Sparx growled and clenched his fists angrily before he darted towards the dragoness. He stopped at the side of her head, grabbed one of her horns and jerked her head forcefully towards himself

" You seriously don't see any difference?" he jerked the dragoness head to the other side

Cynder was completely unmoved by the dragonflies behavior, in fact she was bored beyond tears. A prolonged yawn parted her mouth displaying deadly white razor sharp teeth filling her mouth. In total boredom she began picking at her teeth while the dragonfly kept swinging her head from side to side.

" Nope" both male dragons replied

" They are glowing for Ancestor's sake!" Sparx exclaimed, startling the nearby passers-by. Both dragons opened their mouths but Sparx with a quick motion of his hand gave them the signal to stop.

He took a breath to calm himself " I admit that the glow is barely visible, but it's there I tell you! Spyro you of all people should notice that her markings are way more whiter after her fart killed that worm!"

Cynder raised her claw " Excuse me" she protested with a childish girly accent " I didn't fart, I burped" she snorted and jerked her head to the side with her chin raised high, like some sort of a spoiled noble damsel.

" What?" Spyro blurt out " Why me?"

" Oh I don't know" Sparx pretended to think " Maybe because your ass was chained to hers for who knows how long!" he exclaimed irritated before covering his mouth with his hand while leaning closer towards the dragoness " I would be so mad at him right now, he doesn't even see the difference in your appearance. Now that's rude"

Cynder's eyes snapped open with faked revelation " Hey you're right" she turned towards her purple friend and curled her nose faking an outrage of a spoiled brat " I think I'm mad at you"

" Hey don't put this on me!" Spyro argued back

" You see?" Sparx whispered while eyeing his brother closely " He wouldn't even notice that your eyes turned blue. I would be really, really mad at him right now"

Her head kept nodding " Yeah…" her faked indignant grimace deepened " I'm really, really mad at you right now"

" I'm a guy!" Spyro shouted as if trying to point something obvious " I wouldn't even notice your scales turning green Cynder!"

Sparx gasped in shock and pressed his hand to his heart " How you dare…" he spun around quickly " let's go Miss Ugly, he is not worth out time"

Cynder snorted and spun on her paws " Right behind you Miss Stupid!"

" Whoa" Flare huffed " You really made her mad"

Spyro looked behind his shoulder at the fiery drake, he opened his mouth to explain that they were just fooling around but decided that it is just a waste of time. With a shake of his head he followed both _girls._

Their claws clicked on the marble pavements as they progressed forward towards the two stony guards, the figures observed the approaching group with their imposing and agitated expressions, admonishing them of the importance of this place. Before they reached the door to the City Hall they stopped for a while and looked around, admiring how the Grand Plaza has changed during their absence.

Truthfully there wasn't a big change in the scenery, whatever small debris remained when they lastly visited the Plaza was already cleaned, in fact if they didn't knew better they would never believe that Warfang is still under reconstruction. The Grand Plaza was completely silent, no sounds of clinking hammers nor any other noises related to construction could be heard.

Whoever spent his time hear was surrounded by the joyful shouts and occasional mysterious murmur. The Plaza offered both mental and physical relaxation, the group could only wonder if this state of leisure will remain if they pass the recent somewhat tragic news. There was only one way to find out.

Cynder pushed the handle on the huge adorned door, with a clanking sound the gears responsible for keeping the door shut began to turn and seconds later the massive doors swung open like they weighted nothing.

Even if the passing time was the reason behind Warfang's constant changing, it was impossible to say the same thing about the interior of the City Hall. It was exactly like they have seen it for the last time, you could always say that the massive door that keep this place secure have some kind of invisible magical barrier which prevents the events of the outside world to penetrate this domed structure.

Not only the walls didn't change but also it looked like the passing time had no effect on the sentient creatures from flesh and blood, like the Guardians for example. Whenever they entered this particular building all six eyes were immediately raised to greet them, each in its own way. Starting from chaotic joy, to solid calculating just to end on cold indifference. Whatever people can say about the Guardians they have to admit one fact, their behavior is strictly connected with the Element each of the old dragons represents.

" You can't conceivably cognize how mirthful I am to welcome you back in our unpretentious habitat!" Volteer's quick words echoed throughout the hall " Please rehearse your most likely inconceivable exploit to us, we can't wait!"

" Speak for yourself you old coot" Cyril's cold tone interjected " I'm not shocked to see our friends return, after all Spyro was with them. With the knowledge and power of my Ancestors passed on him there wasn't even the slightest possibility that they will fail. My lineage carries the most secret of powers of our kind, which we only pass onto the chosen few who we deem worthy"

" Elucidate us Cyril, what momentous capabilities are you alluding to, that are not only a fabrication of your magniloquent ingenuity?"

The Ice Guardian growled, icy mist wafted through his nostrils " Don't you dare to question the last descendant of my magnificent royal ancestry!"

Moments like these convinced the group fully, maybe expect for Flare who wasn't yet familiar with the Guardian's sophisticated behavior, that the door that were now closed behind them had some magical powers of locking everything and everyone inside in some kind of protective sphere where nothing ever changes.

Terrador rolled his eyes, seeing the Earth Guardian's usual stern and calculating expression falter made Spyro chuckle.

" Silence you two!" his militant baritone voice bounced from wall to wall " Do we have to really go through the same thing over and over again? I'm tired of hearing your constant arguments, you are two adult dragons, OLD adult dragons so start acting like ones! I don't have the nerve to babysit you all the time!"

Cyril turned his cold indignant eyes on the green dragon, his mouth was twitching in a very strained grimace, it was obvious that he was struggling to keep his wrath in place.

" Did you hear what he said? Such an insult!" I won't allow it to-"

" I don't care!" Terrador blurt out cutting the ice dragon off, his baritone outburst seemed to shook the walls. An eerie silence has befallen on the room as everyone available were staring at the Earth Guardian, trying to process what has happened.

The green dragon on the other paw let out a sigh of relief as if finally he got rid of something that was weighting on his shoulders for a very long time. He took a deep breath, and as he did so someone very observant would notice the corner of his mouth twitching into a smile.

" Now" Terrador broke the silence, his snout adopted once again the stern militant expression " We are going to listen what our friends have to say and we will do so in complete silence" his voice was so calm that it hanged at the border of creepy

" Terrador-"

" In complete silence" the green dragon repeated with a slightly raised tone, not allowing Volteer to unfold his specific charm. The Earth Guardian turned towards the smiling group of young friends " Please, start from the beginning"

The group of friends did as they were told, they began their story from the moment their entered the tunnel, purposely skipping the part where Mole-Yair had an eye-to-eye talk with Cynder and the overall mistrustful nature of the manweersmalls miners later on. Basically they avoided any topic that was related to the odd, or whatever you might call it, behaviors of the members of their group, like Flare's state of mind for example when they were crawling through that narrow tunnel.

They made sure to let the Guardians know that Luck followed them through their whole adventure, especially its Bad side. The swarm of bugs that pounced at them in the tight passage which was effectively thinned by the unexpected violent shudder of the mine caused by the even more unexpected odd white ray of light that seemed to pierce through the thick walls like they were made from cheese.

They didn't let out the part where they fell down into the pitch dark hole below, roughly landed in the lower parts of the mine, fought with the swarm of bugs, just to freeze the hole that caused all this misfortune. Of course this part of the tale was embellished by Sparx' supposed heroism when he chased the falling dragons through the dark tunnels while effectively stopping the falling bugs behind them by using his cleverness and wit. When he began to explain how he accomplished such a feat the Earth Guardian urged the young companions to continue with their tale, justifying his decision with the popular line that time is of the essence, while in truth he just didn't want to listen to the dragonflies fantasies.

Spyro made sure to announce that their further journey through the dark mines was connected to the familiar tingle that served as their guide from the moment the white ray burst through the walls. They only mentioned their aimless walking around the dark tunnels, wanting to skip the boring part. Their tale renewed from the moment when that big pincer grabbed Cynder, when they reached that part they could see the Guardian's glimmering with pity eyes.

Spyro had troubles continue forward, not wanting to remind Cynder of her agonizing experience, but the dragoness took on from where he left. She just mentioned her struggle with the big bug, avoiding the parts with torn scales, blood, screaming and the like, for hers and her listeners peace of mind. Her tale came to an abrupt stop when she reached the point where she lost consciousness.

From there her male companions continued, swallowing the bitter pill of reminder, from this moment forth even the black dragoness listened with great interest since these parts of their journey were forcefully taken away from her. The boys explained how they carried Cynder through what seemed an endless maze of tunnels, ran for their lives when the situation required it, basically they explained how they stayed out of trouble until they found a tunnel that would be an appropriate hiding place.

When their tale reached that point the male dragons rushed through their story, only briefly mentioning their boring patrol routes. They put their focus on announcing Flare's discovery of a water source, which truthfully the fiery drake didn't even wanted to mention but Spyro insisted while also adding his own curious insight about the origins of a water source in such an unusual place. The purple dragon's monolog was ended by Sparx' painful whine that put the grimace of an offended child on Spyro's snout which triggered a merry laugh amongst all of the gathered dragons.

It took some convincing to make Spyro to continue the tale since he is the only one who could sense the portal and put the overall sense to the story. Eventually the purple dragon broke under the pressure, thanks to Cynder, who already learned that her feminine charms have a way to falter even the most stubborn heart. Males, they play tough but don't realize that a girl can twist them with ease around her claw when she really wants to.

The purple dragon explained how he followed the tingle through the dark tunnels while Cynder recovered. He skipped the parts when he encountered the bugs, only mentioning that the creatures were present around the portal in great numbers. He instead concentrated on the powerful force that threw his body around when he got close enough to the Veil and how he got accustomed to it moments later.

After that once again all four of them started to relate their experience, briefly mentioning the battle with the bugs. Spyro remained mostly silent through that part since he didn't want to accidently spit out his observations regarding Flare or Cynder during that fight, or later on with the crystal. He decided in that moment that whatever secret Munitions Forge brew its Munitions Forge job to digest.

When their story brought them to the point where they stood in front of the portal they made sure to describe it with great detail. It didn't escape their attention that the Guardian's seemed as disappointed as them when they heard exactly how the Veil looked like. They related how Spyro opened the portal, what they saw behind it, the purple dragon's unsuccessful attempt in closing it and one of its inhabitants leaping at them.

A gasp of worry escaped the Guardians as their story concentrated on their almost near death experience, they made sure to narrate this particular part with great detail, to allow Volteer to make some sense out of it, hopefully. The group made sure to mention every aspect of the worm, starting from its appearance, to its skills just to end on its feral character.

Not really wanting to mention what in truth happened to the worm, partially because it would be difficult to do so and partially because in truth they didn't knew what happened exactly themselves. They just put the blame on Luck, this time on its Good side, which made the tunnel crumble under another powerful impact with the worm. They mentioned how the lava devoured the creature and how it chased them down the huge tunnel and even through the vent that allowed the volcano to spit out all the magma.

Their story ended the moment they pierced that metallic barricade and spent some time in the Munitions Forge to recover until they arrived here, in Warfang. In truth it wasn't as nice as they made it to be, the manweersmalls where happy of course to learn that they have ended the threat of the bugs but they seemed to forget about that even faster when they learned that Cynder will be staying in their home. The dragoness didn't seem to care but Spyro had enough of the constant insults thrown her way and decided to leave that place even in the same day, just to spare her the disgusting experience.

" This is exactly what I feared" Terrador muttered sadly " Dire news indeed"

" Disastrous?!" Volteer blurt out excitedly, either he couldn't hold back his restless tongue any longer and ignored the Earth Guardian's orders or decided that the moment of silence is over the moment the green dragon opened his mouth.

" My esteemed friend, this revelation is far from lamentable! The infelicitous specifications are only lucid representations of incommensurate potential! Our friends conte imparted the most substantial discernment! Spyro is proficient in beguiling the inscrutable ingress to diverse macrocosms!"

There was a moment of silence when everyone gathered processed the Electric Guardian's words…or tried to. Flare especially, he tried very hard to understand what the dragon is saying but the attempt only made the cogs in his head grind on each other. He just stared at the amber dragon with dull eyes and discouragement plastered on his snout.

" I don't think I ever want to learn to read" Flare broke the silence with his mumble

The dragon's sad and somewhat resigned tone of voice triggered a merry laugh in the group, Guardians included, expect for Volteer who seemed not to understand where the problem is.

Spyro coughed, killing the chuckle that rumbled in his throat " Volteer said that there is nothing to worry about since I obviously can manipulate the Veils but lack experience to do so"

" Precisely what I verbalized!" the amber dragon agreed

Impulsively a smile widened Spyro's mouth but the moment he looked at the Electric Guardian his expression took a more serious tone " But honestly I don't see how any of this is good news"

" Me neither" Cyril joined the conversation with his cold tone, reading the purple dragon's intentions " Spyro is only one dragon, the world is vast, he can't be everywhere at the same time, it's absolutely impossible"

" Just ruminate the feasible complexity of perforating the cabalistic lamina…"

Sparx rubbed his forehead " Ok he lost me there, what do we need to think about?" he let out a painful whisper

" Possibilities" Spyro whispered back

"…if Spyro's conceit so to speak in unearthing the potential of his Time competency is humongous, I speculate that our friend will be adroit enough to deviate quintessence of Veils perseverance to his velleity"

Terrador snorted, obviously not sharing Volteer's excitement " The Veils appearing in our world is a bad omen as it is, we cope with the power of Time, that no one of us, even Spyro, is capable of truly understanding. Don't forget Volteer that the portal that our friends described in their story is not even similar to the one they encountered in Boven. What are the odds that Spyro will be able to lock all of them?"

The Electric Guardian nodded, he seemed to be prepared for such a question but before he began his sound sensor sizzling explanation he turned towards the young black dragoness. His intelligent eyes narrowed on her form as if processing a completely new image but moments later they returned to their original excited size.

" Pardon me Cynder, but what I'm about to divulge might wreak tribulation on your life giving organ. I will only wend to the gist of my explication with your approbation granted in full knowledge of the viable repercussions." his amethyst eyes for a moment ventured towards the fiery drake at her side

The dragoness perfectly understood the meaning of his words and looks " You have my consent" she replied in full confidence

Volteer nodded thankfully " Terrador convoke into your mind the day when Cynder overcame us in battle and used us as some sort of suspended, organic power source, she did that to administer what was imperative to allow the Convexity portal to subsist. We don't have any cogent validation but I hypothesize that it is the case. The puissant Veils like any other mighty gateway to contradistinct latent realm crave for such power source"

Flare lost interest in the amber dragon's words the moment Cynder name was mentioned in his monologue at some point. He observed the black dragoness curiously

" You fought with the Dud… Guardians?" he asked surprised making sure that nobody hears him expect for her

Cynder sighed sadly " it's a long story Flare, and not a very nice one at that"

" But why? You seem to be friends with those guys now, so why you attacked them?"

" Let's just say that I wasn't always so cuddly"

Spyro frowned thoughtfully " Volteer do you have any idea how such a battery would look like?"

The Electric Guardian shook his head " Grievously I have to promulgate that I am unable to propound any fathomable elucidation"

Cynder stifled a giggle, gaining the attention of all the gathered eyes, she covered her mouth with her paw and smiled from behind it " Sorry"

Volter didn't seem to be insulted, in the contrary, he looked amused probably realizing that his _fathomable elucidation _isn't as comprehensible for everyone as he makes it to be.

" Don't forget that…" Cyril stated finally breaking the distant expression on his snout "… Spyro began to feel the portal just right after the strange white ray invaded the mine our friends visited. I have a feeling that this was some kind of power source we are all looking for, even if it was only a temporary surge." The Guardian's voice trailed off as he began to click one of his claws on the floor, obviously doing a quick math in his head

" Now it all makes sense…" he muttered to a distant listener before concentrating on the present ones " Some time ago there was a day when the sky darkened instantly and there was that powerful thunder, later we could see white rays cracking the sky which we all took for some kind of nature's electrical discharge. With everything that we know now I can't shake off the feeling that the Dark Army was somehow behind all of this"

Terrador nodded " My gut tells me the same thing, but let's not jump to conclusions and wait for Hunter, he will definitely be able to shed some light on the situation"

Spyro frowned surprised " Hunter hasn't returned yet?" he asked worryingly

" Yes but there is nothing to worry about my boy, he has sent us one of his falcons with a massage that he is alright. The strange thing was that two Atlawa arrived together with the falcon, Hunter requested Amela presence and the two lamas were her escort, he said that it was urgent that she would go with them. Sadly the message nor the Atlawa offered any explanation, what we know for sure that they should be arriving later this day, only then we will finally know what is happening. "

The Guardian shook his head and let out a somewhat dreadful sigh "All of this mysteriousness is troubling"

" I've been pondering…" Volteer began his quick speech once again " … everything is interdependent with your Time potential Spyro, to be proficient enough to predominate the Veils you need to unlock the latent qualities or abilities that may be developed and lead to future success or usefulness in our objective. Are you apt of doing such?"

Sparx kept rubbing his forehead " Can't you just say potential?" he whined under his breath

Cynder's eyes widened as she looked at the dragonfly " Don't tell me you understood that"

" Some of it"

" Awwww, our little buggy is growing a brain. About time honestly."

Sparx glared at her " Yeah and since I'm so intelligent now I'm going to share a very important wisdom with you that you have to listen to since I'm just that smart."

He leaned closer and looked her straight in the eyes " Shut. Up."

The dragoness grinned

" Well…" Spyro began his reply " My Time power seemed to awaken by its own, I already used it in the mines in Munitions Forge but I still can't get a hold of it. I haven't been using it for quite a while and I feel so rusty and honestly I have no idea what to do with it, the only one who was capable of developing my Time abilities is the Chronicler but he hasn't contacted me for a very long time"

Volteer opened his mouth to voice another comment but to Spyro's surprise no words came out of his mouth, even if the amber dragon's tongue was forming the sophisticated sentences. Spyro could only make out the tone of his voice and the Guardian's accent but even that soon became like a loud hollow whispering, just like some sort of an echo bouncing off the walls in a completely barren room, as if the dragon would be speaking to him from somewhere else even if they are in the same room just mere meters away from each other.

Then the most awkward feeling filled his being, he could feel literally something pointy nipping at his very essence. The pointy object began to move sending surges of delicate numbing pain as it drew lines that Spyro was strangely familiar with, he could feel the object moving in a very refined way, a way he recognized from his parents lessons, the object was imprinting words and it was doing it on his very soul.

The dragon couldn't shake off the feeling that whatever is happening is violating the unwritten laws of the very aspect of the universe, he felt as the pointy object was trespassing on an strictly cloistered territory, a territory which belong to him, and him alone.

Yet the intrusion wasn't hostile, even if it caused pain Spyro could feel that the strange presence would spare him the ache if it was possible. Moments later the stinging pain caused by the sharp object faded, the moment it vanished Spyro could see flashes of his entire life after Malefor's defeat, for a moment he understood his every act and emotion from the past, present and most importantly for the future, he realized out of a sudden that a bumpy road is waiting for him that will falter his confidence, yet no matter how dreadful the path will look like, no matter how many obstacles will be thrown his way he needs to push forward because in spite of everything some good will come out of it.

Then the pain returned, once again he was invaded, something else joined the hopeful sensation, a cold realization saying that hope is for naught because despite what we do it will always bring change. Every action has a consequence, every being as it walks through its life shudders the world below it, leaving a mark upon it, this is just the way it is and nothing can be done to avert that. He too brings change, the effects of such a change depend solely on how deep his own imprint will go.

For a brief moment he saw a layer of a familiar world shaking under the pressure of cracking white rays that were coming from a dark void, a strangely familiar dark void. Moments later the darkness began to flicker and disperse revealing a set of strangely familiar claws attached to hardly discernable scales. The familiar claws began to turn upside down together with the shrouded in darkness paw, the moment the spin stopped the white powerful rays died down completely, the layer of a familiar world was spared the agony. Then there was a flash, the wounded layer appeared just above the hidden paw, a ring of fire began to encircle the layer, and when the ring locked itself the familiar claws sharply threw themselves backwards.

There was a crack, as if an egg would shatter when the claws connected with the shrouded paw.

An image of a stony snout with fire cracking inside its mouth flashed before his eyes.

* * *

" Hey Spyro!"

He heard the feminine words, the world was appearing slowly before his sight just as if he would be opening his eyes from a very deep sleep. He couldn't feel his body but slowly the image of the Guardian's looking at him materialized itself, the walls of the City Hall formed themselves just like somebody would be building it at this very time with invisible hands, brick by brick. Sound slowly returned to him, he heard his beating heart, his breath, the breaths of everyone around him, smell followed soon after.

" Hey Spyro!"

He recognized Cynder's voice calling to him, he felt her paw on his shoulder delicately shaking him. He blinked several times, finally recovering authority of his body, then he turned to look at her.

" Yeah?" he asked casually

She leaned closer with her paw still on his shoulder " What happened?"

" Huh?"

" You were unresponsive Spyro"

Terrador's voice boomed loudly inside his skull as if his mind was slowly recalling how it used to process sounds. Spyro turned towards the Guardian, he opened his mouth to form a question but just couldn't force himself to do it, his tongue was still trying to remember how to form comprehensible words.

" Huh?"

Sparx darted in front of his brothers eyes " You dazed off Dude!" he exclaimed while throwing his arms to the side

Spyro jerked his head back sluggishly, his mind seemed already to get accustomed to the surrounding noises since his brother's shout didn't rumble in his head, however his waking body wasn't unable to protect itself from the dragonflies spit.

The purple dragon wiped his snout " I get it Sparx, you don't have to spit on me" he replied, as if his tongue never became numb in the first place

" It looked more serious than that" Cyril stated " How are you feeling Spyro?"

Spyro shrugged " Fine I guess, a bit tired maybe"

Cynder once again shook his shoulder to gain his attention, the moment he looked at her he saw concern shimmering in her green eyes

" What happened?" she asked worryingly

He averted his gaze trying to make sense out of this awkward experience" I…I don't know, I felt like somebody would be poking at my head...or not at my head but at…" he sighed with a shake off his head " I don't know what it was, it was strange, then there was a flash…some images appeared…I don't know it doesn't make any sense"

Volteer poked at his chin thoughtfully " Perhaps it was an an experience in which a personage, thing, or event appeared vividly or credibly in your mind?"

Spyro frowned " A vision? I never had visions Volteer" he rubbed his forehead " Maybe I'm just tired"

" Exhaustion doesn't cause nose bleed" Cyril commented stolidly

Spyro could hear Cynder gasp when he withdrew his paw from his snout, just to run it below his nose moments later. When he looked at it he realized that the Ice Guardian was right, it was definitely blood.

" Coincidence?" Spyro smiled sheepishly when he pressed his paw once again to his nose just to look at it moments later as if making sure he isn't imagining things.

He wasn't.

Terrador rummaged through the papers laying on the wide table before he offered a slightly more soft piece of the white sheets " Here"

Sparx unhesitatingly snatched the paper and offered it to his brother, who pressed it to his draconic nose.

Spyro's eyes travelled from Flare, his brother, the Guardians and Cynder. Every single one of them was staring at him in complete awkward silence. Only when his eyes stopped at Cynder's gaze for more than two seconds the dragoness dropped her head to the ground. Spyro instantly realized what is happening.

" it's all my fault" Cynder hissed and stomped her paw on the ground in a display of guilt, sadness and anger

" No it's not!" Spyro protested from behind the bloody piece of paper

" Cynder?" Terrador gently pulled her teeth

" I killed that worm, and I did that by unleashing a strange power from an even stranger crystal. Which…" she let out a hysterical cackle "… I found because I felt its humming in a wall. When that ray from that crystal reached Spyro it caused him great pain as it would be tearing him apart" her expression once again was twisted by guilt " I fear that the nose bleed and everything might be the consequence of it"

" That's not true!" Spyro exclaimed before he turned towards the Guardians " it has nothing to do with it! I feel fine!"

Cyril eyed the purple dragon with his cold gaze, completely unmoved by the emotions going in between both young dragons " Why do you keep secrets?" he asked agitated " Why didn't you tell us about the crystal and Cynder's intervention?"

" Because we didn't know how to explain this! It is unimportant anyway"

" Unimportant?" Cyril snorted " How can be a power that judging from Cynder's explanation almost killed you unimportant?"

" it wasn't even close to killing me!" Spyro protested even if the pain was horrible and he had no idea if it would kill him but truthfully for a moment there he wished it would, because the agony was so unbearable

" We cannot reprehend our friends because they adjudged that the unrecognized remained marked by the habit of discretion. They postulated that the matter required a searching inquiry for ascertaining facts, refraining from a precipitating formal utterance of an authoritative opinion. A sagacious adjudication" Volteer defended the young dragons in his typical sound sizzling manner

" I believe in our friends good intentions but I disagree with the decision to keep things hidden from us" a slight note of admonishment could be hear within the Earth Guardian's tone " Now we at least know what might have caused the odd occurrence"

" it is not related!" Spyro protested again

" Perhaps it's not, but at least we now have an option that can be investigated and don't remain in the dark. Do you understand my point Spyro?" he eyed the group of young companions " Do all of you understand?"

" Yes" they all muttered at the same time, except for Flare but his _No_ was muffled by the commotion anyway

" Whatever strange things you encounter, whatever strange things will happen, you will share those things with us. I understand your worry and the nudge to protect your friends but I can assure you that whatever you say here will never leave this room. We need to work together to be able to pull through this. Did I made myself clear?"

Terrador's militant voice sounded more stern, more imposing than ever.

" Yes" the young companions repeated obediently

The Earth Guardian nodded " Good, for now that is all we need from you, we will discuss the situation in private and call you if necessary. In the meantime go to the hospital Spyro, let the healers check you out, for all our sake's, and then get some rest, you deserve some free time"

" Before you depart" Volteer's excited shout stopped the young group in its tracks, when every member of the young band looked at him, the Electric Guardian solely concentrated on the group's solitary feminine charm

" Cynder how are you feeling?"

She observed the amber dragon quite dumbfounded, she knew that his question didn't suggest concern for her mental health since he already knew about that, she made sure of it after all.

" Fine, why do you ask?"

The amber dragon observed her intently, his pupils were dilating as if searching for something that was hard to spot. After a while the Electric Guardian's eyes returned to their normal size, probably what they sought was no longer there, or it was never there in the first place.

" My perception fleetingly visualized your presence differently than I distinguish in ordinary practice" the dragon smiled reassuringly " However let my faculty of espying don't perturb you, I frequently identify things by the means of senses that are not perceptible or discernible by the mind of others"

Almost everyone gathered in the City Hall burst out laughing, the ones that stood out were Flare and Sparx.

" Ok Volteer" Cynder responded in between giggles " I think I'll do just that"

The confused, troubled but overall happy group left the Guardians to their pondering, perhaps their wisdom will shed some light on the recent events. The fresh adventures brought more questions than answers, unfortunately for the young companions the answers were currently out of reach. Yet when Spyro looked at his reddish paw soaked with his own blood something told him that when they will finally get to the center of things they might not like what they'll find.


	40. Chapter 2 Book III

Chapter 2

Another visit in Warfang and once more the group's destination turned out to be the hospital, a couple more visits and they will call this building their second home, or in the two foster brothers situation, a third. However no matter how discouraging the building looked like, deep down they all knew that they are going to be visiting the hospital halls more often than they would like, and something tells them that there is nothing they can do about it. It's nothing more than just the hazard of their trade.

This time however it was slightly different, expect maybe not for Spyro and Flare. The first believed that whatever happened to him had nothing to do with physical injury, he didn't exactly knew what occurred in the City Hall regarding his health and since he lacked any rational explanation he decided that the nose bleed was caused by the unfortunate chains of events happening within his body which were triggered by a protest erected by his insufferable blood vessels. Nose bleeds happen after all and he was certain that a healer in the hospital will confirm his speculations.

The second dragon shared the same uncaring attitude like the first drake but his state of mind wasn't formed by the working gears inside his head busy with processing the events from the City Hall. His impassive attitude was the effect of obliviousness, for him the hospital was nothing more than another common building, with walls and lamps, just like the City Hall. In fact he would never be able to recognize which of the buildings in the city is actually the hospital if he wouldn't stick close to his companions tails, especially the black one. There were gears in his head, and they were working but his intellectual mechanism was focused on something entirely else and it was not related with the hospital at all.

As for the other two members of their still little group, their emotional state was far from being indifferent. Even if they effectively hid it, well at least the glowing male dragonfly did, both of them were filled with worry and blame and even despite their differences these emotions were caused and focused on the same thing- the impact a certain black dragoness has on their group.

When they got close to the hospital they realized that the door were hanging open, it seemed like whoever left the building was in a hurry since whatever mechanical hinges holding them were obviously broken after that particular someone slammed them open with one powerful jerk. It seems the door served their purpose and now were slowly being pulled into the unavoidable decadence of every artificial thing. Perhaps this particular door reached its limit thanks to their popularity in the recent months, and it goes without saying that fame has its price. Yet they were people, like the two moles for example who were now crouched besides the door and diligently working on them, such people can restore fame and beauty, even if borrowed, to every cringed star.

The busy moles didn't pay them any attention as they passed through the broken door. If there was actually a sphere protecting the City Hall from the passing time, same thing couldn't be said about the hospital. This building's protective bubble, if it had any in the first place, was absent. The building looked mostly abandoned and the lack of people occupying the hospital's corridors was not the only reason behind such occurrence.

The building was mostly devoid of the usual medical equipment Spyro and Cynder were used to seeing here, especially in the big room they were now standing in. The stretchers that were occupying the surrounding walls were mostly gone, the ones that remained are few and far between, yet those were the normal ones, the cart like stretchers were gone completely. It seems that whoever pulled them out of the hospital did it in a hurry, if the cracks on the stony floor were any clue.

Also the desks and the shelves hanging over them were mostly empty, every crucial medical supply that used to save lives in the most dire of circumstances was gone, only the equipment used to treat minor wounds remained, but even the numbers of these medicine weren't high. Whoever ordered to clean up the shelves took a risk, there was always a possibility that a town inhabitant might get seriously injured but what the group could tell from the expressions of the few people that occupied the room nobody of them seemed to be offended.

This medical supplies were just as hastily collected like the rest of the equipment, just like someone didn't have the time to consider what is important and needed and what not but snatched everything that was at paw's reach. The spilled colorful liquids, trampled herbs and broken pieces of crystals gave the sour impression that whoever packed these things rushed to some sort of a slaughter, prepared to even sew limbs together if the situation demanded it.

The few healers and patients who remained in the building momentarily focused their eyes on the freshly arrived group. At first their attention was drawn to the fiery drake, most of the people still couldn't swallow the fact that a literally burning dragon is walking amongst them. Yet their fascination didn't last long since in seconds they caught glimpses of Spyro and especially the blood covering his snout.

In that moment everyone could hear faint gasps of horror, after that display of dread every available eyes that wasn't a part of the recently arrived group travelled on the sad black dragoness. The stares didn't escape notice of the feminine draconic figure, the hate and blame emanating from them made her cringe, those stares only empowered the guilt that weighted on her heart. For the first time perhaps she wasn't mad about the hostile glances, they only reminded her just how much of a burden she is for her purple friend.

" I'm sorry Spyro" Cynder whispered as they were slowly approaching one of the nearby wooden desks occupied by a small mole healer and even smaller amounts of medical supplies

The angry stares and the guilt ringing tone of his friend's voice didn't escape Spyro's notice, yet no matter how difficult it was he tried keep a calm snout.

" It wasn't you Cynder, stop blaming yourself" he whispered back

" Even if the nose bleed has nothing to do with the power I unleashed doesn't matter. I still hurt you"

" Guys please!" Sparx whined " If you want to have one of your moments again just wait till we are alone, and bring me a bowl so I can puke in it" he shuddered in faked disgust

They were about to reach the desk where one of the healers was observing them closely " You can't say such things Cynder" Spyro again answered her in a whisper " I tell you why later" with that he turned towards the mole healer behind the desk and smiled casually

" Hi"

The mole healer didn't respond, he was just staring at the purple dragon, the blood flowing down from his nose covered his lips and parts of his white teeth. That sight wasn't appealing to the mole in the slightest. The rodent's face only twitched into a poor, creepy grimace of a smile while his eyes impulsively locked themselves on the black dragoness behind the purple drake.

Spyro noticing that the mole isn't paying him much attention put his bloody snout in front the rodent's eyes.

" Excuse me" he cleared his throat hastily, the mole blinked, Spyro smiled sheepishly seeing his reaction " You see I have this blood streaming from my nose" he pointed his claw at the mentioned nose before cackling nervously, not really caring that he is stating the obvious

" I've told my friends that this is nothing serious but they still made me come here. So as you can see-"

" You are bleeding!" the healer exclaimed the moment his eyes stopped on the purple dragon

Spyro balked at the sound of the mole's shout.

The rodent's eyes began to shimmer with confident, medical expertise " Come over here Spyro" he urged the drake with a meaningful wave of his hand

The dragon did as he was told, the mole lowered on one knee and took the dragon's head in his hands " Headache?"

" Nope"

The mole squeezed the drake's nose delicately " Hurts?"

" Nope"

The healer raised the dragon's head a little, examining the bleeding nose from every possible angle " Nausea?"

" Nope" with another confirmation of his overall good health Spyro threw Cynder a quick meaningful glance

" I don't get it" Flare suddenly spoke, gaining the attention of all his companions and some nearby people

" Surprise!" Sparx announced with faked enthusiasm " Flare doesn't understand something!"

The fiery drake furrowed his brow " That's strange to you?"

The dragonfly grinning mischievously patted the dragon's head " In your case? No"

Flare just shrugged, not understanding what the dragonfly means by that. He then focused on the black dragoness.

" Why did you attack the Guardians Cynder? They were bad once?"

The dragon's question stirred the few remaining people in the hospital, quite murmurs began to travel through the building. Even the healer who was now cleaning Spyro's nose started to act more nervously. The memories of Cynder's past actions seemed to still stab their hearts with the painful blade of loss.

" It's not like that Flare" she answered him in a slightly more quieter tone " It was me who was bad, I attacked the Guardians because I couldn't control myself back then"

" You seem to be alright Spyro" the healer comforted the dragon " I can't really tell what caused the bleeding, it might have been a slight infection, but no matter what caused it, you'll be fine"

" Thank you"

" Oh" Flare huffed thoughtfully " Then you attacked them because you couldn't control your powers? Just like you attacked Spyro in the mine? You used some strange unknown powers to send the Guardians to the hospital just like him?"

Spyro's eyes ventured through the whole hospital hall as he heard a small commotion stirring amongst the people around them. Even the mole healer was staring at the black dragoness with wide eyes, just to turn them moments later towards him.

The purple dragon smiled doltishly while pointing a claw at his female friend " That's…that's not what happened"

Cynder winced at the sound of Flare's question, for the first time his cluelessness and lack of discretion irritated her, perhaps it was due to the nagging guilt filling her heart. She swallowed, it took her a while to dispose some of the boiled up anger and frustration but when she accomplished that feat she came to a conclusion that her simpleminded friend deserves some explanation, after all he told them a part of his dark story.

Cynder sighed and closed her sad eyes " Something like that, once I was a powerful General of a Dark Army. I was raised, or maybe created would be a better word here, by an even more powerful pu…" she bit her tongue, even in her sorrow a bit of clarity remained, mentioning to Flare that a purple dragon was behind all the destruction and her vile existence would probably ruin his already poor view of Spyro.

"…dragon called Malefor, or by his corruptive powers to be exact. Even if he wasn't present back then when I became what I became, I still called him my Master"

" You had a Master?" Flare blurt out surprised but then he frowned remembering how powerful her last _Master _was " But a real Master right?" he asked suspiciously " Not a fake one like Sparx?"

" Hey Dude! Some respect ok?" the dragonfly crossed his arms, completely offended " Maybe I made up some things after I acted like her Master but you have to know that in some circles people call me a god! True story! And how do you like that, huh?!" he blurt out indignantly

Flare remained unconvinced " Yeah right, if you are a god, then I'm a lizard"

" Actually…"

The guilt that was ripping her apart had to tore a piece of her responsible for experiencing joy since even the gentle banter between Flare and Sparx didn't put the tiniest smile on her snout.

" A real Master" Cynder continued her explanation, answering Flare's last question as if the words that were spoken later didn't even reach her. She only acknowledged the fact that her friends stopped talking and that silence was a signal for her to renew her speech.

" I had a very evil Master who as we found out later didn't care about anyone, even me, but himself"

The murmurs that travelled across the hospital room seemed to die down when one of the dragons was speaking, just to thrive again at the moment of silence of both drakes. None of the surrounding people was a musician by trade but that didn't prevent them from synchronizing their curious murmurs with the sound of the dragons voices, in the end creating a perfect satisfying tune.

At least for those people whose sole purpose in life is to pervert someone else's privacy and twist it later if it won't be sufficient to satisfy their meddlesome and envious needs. It seems that when your life is empty you have to fill it with someone else's. Living in a lie is some peoples goal, especially when such an existence causes as much as possible misfortune for the person you're stealing from.

Flare observed the dragoness carefully , it seemed like he has more in common with her then he originally thought. Seeing that someone else than him lived through hell and is here to tell the tale filled him with tremendous hope, especially when the dragoness after all that horror turned out to be a respectable and liked dragon with friends.

Yet that wasn't the only thing that he found interesting, all her talk about the evil Master reminded him of his own past, but he just couldn't understand how is that possible.

" My Masters were the same" he mumbled thoughtfully " they only cared about themselves, always pretending to work together while in truth after they smelled a perfect opportunity turned against each other. All the prisoners like me were their means to an end, whatever that means, anyway we were the ones who suffered the most"

Cynder let out a wavering breath and nodded sullenly " The weak and vulnerable, they always pay the worst price. The most disgusting thing is that you just don't care about their suffering, you are given an order and you carry it out. I was like that once, my Master gave my only one order and by following it I was forced to do terrible things"

Spyro observed his talking friends with an anxious gaze, they were speaking like they didn't realize that people are listening to their conversation, or perhaps they were so overwhelmed by curiosity and sorrow that they simply didn't care. Hearing Cynder's painful voice Spyro would go for the second option and by the looks of it he wasn't the only one.

The people around them realized that also, but instead of being supporting like him or simply just minding their own business, they listened to Cynder's every word and most importantly they didn't believe in her regretful tone. The bouncing disdainful murmurs only confirmed this. In that moment Spyro considered about ending his friends conversation, but then he thought better of it, not only he would startle his friends but also all the surrounding people who would definitely realize that he tries to hide something from them.

He finally decided that it is best to let the situation play out on its own than interfere.

Flare scratched the back of his head, Cynder's tale was so similar to his own, it was all so confusing. " All this things you say, that Master of yours, he is like the purple dragons from my time"

Both Spyro and Sparx looked at each other in horror just to run their eyes along every patient and healer moments later. It was then when Spyro's gaze stopped on the wide stare of the mole in front of him. The dragon wasn't sure what caused more shock, if it was the _purple dragon _in plural or _my time_, yet both these revelations had one thing in common- if pursued, both are close to revealing something that supposed to be a secret.

Spyro cackled nervously " Purple dragons?!" he blurt out goofily and renewed his stammering cackle " Prisoner?! Some people have a really rampant imagination" he began to cough while slowly turning his head.

At first his coughing was soft and filled with faked amusement but the moment his eyes stopped on the form of a dragonfly Spyro's cough adopted a meaningful rough tone and ended abruptly.

Sparx understood the not very discreet signal perfectly " Alright gang, you will cry a river later because you need to hear about this troll!" he exclaimed with faked excitement " It rose from the ground and-"

" Hey!" Flare's sincere excited shout cut the dragonfly off " Maybe that's why I wasn't surprised to see you! Maybe you seemed familiar because my purple dragon masters were also forcing me to murder people, just like your Master did! Maybe there is a bond between us or something! You know a mental one! Or…or…I don't know! But it's so cool! We have been through the same thing! We are former killers with friends and…and benefits! Yeah! Can it get more awesome than this?!"

Something that was once simple uneasy, nosy murmurs, now evolved into a fully shocked, angered and scared commotion.

" Oh shit" Spyro cussed, already knowing that the situation didn't play out in their favor

" He's one of Malefor's spawns!" a mole exclaimed horrified

" Oh shit" Cynder let out a resigned breath, realizing where this is going

" That bitch is trying to slip into our society, she is trying to destroy us from the inside! She's building an army!" a scared cheetah shouted from somewhere

" AAAAAARRRGGHHH!" Sparx let out a poorly faked agonizing scream, pressed his hands to his chest and dropped on the floor with an audible smack.

" He…help…m…me…" the dragonfly groaned while raising one of his shaking arms pleadingly into the air

" Brill said that Spyro couldn't defeat Malefor completely, he was a purple dragon after all! He needed a backup plan and Cynder is the perfect solution!" another panicked citizen started screaming

" He was her Master! You can't break such a bond! Cynder didn't change, she just played nice! Brill was right! Brill is always right! She planned it all along!"

Sparx darted into the air, miraculously cured " Hey people!" he yelled indignantly " I'm dying here!"

" Shadow has always stalked us" an older cheetah mumbled " but this time Shadow brings Fire with her. She seeks destruction"

Spyro turned towards the healer who treated him earlier when these people were still normal, he was sure that the mole as a doctor will have more distance to superstitious babble.

" She isn't like that, she-"

He was wrong.

Spyro's explanation was abruptly ended by the mole's fist hitting his cheek. When his head was thrown to the side he realized just how wrong he was.

" Sorry for punching you Spyro" the healer stated painfully " But you need to wake up!" he pointed his claw at the black dragoness " That slut is seductive! Do you think Malefor chose her by coincidence? No! He prepared a backup plan!"

The mole's extended claw shuddered as if trying to show the purple dragon a mask that his draconic amethyst eyes are failing to notice.

" He has sent her to beguile you, to get close to you! You need to protect yourself from her evil spells!"

Spyro rubbed his cut lip as he turned towards the mole, he wasn't angry at the healer for punching him, he was angry at the mole because he insulted his friend and mentioned a name he really didn't want to hear.

" You will never call her like that again" he rumbled while throwing a quick glance at his claw covered with the blood trickling from his lip

" Spyro please" Cynder whimpered

The mole clenched his fist in a pleading manner " Can't you see what is happening?! You are turning against your own! But it's not too late" the healer stated with a calm voice and placed his hand on the purple dragon's shoulder while looking inside the drake's purple orbs with radiating kindness.

" Go to Brill, he will open your eyes. He will help you"

What was once a simple irritation now evolved into sheer fury.

Spyro forcefully wiggled from the mole's gentle grasp and made some steps backwards as if the rodent would be affected by a deadly disease. A disease called Brill.

" I don't want to hear about him!' Spyro growled forcing startled gasps from the patients and healers alike

" Spyro if you would just listen-"

" No!" the purple dragon's roar stopped the healer's words inside his throat " You people are blind! A dead guy shows up at your doorstep and you follow his every word?! Maybe he is the one controlled by the Dark Master?! Didn't you think about that?!" He was dead for fuck's sake!"

" Don't say such things…"

" I will! And I will say more! Cynder did the right thing by killing him!"

His roar woke another wave of horrified gasps.

" He was our leader!" one of the females sobbed " A father figure!" another sob

" What would you do if Ignitus would return!?" another horrified person yelled " Put him to the ground like you want to do with Brill?! Just because Ancestors granted us a miracle?!"

A furious roar rumbled within Spyro's throat, mentioning Brill put him on edge already but pulling Ignitus into it was a blow below the belt. He can't stand these people blindness and arrogance no longer.

" Get out" Spyro growled

" You can't even face the truth!"

" I'VE SAID GET OUT!" the dragon let out a roar that shook the walls of the entire hospital, if that display of feral wrath wasn't enough to convince the people to leave, the flames wafting from the dragon's nose surely did.

People started to barge through the exit door like they would be escaping from a burning building. While they so hastily departed they kept mumbling and shouting but Spyro didn't make out any comprehensible sentences since he simply didn't care what else they have to say.

The hospital was emptied in seconds, the four companions were the only ones left.

The only sound that now echoed in the building was the noise of the wind breaking through the still swinging door that was so recently used. All of them stared at the creaking entrance until the door finally stopped moving.

The silence that has befallen on the hospital when the door finally shut themselves could be compared to sepulchral, if not for the barely audible breaths a common passer-by could easily take this building for a very overgrown and sophisticated tomb.

" Damn" Sparx huffed in awe, finally breaking the silence before he turned towards the purple dragon " I know I'm not the one who betrays his emotions but let me tell you this." he took a dramatic pause " Damn bro I'm impressed! There's a male hiding behind all your girly build after all!"

His brother's humor managed to put a delicate smile on Spyro's snout, despite all the fresh wrath boiling inside him. However that smile didn't last long, one look at a pair of feminine green eyes was enough to wipe it out.

Spyro saw the incredible pain within those glimmering emeralds and he was suddenly struck by an overwhelming sense of guilt, he just knew he was the one that caused her so much unspeakable anguish. He believed that if Cynder's eyes could speak they would scream themselves to death unable to withstand such suffering in silence.

As he looked into those eyes Spyro could feel his veins snapping one by one like twigs of a tree inside his body. They kept shattering until they reached a nest with an egg in it, hidden behind a wall of such twigs that seemed to be impenetrable. Yet even such a firm barricade could not stand against the force that tore its way through his body, and the egg in its protective embrace paid the final price.

The sight of such pain inside his friend's eyes broke his heart.

" You've lied to me" Flare stated coldly

Spyro massaged his aching forehead " Not now Flare" he whined

" You've said that you are the only purple dragon alive!"

For a moment there Spyro wanted to snap at his infuriating companion, explain in very rough words that it was the Guardians who shed some light on the situation, not him. So Flare can now politely bug off. Luckily for everyone one single deep breath was enough to quench the screaming fury.

Spyro raised his eyes to look at the irritating drake, when he did that the image of Flare he was used to see was gone entirely. Not so far away from him stood the odd fire dragon from their first meeting, Flare's whole posture was radiating even the same emotions, uncertainty, fear and barely noticeable hint of bravery.

The flicker inside his eyes when he gets interested, the chaotic twitches when he gets scared or even the simplest breath when he gets excited, everything that Spyro learnt to connect with Flare that shaped his image within his purple eyes, vanished.

He was once again staring into the alien yellow eyes they encountered in the ruined temple in Boven all those moons ago. Spyro was quite certain that if he would make even the tiniest threatening jerk at the red dragon Flare would run away just as fast as all the people earlier.

That was somewhat a very appealing perspective.

" Because I am" Spyro eventually forced himself to form a response, silencing the mischievous prankster. However the anger was still clearly palpable in his voice, even after all that turmoil inside his head.

" Malefor is dead"

" Oh shocking, I suspect you were the one who killed him?"

A growl rumbled inside Spyro's throat, is Flare provoking him on purpose? Doesn't he see just how furious he is? And how he keeps his tongue from spitting something he would regret later? Spyro tried to control his emotions but that mocking and arrogant tone of his was so close to make the pot within him filled with rage boil.

" WE killed him" Cynder joined the argument, her voice was again filled with determination and bravery Spyro was so used to hear.

Flare frowned, he was clearly quite astonished hearing the news.

" You killed your Master?"

" Yes"

She saw doubt inside the fire dragon's eyes as he was staring at her but there was something else in there too besides the reluctance. It was loss, curiosity and…longing? The flicker in his eyes reminded her of someone who missed an opportunity to change his life forever and now wonders how his destiny would look like if he wouldn't hesitate to go down a different road.

When Flare shook his head the flicker in his eyes vanished.

" Why?" the fiery drake finally asked

Cynder had a feeling that he asked just for the sake of asking, as if he already knew the answer. However when she thought about a bit more she realized that his _Why _didn't sound as a question at all, it was more like a taunt.

" Because it was the right thing to do"

" I'm sure it was. Let me guess, Melafor, Malefor or whatever his name was had to die because:

One - Spyro wanted to rule in his place,

Two- Spyro needed more power to protect his homeland,

Three- Your Master threatened to destroy the world and had to be stopped.

After traveling with you I'm sure it was the third option, right?"

The dragoness opened her mouth but the only thing that came out was a stifled grunt, confused and surprised she looked at Spyro, hoping for an advice on how to proceed.

Spyro however had no interest in proceeding, he had a different losing battle to win.

" Listen Flare" the purple dragon growled, the sound of his feral display paralyzed Flare in fear, the fire dragon has obviously a vast knowledge about the purple dragons, there might be some truth to the story about his imprisonment after all.

" Drop that tone because I'm at the brink of my patience and if you know so much about me then you don't want to make me angry, right?" Spyro smirked seeing Flare gulp and tremble, he used the drake's knowledge against him in the most ruthless of ways, and it felt great.

" Spyro!" Cynder admonished him " Get a hold of yourself! I'm the temperamental one here, all this fury doesn't suit you"

The purple dragon cringed at the sound of her voice, there was no force in the whole world strong enough to force him to direct all the boiling wrath at her. Spyro took a deep breath and lowered his head, he already felt a bit more calmer.

Cynder turned towards the fire dragon when Spyro backed off " Now Flare, how can you say such things about Spyro after traveling and working with him for the past few days? Didn't I tell you he was different?"

Flare looked at the purple dragon, once he could agree with Cynder, that there was something more to Spyro than meets the eye, but now, after learning about Melafor or Malefor he could no longer spot that difference. Spyro was just like any other purple dragon, raised perhaps by a good family but he was still a purple dragon.

" I…I believed he was…until now. Some of them at the very beginning show their true nature and don't hide their intentions, some, like Spyro, start nice just to end like the previous group." he looked sadly at the black dragoness " I know he is your friend and you will stay at his side no matter what I say, but if you one day will consider my words you will see that I speak the truth. Purple dragons aren't the cure for our problems, they are our blight. I'm so sorry Cynder."

" There is a brain hiding under that skull after all" Sparx commented in his typical own way " Dude, that was probably the longest speech you ever gave, I've never heard you saying so many words before. Gratz"

Cynder snorted " I'm not buying this. You can't compare Spyro to Malefor, my Master was crazy, and evil to the core, his goal from the very beginning was to destroy our world, he-"

" Because that was his destiny?" Flare's quick question cut her off

Everyone present looked at the fire dragon, shock clearly shaping their expressions.

" How…how do you know this?" Spyro muttered

" Some of you believed that their destiny is to destroy the world, some believed that they are destined to save it. Sounds familiar?"

" Then you know about the prophecy?"

Flare shook his head " I've said already that I don't know anything about any prophecy. Purple dragons are power hungry, that destiny thing is just a way to justify your actions so you can sleep at night. Nothing more."

" That's unfair Flare" Cynder admonished him " Spyro's not like the other purple dragons, can't you see? Did any of the purple dragons you knew fought by your side?"

Flare shook his head.

" Did they have any friends?"

The drake once again repeated the simple motion.

" Did any of them called you their companion?"

Another shake.

" See where I am going? Spyro is nothing like them"

Flare sighed, she had a point, he would be convinced if not for the recently acquired insight " Most likely Spyro just reaches his goal differently than the purple dragon's I've knew. Probably there was a purple dragon like him somewhere in my time, I just didn't meet him."

He looked at his black friend, pity shimmered within his eyes " I suppose this is how friendship looks like? To protect you friend no matter what you hear or what evidence you are given of his evilness?"

" It's so much more" she corrected him confidently

Flare nodded, not really understanding what she meant by that but it didn't matter " That's how I feel about you Cynder, all these people here were saying terrible things about you, calling you names and I still thought they were wrong, because they don't want to see your other side"

" You are doing the same thing with Spyro!" Cynder protested

Flare lowered his head, he couldn't stand the look in her eyes " I know, but in this case no matter what side you show it will always lead to the same destination." he looked at the purple dragon " I'm sorry for taunting you, I shouldn't have done that. You are different from the rest of the purple dragons I've met, you deserve at least a bit of respect, but I will stay away from you. I don't trust you, I don't like you and I'm terrified of you but I don't hate you, even if the side of the purple dragons I'm familiar with is within you"

Mistrust, an outright sincere mistrust, that was something new for Spyro. It was the first time someone openly admitted that he is being given a benefit of a doubt, hopefully, by a dragon they considered their companion, or even a friend. It hurt to listen to such words in its own specific way. Spyro only imagined how Cynder felt when in the forest near Boven Sparx accidently said a word too much, not to mention that she also has to face frank taunts and insults of all those people. How she bares it he has no idea, guess she's tougher than he thought.

However Spyro managed to pick up something good from Flare's monolog, at least know he knows on what ground his cooperation with the fire dragon is based on. Quite unfair in his eyes since it was Flare who tried to attack him in the mines of Munitions Forge, yet Spyro decided to remain silent about the unexplained act of aggression, he didn't want to rub salt into the already bleeding wound by mentioning this.

" Thanks for your honesty, I'm always trying to do what's right, I hope that one day you will see this too, and..." Spyro winced and swallowed " Sorry for yelling at you, I shouldn't have scared you" he wanted to stop there but a thought crossed his mind about lighting a bit this grim situation.

Spyro smiled gently " But hey, I can't be that bad, you're not stammering"

Flare blinked, that was the second time he hears Spyro apologizing, he is not like any other purple dragon he dealt with before, but then again he did kill his kin. Spyro has friends who would stand by him no matter what, none from the purple dragons he knew had friends beyond their power hungry circle, even if that was just a temporary bond.

However this is a different time, if any of that talk about portals actually makes any sense, maybe in this world purple dragons changed their tactic, seeing as there only a scarce of them left? Open hostility would leave them vulnerable. Yet Spyro was right, he did not stammer, that is always a good sign, but Spyro did let out the side Flare is so familiar with when he scared off all those people.

The fiery dragon no longer knew what is true and what is not, it was all so messed up that his head began to hurt.

" I need some fresh air" Flare groaned, a break from all of this confusion will do him good " I'll…see you later"

Seconds after this words were spoken the exit door from the hospital once again swung open and closed soon after, hiding a fiery tail behind them.

" Ok!" Sparx exclaimed the moment the door stopped moving " I'm going to repeat myself here" he pronounced each sentence calmly as he turned towards the two young dragons. When he set his eyes on them he quickly dashed their way, his serenity long gone already.

" There is something REALLY wrong with that guy!" he shouted in panic

Cynder rubbed her forehead " Ok I admit, this whole situation was slightly disturbing" she said tiredly

" Slightly?! Come on! Flare is more moody than a pregnant lizard" he touched Cynder's shoulder " no offense" he said casually before once again turning into a panicked lunatic " We shouldn't have brought him with us!"

" You're overacting" Cynder stated calmly

" Yeah? Did you forget about the freaky eyes already? Or how he tried to attack Spyro?"

" I'm sure that was just a heat of the moment, he never tried that again"

Sparx folded his arms " And what makes you so sure brainiac that he won't snap someday?"

" Because he treats me as a friend and he knows that Spyro is my friend so-"

" Oh crap" the dragonfly blurt out, cutting the dragoness off

Cynder jerked her head back " What?"

Without any further explanation Sparx swiftly spun around and quickly left the hospital, a barely visible trail of yellow was everything he left behind.

" Ok then" the dragoness uttered as if nothing ever happened and turned towards her purple friend with a childish smile " And how's your day?"

Spyro looked at her surprised " The way Sparx left doesn't bother you at all?"

" Nope, it would bother me if he acted normal, if there are signs of insanity still present then everything is in the right order" she grinned

Spyro managed to smile " I guess you're right"

Cynder took a deep breath and looked around the hospital " Finally alone huh? Too bad it takes some insults and even more shouting to reach this point, but hey, it could be worse, right?"

The male dragon looked at her, there was something really odd about the way she acted, as if feeling the weight of his gaze on her Cynder raised her eyes to meet his. When that happened Spyro realized that his suspicions were correct, he could picture a curtain falling down when she blinked just to reveal the true stage in her emerald theatre the moment her eyes opened.

" Ah, who am I kidding" she whined and her rump dropped on the floor in resignation. With a sad sigh she lowered her head " I'm sorry Spyro, I'm so sorry"

The sight was enough for the purple dragon to spring on his paws, he once again could feel the freshly glued egg within him shattering again.

" Hey, hey, nothing of this is your fault"

" It is, and you know it"

" No, if people are stupid enough to blame you for something you couldn't control then let them stay dumb. They are not your problem, I'll try to make them see the truth, but it won't be easy, you need to bare their taunts a bit longer Cynder, I'm sorry" he sat in front of her to offer her mental support.

" Don't you get it?" she hissed and threw her head up.

Spyro reared back in surprise.

He didn't have to say anything, the dumbfounded expression on his snout was like an open book to her.

" I don't care what people say about me, I care what they say about you. This little hell of mine is influencing you, I'm involuntary dragging you into my mess"

" What are you talking about? You didn't do anything, it was my decision to stand in your defense"

She laughed mockingly " Your decision? No, it was all me. You are my friend and it was clear that you would stand in my defense, no matter how many times I've told you not to do so. You stick to your chivalrous persistence because you're too soft and can't admit that that this is my mess and mine alone!" the hectic monolog was tiring, the dragoness didn't even notice when she started to pant.

Spyro was unmoved by her outburst, he sat in front of her perfectly still " As you said I'm your friend, and as your friend I can't sit and watch how they insult you, I just can't"

" I know!" Cynder whined annoyed while springing on her paws before making her way towards a nearby desk " I know" she muttered more calmly as she ran her paw alongside the woody surface " I know you damn stubborn bastard, you have no idea how grateful I am for your support but at the same time…" she punched the desk, a hollow thud echoed throughout the hospital "…it pisses me off" she hissed

" I make you happy and angry?" he smiled " Hey, at least monotony doesn't threat us"

She shook her head with a wavering smile " You're insufferable"

" Annoying! That's three"

Cynder spun around and made her way towards him, taking faked indignant steps " Stop trying to cheer me up with jokes!" she admonished him " I'm supposedly the witty one here"

" What, you think I'm too stupid for that?" Spyro played along

" Shhhh, it will be our secret" she winked and dropped on her back in front of his paws. She stared at the ceiling for a while before laughing suddenly " Damn I'm really behaving like a pregnant lizard" she sighed tiredly " What are the chances that you won't stand in my defense?"

" Zero"

She closed her eyes " I was afraid so"

" Honestly Cynder I don't understand you, as your friend I'm going to protect you, why do you worry so much?"

" For starters stop using the words _protect you_ I hate that and I'm capable of protecting myself thank you very much. Two…" she set her emerald gaze on him "… can't you seriously see what is happening? People think I'm the one who twists your mind, they think that you are betraying them for me"

A growl rumbled inside Spyro's throat " It's not the people, it's that damn Brill who messes with their heads"

" I don't remember Brill showing up in Munitions Forge when we arrived at that miners camp, or perhaps I've slept through the day when he invented teleportation"

He looked to the side, she has him against the wall but there in no way in hell he'll going to admit it " That was just a coincidence, besides all these people are overreacting"

The turn of his head was enough for Cynder to see through his ruse " Then there is a line you would never cross?"

" Of course" Spyro replied with a break that could only be heard by a very perceptive person…or his best friend

" Really? Then look in my eyes and tell me what exactly you wouldn't do for me?"

He laughed nervously while still staring at the wall " Seriously? You want to play games now?"

" it's not a game"

" Feels like one"

" Look into my eyes" she said more sternly

He wiggled anxiously " Stop"

" Do it"

This was it, the tone that ordered him to compel was back and he just couldn't resist it. He slowly turned his head just like a heavy chain would be wrapped around his neck to hinder his movements, hoping that his eyes won't betray him.

His hope was in vain.

When he set his amethyst gaze on her Cynder felt like an icy finger touched her heart, something she feared yet expected to see displayed itself before her in its full glory. She could clearly see the letters shimmering within his purple eyes, forming a one word that filled her with tremendous dread.

_Nothing_.

She bumped her head gently on the floor in resignation and horror " Dear Ancestors…"

" Oh come on!" Spyro protested " You're thinking about this too much, everything will be fine I assure you"

She didn't believe that " From the day you saved me I've been doing everything to somehow make up for all my crimes. I knew it wouldn't be easy, I didn't expect people to forgive me at a day's notice, redemption takes time, but I didn't realize that it would be so hard. I pressed forward without thinking about the consequences of my presence because I knew I could count on you, or Sparx to some degree. To back me up and urge to continue forward when I needed that. I didn't realize that I could have such a devastating effect on the people around me"

She shook her head in resignation, the white horns on her head scratched the stony floor below " And now look at us, we are sitting in an empty hospital because you scared off all the people just to defend me, even Flare received his share of insults. What I believed to be a bumpy walk in the park turned out to be a climb a top a very steep mountain. The road I took in my life feels like some sort…path of delusions. The same thing is happening with you but you just don't want to see it."

Cynder's eyes sparkled with sudden enlightenment " Hey! That would be a good title if some idiot decided to write a book about your misfortunes. How sad it would be?"

She let out a stifled laugh and rubbed her forehead, humor has left her when reality once again announced its presence " Shit, I feel like such a burden lately"

" You are not a burden Cynder" Spyro comforted her

" I didn't expect you to say anything else"

The purple dragon rolled his eyes " What do you want to hear? You want me to confirm that you are a burden? Alright you are a burden"

She looked at him, he could swear he saw life slipping through her eyes. Spyro met her gaze confidently.

" And you know what else? I don't care. No matter how heavy you are I will carry you, if the ground will shatter under my paws I will raise with you to the air. If clouds will stop me then I would dive into the sea with you on my back. There, did I make you feel any better?"

Whatever force was pulling her life away vanished, yet to his disappointment joy didn't take its place.

" I wish you didn't say that"

" Ok" Spyro said resigned " You lost me there"

Cynder closed her eyes " You want to know what Mole-Yair told me? He said that I will bring harm to everyone close to me." she raised to a sitting position " And I fear he was right, that damn blind ass was right" she sighed " Shit."

" Cynder-"

" I should leave"

Her words were like a huge hammer cracking the ground under his paws and the void that slipped through those cracks threatened to swallow him.

" WHAT?!" Spyro exclaimed in horror when he recovered his balance after the artificial tremor.

Cynder closed her eyes trying to prevent tears skimming through her wavering defense " I've looked for my destiny after you saved me but that search only brought pain and led me straight into Gaul's hands. Then you were there for me a second time and brought great relief by encasing us in that crystal. When we began to travel again, after some time I abandoned my destiny and began to share yours, I was truly happy back then."

She wiped a tear running down her cheek " But now I know that such a connection is forbidden, even if I pretend that my presence isn't toxic I can't live a lie forever. As much as I hate and fear to admit it I believe that my shadow is slowly melding with yours and you just can't mix heaven with hell."

" No!" Spyro protested angrily and somewhat resigned " You cannot let the people mess with your head. Listen to me, you have to stay! I'm your friend and I know what's best for you"

" But it's not best for you!" she growled, two moist lines clearly visible on both her cheeks " I beg you to think about yourself. Just this once!"

" I am! For Ancestor's sake I am!" he shouted angrily, making his friend to recoil back " My selfishness is why you cannot leave! All those things I've said, do you really think they had no purpose? Remember the words that I carved near my statue in the temple? Part of me wanted to cheer you up back then, but there was a part that put all of my heart into those words"

Cynder walked down the memory lane, she clearly remembered the words.

_The reason of my existence._

" Spyro listen to me-"

" No!" he protested " This time you will listen to me. If those words don't convince you remember that you always keep your promises. Your words not mine. And you still have to say that you won't go anywhere since our conversation near Munitions Forge was interrupted. You owe me that promise!"

Now that was the most stupidest argument she has ever heard, how can you demand a promise from someone? Not to mention that if she would promise him that she would tie herself to him.

" I keep my promises, you're right, but I can't see how I owe you anything and even if I did that promise would force me to be stuck with you"

" Really?" he looked around with fake shock " I didn't really thought about that!"

Despite his irritating act she smiled, every now and then she adored that infuriating wit of his.

" You're such a pig" Cynder answered with an endearing tone

Spyro's mouth twitched into a smirk " Now that you admitted that you keep your promises let me remind you of something. Concentrate. There was a mountain, a run in the forest, I had a nose bleed, you felt guilty, and…"

" Shit" she cussed, the dragoness knew where this is going and knew that she was defeated by her own weapon.

" Can you repeat what you promised me?

Cynder dropped her head " That we won't blame ourselves when something unexpected happens to any of us while trying to help"

Spyro grinned " Exactly"

" How can you remember such things? It was ages ago"

He shrugged " Everyone has some perversions"

She giggled and looked at him " But that was just a silly bet Spyro. You can't take it seriously"

Still grinning Spyro shrugged innocently " A promise is a promise"

Cynder snorted " Alright I stay, you win"

He beamed proudly.

She pulled herself up " You better not regret this"

Spyro laughed triumphantly " Even if I wanted to I couldn't do it, you seduced me"

Cynder felt like a bolt would run through her whole body, flexing every possible muscle " What did you say?"

His mouth instantly closed itself shut and the laugh emitting from his throat died with a groan. He cursed his thoughtlessness.

Spyro scratched the back of his head, nervously " You know… people said you seduced me, that's why I can't get enough of you" he cackled, he only now realized that his throat became suddenly hoarse " It was a joke" he offered her an uncertain smile.

It was then when his eyes looked behind her and spotted a group of people running behind a window, and they were heading their way.

" Someone's coming"

The moment he finished speaking the door of the hospital swung open, both dragons sharply turned towards the source of the sound. The hospital once again was again filled with different kind of sounds as a very numerous group of people barged through the door, the peculiar things was that that they were all healers.

Besides the uncomprehensible shouts the hospital was also filled with noises of medical equipment bouncing of each other. Stretchers, both normal and on wheels, bags with all different flasks jiggling inside and backpacks with rustling crystals. At least now the dragons knew where all the medical supplies gone to.

The strange thing was that the supplies the group of healers brought back was completely intact, like the expedition was sent to treat thousands of soldiers on the final stage of a bloody battlefield just to find that it was only a couple of farmers after some simple accidents.

When the group was slowly settling in inside the hospital, not paying the dragons any attention a stretcher rolled in with a white reddish sheet covering someone below it, that liquid was undoubtedly blood. Due to the amount of people surrounding the rolling stretcher they were unable to really say who was the unlucky victim. However when the stretcher turned a sharp turn into one of the corridors they could spot a piece of a bluish draconic tail protruding from the bloody sheet.

Moments later two more stretchers rolled in, they also had a white sheet covering them but there was no blood on them. However they were sure that the stretchers weren't empty, the bulges that covered both materials told both dragons that there is a pile of something rough hiding below them.

Just behind the stretchers entered someone with who both dragons were familiar with, the old cheetah wore a bloody yellowish shirt and brown pants. She was clutching a crunched white shirt in one of her hands, well it was surely white once, but now it was completely soaked with blood. In the contrary to everyone else, the old cheetah did actually notice the two young dragons.

" What are you doing here?" the cheetah shouted surprised and somewhat tired

" Amela what happened?" Spyro asked curiously, his eyes still jumping from person to person as if adjusting to seeing crowds again

" Are you hurt?" the cheetah asked worryingly

" We're fine" Cynder replied, as Spyro she was getting used to the commotion " What's going on?"

The old cheetah swiftly spun on her paws and made her way towards the corridor where the bloody stretcher disappeared " I don't have time to explain, I have to operate. Go to the City Hall, I'll meet you there when I'm done here" with that she was gone.

Both dragons just stood there watching all the running people, once more they were left confused. The commotion didn't really bother them as the thought that blood was involved in whatever happened out there in the Dragon Realms.


	41. Chapter 3 Book III

Chapter 3

Sparx swiftly appeared onto the street through one of the hospital windows, the dragonfly hovered just in the middle of the marble path. The commotion of a bursting city struck him immediately, even if the hospital behind him was devoid of any life, the same couldn't be said about Warfang overall. The dragonfly turned his head from side to side, people were walking everywhere, minding their own business.

Some cheetah and mole workers were slowly making their way through one of the side alleys tugging a cart behind them filled with heavy brown sacks, bound together by creamy-colored ropes. On the opposite side of the street people slowly gathered around a single hooded cheetah, cheering and clapping to his rich singing voice and musical notes coming from under his claws which caressed the strings on the feline's wooden lute.

It was like very side of the city lived with its own life, even the sky wasn't spared the cacophony of laughing, talking and shouting. The dragonflies eyes' went up at the sound of two carefree children playing and a mother scolding them for straying too far away from her care. Those three weren't the only dragons flying overhead, there were many more serpents cutting through the wind's current, sparing their paws the fate of trudging through crowded alleyways, a fate more mundane legs had to bare.

For once Sparx was grateful that all these people aren't paying him any attention, he could concentrate on his task more easily and his task was to find a dragon who has trouble keeping in check the fire in his eyes from betraying his emotions, literally. However the task proved more difficult than Sparx originally thought, something he believed would be a piece of a cake turned out to be something entirely different.

The dragonfly scanned the surrounding area and couldn't believe his own eyes, among the crowd of orange furs, brown coats and colorful scales there was no sign of a walking fire. Something conspicuous as a literally burning dragon should catch his sight immediately yet the drake somehow managed to blend into the crowd. As irritating as it was, it was actually good news, Sparx only wondered how long it will last.

The dragonfly spotted a mole running up a staircase two steps at a time, with nothing left to lose the dragonfly darted towards the rodent.

He approached the rushing inhabitant and stopped him in his tracks by placing a shoulder on the mole's arm.

" Hey!" the mole looked at the dragonfly slightly startled " Did you see a strange looking dragon somewhere around here?"

The rodent smirked " A strange looking dragon you say?" he replied with hissing sarcasm

Sparx rubbed his hands together " Right, you probably need more than that. Umm… his wings are burning?"

The mole nodded towards the stairs behind him " He was there somewhere"

The dragonfly patted the mole's shoulder " Thanks man" with that he made his way towards the stairs.

After some turns and peeking at even more alleyways Sparx finally found the dragon he was looking for. Flare was standing in front of a market stall with different sorts of pottery, especially a pyramid formed from the same colored and sized vases seemed to draw his attention. Judging from the distance, or more likely, lack of any, between the vases and the dragon's nose Sparx was certain that the fiery dragon sees such pottery for the first time in his life. The merchant who set up this stall seemed to share the same powerful curiosity yet his was directed at the strange dragon evaluating his merchandise.

Locating Flare was an important task but not the most crucial one, Sparx careful not to betray his presence began to fly around the marketplace, circling around people or hiding behind many sorts of displayed merchandise, and he did all that in close proximity to the fire dragon.

The pottery merchant finally managing to shake off the confusion and most likely gnawing fear approached the dragon from behind the safety of his stall and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

" is…is there any way I can help you?"

When Flare's predatory eyes rested on him, the merchant had to wrap his claws on a nearby chair to prevent his legs from tripling over each other. In that moment he realized who is hunter and prey here. It goes without saying that he wasn't thrilled with the realization.

For a moment there the merchant thought that the dragon looked even more startled than him.

" Who? Me?" Flare blurt out surprised

" Do you see anyone else here?"

Flare looked around, there were plenty of people walking all around the place, is the mole blind? Or perhaps his sight is so poor that it only allows to see things that are just in front of his nose.

" Yes" he answered finally, deciding that it would be nice to remind the mole that they are not alone here.

The merchant frowned surprised, he wasn't certain if the strange dragons is serious or he is just making fun of him, yet he decided to remain silent. The customer is always right after all.

The mole presented a toothy grin, judging from the wrinkles at the corners of his mouth he based his whole mercantile charm on that smile.

" I've see you already found your objects of interest" he motioned at the pyramid with his open palm

Flare followed his directions " This? I don't even know what are these"

Dark clouds gathered above the merchant's head, stealing the specious smile from his snout " What do you mean that you don't know what are these? Those are vases"

The fiery drake's eyes sparkled with curiosity " Vases? What do they do?"

The merchant stared at the drake completely dumbfounded, he just couldn't comprehend that the dragon is being serious. However a customer is always right, if to gain profit answers to stupid questions are required so be it.

" You use them to decorate your home, buy the big one and place it in a corner or take the smaller one and add some flowers. No matter what you choose the vase will be always a nice addition to your house"

Flare's eyes widened as he started at the suddenly magical vases " I wish I had a home" he muttered with a voice full of awe and longing.

The mole opened his mouth but no words came out, probably that was the first time when he didn't know what to say. Luckily, or not, the drake continued.

" What's home like?"

The merchant was surprised himself, but he actually no longer considered the drake's questions stupid. For the trader people were markets, and markets have the tendency to remain irrational longer than he can remain sane.

" Home is a corner in the world you can call your own"

Flare nodded thoughtfully " So… if, let's say, someone spends his whole life in a cell than that's his home?'

" Home doesn't necessarily mean a building with four walls and a roof above. Some people feel at home when they are around their friends and loved ones"

The red dragon winced " Friends…" for the first time in a very long time he felt at place when he met the three companions, especially the black dragoness roused such feelings in him. It almost felt like a very important part of everyone's existence has returned, it was acceptance.

" Some…" the merchant continued "… see home completely differently, for those people home is where their heart is"

Unconsciously Flare's eyes stopped on the vases, for him home sounded like an utopia, or perhaps something less profound, yet whatever that thing was it was still out of reach. His heart belongs to the dragoness he considers a friend, some people might find a friendly relationship as an exaggeration to the meaning of home, but for him it was exactly that, he didn't knew anything else.

As Flare stared at the yellowish patterns embellishing the vases ahead he could see images forming inside them. His imagination constructed a house with two windows and a single door inside the yellowish art. The door to his home were slamming at their own frame, ravaged by a strong howling wind that threatened to tear them off from their hinges.

The scenery behind the two small windows was completely dark, but to the red dragon that was the most inviting color in the whole world. The door suddenly began to change their hue, the brown wooden surface was slowly turning green in a chaotic manner, starting from the top, just like an invisible can of paint would snap open above them.

The green creaking door thrashed by the howling wind and the darkness inside the house would scare off every other person, but for him this was a perfect combination, what most people considered terrifying he found inviting. Feelings of peace and bewilderment washed over him when his imagination pushed towards the artificial structure and entered through the slamming door. When he crossed the invisible doorstep he instantly knew where he was, it was his corner of the world, it was home.

However his home was haunted, the strangely cheerful black color was mixed with some other one, only for a second Flare didn't understand what it was. Suddenly the most horrible thing appeared, a purple, swirling, inconsistent draconic mass showed itself on the carpet covered staircase. As it began to climb step after step to reach a masked destination above, the surrounding darkness began to cling towards the shadowy shape and that was when his imagination was pulled through the slamming door towards the swirling mass just to stop at the bottom of the staircase.

He wanted to rush up the steps just to catch the darkness that the purple mass was stealing for itself, but his invisible paws just ran through it, as if it was nothing more than smoke. Then the steps in front of him began to crumble one by one, suckling the carpet down with them, into the pitch dark void below.

Flare realized that his home is just beyond that chasm, it is together with the mix of black and purple, those two shapes are one, inseparable. The chasm is nothing more than the distance he himself creates by backing down from the purple shadowy mass. If he wants to reach that imagined union he has to slowly build each sucked step of the staircase with his own paws.

It might seem difficult but to reconstruct the staircase is the simplest task, to get mixed with the purple and black mass is a completely different thing. After all it takes paws to build a house, but only hearts can build a home.

" Captivating aren't they?" the merchant's voice echoed without any hint of modesty

When one's sight is blinded by the image of glittering coins, difficulties occur while trying to perceive the obvious things, like the unmeasurable distance within the dragon's eyes for instance.

The trader trailed his claw along one of the vases without touching its surface " The patterns are designed by a very talented artist. As you can see we offer vases in many different colored patterns, no matter which one you pick I assure you that it will be a good addition to the decoration of your home"

" Home…" Flare mumbled and extended his claw towards the pyramid, still trapped inside his imagined prison

The mole backed away with a delicate grin tucked at the corner of his lips, quite certain that his charm, or lack of any, beguiled another poor soul. However when he observed the incoming silvery draconic claw it wasn't the smile that grew wider but his eyes, before the trader could react harm was already done, the red paw poked at one of the crucial vases.

" Don't touch the middle one!" the merchant exclaimed and sprung forward

Flare couldn't decide what woke him up, if it was the sound of the mole's shout, or the click his claw made when it touched the vase, or perhaps the pull to reality had nothing to do with sound but the amount of strength the mole used to clench his paw and yank it away.

Time seemed to slow down for Flare while he observed the panicking merchant and the pyramid of vases simultaneously. The top amphora was swaying back and forth, just like a dancer to an unheard music.

The mole jumped with his arms extended towards the ceramic ballerina as if desperately trying to become her partner for the upcoming dance. However the vase craved only for a solo performance, so when the mole flung his limbs to catch it within his exasperated embrace the vase slipped right through the opening his arms created.

Flare watched the flickering shape of the ceramic as it protruded from behind the mole's body as it slightly spun in the air, heading towards the only destination gravity made possible. The fiery dragon winced when the ceramic dancer ended her performance with a piercing sound as she landed on the stony stage. The sharp shards that were shot in every direction when the vase hit the ground were like flowers thrown by a real dancer to thank the crowd for staying with her till the end.

It's hard to find any emotions in non-sentient life forms but if that would change only for a brief second one could connect envy with two other vases that were drawn towards the stony ground, clearly wanting to follow the same path their predecessor took.

The merchant quickly spun around but was unable to utter a single word when the two other vases shattered on the ground. Almost weeping the trader kneeled and picked up one of the broken pieces, it was hard to discern to which vase it belonged to. However judging from the mole's shaking paw it was obvious that he didn't really care.

Flare still wincing put his numb paw on the ground while watching the kneeling mole's back. As he looked for the proper words he began to look around the stall, pieces of the three broken vases were everywhere, some even scattered on the path of the many passers-by. When the dragon met their gaze he was only greeted with scolding shakes of many heads.

Being intimidated by the sight Flare turned towards the merchant " I'm sorry" he apologized sincerely " I-"

" YOU…" the trader hissed while dropping the broken piece of the vase

The dragon took a cautious step back hearing the mole's scary tone.

" …YOU…" the rodent clenched his fist and spun around sharply, wrath shimmering within his eyes

"…FREAK!" he yelled at the top of his lungs

" Oh, hell" Sparx muttered while hovering in the middle of the shocked and interested crowd. Is this the beginning of his worst fears?

Not if he can do something about it.

Sparx pushed through the crowd of people towards the scene of the accident.

" That was Sparx!"

The dragonfly stopped in his tracks hearing the loud whisper with his name ringing inside it.

" No way, he couldn't have done it" another audible whisper reached him

Sparx cocked his head, as strange as it was he decided to ignore it, he had a more important thing on his mind right now. With his purpose set, he once again began to push through the crowd.

" Excuse me!" a male shout echoed from somewhere

The dragonfly ignored it, whoever was calling wasn't directing his shout at him, because he had no reason to. Unhindered, the dragonfly continued his flight.

Sparx pressed through cheetah, dragon and mole, all of these people were walking like they weren't even trying to bother about him. He flew past by one passer-by, then a second one, then another and another, his push lasted until out of nowhere an earth dragon maybe only a year in his adulthood appeared before him, almost causing Sparx a heart attack.

" You're Sparx right?" the dragon asked excited, his voice sounded like one of the whispers the dragonfly heard earlier.

Sparx panting, with his hand pressed to his chest observed the dragon closely, he wondered just how many dragonflies are here in Warfang, because he only knew of himself. As much as he wanted to give some sarcastic and mocking answer he decided against it, he didn't want to waste any time. even despite the fact that he was slightly curious. It's not a common occurrence when somebody is looking for him after all.

Sparx frowned, still unable to get rid of his surprise.

" Yeah…"

The dragon's eyes widened, he craned his neck upwards to be able to look past the hovering dragonfly.

" It's him!" he shouted thrilled and waved his paw.

Sparx had no doubt that this is a signal for the owner of the second whisper.

" No way!" a higher male voice reached him from behind

The dragonfly for the sake of his curiosity turned around and spotted a young fire dragon, two or three years older than Cynder.

" It's him! " I'm telling you" the first drake shouted

Sparx' head turned towards the source of the sound

" I'll never thought I'll meet him!"

His head went the other way.

The earth dragon grinned " I've told you to listen to me!"

Before Sparx knew it, his head was already directed at the green drake.

" My dreams are coming true!"

Once more the dragonflies' head went the other way.

" This is-"

" Listen!" Sparx shouted agitated, stopping his head in the middle, he then threw brief glances at both dragons " I don't know what's going on here, but I don't have time for this" he prepared to fly past the earth dragon.

The dragon however blocked his path, making the dragonfly balk " Please, stay with us for only a moment"

" This is not my kind of thing, but ask around, I'm sure someone will be happy to hear that" once again he prepared to leave

" Could you at least sign this for me?" the younger dragon shouted pleadingly from behind

Sparx frowned and turned around " Do what?" his eyes widened when he spotted a somewhat crunched small painting with his image on it.

The red dragon lowered his head shyly " Other dragons always laugh that I never meet any famous or important people, that they aren't talking with me because I'm a bore" he raised his head, the dragon's eyes flickered with determination " I wonder what they will say when I'll get an autograph from a hero!"

" Hero?" Sparx muttered, not really believing himself that he is questioning the dragon's words " I think you've got the wrong guy here, Spyro is the star here"

" Not true!" the earth dragon protested " If not for you people wouldn't even hear about Spyro, it was thanks to you that he left his home!"

" Really?" Sparx swallowed, the dragon is saying things that he only repeated for kicks, he couldn't believe that someone thinks that the unfortunate chain of events from his childhood actually matters to somebody.

" Of course, true heroes are hiding in the shadows, the little things are those that matter, without them we wouldn't be here now. You're the true hero and we are your fans"

The dragonflies' eyes widened, before him stood REAL fans, REAL, they aren't a figment of his imagination. They ARE REAL.

R-E-A-L.

So awesome.

The younger dragon extended his paw with the picture on it " So would you be so kind to sign this for me? Do you have the time?"

Sparx looked at the picture, in that moment he remembered what he was doing in the marketplace in the first place. He looked towards the ruined stall where a mole was waving his hands at a fiery dragon.

" Please?"

He turned towards the begging red dragon, looked him over and driven by impulse turned towards the stall again. Sparx in all his ingenious plan decided that the argument between the merchant and Flare can wait for a while. He is the hero after all, and heroes need to take care of their fans, at least that is how he always imagined it.

Grinning Sparx snatched the picture from the dragon's paw " No problem" he raised his other hand and realized that it is empty " I don't have any quill on me"

With a smile the young dragon swung his tail and presented a perfectly intact ink and quill wrapped inside it.

" Oh man" the dragonfly muttered admiringly " I'm gonna teach my bro to carry one of these" he then grabbed the protruding feather, dipped it in the ink, blew it and began to write with his tongue sticking out from his mouth.

_For the best fan ever. Sparx_

" There" he stated proudly and returned the picture

The drake grabbed the picture eagerly " Thanks!"

" I'm so jealous right now" the other dragon said endearingly

Sparx rotated his wrist as if preparing it for another exhaustive work " Keep those pictures coming"

" I don't have any"

" You don't?"

" But you sure lived some heroic adventures! Could you tell me some? I always wanted to know what true heroes have to face before they reach their real villain"

Sparx threw another glance at the market stall where the merchant was still voicing his displeasure, loudly. For a moment he felt like he is wasting his already not sufficient time.

" I…I don't know…"

" it's a trade secret I get it, but at least could you tell us how you were drawn into this hero stuff in the first place? I know some people who are your fans but they are too shy to approach you, they would greatly appreciate to know the beginning of your story"

Those words were enough to convince Sparx, he just realized how stupid he is, over there, at the market stall a simple argument is happening and the reason behind it was clumsiness. His fears were just his imagination, nothing special will happen, Flare will only get his ego bruised and that's all, everything else he is capable of sorting by himself.

Here are people who look upon him as some kind of role model and expect him to act as one and he won't let them down. It's not like he has may fans but even such small numbers put some responsibility on him, he is the main actor here, the star and it's his duty to satisfy his fans. Besides they weren't children, one of these dragons is currently in his adulthood, then it isn't some kind of prank. Obviously devotion doesn't care about age boundaries.

Sparx adopted a dramatic pose " it all started simple really, I was playing hide 'n' seek with my bro. Knowing that he isn't a very good friend with intellect I easily outmatched him by finding hiding places he never believed existed. Driven by my natural courage and confidence I retreated quite a distance away from our usual playground"

" It was then…" Sparx' tone of voice became mixed with a very poor illusion of maliciousness, he sounded just like a father in a tent, hidden from the rainy dark weather outside, who was telling his kid a ghost story while illuminating his face with a flashlight.

"…when suddenly a couple of Apes attacked me!" he exclaimed and the dragons jerked their heads away with a gasp. Sparx smirked " I have never seen such creatures before so I decided to study them for a while, to be able to see their weakness. To do that, I had to let myself get captured"

" While I kept observing them my brother suddenly showed up. I began to shout" Sparx placed his hands at the sides of his mouth " Bro run! They are bad news! Save yourself!" he threw quick glances at both dragons " And you know what he did?!"

Both drakes shook their heads in excitement.

" He started insulting them for ruining our game! He was so dumb back then that he couldn't even recognize a sword when he was looking at it! Seeing that he was an easy prey, a very annoying prey if I might add, the Apes attacked, but I was already prepared for that"

" You were?" the younger dragon blurt out shocked " How?!"

The dragonflies chest swelled with pride while he cleared his throat " I'm very observant, I can tell what people are thinking or if they are lying just by looking at them"

The green dragon began to cough suddenly "Really?"

Sparx nodded confidently, ignoring the dragon's sudden health problems " True story, I've had my cage already prepared for a quick escape, but I won't tell you how I did that" he winked " Trade secret you know?"

The dragonfly smiled seeing the drakes nod, he was right, mysteriousness intimidates people, sometimes he amazes himself with his cleverness.

" When the Apes were preparing to cut off the head of my brother I burst from my cage, grabbing one of the bars I threw myself at one of the Apes and knocked him out cold by striking his temple. I've exercised my whole life…" he flexed his muscles to get his point across "…that's why I'm in great shape"

The dragons sighed in awe.

" When I darted towards the other attackers they just didn't know what was happening to them! I was moving like lighting! I was swinging the bar and dropping the Apes like flies, one by one, there was a hundred of them if not more!" with each word Sparx circled in the air while waving his hands, as if he really would be fighting with hundred enemies

The more older dragon coughed again " Didn't you say a couple of Apes attacked you?"

" It turned out to be only a scout team! When I got into action they realized that I was more than a match for them, reinforcements came soon after! However I was unstoppable, that moment seemed to awaken my hidden potential. When I was finally done, I hovered in the air among hundred of unconscious enemies and one speechless brother"

He sighed and took a dramatic pause while adopting a true mentor's face.

" I realize now that heroes are born, they seem normal at first but when situation arises where everything seems lost, your heroic potential awakens. That's when you know that you are meant for something greater. It's fate"

Both dragons observed the dragonfly with fascination shimmering in their eyes.

" I hope I have something hidden potential too" the green dragon muttered hopefully " Maybe I'll be like you one day"

Sparx just shrugged nonchalantly.

" I can only imagine how your life looked later after you found about your potential. It had to be so exciting!" the fire dragon added impatiently

The dragonfly smiled proudly " It had its moments"

" Can you quickly tell us about one?"

Sparx waited for such question " I remember when…"

* * *

While Sparx was busy indulging both his sickeningly pushy fans Flare was in the middle of receiving his share of insults and threats which were occasionally mixed with the admonishing stares of the more meddlesome onlookers. He has never seen anyone in such a fury before, not even the purple dragons from his time were capable of such wrath when they had to deal with insubordination. In this particular moment everything that was needed to throw the merchant into the state of rabidity was to smash some stupid vases or whatever these fragile things are called.

There were times that besides guilt and shame Flare also felt fear for his life, the constant insults and sometimes shards that were flying his way, intentionally or not, threatened the remains of his confidence. He only stood there listening to this because he wanted to apologize for his mistake and believed that turning around and running away wouldn't make a good impression. He couldn't really say why he thought like that, yet there was something poking at the back of his head, telling him that the people in the city are looking at him differently now, as if giving him the benefit of the doubt.

It was that or perhaps hope that among the crowd there is a kind character who will step out and save him from the raging merchant. Yet he doubted that there was anyone brave enough to do that, he already has made a mess and the unexpected change in the inhabitants eyes proved that they are at the blink of their tolerance. He only wondered what he had to do to make people cross that final line of self-control, or maybe he doesn't have to do anything at all, something told him that if one of these people would start yelling lies everyone else would believe him or her.

Why does he even think about stuff like this in the first place when there is a merchant at the brink of tears in front of him? The same sensation like this one he felt when they were about to enter the bug filled mines of Munitions Forge. If Flare wouldn't be illiterate he would know what that feeling is, it was misgiving.

" Hey mister! Somebody died that you are making so much noise?"

Flare balked at the sound of the low male voice, he turned about and spotted a powerfully built malachite dragon, fairly in his adulthood. The perfectly shaped muscles however weren't as much as interesting for the fiery dragon as the bladelike bony plates adorning his snout, especially the horn projecting from the dragon's nose caught Flare's attention.

" Look at all this mess!" the merchant wept

Flare watched the dragon approaching the stall, when the drake's grey eyes focused on him, he impulsively retreated some steps backwards. There was something deceitful in those eyes, he spent his whole life around manipulators, he can recognize the warning signals.

If his past experience wasn't so traumatic he would never believe that the supposedly helpful dragon is up to no good. The malachite drake's snout resonated only kindness and pity.

" This mess is behind all those terrible insults you were yelling?" Capro muttered disgusted as he examined the scene of the accident.

" I'm ruined!" the trader threw his arms into the air " I knew that this freak was up to something the moment I saw him!" he wept again and covered his eyes " I'm ruined!"

" You are a respectable trader, this is definitely not the first accident that has befallen on you. Just look around, this place is crowded, there are many people that could accidently trip those vases over."

" You don't get it! this is my Dad's stall! I really wanted to be a trader like him and look what that freak did! I'm ruined!"

Capro growled " if you want people to respect you, you will stop throwing insults around"

The mole looked at the powerfully built dragon, the threating growl shut his weeping mouth effectively.

" See? That wasn't so hard. If you aspire to be a true merchant one day you must understand that being polite to potential customers is the key aspect here. Your stuff got broken, so what? Shit like this happens all the time, there is no reason to make fuss about it, do you really think that throwing insults all around you will help?"

" I don't need you to lecture me pal!" the trader gathered enough courage, or perhaps it was desperation, to make a stand " This was my dad's stuff, he'll kill me for breaking it!"

" What do you think will make him angry more, a slight material loss or the absence of potential customers? Your father is a merchant, he perfectly understands what is more important, he will most likely be frustrated about his broken goods of course, but the unhindered flow of customers would effectively satisfy that loss"

The trader scratched the back of his head " You may be right…"

" I'll give you an advice for the future, keep your more fragile goods at the back of your stall, by putting them in the front row you are like a beacon for all sorts of accidents. Keep the fragile goods safe and smile, that's the key to success, trust me"

The mole looked around the messy stall " What have I done?" he muttered horrified

" Nothing that can't be changed. Close the stall for a while, grab some of the less valuable goods and go into the crowd to make amends. Apologize for your outburst, offer gifts and promises of future special goods at lower prices. Before you'll know it, people will be waiting in lines to get their paws on your merchandise. You'll make your father proud."

" That's what I'm going to do!" the trader exclaimed and began to gather some of the less valuable goods. When he couldn't hold any more he turned towards the malachite dragon with gratefulness shimmering in his eyes

" Thank you!" with those words the mole disappeared into the crowd

Capro smiling like some sort of an altruistic benefactor turned towards the fiery dragon " I'm sorry that you had to bare through this, some people just don't know what gentility is"

Flare narrowed his eyes on the dragon, he wasn't fooled by the his supposed helpful heart " What do you want from me?" he asked icily

Capro jerked his head back in shock " What did I do to deserve such hostility?"

" Drop the act, I know your type"

" My type? And what type would that be?"

" Manipulating dickhead"

" Words hurt more than punches you know" the malachite dragon muttered painfully

Flare snorted, disgusted by the dragon's act " Just shut up and tell me what you want"

" Your fiery body really reflects your personality" Capro laughed, finally Flare could see the truth in his eyes, if eyes are really a window to one's soul he wished he would never have to see such a scarred soul again.

" What gave me away?"

" You tell people what they want to hear and there was that cocky and mocking glimmer in your eyes"

" A perceptive little fellow aren't you?" he asked amused " I shouldn't be surprised really, she wouldn't surround herself with complete idiots"

" What the hell do you want from me?"

" I've heard some very interesting things about you, people are talking you know, especially the ones who left the hospital recently had much to say"

Flare remained silent, there was no point in trying to demand answers from the dragon, he will say what he wants to hear the moment he satisfies his cocky ego.

" The machine is turning, a bit faster than I expected but I won't complain. And you my rude friend are the perfect oil"

Capro looked inside the fiery dragon's eyes, he could see the one question that bothered the drake forming in them. The malachite dragon smiled mischievously.

" I don't want anything from you"

" Give me some time to believe that"

The dragon narrowed his eyes on Flare " You are so much alike, the same arrogant tongue" his eyes flared with murderous intent " I don't like it very much"

" I care so much"

Flare could see something strange inside the malachite dragon's eyes, as if his sight would perceive something or someone different than him. However the moment the muscular dragon blinked it was gone.

" I don't want anything from you" Capro continued " Seriously, you are just my mean to an end"

" Yeah? And what end would that be?"

The malachite drake smirked " You'll see in due time. For now you just need to play your part"

Flare snorted " You're crazy If you think I'll do anything for you"

" Oh, you don't have to do anything, your mere presence is all I need. Every other piece on the chessboard will move on its own"

The fiery dragon didn't understand what the dragon meant by that, but he didn't want to betray his confusion.

Capro trapped one of the broken pieces of the vase between his claws on his front right paw. He then raised it and began to examine the shard by rotating it " People here have their hearts torn in half, they hold back because of that. Yet I know that a little nudge is everything they need"

With a smirk he turned towards the fiery dragon " This is where you step in, you are going to attack me"

" And here I thought I don't have to do anything" Flare smirked " Sorry, I'll pass"

" it's going to happen anyway, with or without your agreement"

" And just how is that supposed to work?"

Capro smirked and approached the fiery drake, when he was close enough he raised his right paw and slashed his other leg using the broken piece of the vase he picked up earlier.

Flare observed the freshly made cut with wide eyes " What are you doing?!" he exclaimed shocked

The malachite dragon examined the cut on his leg, crimson blood was flowing down his paw " For such a small dragon you sure have some strength in you. Look how easily you pierced my scales"

" Are you crazy?! I didn't even touch you!"

With a grin the older dragon shrugged " So? Details are unimportant, people will still think it was your doing"

" What? Why? I've been here for a while and didn't attack anyone, not even the mole who insulted me. And now I would attack a random guy who supposedly helped me? It makes no sense! Who will believe you?"

The shard switched paws, there was another slash and then a hiss, a new cut appeared on Capro's right leg " Everyone, I just need to press the right button"

Flare watched the bleeding wounds with a wince of disbelief " Button? He muttered unconsciously

" Hate, look around, you can clearly see it in these people eyes. Hate is like a blindfold, when you can't channel it properly it makes you blind and confuse you, but if you are able to focus it, you will realize that hate doesn't shroud your sight, it just shows you patterns that you never thought existed, it shows you the way. Believe me, I know"

With those words Capro made another cut, this time however on his chest.

The fire dragon impulsively closed his eyes when the sound of ripping scales reached him, he was used to seeing blood, but seeing someone deliberately maiming himself was something entirely different. This guy is nuts.

Flare's eyes slowly opened, yet his mouth was still curled in disgust " Will you stop doing that?"

Capro grinned " What? This?" another cut.

The young drake averted his gaze " Ok, I'm leaving. Have fun with cutting yourself"

However before Flare could turn the malachite dragon threw himself at him. The red dragon's legs were unable to lift such unexpected weight and gave up under the pressure. What the hell is wrong with this dragon.

" What are you doing?!" Flare was surprised to hear the malachite dragon shouting the sentence that already formed itself in his vocal cords.

Instead of yelling the same phrase the fiery dragon began to grunt and jerk just to free himself from the clutch " Get off me!"

" I won't let you!" Capro shouted pleadingly, the sincere callousness vanished completely

Flare noticed that the crowd of people stopped in its tracks just to observe the two dragons rolling on the floor. However he was too busy to pay those people much attention.

" Leave me alone!" the fiery drake grunted more agitated

" You can still be saved!"

The red dragon rolled on his back and managed to free both his front paws from the ground's clutches, he then pressed them to the malachite dragon's chest and began to push " Get…" he grunted " off!

" She is poison! Do not listen to Cynder!"

For a brief moment Flare stopped fighting. What does Cynder have to do with it? What game is this fat dragon playing? Whatever it was, he didn't like it. he renewed his attack " Let-"

He was cut off by a sudden painful scream, the malachite dragon rolled off of him suddenly. Flare without wasting any more time jumped on all fours, the marketplace seemed to die in that very moment. No sound could be heard except the agonizing groaning of the muscular dragon ahead of him.

" That's him!" someone from the crowd shouted " That's Cynder's murderous pet I've told you about!"

" I didn't do this!" Flare shouted back and raised one of his paws defensively " He did-" his voice trailed off when he noticed the familiar bloody shard between his claws. Fresh droplets of blood were dripping from it.

However that wasn't everything that was covered in the crimson liquid, there was also lots of blood on his raised leg. Flare's eyes impulsively ran down the crimson trail on his paw, when his eyes finally reached his chest, he gasped. His whole body was red and his natural reddish scales weren't the reason behind this, his chest just like his paw was covered in blood…that wasn't his.

" _What the_…" Flare mused.

In that moment in a flush of sudden comprehension he connected the dots. The dragon looked at the wounded malachite dragon who was still twitching in agony, yet that wasn't the only thing he saw there. He could swear that for a brief moment he spotted rows of sharp teeth forming a wicked grin.

When the muscular dragon groaned again and the smile disappeared Flare's eyes ran along his bloody leg once more just to stop on the grimy piece of the vase. He stared at it for a while, the ugly fascination doubled the importance and the size of the shard, blurring the image of everything else, people included.

PEOPLE.

That single word invited horror to run amok within his head. The shard became unimportant all of a sudden, it has fallen from its dais into the blurry oblivion, the surrounding crowd took its place.

Flare didn't even realize that his mouth was agape when he met the accusing, hateful and abhorrent eyes of the crowd. He was so taken aback by the sight that he didn't even feel when his claws parted and the shard slipped through the crack and fell down along his still raised leg.

When it clattered on the floor below while leaving a bloody spot under it Flare winced. The noise rumbled in his head, it sounded almost like somebody would fire a cannon in a closed empty room, with him inside.

" This is not how it looks like" Flare muttered and unconsciously dropped his already numb paw

* * *

"…and this is when-"

" …Cynder's monster!"

Sparx instantly finished his boasting at the sound of the tremendously loud yell of many throats, it sounded almost like a simultaneous roar of a pack of feral beasts in the animal kingdom. However that was not the main thing that bothered him.

" I have to go" the dragonfly blurt out and darted towards the commotion, leaving his craving and definitely depressed fans behind

" Finally" both dragons let out breaths of relief

The older one rubbed his forehead " Capro surely took his time"

As Sparx pushed through the crowd it was impossible for him to make out any comprehensible sentences, let alone gather his thoughts, however he wasn't bothered by that, he didn't really care about the noise or his personal problems right now.

People didn't pay him any attention as he maneuvered between them, the feeling was mutual actually, he had a goal to achieve, even if it was consciously meeting face to face with his surprisingly worst nightmare. When finally Sparx managed to pull through the first row his eyes went wide open, on the ground was laying a wounded malachite dragon and just some meters away stood Flare, completely covered in blood.

" He is just a distraction!" someone from the crowd shouted

" Shadow is planning to destroy us!" another panicked voice echoed throughout the loud marketplace

" You don't understand!" Flare defended himself

" Murderer! Just like his Mistress!"

Sparx shook off the shock and darted towards the fiery drake while spinning around and extending his arms defensively " Now, now, let's not jump to conclusion! Be cool, I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation" he scratched the back of his head " I hope so" he muttered under his breath

" Sparx help me!" Flare pleaded

" He attacked that guy!" another panicked shout

" People remember!" the dragonfly shouted " Don't jump to conclusions! We are going to talk, sort this out and return to our homes before we know it. Simple right? So who is with me?"

" I didn't do it Sparx I swear!"

" Be silent, you're not helping" the dragonfly hissed through clenched teeth, not leaving the crowd from his sight even for a bit

" He is Cynder's pupil!

" He is unpredictable!"

" He is a cold blooded killer!"

Sparx extended his arms with his opened palms directed at the mob " Whatever you heard, I assure you that it's not as bad as it looks. He had a rough childhood, he is privileged to make some mistakes. We all make them and most of us grew up peacefully in our parents homes"

" Murderers don't deserve redemption!"

The dragonfly folded his arms irritated " What a shame to judge a life that you can't change"

" It was you who said that Cynder cannot be trusted no matter how good she seems now!"

The confidence vanished from Sparx' face momentarily " That was different" he muttered bashfully

" How was it different?!"

" _Yeah Sparx, how was it different?" _he heard his own voice admonishing him

" It…" the dragonfly stammered, looking for appropriate words but couldn't find any " I don't have to explain myself!" he blurt out tentatively and tucked Flare's horn " Come on Dude, we're leaving"

" Cynder has seduced you just like she did Spyro!"

That was the last shout Sparx heard before he disappeared behind a corner with Flare closely following him, or it was the last shout he wished to hear.

" I didn't do it, you believe me don't you?" Flare asked hopefully

" What I think doesn't matter Dude"

The fiery drake bit his lip, he wanted to keep asking about the dragonflies' state of mind but decided not to, he didn't want to be pushy, not in this current situation.

" Tell me where are we going at least" he changed the subject

" Somewhere where you can take a bath" the dragonfly replied emotionlessly

The commotion didn't die down after they've vanished, but for Sparx it was just like the noise created by many buzzing flies, many disgusting buzzing flies.

He was filled with extreme revulsion when he realized that once he belonged to those flies, just like them he was blind, he didn't pay attention to the background, the only thing he saw was shit, and back then it was all he needed to see.

" What a shame…" Sparx muttered sadly


	42. Chapter 4 Book III

Chapter 4

Spyro was looking through the window on the ground floor of the City Hall, one of the nearby braziers carassed his concentrated snout with its warm touch of red and yellow, the invisible fingers were dancing up and down his purple scales. The dragon observed the darkening sky above Warfang, the once azure sky was now painted with an orange hue of the fading sun. This was a call of duty for the many lamplighters available in the Dragon City, even in a city occupied by dragons and its streets teeming with magic, Warfang still had its connections to the more natural order of things.

Lamps and lanterns filling the streets were a sign of that, some were lit by magical means while others were dependant only on conscientiousness of the mentioned lamplighters, even if the manual duties could be easily replaced by magically mechanized technology they still found its place in Warfang, and nobody argued about that.

It was like the city itself invited everyone inside its walls, showing that no matter what differences are drawn between one part of the city and the other, everyone has his place here. It doesn't matter what can you do, how old are you, what is your favorite food or what specie are you, everything is unimportant in a place dedicated to equality and fair treating. It all sounds so wonderful.

Except the fact that this is just a courtesy call.

He has fought for every inch of these walls, every visible person and every shadow cast on the illuminated buildings, and for what? Once he believed, no, not believed, felt, that what they did all that time ago in Malefor's lair was something good and pure, but now he had doubts about it. it was still good, there was no doubt about it, people's lives were at stake after all but it was no longer pure.

During the feast in the cheetah village, especially when the crying father approached him he thought that after such an ultimate sacrifice there won't be any more prices to pay, that there will be harmony and nothing will change his mind. However time has changed his mind, it changed his mind completely.

What kind of savior he is when he can't protect his closest friends? After ignitus now Cynder pays the price, and just like before he feels so helpless.

No!

This time he will fight.

He always considered himself to be open-minded, always respectful of other's whims and odd habits, we are not all the same after all, but the way people treat Cynder… he just can't comprehend that. Alright, he can understand -if he forces himself- the disdain and reluctance towards his best friend, even if she wasn't behind it people need someone to blame, some point of focus of their tragedy, it's a pretty natural defensive system.

But this kind of hate? This…this…revulsion?

This is not normal, this is sick.

This whole Malefor fight was not worth the price, now they are the victims, she is the victim and she has all the right to blame somebody or something for her misfortune. If Cynder won't do that he will do it for her, he will do whatever is necessary to spare her this sickness. He doesn't have to look far, the reason behind all this hate is already found, that reason is named Brill.

That damned mole is behind all of this, with his damn coaxing, with his damn fanaticism and his damn hostility. He only rubs salt into people's still fresh wounds, taking advantage of their fear and malevolence while in truth he is just like them, but hidden under a mask of eloquence, trying desperately not to realize that words are weapons of the terrified.

However it is unimportant what drives the mole, what is important is that his methods are proving effective. How he dares to taint the soul of the only dragoness he deeply cares about? He has no right to do that, let him be the idol, the great constructor, the brilliant inventor, or whatever else the moles used to call him, but he is not allowed to be a judge. Nobody deserves such a right.

It was relatively peaceful without him around, some insults, threats and taunts were all they had to face, all that she had to face. As ugly as it was, he was certain that Cynder could cope with that, but open hostility is something different entirely. Everyone has a limit of punishment he/she can take, even a strong character as her.

The world they knew was turned upside down at a moment's notice, the mole showed up suddenly, just like that, from nowhere. Why now? And why here? When things started to look good he showed up, ruining everything, as if feeling that this was the right moment to strike, it makes sense, when your enemies believe that they triumphed you need to show them they are wrong. That is the perfect time to strike.

Spyro's eyes grew wider at a sudden realization.

That's right!

Brill is not their main enemy here, he is perhaps just a general. Time is their true foe, how could he be so blind? The Chronicler warned him that manipulation of time might have serious consequences, and if he would be the judge he would say that reversing the catastrophic event caused by the Destroyer's walk around the globe count as a serious time manipulation.

It all makes sense now, all this nightmare is caused by the ability he believed he controlled, but in truth, it is the other way around. It is payback, he was sure of it, for wielding, for enslaving something no mortal creature should even be able to comprehend, for binding it to his will there will be a price to pay.

So be it.

It was about time their true enemy revealed itself, finally it decided to come out of the shadows. Yet there was that little poke of curiosity and doubt in the back of his mind, what if Time is just another pawn? What if their real main enemy is still shrouded by mysteriousness? Or perhaps their foe already revealed itself but they fail to see it?

These questions made him wonder just how many more enemies are still in the shadows, waiting and watching them, preparing to strike?

Suddenly Spyro felt tired, just like something would put extreme weight on his shoulders, weight that no young creature such as him should ever carry. In this moment of weakness he wished he could turn back time to the point where people thought they were dead, they would head straight to Warfang, snatch Sparx secretly and go their own way, somewhere far, far away.

Spyro sighed.

Who is he trying to fool? His escape plan would fail anyway, Time would still find him, and make him pay for his arrogance. There were moments when he believed that he and Time were partners, and as days passed their partnership began to feel like friendship, but in truth it was just a red herring.

Now when he knows what lays beneath the surface he won't allow his former partner to roam free, and by doing so he will develop, master and eventually exploit the part of this treacherous energy that has awakened within him.

If it wants war, then it will get war.

Spyro looked at the darkening sky through his glassy projector, his eyes concentrated at one slowly vanishing cloud, as if it was some sort of a bored listener. Time was watching him, and even if it had enough of the turmoil going on in his head, he had one last thing he wanted to tell it.

Spyro narrowed his gaze on the dispersing cloud, grimace of anger wrinkled his snout " Hey Time " he muttered " you're no frie-"

" Shhh!"

The purple dragon turned towards the direction from which this silly feminine sound came from that cut him off.

Cynder approached him cautiously while looking around vigilantly " You shouldn't say anything" she whispered ominously " you don't want people to know that you got the Sparxy"

Spyro furrowed a brow " A what?"

" You know, talking to yourself, becoming crazy, annoying and being ignored, that sort of thing"

He smiled " But you're talking to me"

She shrugged " I don't count, I'm sick in my own way" with a smile she stopped near him and looked through the window at the darkening city " You need to watch yourself, when you spill out everything that goes in your head out loud, it may have its consequences"

" Like what?" he played along

" I don't know, in your brother's case it's imagined importance, what if the words that I prevented you from saying would end a chapter of your life prematurely?"

" Nobody is interested in my life anyway"

Cynder leaned closer " You'd be surprised" she whispered coquettishly

Spyro huffed " Now when I think of it, it might have been a good thing"

" And miss another hours of pain, fear, sorrow, mysteriousness and hate?" she blurt out with faked indignation " Who would do such a thing?"

The dragon laughed " You're right, my life would be empty without the pain and troubles that are at the brink of overwhelming me"

The dragoness giggled " Exactly, you don't know-" her voice trailed off suddenly when she once again looked through the window. When she gulped Spyro could clearly hear the saliva moving down her throat.

With a smirk Spyro turned towards the window, still thinking that she is fooling around " So what do you see out there? Is it pain, fear, sorrow, mysteriousness or hate?"

" All of these things" she answered, with a barely audible, wavering whisper

Suddenly a gust of wind rushed through the room when the front door opened and a massive green dragon entered through them.

" Spyro, Cynder? " Terrador asked surprised when he spotted the two young dragons " A really windy evening isn't it?

Spyro turned towards the Guardian " We need to speak with you" he nipped Cynder with his tail to get her attention.

The dragoness remained unmoved, still staring through the window " I'll stay here, I don't want to talk about that guy anyway. You go on"

" Are you sure?'

She swallowed " Yes"

" Ok"

With that Cynder heard the clicking sound of Spyro's claws moving away.

Some usually inactive piece of her mind had to be responsible for her hearing since the normally used neurons were all dragged towards the window and were preoccupied with the image behind it. She was so lost in that sight, that if somebody would ask her about what Spyro and her just talked about she wouldn't be able to recall a single word.

As she stared at the darkening city ahead of her, she could feel fear pulsing in her temples just like it would be some kind of a solid ball bouncing from one side of her head to the other. The ball had all the right to jiggle like that, Cynder was looking especially on one lit street, people were still eagerly traveling through its marble path, the late hour and the sight of night spent inside the safety of one's home had no doubt something to do with it.

Among the sliding shadows was one thing that never changed, and that was the form of a dragon she was way too familiar with for her liking. The dragon from her nightmares stood in the middle of the street, he had his wings opened, presenting his mottled grey membranes, thanks to the light from the lamps she could see the delicate trail of smoke, dust, or shadow swirling around his green wings.

His scales were like from her dreams, purple, just like Spyro's, and since he's the only breathing drake with such scales, someone who would see the dragon for the first time could confuse him with the Savior.

Yet all these people Cynder could see paid the dragon no heed.

Every inhabitant who passed through the street walked past the dragon like he was no one special…or didn't exist in the first place. However that wasn't the most scary part, what really terrified her was the gaze of the dragon, his brown eyes were strictly aimed at her.

And she couldn't help herself but to look back at them while subconsciously rubbing her neck.

* * *

" What?" Terrador blurt out angrily

Spyro nodded sadly, the experience from the hospital that he just related to Terrador was still fresh in his mind.

The Earth Guardian ran his claws along his chin, scratching his draconic beard " I'm glad that you listened to my advice and came with this problem to us…" the old dragon looked around the room "…me"

Spyro nodded once more, he did as he said he will, now it's the Guardians turn to keep their end of the bargain. He ignored the fact that the troubles with Brill started way before they decided to pass over some things that occurred in Munitions Forge. It was not a fair deal in the purple dragon's eyes, but it was still a deal, and as far as he can see nothing changed in the matter of the mole.

However he can't be straightforward about it, the Guardian's maybe had problems with Brill that he isn't aware of, and he learnt better not to jump to conclusions. The only reasonable way is to ease into this whole matter.

" People seem to be more aggressive" Spyro started calmly " They are more bold, more blunt and especially more unreasonable as of late"

Terrador set his eyes on the purple dragon " They are confused, they are bombarded from every possible direction. Unfortunately some are more than happy to exploit this"

" Like Brill"

" I know where this is going Spyro, I've seen many things in my life, I'm too old to be fooled by words, I've learnt to read between the lines as a soldier. You have to remember this when dealing with someone older than you by hundred of years, life in all its glamour is a rough teacher"

" Then why nothing was done about it?"

" We did our best, we allowed Brill to renovate the temple as he see fits, we granted him a place where he could worship all the dragons he seemed worthy. At the same time we forbade him from organizing any more public speeches and antagonizing his followers against Cynder, we told him that Warfang has changed, just like she did. It took a lot of persuading but eventually he accepted our terms and our point of view"

" What are the chances that he will keep his word? Especially when more dumb superstitions and hasty verdicts are going to be spread around the city? Because honestly, for me, it looks like he lied to you, even after all this time I don't see any difference, in fact things seem to be more worse than before"

Terrador sighed " And here we reached the heart of the matter. We watched Brill, we had to make sure he will be true to his word and believe me or not, he was, and still is.

Spyro scratched the back of his head " I'm confused, if he behaves then from where this aggression comes from?"

" It's the people Spyro, they do it out of their own free will and honestly we can't fight against the whole city. Perhaps time will help"

" Time won't have anything to do with it!" the purple dragon snapped making the earth drake jerk his head back in surprise. Seeing this Spyro lowered his head in embarrassment " Sorry, what I want to say is that Cynder deserves a place she can call home, a place where she can feel safe"

" I understand, but we need to approach this situation diplomatically"

" What makes you think that they will even want to talk? In the hospital they seemed to be done listening to reason"

Terrador nodded morosely " I haven't seen our people so driven by hate and vengeance before, it's like something triggered the safety button, and it wasn't Brill. Whatever happened, I'm sure that when only words will be in play nothing drastic will come out of it. People will eventually see how good Cynder really is and…well maybe not forgive her, but will accept her. Unfortunately that's the best we can hope for right now"

" And Brill will just stay out of it?"

" The more faithful will definitely flock to the mole like moths to a flame but as I said, he will not take any action. I don't deny the fact that he might break at some point, but there is nothing to be afraid of, with our experience and past victories we can easily counter his every argument"

Spyro looked at his best friend, she was still looking through the window with her tail frozen in place. He can't blame her that she wanted to sit this conversation out, and if he didn't knew better he would say that she avoided the talk for an entire different reason than fear. If he didn't knew better he would swear that there is actually something behind that window that's more interesting for her than this conversation.

The purple dragon sighed inwardly, he can't just sit idly and hope that everything will turn out for the better, Time has already taught him a lesson.

" Still…" Spyro said firmly and looked straight into the Earth Guardian's eyes "…I would like to speak to him"

The determined glimmer inside the young dragon's eyes threw Terrador slightly aback " Spyro-"

" Where can I find him? Is he in the temple?" the purple drake cut him off

" Spyro" the Guardian raised his voice slightly " I understand your displeasure, I know it might not seem enough, but don't do anything rash"

" I just need to speak with him"

" Spyro heed an advice of an old dragon. Nothing good will come out of it"

" The temple then"

The green dragon shook his head, but then suddenly let out a muffled cackle " By the Ancestors, I've seen such stubbornness before. Ignitus surely knew what pupil to choose, you are so much alike" he looked at the dragoness standing by the window " He would move mountains and stop rivers for you, just like you would do it for Cynder, it is a commendable trait but it also has its price" he turned his firm gaze at the young dragon again " It clouds your judgment, you need to set a line for yourself, a line that you will never cross, no matter what happens, when you will finally stop at that line and think about your next course of action just let go. It will hurt, I know that, but you need to understand that life isn't easy, don't look for shortcuts because they might lead you somewhere entirely different. This is unfortunately the road of every warrior"

" I will not allow it to happen"

Terrador sighed sadly " I hope you succeed" he muttered half-heartedly

* * *

There was absolutely no sound reaching her, except the one of her racing heart, she could feel fear pulsing in her every vain. She isn't dreaming , then why does she see this creature? Or maybe she actually is dreaming but doesn't realize it? Just like she doesn't realize that the gale intensified with the coming night.

There was a sudden howl.

Cynder let out a muffled yelp and her body convulsed in what looked like a posthumous contraction. The wind rattled on the window like some sort of an unsubstantial pianist playing a tune on its glassy piano which it composed eons ago. The howling music and the image of that dragon, that monster standing in the distance froze the blood in her veins.

She tried to get away but the dragon's brown eyes followed every pitiful jerk of her body. The dragoness couldn't force herself to do more than that, whenever she tried to move more than a single inch or two the brown eyes followed her, pulling her back and freezing her in place. Or perhaps it was just fear that paralyzed her, she couldn't say for sure.

What Cynder knew for certain was that the sun finally began to retreat behind the horizon, hiding its invigorating tendrils. What came after was a natural order of things, but for her it was something more, for the very first time in her life darkness scared her.

She watched as the shadows began to grow, covering every bit of Warfang that still resisted the call of the moon, but soon even that opposition fell. In that moment a sudden terrifying realization struck her, or it was just her instinct screaming, whatever it was it forced her to picture herself as one of the many bricks of Warfang, in that moment she knew that no matter how hard she will resist, she will succumb to darkness, just like all the bricks before her. And finally the last piece of the puzzle will fall in place.

Puzzle? What puzzle?

The question remained unanswered.

However in that brief moment of clarity she felt oddly complete and dumbfounded at the same time. The moment of confusion was just as brief as the lucidity of the previous moment, when the shock ended her emerald gaze landed on the street once more.

One by one the marble paths were being covered by darkness, the unstoppable force of the moon was sweeping through the streets like a black flood. As she stared at the approaching shadows she couldn't shake of the feeling of utter terror. She never thought she will admit it, but that strangely thick darkness, her own element, was terrifying her. She was afraid of the dark.

The black mass moved through the city unhindered, streets, buildings and people were disappearing under its dark gown, not even the lights emanating from the many lamps were enough to disperse it. Something deep inside her told the dragoness that nothing alive will be coming out of this mass when the sun finally wakes up.

As Cynder observed the sliding darkness a numb pain started pulsing inside her head, just like somebody would play on a drum inside her skull. The pain intensified with every new meter the darkness conquered. The agony reached its pinnacle when finally the black mass connected with the dragon with brown eyes.

Cynder cringed when that happened, she felt as if a jar holding thousands of screams just exploded inside her brain, the released shrill sound threatened to pierce her skull. Everything began to swirl, except the image of the dragon, he stood perfectly still in that darkness, watching her every move.

The pain was unbearable, she tried to scream but the only thing that came out of her throat was a mute yell. The music returned, the pianist played another song, more intense than the last one. Every note shook her body, throwing her into an agonizing dance.

Cynder wanted to get away, but was unable to do a thing, the darkness was now moving across the City Hall's walls, and soon it moved along the window she was looking through. An intense prolonged sound of a key on the piano with the lowest overtone resounded inside her head, almost making her brain explode.

A leaf glued itself to the window.

With a howl of the wind came the same low overtone and another leaf appeared. The same low noise sounded again, one more leaf plastered itself on the glass. Cynder grabbed her head when once again a leaf got stuck on the window accompanied by the howling wind.

The nature's pianist began to hit that single key faster and faster. With every rumble of the piano Cynder felt as her brain was hissing with great exertion as some kind of a steam tank at the brink of explosion. The dragoness whimpered in anguish, the agonizing tune was just too much, not to mention that leafs kept hitting at the window with every press of the unsubstantial key. The thuds they created were boiling the blood in her veins.

She tried to scream but was unable to, her swirling world seemed to be in a different dimension. Cynder landed on her butt, with her claws at both sides of her head, trying to claw that terrible music out while her body swayed back and forth to a music of her own, created by the tears squeezed from her eyes.

It was like a never-ending torture, the constant thuds and rumbles were about to drive her mad. It was so painful that she wished to die, she wished it to be finally over, she couldn't take it anymore.

And then suddenly, it ended.

Still shocked Cynder opened her watery eyes, she was currently staring at the ground, with the tips of her claws slightly breaking through the scales on her head. Silence surrounded her. The wind stopped howling, the leafs ceased thudding, even the pain was gone, everything suddenly became completely still.

Cynder dropped her paws, she kept staring at the floor in utter shock, disbelief and terror, she couldn't believe that it was over. Still, she didn't want to look at the window, she felt as something was observing her and deep down she knew what it was. However there was that hard to explain pull, which urged her to look upon the glass, and she had no choice but to compel.

With fear still shackling her every motion she slowly raised her head, expecting the worst. Before she knew it her head was almost at the same level as the window, however she was unaware of the impulse that forced her eyes to shut themselves, as if acting like her last defenders.

She struggled for a while, but after a while came to a conclusion that there is no sense in waiting. It was hard to tell if that was her courage speaking or something completely different. With a hard swallow that almost choked her the dragoness opened her eyes. Her heart stopped for a moment.

The leafs were plastered on the glass, and they were forming a message that strangely seemed as the most terrifying thing in the world.

_WE ARE ONE_

The moment she muttered the three words an enormous shadow ran across the window, completely blackening the world while emitting the most deafening and blood freezing roar she has ever heard.

* * *

"…dow!"

Cynder blinked hearing a strangely familiar male shout.

"...er...indow!"

The same familiar shout again, there was something really inviting and kind beaming from it. She found herself turning around, she felt as her body was moving on its own, as if her mind was trying to show her the right direction, that there lies salvation, at least for the time being.

" Cynder! The window!"

It was Spyro, how safe and reassuring his voice is.

" The window!"

" What window?" she mused

And then in a sudden whizz reality came back to her.

The sounds of wood thudding on stone and glass screaming in agony at every impact bombarded her head. With a gasp Cynder quickly spun around, the window where the leafs once where swung wildly back and forth, slammed at the walls by the howling wind outside. The thuds were so powerful that it was just a matter of time before the window breaks from its frame.

Driven by sheer instinct she jumped towards the screaming window, not even realizing that she was actually standing on all fours and not sitting. The window fluttered two more times before she managed to grab the handle.

" Oww!" Cynder hissed the moment her claws wrapped themselves around the grip. Something stung her below the eye all of a sudden.

Shaking off the discomforting pain she forcefully pulled the handle, slamming the window in place before securing it so the wind won't tear it off again. The moment the roar of the wind turned into a muffled whirr she impulsively looked through the fragile glassy barrier while still clutching the handle, not even realizing that her claws flawed the wooden grip.

Nothing scary was there.

Absolutely nothing. Only people and lamp lights dotted the street.

" Cynder is everything alright?"

The dragoness jumped at the sound of the militant baritone voice.

" What?"

" Are you alright?"

" Me?" she asked bewildered and turned towards the window again, just for safety precautions. However no matter how long she looked, she still couldn't believe that the dragon from her dreams vanished, hell she couldn't believe that he was there in the first place.

" I'm…fine" her eyes ran across the nearby buildings. Nothing "Just…dazed off there for a while " she cut her gaze at the nearby visible corners of the streets. Still nothing. " You…know how it is"

" You could think while listening to that roaring wind?" Spyro asked shocked " I could barely hear my own thoughts, and I'm standing quite a distance from the windows"

" I've got used to the noise" she answered quickly, not wanting Spyro to pry she turned around and smiled cheerfully. " So, you decided what you are gonna do? Are you going to be my knight that you promised you wouldn't be?"

" I'm going to speak with him" he stated confidently

" Good luck with that. I'm sure it's going to be an instructive conversation"

Spyro was slightly taken aback by the lack of aggression or irritation in her voice " You aren't mad?"

" Nope, I knew it was going to happen"

He observed her carefully, he could smell fear on her, and as a friend its his duty to try to make it go away. There is only one way to defeat fear, you have to face it.

" Come with me. Together-"

She laughed bitterly " Oh no, that's not going to happen"

" Cynder I see that you're afraid but-"

" I'm not scared of that mole" she replied firmly

" Then why won't you come?"

" Because you don't bring a chicken to a wolf's den. And just between you and me, I'm really fond of my thighs" she winked " Don't tell anybody"

" Terrador, help me?" Spyro pleaded

" It is Cynder's decision Spyro, we have to respect it" the Guardian answered

The purple dragon understood that he is fighting a losing battle, but the bond of friendship between them demanded to try once more.

" Please?" he begged his friend " Do it for me?"

" I'm doing this for you" she said lovingly " Listen Spyro, go by yourself, you have better chances on your own, it's best if I won't show my snout in the temple. He might start drooling or something"

" Such insolence!" a furious roar that could belong to only one Guardian echoed throughout the City Hall

Grinning, Terrador gave the dragoness a meaningful look " Are you sure you don't want to reconsider?"

Both young dragons laughed.

" Such arrogance!" another roar resounded in the room, but this time its owner appeared.

Cyril stormed into the main hall, taking quick insulted strides. Icy mist was wafting through his nostrils, icy sparks were shooting from his tail tip.

" Cyril!" Terrador exclaimed cheerfully " What a surprise!"

Once again the young dragons laughed, yet out of respect they stifled their joyful concert as best as they could.

The ice dragon turned his cold and wrathful gaze on the Earth Guardian " We need to carefully pick our associates! Not everyone understands what a honor it is to serve the Guardians!"

" First of all Cyril" Terrador dropped the cheerful attitude, he once again was back to his normal militant and stern self " All of these people who decided to work with us are doing it because they want to help, not to be our servants"

The Ice Guardian snorted in disdain " Fine! Yet a little respect would be welcome!"

The earth dragon shook his head " And who is the one that offended you?"

" Amela!" Cyril growled " She practically kicked me out of the room when I wanted to interrogate the prisoner! Can you believe it?! She kicked me out! ME!"

" What I've told you about jumping to conclusions?"

" I don't care! Either you will do something or I will!"

Terrador narrowed his gaze on the Ice Guardian, almost making the icy dragon cringe under its weight " Listen to me very carefully Cyril, we know each other for a very long time, I can turn a blind eye when your egoistical nature targets Volteer, he got used to it. But I won't tolerate your childish outbursts when they are directed on someone else, do you understand? Amela is our most experienced healer, she deserves as much respect as you do, one of her assistants informed me that she will visit us after the surgery. And since it ended, if I understand correctly from your words, she will surely explain why she…excused you and surely she will shed some light on our recent guest"

Cyril rolled his eyes " Nobody ever listens to me"

It was hard to say if the argument between the two Guardians would continue, no one ever solved that questions since suddenly the main door swung open once more, inviting the wind inside. However all of that inconvenience was unimportant, the hooded figure standing in the doorstep drew all the attention.

The figure shut the door behind itself, it then rose his hands to reach for the hood, just to slid it backwards, revealing two feline ears all of the gathered dragons were familiar with.

" Hunter!" Spyro exclaimed joyfully

The cheetah hobbled towards the excited young dragon, even from here they could see a jaunty yet painful smile spreading through the feline's face.

That smile and the obvious injury on the cheetah's leg forced Spyro's smile to retreat.

Hunter stopped in front of the purple dragon and bowed " Spyro my friend, it is always a pleasure to see you"

" Likewise"

The cheetah's already broad smile widened even more. He turned towards the black dragoness and bowed again " Cynder"

She returned the gesture.

Finally he concentrated on the two old dragons. He bowed once more, out of respect shaking off his grin " Guardians"

Both adult dragons followed in the cheetah's wake " Hunter" Terrador addressed him solemnly before dropping the official tone and smiled " We are glad that you returned to us"

The feline bowed again " It was an honor"

Cyril to everyone's surprise offered a chair to the cheetah " Sit please"

Hunter thanked the Guardian and dropped on the chair, obviously relieved.

Cynder turned towards the sitting cheetah and grinned " It was a very boring mission I see"

The feline smiled " It had its moments"

Spyro examined his furry friend from top to bottom, some of his cloths were practically fresh, but most of them were tattered and carried signs of battle. Why the cheetah would wear them in their state he had no idea. The dragon's eyes once again traveled up and down until they finally stopped on the cat's extended leg he avoided to put much weight on " How bad are you hurt?"

Hunter followed the drake's gaze, after noticing what drew his attention the cheetah chuckled " It's nothing Spyro, I just strained a muscle"

" What?" Cynder exclaimed with a stifled laugh " You pulled a muscle? You?"

He patted his sore leg " The potion wasn't that good after all" and then he laughed

" What potion?"

The cheetah shook his head " It's a long story, I'll get to it later, but first…" he turned towards the Guardians " How is she doing?"

Both old dragons looked at each other in confusion before turning towards the cheetah again " She?" they asked in unison

Hunter looked alarmed " The girl Amela was supposed to bring back here. Is she here?"

" Oh yesss. The mysterious patient" Terrador muttered " Yes, Amela has brought someone to the hospital. We just weren't aware that the patient is female, nobody of us saw her. Do you know who she is? Because we only heard rumors. She's after surgery and I believe she will pull through"

" She is a dragoness, maybe a year older than Cynder. From what I could tell she is an ice dragoness but… I'm not certain. We found her hanging on a tree upside down with a spear jutting from her chest. She lost lots of blood. There were couple of dead dragons and some strange bones near the place we found her. All recent"

" Strange bones? What do you mean?"

The cheetah lowered his head in shame " I'm sorry but this is the best I can give you. When we arrived at the scene the place was already cramped with scavengers, making identification impossible, at least for me. Amela might have discovered something, if she found the time to examine the bones that is"

" I had a feeling that our new guest is dangerous!" Cyril exclaimed triumphantly

" We don't know that for sure Cyril" Terrador corrected the Ice Guardian

" Please don't be naïve Terrador, the dragoness might be a murderer. You don't surround yourself with bodies by coincidence, something happened. Now it's up to us to figure out if our new guest was the prey or the predator. Remember that neither of this things exclude murder.

" Those are only speculations, we better wait for Amela. I propose to focus on something more solid. What of the Dark Army Hunter?"

Hunter impulsively ran his hand across his still sore chest " They were dispatched with the help of the Atlawa tribe, but unfortunately I wasn't able to stop them before they've finished the ritual. At least I believe that was a ritual, did the sky darkened here as well all of a sudden?"

" Yes"

The cheetah sighed " I apologize but I wasn't able to find out the reason or the effects of the ritual"

" I think it's connected with the Veils somehow" Spyro added

" There's one more thing" Hunter reached behind his coat and withdrew a dark bleak green crystal " A hero orc was carrying one of these" he put the gem on the table " It looks familiar, but I can't place where did I see it"

All of the dragons examined the gem " I've seen it somewhere…" Cynder muttered while scratching her choker thoughtfully

" Me too" Spyro added

" I believe we all did" Cyril's voice joined the brainstorming

" YOU!"

Hunter winced, his ears flattened on his skull after hearing the angry feminine shout. All of them turned around, in the entrance to the corridor connecting the City Hall with the Mess Hall and hospital stood Amela. The female cheetah wore a pristine white shirt and brown pants, in any other situation she would look like a beacon of serenity, but in this case that image was ruined by the cheetah's hands clenched firmly on her hips and an agitated grimace on her face.

" Did nobody ever teach you how to write letters?"!

The feline scout swallowed " it seemed to work"

" Of course it did! " she waved her fist angrily at him " it did more than just work! It mobilized the whole hospital! After reading _ The Atlawa will escort you, there was a massacre, make haste. _I woke up the whole hospital, gathered everyone I could and took every possible supply that we could carry. And for what?! Just to find a single dragoness wounded?! I'll repeat so you can understand. I took with me every available medical supply and personnel, leaving the hospital almost completely empty! Do you have any idea what could happen if there would be an accident here in the city?!"

" I-"

" NO!" Amela blurt out furiously " I don't want to hear your apology. When we are done here you will come with me and practice how to properly write letters, and you won't leave until I say so. Are we clear?!"

" Whoa" Spyro muttered quietly " She's pissed"

Hunter dropped his head, just like a guilty child.

" Amela" Terrador stated calmly " Hunter just returned from a dangerous and long mission, he deserves some rest"

" I don't care!" the feline growled " You put me in charge of the hospital Sir, and I take this task seriously. It's my sacred duty to help and protect all wounded people, and if we turn a blind eye even on such a stupid situation as this, sooner or later it will slap us in the face. I won't allow people to suffer because of negligence!"

" I'll go with you" the male cheetah added

The female healer nodded " Good, at least they taught you honor in that village of yours"

" Why did you throw me out from the girl's room?" Cyril asked as politely as he could, yet the rumble in his throat betrayed his real feelings

Amela was unmoved by the poorly cloaked irritation " No one disturbs my patients without my approval"

" Excuse me?!" the Ice Guardian blurt out shocked " Did you forget that you may be harboring a potential murderer?!"

" She can be The Dark Master's daughter for all I care. She needs rest"

Cyril let out a disbelieving cackle " This is preposterous!"

" This settles the dispute then" Terrador interjected firmly, wanting to avoid further argument " What can you tell us about your patient Amela?"

She leaned against a wall and sighed " As I said, she is a dragoness, ice is her element I think… I'm not sure. She is a pretty, young girl, a year older than our Cynder here. We found her with a spear protruding from her chest, after removing the weapon and applying the necessary treatments we discovered that she suffered from a major internal bleeding. To save her life I had to operate. While I examined her I've noticed a very peculiar thing, there was a bluish gem inserted into her chest scales…"

Spyro and Cynder exchanged meaningful looks. They both realized why that gem Hunter brought seemed familiar.

"…At first I thought it was another foreign object and I wanted to remove it, but it seemed to be molded with some major arteries. The removal of the gem would most likely kill the poor girl so I left it alone. What else? Oh yes, I believe she fancies trinkets, like some women do " she poked the earring on her left ear meaningfully " From what I could tell she likes gold, I've found three gold bracelets and a single medallion. All of her personal possession are left in her room"

" What about the bones?" Terrador inclined

" I didn't have the time to examine them properly, but from what I've seen, they don't belong to any specie I know"

" Ok this is going too far!" Cyril growled indignantly " We need to examine her belongings, especially the medallion sounds suspicious."

" It's a memento"

" What makes you so sure?"

" The three bracelets are still shiny, new. The medallion on the other hand lost its glimmer a long time ago, also the chain holding it is worn out. It's a memento, believe me, I can tell"

" We still need to see it"

Amela shook her head firmly " I won't allow to rummage through her personal belongings. Whatever that medallion hides, it's for her eyes only"

Cyril snorted, an icy mist shot from his nostrils " I can't believe what I'm hearing"

" The belongings will remain with our new guest" Terrador's official tone left no room for argument " We can always ask about it later"

Seeing that the conversation is over Cynder jumped towards the table, grabbed the dark green gem and raised it so the cheetah could easily see it " Did that bluish gem looked like this?"

Amela frowned and approached the black dragoness. She gingerly took the crystal and examined it from up close. The cheetah nodded " Yes, I think it looks just like this, but more bright"

" Flare has a similar one"

Terrador nodded " So if our two new friends have similar crystals inserted in their bodies, we can assume-"

" That this green crystal belonged to a different dragon" Hunter finished for the Guardian " It would make sense. When I've found the gem, it had dried blood stains on it, also it was carried by the hero orc, who most likely performed the ritual"

" If this thing somehow strengthened the portals…" Spyro took the gem from Amela hands and brought it close to his right eye"…then I suppose we found our battery"

" But…" the Earth Guardian pushed the created train of thought "…if these crystals need to be cut out to fuel the Veils, then what do they do when they are still embedded within draconic bodies?"

That particular question remained unanswered.

Terrador took the gem " I better take this to Volteer, maybe he will make some sense out of it"

Then suddenly the front door once more swung open, letting two more people join the already big group.

" Flare!" Cynder dashed towards the door, with startled Spyro and Amela following her

Sparx rolled his eyes when the small group surrounded the fiery drake " I'm fine, thanks"

" What happened?"

" I-"

" How bad are you hurt?" Amela cut the young drake off

Flare looked at his dirty body " This is not my blood…I think"

The female cheetah grabbed one of the dragon's horn and pulled him behind her " We need to clean and check you out, you poor thing. There will be time for questions later" before anyone knew it, both of them were already gone.

When that happened both young dragons turned their attention towards the whistling dragonfly.

Sparx perfectly understood their meaningful stares " Oh I get it, a bleeding guy shows up, you all cuddle around him and when he's gone I'm suddenly the most important one here? Am I the only one who thinks that something is wrong here?"

" Sparx it's not the time for games!" Spyro admonished his brother " Tell us what happened!"

" I don't know ok? You need to ask Crouton when he gets back. I just pulled him away from a mob before it chewed him up"

The purple dragon growled " Not again! I swear when I'm going to find Brill I will…"

" It all could be avoided if you would listen to me and ditched the guy when we had the chance"

" It's not Flare's fault!" Cynder shouted

" I know that"

" Then what the hell are you talking about?"

Sparx shrugged " I'm just messing with you"

" I don't know what stupid game are you playing, but if you wanted to make me angry, it's working"

The dragonfly grinned proudly " I don't need games for that"

" Sparx will you stop this already?" Spyro admonished him a second time

" Two versus one? That ain't fair, if you want me gone just say it" he pointed a finger on the purple dragon " And bro listen to me sometimes, one day you will need to be a bastard" he dashed towards the nearby window

" Where are you going?" Spyro shouted after him

" Somewhere" with that Sparx suddenly froze " But first" he made his way back and began to circle around the black dragoness, examining her closely.

Cynder's eyes followed his every move " What?" when he didn't answer, she decided to play a game of her own " See anything you like?" she asked annoyed

Sparx snickered " Cyn, that was uncalled for, I've just ate" with that he dashed towards the window again "See ya!" and disappeared

" What was that all about?" Spyro asked dumbfounded

She shrugged " Your brother is an idiot"


	43. Chapter 5 Book III

**With this chapter end regular weekly updates, as of now we reached a moment where every new chapter will be "hot off the press" so to speak. Now we all need to be patient and wait for chapter 6 to come out:P**

**For all those fluff fans, more romance will be coming, I have many threads to pursue, everything in due time;p**

* * *

Chapter 5

The city has its special charm during night hours, Spyro had to admit that among the stars like some sort of a beaming, watchful audience Warfang looked like the main actor in the spotlight of the white, glowing moon.

There weren't many nights he spent in the Dragon City but the ones he did he mostly enjoyed. There was that specific serenity and peace hanging in the cool nightly air. A peace his currently troubled soul craved for, like a ravenous predator craves for meat.

Spyro didn't even notice when his legs carried him through one of the side paths, not that he complained, let the peace last as long as it can, his non-existing tank needed that specific fuel.

The dragon inhaled deeply, a strong blast of wind sprang up which was aimed directly at his snout. The gust striking his nose made breathing problematic, not to mention that it filled the dragon's head with that very familiar deafening hum, effectively killing the already scarce sounds of the almost sleeping city.

It didn't bother him in the slightest, he was one of the few brave enough to challenge the howling wind, most of the city inhabitants were safely tucked inside the four walls of their homes. He only met a couple of people on his way to the temple, who shared only brief glances with him.

And he was glad for it.

He enjoyed the company of others, no matter how different people are, given time he surely would start to like all of them. Yet as he tread through the empty streets he was overjoyed to be alone, not even the constant strange pull towards Cynder wasn't strong enough to make him turn back.

There is power in solitude, it's value depends solely upon one's self. it may be a sanctuary or a prison, a haven of repose or a place of punishment, a heaven or a hell, as we ourselves make it. He has been to every one of those places.

* * *

" _The element of Fire is not to be trifled with young boy" sounded an admonishing mature tone_

_Spyro rolled his eyes as he progressed through one of the many stony corridors of the Dragon Temple " What can it do? It's just an element, and I'm the purple dragon, remember?"_

" _Every element carries it's boons and hindrance, it boils the energy within us. And what is elemental energy Spyro?"_

" _ignitus please" the young purple dragon whined " Not now"_

_The Fire Guardian observed his impatient pupil's body language closely as he followed him. "What is elemental energy Spyro?"_

_The dragon in front of groaned in irritation " Will you stop it finally?"_

" _What is elemental energy Spyro?"_

_The purple dragon growled, sending sparks flying as he spun around and ran his claws along one of the stony walls of the temple " Do you have to lecture me now?!"_

_Ignitus looked down upon his pupil with a calm expression on his snout, not even slightly taken aback by the dragon's outburst " What would you like to do?"_

_Spyro's eyes glowed with malevolence " I've just mastered Fire! Have you seen how I took care of those stupid dummies?! Let's get back to the training room! Send all of them at me! I'll smash them all in thirty seconds!"_

" _Then what?"_

" _Then! Then!" the dragon grinned arrogantly " Then you will tell me where to find one of the Guardians! I will go save him and nothing will stop me! I will kill every ape that will stand in my way, and if Cynder decides to show her ugly snout, I'll kill her too! I'm strong now, I can do it!"_

_Ignitus nodded soberly " A bold plan"_

" _Hell yeah!" Spyro exclaimed feverishly " We'll hit her when she least expects it! Let's go!"_

" _There is only one last thing you need to do Spyro"_

" _What is it?!" the young drake growled restlessly_

" _Tell me what elemental energy is"_

_Spyro roared furiously " This again?!", driven by anger he ran his claws along one of the walls again, sparks were sent flying as his claws left visible trails of scratches behind them_

_Ignitus watched his pupil with a stoic expression " Tell me wh-"_

" _I DON'T KNOW!" the young drake roared straight at the fire dragon's snout_

_A stern frown adorned the Guardian's snout " Follow me" with that he moved past the angry drake_

_Spyro wanted to ignore his mentor but there was that commanding tone in his calm voice that forced him to follow " Where are we going anyway?" he asked, more calmly this time, yet there was still that palpable tone of annoyance within his voice_

_The Fire Guardian didn't answer, he just calmly pressed forward._

" _Ohhh I get it" the purple drake cackled pompously " You feel insulted and decided not to talk to me. Really mature"_

_Ignitus led his pupil through one of the corridors with a calm head, while constantly listening to the young dragon's bickering. The young dragon demanded to know where they were going but the Guardian never honored him with a response._

_It lasted until they finally stopped in front of a massive, solid, stony door, Spyro was no specialist but he believed that if anyone tried to force their way through them they would have a hard time doing so. A delicate whizz of wind could be felt on their paws as it wafted through the delicate doorstep below._

" _In here" Ignitus announced and pushed the door open_

_Spyro threw his mentor an irritated glance before he looked inside. The room, or more likely a piece of land walled away from the rest of the world, if you don't count the lack of ceiling above that is, was an odd place to find inside the temple. Why the Guardian led him here he had absolutely no idea. _

_There was nothing interesting here! Some grass, some rocks, a single big tree with a round crown and a piece of a trunk of some other tree, long gone by now that barely stood out from the ground. If you ignore the walls with delicate cracks inside them, there was everything one could find here. Spyro couldn't believe his own eyes, what nonsense is this?_

" _There is nothing here" the young dragon stated the obvious_

" _Walk inside"_

_There was that tone again, with a sigh of resignation the young drake did as he was told. When his paws touched the grass and his tail was quite a distance from the doorstep he turned around to face his mentor, completely resigned, bored and bewildered._

" _Now what?"_

_Ignitus remained at the doorstep, blocking the exit " Elemental energy defines us as beings…_

_Spyro sighed " Not another lecture" he muttered_

"…_it is power but also a strong curse. This energy shapes us, it boils our blood. This is magic in its full capacity, no other creature is able to resist its side effects, no other creature is able to tame it. We dragons are defined by the element we wield, Earth, Fire, Ice, Electricity…and Wind, each of this elements is a reaper, it dictates our actions, it wants to be free, and if we let that happen it will overpower us. We are one with our element, it senses our grudges, it senses our troubles, if we lose control it will empower those feelings and force our paw. We are its masters, not the other way around, you need to remember that"_

" _As you can see Spyro mastering an element is not only based on learning its capabilities, this is simple, to be able to live with it later, this is the difficult task. Take Fire for instance, it's nature is , impatient, impulsive, reckless, destructive, arrogant, chaotic, and much more. You feel this already, don't you?"_

" _I don't know what you are talking about. I feel just fine"_

_A twitch of a smile found its way towards the Guardians snout " So to make you feel better I will leave you here alone and close the door"_

_Spyro laughed " You will lock me here? You are aware that there is no ceiling above my head? I can always leave. This is not much of a punishment"_

" _Isolation is punishment, it is aloneness that feels forced upon you, just like a punishment. What I'm trying to show you is solitude, because solitude is aloneness you choose and embrace. Yes you can always leave, but you also need to know that the element we wield only defines us, not make us, it's our parents teachings that give us true strength. And you parents Spyro raised you well"_

_The young dragon's cocking attitude vanished suddenly the moment his mentor mentioned his parents " But why do I need to stay here Ignitus? What's the point?"_

" _It is only when we silent the blaring sounds of our daily existence that we can finally hear the whispers of truth that life reveals to us, as it stands knocking on the doorsteps of our hearts. Today you will be visited by Fire and you will open the door, it will be up to you to choose Fire either as your guest or a roommate"_

" _Doesn't sound so difficult"_

_Ignitus nodded in acknowledgment, retreated behind the doorstep and began to close the door._

" _Wait!" Spyro shouted_

_The door stopped moving._

" _How long will I need to stay here?"_

" _You will know" with that the massive door closed_

_Spyro sighed " Great"_

_With that he turned about just to set his eyes on the brown trunk of the tree, impulsively his gaze traveled upwards, to the crown, and farther up, towards the sky. Without even realizing it his wings opened and his paws bent, preparing themselves for a jump like a huddled spring. His muscles tensed already ready for the leap, his skills in the air were pitiful as for a natural airborne creature, but he was sure that with the help of the huge tree he would make it past the wall._

_Yet he didn't jump._

_With another sigh his body relaxed, tail and wings returned to their natural positions, he felt a great weight pulling him down, he felt that somewhere in that clouds above his parents were watching him, if he would rise past that green crown he knew he would just disappoint them._

_The young dragon made his way towards the small trunk, climbed on top of it and rested his rump. His tail was dangling from the trunk while impatiently sliding across it back and forth as his amethyst eyes scanned the surroundings._

" _When are you going to start knocking?" Spyro threw a question towards an invisible listener_

_As he turned his head he spotted something moving in the grass up ahead. He frowned and focused on the part of the grass where he saw movement. At first nothing happened, for a moment there he thought that he was just seeing things, but then the grass moved again and from it bounced a small greenish silhouette._

_A grasshopper._

_How did this small guy get in here? Probably through one of the cracks in the wall obscured by grass. It was unimportant, at least he has someone to keep him company in this solitude of his._

_Solitude._

_Spyro chuckled, such a funny word that is._

_Solitude._

_The dragon laughed, it was indeed funny._

_The wind blew again, caressing his body and filling his nostrils with the strangely intoxicating smell of grass, it had a funny scent in his solitude. _

_Solitude!_

_Soooooooliiiiiiiiituuuuuuude!_

_Spyro laughed hysterically, it was just so unimaginably hilarious._

_Ain't that right little grasshopper?_

_Hey! Maybe we should write this funny word all around the walls?_

_What do you think little grasshopper?_

_Got any paint?_

_Nothing to say? Hop on that grass then._

_The grass moved again, the greenish dot flew up and disappeared again soon after._

_You're hiding that paint aren't you? I know you do!_

_Paint? A grasshopper hid paint? That's just a little, disgusting, pitiful bug, it couldn't have done such a thing._

_But what if it did and plays stupid? _

_Time to catch it and ask then! It will be our game!_

_That grasshopper is just a weak, ugly bug and I'm a big bad dragon. It would be terrified of me. Chasing it would be cruel, it would not understand my game._

_But this is my solitude right? I have freedom here, I can do whatever I want, even my parents can't stop me._

_My solitude._

_My freedom._

_That little bug has nothing to say. I want to play and I will play._

_Spyro hopped down from the trunk._

_Hopped!_

_Just like a little grasshopper._

_The young drake growled " But I'm not a bug! I'm the big bad dragon and I want to play!"_

_The purple drake frowned and began to scan the surroundings, moments later his eyes caught a glimpse of movement, grass wriggled somewhere behind that huge tree. With a sly grin and almost completely daft glimmer in his eyes Spyro darted behind the tree._

_Nothing._

" _Where are you little grasshopper? The dragon asked melodically_

_Then all of a sudden the grass moved ahead of him. With an excited yelp Spyro pounced forward stretching his front legs as par as he could. The moment he was about to land on his belly he pressed his paws together with a loud smack._

" _Gotcha!" he exclaimed triumphantly when his belly scales hit the ground._

_He pulled his legs closer and parted his paws. Spyro blinked when he noticed that there was nothing in his grasp, except some pieces of grass. It had to be the wind that moved the lawn, not the bug._

_With a frustrated rumble in his throat Spyro pulled himself up._

_The dragon once again began to observe the turf for any signs of movement. His vigilance paid off, the grass moved again and this time he definitely saw the grasshopper leaping from its hiding place. He instantly darted towards it._

_When he reached the spot where he spotted the bug he stopped and chaotically began to turn his head. The grass swung at his right side, the dragon furrowed his brows on that spot. No greenish from was there, it had to be the wind._

_His left eyes caught a glimpse of movement, he turned but as previously no grasshopper could be seen. It had to be the wind again._

_Yet when his eyes located movement up ahead, he was certain it was the grasshopper, he clearly saw the bug's body stretching in the air. Spyro ran with his gaze set on the ground, it won't escape this time._

_As he rushed through the lawn he spotted the grasshopper siting on a piece of grass, growling Spyro swung his paw, ready to catch it, but unfortunately for the dragon the bug slipped from his grasp just when he was about to clench his paw._

_However this time he could see the bug landing nearby. Spyro darted after it but just as before the grasshopper slipped away just when he was about to catch it. With an irritated hiss the drake continued his pursuit but the grasshopper proved to be more elusive than he originally thought. Whenever he was about to grab the damn bug it always got away._

" _Get over here!" Spyro roared after another unsuccessful attempt_

_He kept chasing the bug for who knows how long, and the longer it lasted the more furious he got, he didn't even realize that after some time he no longer clenched his paw but just slashed with his claws, sending pieces of grass flying in every direction. _

_When he missed a couple more times he had enough of it, he played fair all this time but now this is about to change. After another failed slash he dropped his paws on the ground and began to run at full speed. The grass moved in front of him, the silhouette of the bug rose to the air._

_With a roar Spyro jumped extending his paws as far as he could, brandishing his fangs and claws like a tiger pouncing after its prey. It's impossible to describe the dragon's surprise when he felt that his paws were bending against something very solid and not squishy. Spyro only managed to gasp when his head made contact with the wall ahead._

_The world swirled in front of his eyes as he dropped forcefully on the ground with an audible painful groan. He impulsively rubbed his head, still wincing from the numbing pain running through his whole spine. He lowered his paw and looked at it to check for any signs of blood, there were none, the paw returned to massage his achy head._

_After a while of painful hisses the world began to slide back in place, the numbing pain running through his spine was gone, only the pulsing ache in his head remained, this will leave a solid bump. The moment the spinning world molded completely Spyro noticed the grasshopper hopping in the distance, now safely away from the big bad idiot dragon as it slipped through one of the cracks in the wall and escaped into the vast world ahead._

" _What the hell am I doing?" he muttered incredulously_

_With a groan he pushed himself up, when he once more rubbed his achy head he instantly understood why he acted the way he did._

" _Hey Fire" Spyro greeted the invisible presence with faked cheerfulness in his voice " Don't get too comfortable, you'll be leaving soon"_

_The dragon lurched towards the trunk he sat on before, when he adopted the same position as earlier he once again touched his wounded head. A numb pulse of pain shot through his body which forced his paw away just as if would be electrocuted._

" _Too bad that I had to take a blow to the head to wake up. Idiot" Spyro cursed his stupidity out loud_

_He looked around the walled room " Now what?"_

_Nobody answered him, with nothing else to do he jumped down from the small trunk and laid down just next to it. The grass felt like the perfect, soft sheets of a bed he slept in back in his home in the Swamps. With a deep longing breath Spyro closed his eyes and didn't even realize when he drifted into sleep._

_When he opened his eyes, the sun was slowly raising above the horizon, it was early morning. Did he slept through the whole previous day? Seems like it. He wasn't that much surprised, all the past days were nothing more than constant training, no wonder his body craved for a moment of respite._

_As he stretched he wondered what Ignitus meant by saying that he will know when to leave. Spyro pondered on that thought a little more and came to a conclusion that this has to be the right moment. He connected the dots the other day, he realized that his rash actions were fueled by Fire's nature, it was undoubtedly a victory._

_Yes, it was victory._

_Time to leave this place._

_Spyro looked up at the orange sky above and didn't feel any scolding gaze on him. This is definitely the right moment to leave, he figured it out, he is just so brilliant. He pushed open his barely used wings, flexed his muscles and leapt. He flapped his wings quickly and chaotically, slowly gaining altitude, much too slow for his taste._

_It's time to get out of here and I CAN'T FLY!_

_Purple dragon of prophecy my tail!_

_The young drake growled, he will get out this place, this is the moment and he won't waste it. he can cheat, nobody is watching. With great effort he directed his body towards the hulking tree and sunk his claws into its trunk, it didn't protest, just another sign that his ingenious plan is valid. _

_Instead of flying he began to climb, the progress was even slower, it only infuriated the young dragon even more than before. He won't quit however, he will see the end no matter what. That rush made the drake blind, he didn't realize that instead of proper climb his uncoordinated moves were just tearing the bark off the trunk which slowed his already slow pace even more._

_Growling impatiently Spyro pushed away from the tree, he swayed in the air and fall down, but eventually he managed to flap his wings forcefully, however the move barely made any effect, he maybe gained mere inches because first he needed to equal the loss of altitude._

_The sky was gaining the upper hand so Spyro forcefully clung to the trunk again, bits of wood fell off when his claws sunk into the structure of the tree. With a roar he started to wriggle his paws faster and faster, the fast moves only crippled the tree than helped him gain any significant high._

_As he rose the drake switched between wings and claws constantly, and every such switch made his even more furious. Yet after a very long while he eventually reached the thick branches that held the vast crown. With a triumphant growl he leapt from the trunk and managed to wrap his legs around one of such branches, he then rolled on top of it and began to slide across it sinking his claws as deep as they could go so he could maintain his balance and minimize the risk of falling._

_He will still need to use his pitiful flying abilities to get out of here, but from the position he is currently at they will be enough, and finally he will be free and this stupid test over just as it was supposed to end all those hours ago. Spyro slid to the end of the branch, leaving extremely deep scratches behind him, he then pulled himself up, setting his paws firmly on the thick branch that shook slightly under his weight._

_The drake looked up, still no gaze holding him back, this is the moment. He prepared his wings, flexed his muscles and bent on his paws, he was so focused on his goal that he didn't hear the sound of cracking wood. With a roar he pounced and…_

…_and then everything changed._

_The branch gave up under his weight, the deep scratches he left ruined its structure and weakened the previously solid wooden arm of the tree. Spyro's eyes only went wide when he lost footing, he began to flap with his chaotically but everything he managed to accomplish was to gain mere seconds in the air._

_When they passed time seemed to freeze for a while, just as his wings and the round pupils in his eyes. When the world awakened again, he fell down._

_Spyro hit the ground with a hollow muffled thud, surprisingly he didn't feel any pain. As he laid on his back and stared at the orange sky above, his firstly shocked eyes began to flare up with an unimaginable wrath. The dragon began to roar as loudly as he could and thrash on the ground, sending pieces of grass everywhere._

_He rolled onto his belly soon after and spotted the broken branch laying just next to him. Driven by fury he pulled up and darted towards it, roaring as a rabid beast he began to slash with his claws._

_Left paw, right paw, left paw, right paw._

_His legs were swinging so fast that they left mirage behind them. Pieces of wood and bark were flying in every direction as the dragon turned the branch to scraps. Just when he converted the once thick branch into a still considerable twig he grabbed the wood and hurled it at the tree with all his strength, empowered only by the furious roar leaving his throat. _

_The branch crumbled to pieces at the impact._

_In the show of flying splinters Spyro leapt and the tree wildly, constantly repeating the uncoordinated moves from before as he climbed. He went up and up, no longer thinking straight, if he ever listened to clarity in the first place that is, just to free himself from this fucking prison. He pushed and pushed, there was no force in the whole world that would prevent him from escaping this hell._

_Yet when he reached the middle of the tree he stopped._

_Spyro pressed his forehead to the ruined bark of the tree and began to pant "I've…told…you…to…get…out!" the drake shouted with the last ounces of strength and dropped on the ground._

_His paws shook, unable to hold his balance bent under his weight, the dragon collapsed. As he laid there on the grass his every bone began to scream in agony._

" _I'm going to leave when I say so!" he let a determined painful shout._

_Days upon days passed, after a while he lost count how many. Yet every next day felt longer than the last one, at first he sat on that small trunk, letting his imagination run loose, thinking about many things, like food, where is his brother, what is Ignitus doing, the sky above._

_The sky above._

_Whenever his imagination focused on that sole thought he winced, no longer allowing the craving for freedom take control of him. If Fire is impatient he will conquer it with patience, if Fire is impulsive, he will conquer it with serenity. So whenever his mind mentioned the sky above, he jumped down from the trunk and began to walk around the room._

_He had been doing it for quite some time, since there was clearly visible path trampled down after a while. Sometimes the pull to free himself was so strong that he had to beat his head against the wall to quench it. Whenever that happened he knew he is still not ready to leave._

_After many more hours he had enough of it, he remembered his mentor's words. This is not punishment, this is not isolation. This is solitude. My solitude. My own. There is nothing funny in that._

_I choose to embrace it._

_Surprisingly the next days passed more pleasantly, he thought about just everything, from his early childhood days, to his trainings just to stop on this particular test. And he understood now, elements we wield define us, Fire took advantage of his childish needs and temper and twisted it to its needs, just like Ignitus said it would, it looked for shortcuts. And there can't be none in the future he will one day face._

_More hours passed and Spyro eventually had enough of this solitude, simply because he was bored to tears, yet the sky above never crossed his mind again. That was the shortcut, to leave he needs to take the hard path and convince his mentor that he understands now, which is always a difficult thing to do, and especially apologize for his behavior early._

_Spyro plodded towards the door and gulped in anxiety " Ignitus I'm ready to leave"_

_He waited but there was no response._

" _Ignitus?"_

_Still nothing._

_Spyro extended his paw towards the door, but stopped in midair, not sure if this is the right thing to do. Yet after a moment of inward deliberation he decided to knock and announce his presence in a more solid manner._

" _Igni-" his voice trailed off when he touched the door and they suddenly creaked open._

_When he pushed his head through the crack, his eyes watered. In the corridor stood a table with every type of food on it. When a drool slipped from his lolling tongue he realized that even if a task ahead seems extremely difficult it might sometimes pay off to complete it._

* * *

Spyro stood some meters away from the sturdy round door of the temple, his eyes were set on the huge statue looming above the entrance, the ball of flames emanating from the artificial dragon's opened paws created a perfect illumination, which only empowered the shine emanating from the many gems inserted into the door, or the marble path nearby.

This is the difficult path, to see if there is a prize waiting at the end of it he first needs to cross it. Anxiety, doubt and a bit of irritation boiled his blood, he didn't want to see the mole, and especially he didn't want to talk to him, when the Atlawa raised him to godlike status and wanted to worship him there is something about overzealous people that push him away.

Yet he has to do it for Cynder, this is one of the many steps he has to make to ensure that his friend will at least have a place in this world she can call home. The most important thing he needs to do is to remember who, or what, is their main enemy here, Brill is just one of the many obstacles on their path, nothing more, and they have trampled many worse barricades.

At least he hoped so.

There was that doubt again, he wanted to ignore it but just couldn't, as the dragon stood there, watching the sturdy round door, he felt that this whole task he set before him to convince Brill to see reason is just a waste of time. Even if that's the truth, he has to remember to stay calm, keep his emotions in check, don't give the mole another excuse to antagonize the people. He has to do it for Cynder's sake.

Spyro let out a deep breath " Here goes"

He pushed the door open, they invited him in without any sign of protest, an intimidating air wafted from the inside that sent shivers through his entire body. He felt as if he was entering a monster's den, a very refined monster's den where you are greeted with the aura of respect and delusional peace and ethics but take a wrong turn or overstay your welcome and you will have to face something more terrible than loud polite request to get your good for nothing tail out of here.

Spyro's eyes instantly traveled to the middle of the temple's interior, where directly in the middle of the yellowish column of light which found its way through the huge stained glass in the roof stood a recently raised wall with a couple of aggravated draconic snouts engraved on it. Just in between the artificial lizards faces were carved three words, using an extremely bold and gaudy letters.

EXPEL THE TAINT

The purple dragon swallowed seeing that wall and the recently constructed podium at its base. It was here where most likely sermons were held, or whatever you want to call this joke. Spyro already came up with an appropriate word to describe this whole thing, the only thing that held him back from spitting it out was the respect for all the deceased dragons who observed him with their cold, stony eyes.

It was no doubt that Brill was behind all those statues that litter Warfang, the temple only confirmed this. The columns previously held only braziers and weren't adorned in any way, now there were small images of dragons in many different poses carved within each and every one of the pillars. Old habits die hard it seems.

Spyro looked at the far end of the temple, where two entrances could be seen. He focused on the one with the blue curtain, where stairs could be found leading to the living quarters of the temple caretakers. Spyro wondered why most bosses hide in the very last floor of a building? Why can't Brilll stay on the lower levels, like the Catacombs for example and get lostin its maze like corridors or accidently wall himself up down there by expanding another set of tunnels, and remain in that place, preferably permanently.

Spyro with a shake of his head discarded those mischievous thoughts, he has to remember why he came here. Before the dragon reached the far end of the temple Spyro's legs suddenly stopped.

He turned towards the row of stony spectators, driven by impulse he made his way towards the statues and froze near the one he was very familiar with. With a nervous swallow he eventually raised his gaze to meet snout to snout with his late mentor.

The candles at the feet of the statue were burning brightly, to some point filling the stony eyes with the transitory spark of life. Why he was driven here he had no idea, was it to seek comfort or torture?

Because it like hell felt as torture, every second of that moment when Ignitus sacrificed himself for him and Cynder flashed before his eyes. The memory was so detailed that it felt like it happened yesterday and brought with it all the emotions from that memorable day. Especially guilt, the unbearable tear squeezing guilt.

" I'm sorry" Spyro sobbed and impulsively jumped away from the statue, he should be the last one standing near it. The nerve.

He didn't go far since his eyes momentarily landed on the white sheet covering the statue formed in his image. At least it stood here earlier, thanks to that blanket it is hard to tell if it's still here. Well…there's only one way to find out.

He yanked the coat upwards and when he looked under it Spyro had to squint, he has never before seen such white and polished marble, it was so pristine that nobody would believe that the sculpture is made from a building material. Whatever.

His eyes fell down onto the podium, just as he thought, it was clean like the whole rest. The writing he scratched from the bottom of his heart was gone. The blood in his veins began to pulse as if his heart announced its despair in the only possible form of tears it was capable of creating.

" I knew you'd come boy"

Spyro winced at the sound of the most hated voice he ever heard, right after Malefor's.

" I've expected you earlier to tell you the truth"

With a frown like some sort of a prison for his boiling anger Spyro turned towards the direction from which the sound came.

" Brill" he greeted the rodent using a very polite hiss. He would make a great first impression among snake-like people with his propriety. There is only one problem though.

The people capable of understanding the politeness in his voice don't exist.

" Seeker" the mole corrected the dragon with a slight note of irritation before he gently rearranged the white robe with a gold eye sewn just below the neckline that he was wearing.

" Show some respect for the Ancestor's chosen, you are in their home now"

It was obvious that Brill doesn't know what modesty means. For a moment Spyro wanted to spit the whole truth about the mole's miraculous arrival in the city while he would laugh mockingly seeing the rodent's bewildered face. Yet he kept his emotions in check, they would not help him here.

" And for what reason did the Ancestors chose you?" the dragon asked as calmly as he could, however there was that delicate note of taunt ringing in his voice

Brill's chest swelled proudly " To protect the living from the black stains that surround us"

" I've heard that a guy named Daz makes short work of all kind of stains" Spyro smiled inwardly, a little tease never hurt anyone, in fact it would make a certain black dragoness proud.

" Do not mock me boy!" the mole pointed an admonishing claw at the drake " Even if we don't see eye to eye I'm still older than you, show me some respect"

The young dragon blinked, the mole had a point. If right now they would be in another debate Brill would have him against the wall. The mole might have humiliated him in this moment, but he won't allow the rodent to have a taste of complete victory.

Spyro swallowed " Of course Br...Seeker" he said ashamed, just like he should have, and nothing more.

There was a satisfied yet not triumphant glimmer within the mole's eyes. He didn't hear what he expected to hear, the dragon's words lacked the regret, obedience and remorse he expected to hear.

With an irritated breath Brill made his way towards one of the statues and rekindled a candle " I've said everything I had to say about Shadow. You are just wasting your time"

" She has a name"

" I've just said it didn't I?" he turned towards the dragon " Nicknames are just like names, through our deeds we make them powerful, that power allows people to define us. We earn our other names through our deeds, so we and others can remember who we are"

" It isn't as simple as that, why it is so hard to understand? Why Cynder is judged by actions she couldn't control?"

" We have all the right to judge her, she allowed herself to become corrupted. The taint overwhelmed her and shaped her into an abomination. She couldn't control her actions because she surrendered when she had the chance to fight"

" That's not fair!: Spyro protested : Cynder was still an egg when she was kidnapped, she had no way to defend herself!"

" Ancestors would have guided her if she was willing to listen. From what I've learned she was the same age like you, and you Spyro followed the Ancestors guidance even if life threw obstacles on your path constantly"

He didn't feel any paw guiding him, however he chose not to mention this to the mole, somehow he doubt he would listen anyway " This is nonsense, you can't compare me with her. I had someone to show me what's right or wrong, like my parents and Ignitus. Cynder had no one, what was she supposed to do?"

" Die"

That single word made Spyro's head rear back.

The mole didn't wait for the dragon's response " The taint is powerful, so powerful that it is capable of killing, even those who flaw our good world. Yet she didn't succumb, she embraced it, and by doing so she is forever forsaken"

Spyro couldn't believe what he is hearing, does the mole really think that dying is considered to be an act to honor one's Ancestors? The dragon had a really hard time holding back his temper, nothing angered him more than hearing someone so blindly insulting his best friend, hearing Brill saying such insults only intensified that boiling anger by tenfold. Not only he taunted his best friend but also implicated that she should give her own life because that was the Ancestors supposed guidance. Ancestors are considered to be divine beings, what kind of holy creature would demand its faithful to throw away their lives, or murder in its name. How can someone so blindly believe that a godlike creature, which is usually is equated with good can demand death of another creature. Someone so blind like this should sit down for a moment and reconsider his actions, and maybe he would realize that he isn't working for the boss upstairs but the one in the basement.

However Spyro decided not to say anything, remembering that he is just here to talk, not to force his point of view on someone.

" How do you know so much about taint when you serve the Ancestors so loyally?"

The mole gripped the golden eye sewn into his robe and yanked it forcefully a couple of times " I'm the Seeker boy" he hissed roughly, Spyro noticed a delicate spark of insanity shimmering in the rodent's eyes " I have touched the taint"

Brill darted towards the young dragon and cupped sternly his right cheek while looking directly into the drake's eyes " I can see it! It's everywhere, even in you" he shook the dragon's head " That's why I have to fight it, you understand? I have to stop the corruption from spreading or it will overwhelm us. This is my mission, this is what the Ancestors require from me! I was given a second chance and I won't waste it!"

Spyro wriggled away from the mole's grasp, his sole touch disgusted him " Every one of us has his own dark side"

The Seeker nodded in approval " Probably the only thing we agree with, yet some dark sides are worse than the others. Like your...friend for example, she is a conduit for all this taint, and if we allow it to roam unchecked it will destroy us"

" You won't touch Cynder" the young drake growled threateningly

Brill threw his hands in the air in frustration " Look past the spell she cast on you and think for a while. From what I've learnt you saved her life some years ago, it was a naive and stupid thing to do, but noble. She repaid that debt when she saved you from Malefor's corruptive power while, now pay attention, while she wasn't affected by it in the slightest!"

" There's more, Gaul kidnapped your friend to offer the her to his master, so he could corrupt her again. Why he would do such a thing when he already had her in his service once and she failed? Simple, it was a ruse to lure you out. And you came, like a noble knight to defend the only female of your kind you knew. When you fell into the trap she is suddenly knocked out cold, the former general of The Dark Army defeated by a single blow to the head, who miraculously awakens when you most need her, which happened AFTER you vanquished Gaul and his lackeys. Knowing that you would be unstoppable after the corruption she had to act. Plan A has failed"

" Seeing that you two were through a lot, the taint, now in the possession of Malefor comes up with a new plan. After three years some grublins find you, and instead of slicing your throats they bind you together. Have you ever thought why?"

" Of course you didn't, why would you? You were just happy to be alive, just like she thought you will be. Months flow by, you two are inseparable, you do absolutely everything together. As time passes you listen to her sweet voice, you watch her smile, you become more and more attached to her, reaching the point where you will do everything for her, but you don't realize that because you have a goal which seems noble, you are headed to defeat the evil Dark Master"

The mole spun around while extending his forefinger in the air as he began to pace around the temple " And this is the moment where I have to admit I'm lost. I can't understand why the taint wanted Malefor dead, the world was at an end, it had nothing to gain. Yet the inevitable happened and you know are free from the chain that shackled you, however she is still beside you. Why when she could just leave? Is she so devoted to you that she will help you in every struggle and whisper a sweet word here and there co congratulate you and urge you forward? All for the sake of friendship of course. Pretty convenient don't you think?"

Spyro stared at the mole with wide eyes, listening to his monolog and having a very hard time understanding how can someone have such an imagination for sniffing conspiracy. He couldn't believe how the mole came up with such crazy conclusions. The rodent's words only confirmed his opinion, Brill is so blinded by the image of always good, always pure draconic image that he fails to realize that those images he created have feeling of their own, and not every such draconic figure had the comfort to grow up surrounded by friend and families. Some had to struggle, and such dragons were tainted in the mole's eyes, condemned even.

Ok Cynder hurt many people, she hurt Brill but is this the reason to blame all their misfortunes on her? Especially when she was corrupted then? Is this the excuse to leaven history so it would look like she is the main antagonist? Why it is so hard to accept the truth? Malefor was the enemy who sought to destroy the world, they tried to stop him earlier but just couldn't do it, so they defeated him in the last moment. No taint or whatever controlled him, such a thing doesn't exist, there was no great plan of some unknown force, it was only them versus the wickedness and cleverness of and utterly evil mastermind.

" You're paranoid" Spyro commented forthrightly

Brill sighed " I didn't expect you to understand, I'm giving you the opportunity to open your eyes but you just don't want to and I won't win with blind stubbornness. It's a pity you will have to see the truth the hard way" the mole waved his hand dismissively and began to retreat towards the bluish curtain " Go and enjoy your happy hours with your so called best friend, in time you will learn. We are only wasting our time here"

" There is one more thing"

My attitude towards the taint remain unchanged, I've already explained the situations to the Guardians as the rightful rulers of the Dragon City. I won't make the first move here, but if more people, like the one today who arrived from the hospital will ask me for assistance I will act. For the good of the people and the dragons who stand proudly against the darkness that shrouds our city. If a draconic godlike creature will demand my attention I won't turn him down"

With that the mole was gone. Spyro remained in the temple for a while, watching the curtain swinging slightly, and he had to agree with the rodent. It was a waste of time, for both of them.

* * *

There was a loud thud of a slamming door which forced Cynder's head to raise in the direction of the noise.

" I'm done!" a cheetah roared furiously " I have enough of this idiotic child! You! Shadow! Wanna your pet to be clean? You're going to do it yourself! I'm leaving!"

The dragoness observed the angered cheetah leaving with a calm expression on her snout, the moment the dotty tail disappeared behind the corner Cynder with a sigh pulled herself from her sitting position from the opposite side of the corridor and knocked on the door.

" Flare? May I come in?"

A muffled male voice came from behind the door " Yeah"

In the room stood Flare. His body was still covered with blood, the warm slippery ground didn't seem to bother him, just like the many toppled buckets dotting the room, which once held the warm water. The dragon was just staring at the wooden bathtub with terrified eyes, judging from the claw marks on its wooden surface it seemed that the dragon didn't like to bathe.

Cynder scanned the room with surprised eyes " Flare? What's going on?" she asked calmly, effectively hiding her shock

He gulped " I think that the cheetah wanted to drown me"

Cynder's mouth twitched into a smile " Seeing that she was a friend of Amela's, you know the nice healer that checked you out earlier? I sincerely doubt by asking her friend to _take care of you_ Amela meant killing you. She wouldn't be much of a healer then right?"

" What?" the dragon blurt out, as if not paying attention to her words

The dragoness shook her head " Forget it. Why do you think she wanted to drown you?"

" First she wanted me to get inside the…the…" he turned towards the dragoness " How's this wooden thing called again?"

" Bathtub"

" Yeah that's it" the drake turned towards the mentioned tub and gulped " I've got inside and she began to pour water in it, it kept raising and raising. It eventually reached my belly and..." he swallowed once more "...and I just had to get out of it, or I would drown, I just knew it"

Cynder huffed " Oh, now I know what that sound was. At least one mystery is solved"

" She somehow convinced me to get in two more times, but I just couldn't stay inside it! As I got out the last time I've accidently tripped some buckets and...you know the rest"

The dragoness smiled " I guess you aren't aware that your head would remain above the water no matter what. Besides nobody fills the tub to the very top"

Flare looked at the dragoness with wide eyes, she was right, he wasn't aware of the obvious. " She…she…could always hold my head underwater!" the dragon blurt out, just like a kid who tries to force his childish point across

" And why would she do that? You are a dragon , you would easily overpower her, or destroy the tub. It's made of wood, and you are burning"

The dragon swallowed " I might have panicked and forget how to use my powers"

Cynder noticed the uncertainty in his voice, now he is just making silly excuses to make the problem more serious than it actually is, trying very hard to hide his embarrassment.

" it's impossible Flare, but it's ok, I understand"

" No you don't" Flare's expression changed drastically, the feigned look of a lost child was gone, replaced by a sincere fear of a grown-up " I'm afraid of water, when I was young some bullies threw me into a pond, they wanted to check if I would go out like a torch. There was just too many of them, I couldn't break free, the only thing I've heard was their laughing as they kept me underwater, I've felt like I was dying. I don't know if you ever drowned, it isn't a pleasant feeling, it's kinda terrifying to tell the truth"

Tears shimmered within the black dragonesses eyes, partly from pity and partly from guilt. What she took for some simple overreaction turned out to be something much more serious, traumatic even.

" I'm sorry Flare, I didn't know" she apologized sincerely " I feel so stupid"

" Me too. I have dried blood all over me and I'm just too scared to wash it off"

" No" Cynder replied determined " Fear won't dictate our lives, we are both idiots so let's do something crazy and challenge it" she approached the red dragon " Do you trust me Flare?"

He looked at her, and instantly remembered the house his mind imagined back in the marketplace, the house shrouded with that welcoming darkness. " Yes"

" Get in the tub, I'll take care of the water"

The dragon looked at the bathtub, he felt horror gripping his heart, yet this time it was accompanied by safety and trust. Two are always better than one. He entered the wet tube.

Cynder grabbed the handle of a nearby still standing bucket between her teeth, got in the air, took the bucket in her paws just to flip it over so the water poured directly in the bathtub. She saw Flare wincing and tensing the moment his paws began to hide under the azure veil.

She landed near the tub " Sit Flare, relax, the water will reach only the end of your legs. Promise"

Her comforting words work, but weren't the main reason why he listened. He compelled because he didn't want to disappoint her, he didn't want to betray the trust of his only friend.

Two more buckets were enough to reach the level she wanted to achieve. With her goal accomplished she made her way to the corner of the room to give the dragon some space. At first he was completely still, but the moment he threw her a quick glance he began to slowly clean himself.

After some time the questions that was nagging her became unbearable and she just had to spill it out " What happened Flare?"

The fiery drake took a deep breath " It was all my fault. If I didn't break those vases nothing would have happened"

Cynder instantly looked alarmed " Someone attacked you?!"

" No!" he exclaimed but then took another breath " I mean…I don't know. After I broke that stuff the guy that owned it began to shout some really bad things. And then some other guy shows up and takes my side, at least he thought I would believe that, in truth he just wanted to fool me with his poor act of kindness"

The dragonesses eyes momentarily went wide open. That description fitted perfectly a particular dragon she met " How the other guy looked like?"

" A green dragon, he was huge, he had that funny horn on his nose…"

" Capro…" she whispered

" …That guy is crazy Cynder!" Flare exclaimed " He began to cut himself in front of me and then jumped at me. Later he rolled off me with a scream, it was then when I realized that I'm covered in his blood! He also put the shard he cut himself with in my paw! Everyone thought I did it! He's crazy!"

" He's not crazy, he's driven by hate"

" Yeah, he told me something like that. I don't get it, how can you hate someone so much that you even maim yourself?"

" Listen…" she made her way towards the dragon and looked him straight in the eyes " Stay away from him, he's dangerous"

" You know him?"

" Just do it" she pushed away

Flare observed her carefully, it was obvious she did " Cynder whatever that guy says, don't believe him, he is a manipulator, don't let him get inside your head"

" If he jumps one of my friends again he better pray that I won't get inside his" she let out a stifled growl before taking a deep breath " We'll clean this place up when you're done"

* * *

After some time the place was clean and both young dragons were walking through the corridor towards the guests quarters. They stopped when they heard something bumping against the wall, the noise was coming from the staircase around the corner.

" Get back here young lady!" a commanding feminine shout came from the bottom of the staircase, both dragons realized that the voice belonged to Amela

The bumping sound only intensified after that, eyes of the both dragons went wide when moments later a bluish dragoness appeared from the corner, sliding across the wall, a bloody bandage covered the middle part of her body. The dragoness slid against the wall towards both young dragons until she suddenly stopped as if feeling their gaze on her. She raised her head, a pair of blurry white eyes met the dragons, which seconds later lost their scarce focus and the blue dragoness collapsed on the floor with an audible thud.

Moments later Amela came rushing from the staircase, not paying any attention to the two shocked young dragons she ran and kneeled near the bandaged dragoness. After checking her vital signs, the cheetah raised her head, wiped the sweat from her forehead and smiled.

" Friends, meet Iris"


	44. Chapter 6 Book III

Chapter 6

The door opened and the cart-like stretcher began to roll through them, the sheet that covered it was slightly red from blood. The moment the wooden wheels bounced softly on the doorstep the stretcher revealed its handles and two feline hands gripping them. Clearly tired Amela emerged soon after.

The cheetah gently closed the door behind her to make as least sound as it was possible before she leaned on the handles with her hands crossed on her elbows and smiled gratefully at the two young dragons standing in the corridor.

" Thank you for sparing this old back"

" You're not THAT old Amela" Cynder comforted the healer

" My bones would disagree"

The dragoness giggled.

" What happened to her? Flare asked curiously " she was bleeding quite bad"

The cheetah straightened, there was an audible crack in her lower back, just above the tail, the cat immediately placed her hand on the sore spot and through a wincing expression laughed " See what I was talking about?" with a sigh she adopted an expression that befits an experienced healer " Internal bleeding is not a thing to be trifled with, even for dragons with their natural regeneration process it can be quite troublesome. Healing such as this takes time, no magic will change that, and our new girl didn't listen to my advice and ended up not only fainting from exhaustion but also opening the wound and losing more blood. You youngsters are so reckless"

" Don't get me wrong" Cynder stated " I'm sure you did everything you could but I'm surprised that you couldn't keep her in the room, you kicked out Cyril after all"

Amela smiled, a delicate shimmer of long gone pride flickered in her eyes " That's because Cyril was polite enough to not slam me against the wall"

The dragonesses eyes widened, the Ice Guardians reserve towards their new guest still fresh in her mind " She attacked you?"

" I wouldn't be so harsh, she just wanted me to be out of her way, and from what I gathered that was her polite way of asking"

Cynder scratched the floor nervously with her claw, she had enough of hearing that somebody dared to attack her friends, and she considered the old healer as her friend" If she wakes up I'm going to kill her"

Amela raised her hand with her palm opened " Now, now Sweetheart, you of all people should know not to jump to conclusions"

There was something in the cheetah's voice that shamed her, it was like the gentle yet at the same time scolding words of a…

…mother?

The dragoness averted her gaze without a word.

" We must understand her position. She woke up in an alien city and among strangers who found her as the only alive creature surrounded by bones and bodies. Either she is the actual killer and I've got lucky that my wrinkled head is still attached to my even more wrinkled neck or she is innocent and didn't want to take any chances"

" She gave her name right? She can't be that bad" Flare interjected

Amela smiled " People not always share their names to introduce themselves. Some use names to threat, some, like our new friend behind the door, use them to boast. She was rather angry when I told her I don't recognize her, she thought I was fooling her"

" Huh" The fiery dragon frowned, it made sense, however there was one more thing that was bugging him and it was still unresolved " She has an odd name. I-r-i-s"

Cynder grinned " Since when you're a name specialist?"

" Our friend here might be right" the female cheetah added " Iris is a peculiar name, not common for dragons in our parts. Her accent would confirm that, I've never heard anyone speaking something like that, it's like the mix of Common and Manwersmalls natural dialect. I'm guessing she's not from around here, but then again from where could she come from?"

" We have an answer for that" Cynder's words gotten Amela's attention " it's a secret but you should know. She's most likely from another time, lately portals began to opening all around the world which connect our world with what seems to be a past era and…"

The cheetah raised her hands defensively " Oh no, no, no, stop right there Sweetheart"

The dragonesses mouth shut tight.

" I'm too old for things like that. Time travel? You and Spyro are capable of doing wonders, so I won't be surprised if you managed to achieve that, but my only concern are my patients, whatever is happening out there in the Realms doesn't concern me. We all have our part to play, and my is strictly connected with medicine and I would prefer it to stay that way. I've had enough action for a lifetime"

The cheetah smiled " With that out of the way how about we go and look at those bones? Cyril will kill me if I won't give him answers" she began to push the stretcher down one of the hospital corridors " Maybe your young minds will make some more sense out of those bones than I did"

" Wait!" Cynder exclaimed " You're not going to close the door?"

" She won't run again, it would be irresponsible of her, especially in the light of the last failed attempt. Besides I doubt she will wake up, her tired body needs a good night's sleep, and even if she manages to wake up I have a bed in my office, I would hear her moving about. I learnt to recognize every sound that these walls echo"

" You sleep in your office?" the dragoness asked surprised

The cheetah smiled and shrugged " Why not? I have everything I need here and if there is someone seeking help I'm right next door"

" Everyone needs to take a break sometimes"

The feline's hands clenched more tighter on the handles of the stretcher " In my line of work breaks mean death, negligence has its price. I make sure that nobody is going to pay that price, not on my watch"

Cynder was taken aback by the determination and aggression in the cheetah's words " I'm sorry, I-"

" No Sweetheart, you have nothing to apologize for" Amela cut her off " I tend to get emotional when talking about death. I have seen so many people dying that I'm obsessed with saving lives, especially those of my patients. Each loss leaves a mark on me, but I suppose that's the curse of every healer. We all have our nightmares after all"

The cheetah's eyes widened with sudden enlightenment " Speaking of which" she turned her gaze on the black dragoness " How did you sleep?"

Cynder frowned, lost in confusion and thought " For the last weeks I've slept like a hatchling, after I took a nap with the aroma of the herb in the air I hadn't any weird dreams" her barely audible voice trailed off suddenly, an obvious sign that there was more to the story

Amela narrowed her eyes on the dragoness " But…?"

The young female took a nervous glance behind herself to check if Flare who was following them was listening to their conversation. He wasn't.

Cynder swallowed " But it all changed lately" she whispered " I've seen that dragon again not so long ago and I wasn't even sleeping. He was standing on the street, people were walking past by him just like he didn't exist, so either he bribed those people to ignore him or my mind plays tricks on me. I think that the herb's effect is starting to wear off and I just need to cope with the withdrawal process"

The feline firmly shook her head " The mix I gave you was only a simple relaxing formula, it was supposed to help putting your body and mind to rest for only one night, after the treatment the body should adapt itself to its natural cycle. Whatever is happening with you Cynder has nothing to do with the medicine, the herbs have no lingering side effects"

Colors faded from the dragonesses snout, even through her black scales she looked quite pale " I knew you would say that, yet I wanted to believe that I was right. Everyone has dreams" she tried to smile but her mouth only twitched into an incomprehensible grimace

Amela watched the young female with worry and kindness shimmering in her eyes, however something entirely else ignited that glimmer, it was the tiniest and quickest spark of incomprehensible triumph.

" You're starting to worry me Sweetheart, hallucinations are serious problem, you are a perfectly healthy young girl, such things should not have been happening. Whatever it is, I doubt it has anything to do with more mundane medical troubles. You need to talk to someone about this"

" I already am" Cynder looked at the cheetah pleadingly

The sight made the feline's heart hurt, she clearly understood the meaning behind that look " Of course you can count on me Sweetheart, I'm here for you, and I'm honored that you confide in me but I'm afraid that I will be only able to ease your suffering but not help you, it's beyond my expertise. I can see that whatever is happening to you terrifies you, Sweetheart you've been through many things, if there is something out there that can scare someone like you then it has to be dangerous. Fear is your natural defensive instinct, and judging from your expression I say that your defense is stretched to the limits. You need to tell someone else about this, Spyro would definitely help you"

The dragoness sighed, if things were different she might have considered the healer's advice, but not now.

" I appreciate that you don't give up but I stand by my decision from our last conversation"

" Sweetheart…"

" I can't drag Spyro into this!" Cynder let out a muffled shout, and the moment she realized that she looked behind her shoulder.

Flare raised his eyes curiously at them, he kept those black slits focused on both of them and remained staring at both females for a couple of seconds, wondering what might have caused the gentle outburst. After some more seconds of silent staring Flare shrugged and focused on something else entirely, thinking that he was just imagining things.

The moment her red friend lost interest Cynder once again turned towards Amela " Not now when everything is going crazy. You heard what people and the new, old, founder of Warfang were saying?"

The cheetah dropped her head, the silent, sad and slow blink of her eyes spoke volumes.

" Spyro just went to talk with that guy! That stubborn bastard is already doing everything in his power to protect me even if I told him not to do so! The idiot. Can you imagine what he would do if he found out about my mental problems? He would turn the world upside down and by doing so he would ruin himself, he is already swaying at the brink of people's patience as it is. I will never allow my friends come to harm because of me, whatever punishment the world has prepared I deserve it all, nobody else"

The feline raised her gaze on the dragoness, this time there was no spark behind her kindness and pity for the girl, as if her eyes no longer noticed the correct tinder.

" I… understand" she made a short pause gathering her thoughts " and you know what?" the cheetah's eyes flared up with the determination and will of the young " Let all of them eat their hearts out, you are a lovely pretty girl with a big heart who is willing to sacrifice her own happiness for the well-being of her friends. If people don't want to see that, ignore them, you don't have to prove anything when their blindness is the only thing that is holding them back from seeing the truth. Be proud of your attempts of redemption ,walk with your head raised high, when people will put skids under you show them how strong you are and press forward"

" Same thing goes for the thing that is haunting you, whether it is a manifestation of guilt or something entirely else- face it. It may be scary but you can't allow anything or anyone to dictate your life. Never again"

Cynder observed the cheetah with tears shimmering in her eyes, Amela's words were like the loudest motivating war cry. Oh how she needed someone from the outside to give her support, someone who lived through the hell she created and offered assistance. Hearing Amela speaking such inspiring words only intensified the feeling of robustness shaking her body. There was something in the old cheetah that made Cynder crave for the feline's acceptance, understanding and comfort. Whenever she was around the feline, the dragoness felt like a part of her long gone past just clicked in place, and until now she didn't realize how much she needed it.

The female dragon smiled widely, obviously relieved " It's nice to get some things off my chest"

Amela smiled " I will always be here for you, stop by whenever you want"

Cynder blinked, cleaning her eyes with last drops of tears " Thanks, it means a lot to me"

With a smile still adoring her face the cheetah nodded and continued their walk in silent contemplation.

" You don't talk much do you?" she asked with a joyful raised voice after a while

With a smile of her own Cynder looked behind her shoulder, it was just as she expected. Flare had his head raised high and was watching them curiously, unsure if the question hanging in the air was directed at him.

Amela stopped in her tracks and turned towards the fiery drake " Well?"

Flare balked with realization " Me? I talk when it is demanded of me, I'm trying not to forget myself anymore"

The cheetah furrowed her brows " Why? You don't have your own opinion?"

Cynder also watched her friend closely, he never acted like this before.

" Speaking when you are not asked is dangerous"

" Who told you that?" the cheetah asked surprised and angered to some degree at the unknown stranger who poisoned the dragon's head with such nonsense.

" Purple dragons"

Both females eyes widened, Cynder was shocked because she was taken aback by Flare's straightforwardness and Amela because of the obvious.

" Now you're making fun of me, we all know that in this world only one pu-: the cheetah's voice trailed off when she remembered Cynder's words. She turned toward the dragoness " Time travel?"

The female dragon nodded " Time travel"

The feline rubbed her forehead " Nevertheless you are entitled to your opinion, there is something called freedom of speech after all"

" Freedom of speech is hazardous, it leads only to chaos" Flare replied automatically, like some sort of a robot programmed with already prepared answers

" He was always like that?" Amela whispered

" Not lately" Cynder whispered back " he felt quite comfortable around us, well, most of the times. Now he seems different, something has changed"

The cheetah narrowed her gaze on the fiery dragon " Why do you think so?"

The dragon sighed sadly " Because every time I do something on my own I end up saying or doing one thing too much, and every time it ends with disaster. Once my rash thinking almost led me to my death, now I ended up being blamed for something I didn't do just because I was curious, not to mention that I'm now stuck in the middle of something I've never truly felt before and the most terrifying thing in my life, and there is no way reaching for the thing I want without facing the thing I'm afraid of" the drake shook his head in resignation " It's a mess, I rather do what people demand of me"

" You can't possibly be serious boy" the cheetah replied fiercely" You want to resign from your freedom of choice because not everything played out just like you wanted? You know who says things like that? Slaves"

Cynder winced after hearing the cheetah's words, Flare on the other hand wasn't saddened by them, in fact if somebody would notice the literal tiny flames flickering in his eyes for a second, they would say that he is quite angry.

" Actually" the dragoness muttered " from what we know Flare was a slave, most likely his whole life"

Amela threw the dragoness a horrified and filled with guilt and embarrassment look " By the Ancestors" she mumbled and rubbed her forehead "Subtlety is not on my side today" she turned towards the drake with pleading eyes " I hope you forgive me for my stupidity, I didn't mean to offend"

Flare shrugged " It's ok, you didn't know"

" However you must understand that you've been given a second chance. You were offered freedom, you are far away from your captors, you can do whatever you want, don't throw that away. Freedom of choice is not that simple, so what if things didn't go the way you preferred, this is today, you don't know what will happen tomorrow, maybe the thing that looks bad now may be the ground for something good in the future"

" You don't know what's going to happen, there is no plan, no hidden goal, you act in line with your personality, you live your life under your own rule. This is the magic of freedom. If the road you chose turned out to be too difficult or too disappointing, you can always stop and walk the other way. Remember that you always have a choice. Freedom is not simple, it's challenging and mostly bitter, but that's life, live with the consequences of your actions and perhaps in the end the flavor will turn sweet. Do you understand?"

Flare nodded slowly, he didn't know what taste or roads had to do with anything, but he got the point of the cheetah's monologue, at least he thought so.

Amela clapped her hands " Great!" she spread her arms to the sides " Now look around, is there anything you want to know? Anything"

The dragon raised his head " There is one thing" he nodded towards the strange thing that was used to carry the unconscious dragoness " What is that thing?"

The feline patted the wooden handle " This? This is a stretcher, it's used to transport the wounded, the big ones to be precise, like the dragons for example" she furrowed her brows " You didn't have stretchers in your…" she trailed of looking for an appropriate word

" Prison" the drake finished for her " No"

" Then how your healers were transporting the wounded?"

" We didn't have any healers"

Amela's eyes shot wide open " You didn't? Then, then how you treated your wounds?"

" I seared them"

" You did what?!" the cheetah exclaimed shocked " With what?" then in an instant realization struck her as she focused on the dragon's silhouette, he is a walking fire, he definitely had the means to burn his wounds.

She rubbed her forehead once more " Don't answer that" she swallowed, another questions was rumbling in her throat that she believed she had the answer for already, yet she wanted to make sure " What of people who don't wield flames like you do? What happened to them?"

" They died"

With a shake of her head the cheetah raised her eyes to the ceiling " Ancestors… why people do such things to each other?"

" The weak will perish, the strong will thrive, and by doing so they will empower us and win their freedom" Flare replied with another programed verse

Cynder cleared her throat " That was a rhetorical question, you…" she noticed the confused look in the dragon's eyes. She waved her paw dismissively " Forget it"

" You need to stop saying things like that!' the cheetah exclaimed " Whoever poisoned your mind with such thoughts is evil to the core, all life has to be cherished. You speak words that aren't your own, forget about your past, what happened in your time or whatever place you came from has no meaning here. Especially forget about your captors, they were all liars, they would do and say anything to achieve their goal, I lived through Malefor's and Shadow's era and I understand how corruptive evil can be"

" Our Cynder didn't have the privilege to defend herself, but you have. You don't have to listen to lies and ridiculous rules, just start from the beginning, don't allow the past to haunt you and you will be fine" she gave the dragoness a meaningful look " Both of you"

The cheetah's words reminded Flare of the promised clean sheet, and how good it felt to be free from all the shackles. He really wanted to feel like that again, but unfortunately it isn't that simple, even this time has similarities with his own, like the purple dragons or dragon for that matter or the trouble he gets into when he acts on his own.

But then again it may be just like the healer said, that's life, he couldn't really tell if that is actually true, he never experienced true freedom and never enjoyed the perks life has to offer after all. Whether it's true or only false hope he decided that it is worth the risk, maybe with a little restrain everything will be alright. After all Cynder went through the same thing, and she turned out fine, that is just another reason to try, he just can't disappoint his only friend.

Flare nodded " I'll try" he muttered

Amela smiled and began to push the stretcher again " That is everything I ask"

* * *

" Are you absolutely certain that you want to stay here?" Amela asked while holding a door open

Cynder nodded towards the freshly revealed room " Come on Flare, we could use your help"

The fiery dragon looked inside the room for a brief second and quickly averted his gaze with a glimmer of fear in his eyes which didn't escape the cheetah's notice.

" I'll wait here, I would only get in your way"

The dragoness opened her mouth to protest but was quickly cut off by the feline " As you wish, we won't be long" with that she patted the dragoness to gain her attention and threw her a meaningful look while nodding towards the opened door

With a surprised frown Cynder entered the room, the cheetah followed soon after and closed the door.

" He would come with us if we tried hard enough"

" I know, but by convincing him to come with us we would only put him to unnecessary harm"

The dragoness jerked her head back " How so?"

" Our friend is terrified of something and since he grew up in very rough conditions while seeing death and most likely many other things a child should never see, I'm guessing the bones are making him so reluctant to come with us"

" That would make sense, Flare is also completely afraid of worms, that fear makes him almost paranoid"

Amela nodded " This only confirms my suspicion, horrors of our childhood have an effect on our future life, especially when those fears aren't countered in our younger days. Flare was clearly abused and it's obvious that he didn't have anyone who helped him conquer those traumatic experiences, hence he developed untreated phobias which makes him unpredictable. You're the only one who can help him"

Cynder furrowed her brows " Me? Why?"

" I see how he looks at you, you're probably the only one who shown him some kind of trust and support after so many years. He just doesn't want to let you down, if not for you I'm quite certain that he would completely ignore my advice"

" You may be right, I think I'm the only one who he treats as a real friend"

" Precisely. Flare was abandoned his whole life, and now when he found someone he can trust he will do everything just not to lose you, which is why you need to be careful"

" Careful?"

Amela sighed sadly " Yes, careful. He is a broken little thing, vulnerable and desperate creatures like him when pushed against the wall will fight until they draw their last breath, and for better or worse you've become his wall now. Remember then, he might seem careless, clumsy or pitiful but in truth he is very dangerous, especially to those that wronged him in the past and threaten to take you away in his eyes"

" Spyro" Cynder muttered horrified

The cheetah nodded sullenly " Yes, Spyro reminds him of his captors, Flare hates him as much as he is terrified of him"

" But Flare said already that he doesn't hate him"

" Believe me, he does, he's trying to fight with his emotions because he knows it would hurt you but it doesn't mean that he can control himself forever. I don't know what the dragons wanted to achieve by torturing and testing him, but I suppose that whatever it was it can't be good, and since he was held captive by evil purple dragons I guess it was about power"

" What I'm trying to say is that there has to be a reason why he survived so long, and if Flare words had any truth to them then we can assume that his survival is strictly connected with eliminating the weaker prisoners"

The dragoness swallowed " Yes, he is a very capable fighter"

" I was afraid of that" Amela kneeled in front of the dragoness " Listen to me Sweetheart, if you can help him then by all means do it, but if you won't see any progress you need to give up on him. Phobias, and the abuse by his captors which as time flown by only added layer upon layer of hate on him mixed with the fire dragons natural recklessness and impulsiveness made Flare a ticking time bomb. I've seen the flicker in his eyes when I accidently mentioned slavery, there is so much pain and anger in that boy"

" Then what I'm supposed to do? Keep him away from Spyro?"

" How do you plan to do that when Spyro is focused on protecting you? This is the deadlock I'm afraid of, if you spend too much time with Spyro alone Flare will feel that your friend is stealing you from him, just like all the purple dragons stole everything he held dear in the past. If you will travel with Flare and Spyro for too long there might be a situation when too many words will be said and Flare will snap which will result in one or both of your friends getting hurt"

" I can't tell Spyro about this, if he finds out he will push Flare away, especially when he'll learn that he can be dangerous. He'll treat him as another danger, especially now when they are not on good terms " Cynder sighed " I hate having secrets from Spyro"

Amela put her hand on the dragonesses shoulder " For what it's worth Flare has a good heart, a deeply scarred one, but good nonetheless. Whatever hate is gnawing at him he is trying to hold it back I could see it in his eyes. That is why you can't plan your actions regarding him, do not manipulate him, act normally, do what you think is right and everything will be fine, you're friends after all. Flare is maimed and his wounds run very deep but he sees the difference between good and evil and that's the best thing one can hope for"

Cynder let out a tired sigh and rubbed her forehead " When life became so complicated?"

The cheetah smiled and raised on her legs " Wasn't it always? How about we complicate it a little more?" with a knowing smile she nodded towards the table with the bones on it

" Sure" the females began to make their way towards the table " I must say that I'm impressed, you deduced all those things just by looking at Flare"

Amela shrugged " What can I say? I sleep in my office"

The dragoness laughed.

The females approached a table covered in white sheet, above it a magically lit chandelier was hanging, which illuminated the room with an intense light. The room consisted also of many other different furniture but both females weren't much interested in that, the bones spread neatly on the sheet drawn their whole attention.

It was obvious that someone spent many hours trying to piece together the strange skeleton but was unable to, it was hard to tell what was the main reason behind this failure, there was plenty of room to make a mistake after all. First of all no one from the hospital, or anywhere else for that matter, seen such a skeleton before, also thanks to the scavengers who ruined the remaining bones it was difficult to say which small bone went where, not to mention that there were plenty of bones still lying at the edges of the table, probably remnants of some other skeletons or perhaps those were the pieces of the already partially assembled skeleton but nobody knew how to put the final pieces together.

One thing was certain however, whatever scavengers live in the jungle they know how to be thorough, the bones were mostly picked clean, the rest was taken care off by the healers preparing the bones for examination.

Amela leaned over the bones and began to examine the skeleton from top to bottom " I must say that my colleagues did a wonderful job with the remains, even despite the lack of knowledge of this specific creature's anatomy, everything seems to be in perfect order"

Cynder raised on her hind legs while placing her front paws on the table, the moment she got comfortable she absorbed every detail of the strange skeleton with wide eyes.

" Whoa" the dragoness muttered excitedly

The cheetah smiled proudly " Pretty impressive, is it not?"

" These bones look like they were stolen from some kind of exhibition"

The feline giggled " If it only was that easy. To be able to examine the skeleton these bones needed to be cleaned first, and trust me, it is a very tedious and stressful work, all the reason why my friends deserve thanks"

With a sigh Amela focused on the bones " What do you think?"

Cynder ran her eyes along the skeleton once more, in a very scrutinizing manner this time. Her gaze stopped on the skeleton's legs " It's definitely bipedal, the bones on its legs are rather thick so I'm guessing we are dealing with a male" the dragoness furrowed her brows as her sight went lower " It has strange paws"

" If those are paws in the first place" Amela interjected while pointing at the end of the mentioned _paws_ " Whatever this things is it has no claws whatsoever, not here and not on its hands either. Which is strange since this specie is definitely a mammal judging from its teeth"

Amela pointed at the jaw and the mentioned brownish rows of teeth, many of them were missing. The cheetah especially focused on second teeth on both sides of the mouth " See this? Its teeth are more flatten and not so sharp but this are most certainly canines. Also seeing how deep these teeth are rooted I would say that this specie is a diphyodont"

" I don't understand"

" Like any other mammal this specimen develops two sets of teeth" the cheetah leaned closer towards the jaw and huffed thoughtfully " Many teeth are missing but judging from the size of the mouth I would say that sixteen can be found in the maxilla and also sixteen in the mandible which gives us a total of thirty-two teeth, which is quite an adequate number considering that most mammals are happy with between twenty to fifty teeth"

Cynder was still focused on the lower part of the skeletal body " What mammal doesn't have a tail?"

Amela pointed a claw at the dragoness " A very good question, which I asked myself. Look" she traced her finger along the skeleton's spine and stopped at the lower part of it where the tail was supposed to be " This specimen has a vestigial coccyx, it's like a remnant of a long lost tail"

" Our tail is responsible for keeping balance and mobility. And here, what is very interesting, the tailbone lost its primary function, now it only serves some secondary functions, such as being an attachment point for muscles most likely. It would explain why it hasn't degraded further"

Cynder shook her head " I don't understand any of this, just look at its head, that's not even a snout"

Amela smiled and patted the dragonesses head " A skull Sweetheart, we are investigating a possible crime, let's keep professional" the cheetah cackled in her first and leaned over the mentioned _head_

" If we didn't have the rest of the skeleton here I would say that this is a skull of a very deformed ape, but in the light of recent findings I can say that there is absolutely no possibility that an ape's skull could look like this"

" And you're right that this isn't a snout, I don't know what it is but most animal faces are more protruding and not flat like this. I wish I could say something more but I know as much as you do, whatever this thing is it has quite a big brain"

Amela straightened up and folded her arms " What do we know for certain?"

Cynder examined the skeleton once again while biting her lower lip " We have something like one hundred fifty bones here, many more were probably picked off by scavengers. I think that a fall from a great high is what killed this thing, if of course those cracks and indentations on the bones were caused by something else"

Amela nodded impressed " Excellent Sweetheart!"

The dragoness dropped on the ground and grinned at the cheetah " Years of experience in killing things has its perks"

An awkward silence has befallen on the room as both females were staring at each other, it was then when Cynder's grin vanished the moment she realized the weight of her words only empowered by her past, terribly evil actions.

The dragoness coughed and averted her gaze while scratching her choker nervously " That didn't come out right" she mumbled

The cheetah only smiled kindly seeing the dragoness reaction " Anybody told you how cute you look when you're abashed?"

Cynder's cheeks turned red when she looked at the feline with a corner of her eye and smiled bashfully.

" And how beautiful when you smile?"

The dragoness giggled nervously " Stop it Amela, you're embarrassing me"

" If I was like forty years younger and a man that would be my goal" the smile on the cheetah's face only grew wider when she heard another wavering giggle and saw the reddish hue adorning the dragonesses cheeks growing brighter.

" Is there a special dragon who you will enslave with that smile?"

" I hope so" Cynder muttered without thinking

" Will his scales and eyes be purple?"

Cynder's eyes shot wide open, she tried to say something but only ended with her mouth agape, she could feel her cheeks getting hotter and hotter every second. To hide her blush she swiftly spun around " Can we…" she cleared her throat "…can we get back to work?" she jumped on the table again and pretended to examine the skeleton

With a knowing smile Amela approached the table, the moment she stopped next to the dragoness and looked at her the cheetah noticed how Cynder avoided her gaze, yet every now and then the feline noticed her green eye taking glimpses of her. The sight amused the feline greatly.

" There is hardly more I can add" Amela said with the earlier professional tone " Not all of these indentations and cracks are caused by the fall, some look like they were crushed, something really heavy toppled on this creature, also all the dragons we found on the scene had their necks broken. So either our sleeping girl has a talent for growing mountains out of the ground or she has nothing to do with it"

" Th…" the dragoness swallowed " …This whole thing can be a very bad accident?"

" if Iris wouldn't have a spear jutting out of her chest I might have believed that. I would rather say that whatever happened there was a very unfortunate coincidence"

Cynder dropped on the ground with a sigh " Great, more mysteries"

For a moment Amela thought about tormenting the dragoness a bit more but decided not to, there is time for jokes and there is time for peace, and since the moon was currently at its highest it was obvious that it is the hour for the latter.

" There is nothing more we can do here Sweetheart, hopefully Iris will have more answers"

With a silent nod of agreement the dragoness followed the cheetah out of the room. The moment she stepped over the doorstep her eyes went wide open.

" Flare?" Cynder blurt out surprised when she noticed the fiery dragon curled near the wall just next to the door

" Seems like somebody was tired" Amela commented while closing the door silently

The black dragoness approached her friend and shook him gently " Flare?" the dragon mumbled something incoherently and stirred. She shook him again " Flare?"

The fiery drake opened his sleepy eyes " Cynder?" he mumbled and yawned " You guys are done?"

" Why are you sleeping here?"

" Because I was tired"

" I mean why are you not sleeping in your room"

Flare looked at her surprised " My room?"

Cynder shook her head " Come on, get up, I'll show you"

The moment both young dragons looked at her Amela smiled " We all need some rest, it's been a long day. Goodnight youngsters"

" Goodnight" Cynder replied cheerfully and led the tired fiery dragon behind her

* * *

Amela was heading back the way she traveled with the two young dragons, her mind buzzing with the questions the examination of the bones aroused. Her excitement days are over but she wanted to know the answers just to satisfy her professional hunger.

As she passed through the door where they left the unconscious dragoness she stopped, driven by impulse she retraced her steps and reached for the knob, the door opened without any resistance.

The room was completely dark, if not for the moon's illumination reaching through the window on the wall Amela wouldn't find her way, even now when she spent most of her time in the hospital walls.

The cheetah smiled, so many years in this building, she should have find everything she needed even if blinded. It seems she must be getting senile.

The room was also silent, excluding the wavering breaths and moans of an invisible dragoness thrashing on the bed. Amela made her way towards the sound, gently putting her legs on the floor as to not wake up the dreaming dragoness. Thanks to the moon's light she noticed a chair near the bed with iris, she reached for it, pulled it delicately closer and rested her tired rump on it.

The cheetah listened to the sounds emitting from the dragoness, judging from her ragged breathing she wasn't having any pleasant dreams. After everything she's been through it wasn't such a big surprise. The wavering breaths and moans kept going unhindered that Amela began to feel sorry for the good girl.

The cheetah placed her paw on the dragonesses head and began to stroke it gently " I wonder if you're dreaming about those unknown creatures, and if you do then speak their name. You have nothing to be afraid of"

To the cheetah's surprise a rasping word came out from the dragonesses throat that she heard clearly but didn't understand.

" Mankind"


	45. Chapter 7 Book III

Chapter 7

The wind whizzed in the City Hall as one of the small shutters next to the main door flung open and a yellowish glowing dragonfly flew through it.

Sparx stretched with a yawn the moment the shutter closed itself and once more he was embraced by the warm air " What a day" he mumbled tiredly

The dragonfly rubbed one of his sleepy eyes as he looked around the room " Need to blow off some steam before bed" he scanned his surroundings longingly " And where is my bro when you need him?"

He slowly made his way towards the staircase leading to the guests quarters when with a corner of his eye he caught the glimpse of an unnatural reddish glow coming from one of the side entrances. The dragonfly stopped and observed the corridor, the grin on his face grew in accordance with the intensity of the light, he didn't have to hear the clicks of the claws to realize who is making his way towards him.

Sparx rubbed his hands mischievously and cackled menacingly " This day is suddenly getting better and better"

The dragonfly dropped his wicked smile and spread his arms in a sign of a long awaiting greeting " Yo guys!" he exclaimed at the sight of two young dragons entering the room and darted towards them " Missed me?"

Cynder's eyes widened and her smile grew in a display of faked happiness " Sparx!" she shouted " We were just talking about you! I was just telling Flare how you remind me of all that unimportant stuff we usually forget "

The fiery dragon furrowed his brows " Wha-"

Sparx folded his arms and narrowed his eyes, accepting the challenge " You did something on your own already or are you still waiting for my bro to take pity on you?"

" At least someone acknowledges my existence"

" Yeah, you have a talent on being on everyone's lips, especially when people try to insult each other"

" Hey!" Flare blurt out displeased " What are you two doing?!"

The dragonfly looked at him with a dumbfounded expression " What?"

" We are just saying hello" Cynder added

The red dragon just stared at them blankly.

" So..." Sparx broke the awkward silence after a while "…you two are going to get some shut-eye?"

" Yeah" the dragoness narrowed her gaze on him suspiciously " Why?"

Sparx looked almost genuinely hurt " What's with the look? I'm just curious" he looked at the fiery drake " So Dude, you know where you're going to be sleeping?"

" Cynder is going to show me"

Sparx rubbed his chin thoughtfully " You don't say?" he mumbled and darted towards the dragonesses snout and smirked " Do you even know which room he got?"

Two feminine green pupils focused on him " I'm guessing that you do"

" I know lots of things"

The dragoness burst out in a bogus laugh.

Sparx frowned annoyed " What a fake laugh"

" It's real" she corrected him without any hint of cheerfulness in her voice " That's my most cynical laugh ever"

" Laugh all you want but" he gently patted the dragonesses cheek " I definitely know your secret"

She had to admit that she was slightly taken aback by his words, especially after the talk with Amela earlier. However she has to play stupid to not give him the satisfaction.

" Yeah? And what secret would that be?"

Sparx looked at her defiantly " I'm not spilling it out, I'm not going to lose my leverage that easy"

She made a threating step forward, which made the dragonfly retreat slightly " I wouldn't try to manipulate me if I were you. The chances where your wings are being shoved down your throat increase greatly that way"

With a gulp Sparx swiftly darted into the air just to be out of her reach, in situation like these he remembered why he was afraid and didn't trust her back in the days. He knew that after everything she's been through mentioning manipulation and submission angered her but he never saw her so literally murderous, he touched a nerve there, that was extremely exposed for the past few hours it seems. He should have figured it out after that scene at the marketplace.

" You look stupid when you try to act tough"

She smirked " But it is you who cling to the ceiling. How that makes you look like?"

" Are you two finally done saying hello?" Flare interjected, irritated by this whole situation, he didn't understand this game of theirs and just wanted it to be over finally

Both the dragoness and the dragonfly looked at each other, in that brief moment when their eyes met they both realized that they went too far, yet no one of them wanted to admit it, however both of them wanted it to stop.

" Yes" they said simultaneously, the harmony in their response surprised not only Flare but them also

" So…" Flare said " …where is that room or whatever?"

The sound of the drake's voice pulled Sparx back to reality " Follow me"

The fiery dragon looked at the only present female as if looking for her permission but she only shrugged.

The dragonfly rolled his eyes " Come on dude, put that lazy tail of yours to action and move. She's not going anywhere, you'll see her soon."

Flare blushed and looked surreptitiously at the dragoness.

Cynder smirked at seeing his reaction, that prankster which is part of her ominous charm couldn't pass such an opportunity for an innocent taunt " Maybe he feels something for me"

" I-I-I-" the dragon stammered and quickly averted his gaze without elaborating further. The blush on his snout only intensified

Sparx grabbed the fiery dragon's horn and began to drag him behind him " Pity is not a feeling"

The smile on the feminine draconic snout only grew bigger, how she needed a moment for simple snide remarks, even if she was on the receiving end of it.

" If you're going to take Flare to his room I'm guessing you have the keys"

The dragonfly spun around and spread his arms wide open " Hello? I've been waiting for you here all the time, Terry saw me and showed me the keys"

The dragoness cackled mockingly " You seriously think that somebody will believe that Terrador would expect you to do something?"

" Believe what you want, I know the way, you don't. I win"

Flare looked from one of his companions to the other, not understanding any of this. In fact he no longer tried to make any sense out of this situation, he was tired and just wanted some sleep.

The red dragon yawned impatiently " Can we get to that room finally?" he clicked his tongue several times

Suddenly the main door opened with an audible shrill whizz, the strong wind still being the main actor on the streets of Warfang. Yet the young purple dragon who just crossed the doorstep didn't seem to be bothered by it in the slightest, judging from hiss exasperated sigh and the way he leaned against the door with his eyes closed the moment they shut themselves he looked like there was nothing in the whole world that would bother him, besides the obvious turmoil going on inside his head right now, that is.

Sparx spread his arms towards the recently arrived purple dragon " Look who's here" he muttered relieved and seconds later turned towards the black female " You can go now, have one of your moments while we will run away so we won't throw up" he yanked the red dragon's horn again

Flare's eyes jumped between Cynder and the purple dragon, his pupils were moving so fast from one draconic figure to the other as if one of his eyes wanted to observe the first dragon and the other one, the second. Torn between mistrust and protectiveness he let himself be guided by the dragonfly towards the unknown room.

Cynder wished a good night for his friend as her gaze accompanied him until he finally disappeared from her sight. Only then she turned towards her other friend and approached him with a wide happy smile.

" So, how it go?"

Spyro just threw her a quick tired glance before he closed his eyes again and sighed deeply.

" That good, huh?"

She shrugged, completely unmoved by his reaction " Didn't expect anything else. Did the little rodent tell you already when's my turn for the gallows?"

The purple drake's eyes opened sharply as he fixed her with a stern gaze " Don't say such things Cynder"

" What?" she nonchalantly examined her paw as she raised it near her nose " I have to know when to get my claws polished, I have to make a stunning effect for my last entry. You won't understand, it's a girl thing"

" Will you stop fooling around? It's serious"

" Oh come on, Brill is not the first lunatic who taunts me, he is just doing it more openly. He's nothing more than an attention seeker"

" You didn't hear how he talked about you!" Spyro blurt out, irritated by her deliberate contempt of the threat " He treats you like some kind of…stain, like garbage which wants to pollute his perfect image of a world, or dragons"

" Pffft" she snorted " I've been called worse"

" Brill is a blind zealot and a fanatic, who might even hurt you one day!"

" So he better get in line"

A growl of anger rumbled within Spyro's throat " You're impossible"

She smiled seductively " That's part of my charm"

He shook his head with a smile " Wish I could be so lighthearted"

" Hey, hey, remember that's my one and probably only good character trait, steal that away and only wickedness remains"

He shrugged " Doesn't bother me. I like your temper"

She snickered " Just because you don't know the full scale of it"

" I'm pretty sure I could handle you"

" I would destroy you" she pronounced each word with a very farfetched malicious tone

He narrowed his eyes on her with a friendly, challenging and at the same time teasing glimmer within his amethyst orbs " I want to see you try"

Cynder smirked, a spark of juvenile devilment could be seen in her eyes " Careful or I might grant you your wish"

Spyro straightened up with an arrogant grin " I can't wait"

The dragoness wiggled her shoulders in a playful anticipation " You're asking for it"

The dragon bent on his paws adopting a defensive posture, his tail was swinging from left to right in a frisky manner " Bring it on"

With a giggle Cynder dragged a shadow below herself, just to shoot at a moment's notice from a freshly created black mass just behind her friend. Spyro reflexes kicked in, he jumped away quickly but Cynder still managed to smack his rump with the flat end of her tail tip.

The strike made Spyro quiver but not because it was painful but because he was unprepared for the feeling of cold silver on his scales.

Cynder swiftly spun around to face her friend, with her legs bent and tail swinging happily she offered him a proud grin " Too fast for you?"

He chuckled with a shake of his head before focusing on the dragoness " I bet my horn that you won't be so lucky next time"

Once again her body was being embraced by shadow " Challenge accepted" and with that she vanished

He doubted that she would fall for this provocation if they would be fighting seriously, they know each other so well that they are fully aware of what each of them is capable of. Yet she attacked, either to test his quick thinking or because she was curious to find out what he has prepared for her.

In any other situation Spyro would be unable to ready his elemental energy to fully repel her attack, but the time he had was enough to protect himself from her so called charge.

Cynder popped from the ground in front of him, wanting to punch him in the shoulder. The mere seconds he had were enough for the purple drake to channel his Electricity element and create a weak electric shield around his body.

The moment Cynder punched him she was instantly zapped by the pulses embracing his purple scales. The dragoness emitted a cheerful yelp when her foreleg got electrocuted.

Giggling she began to jump around on three legs while twirling her shocked paw in the air " Dear Ancestors, is it wrong that I love the feeling of electric pulses running through my body?"

Spyro observed his hopping friend closely " You like to get zapped?" he asked amused

" Kinky I know, but we all have our perversions. You're words, not mine" she dropped her paw on the ground " Enough games, time to show you who's boss"

The male dragon flexed his muscles as he lowered on his paws and began to stretch, slowly adopting the pose of a seasoned runner.

" It's my turn now" he muttered and darted towards her using his Comet Dash ability.

Cynder observed the glowing pair of horns closely, judging from the position of his head, speed and the now fading sparks of flame she knew what he tried to do.

Spyro's horns slipped under her chest as he forcefully skidded to a stop. He began to raise his head with the intention to hurl her over behind himself, comparing his male muscles and her frail feminine body he would be able to do just that, if not for the two black paws wrapping themselves around his horns.

Cynder yelped joyfully as he bounced her like some sort of a black ball as he pushed his head further below her while tilting it forcefully backwards. If not for the grip around his horns that quenched the force of the first impact she was quite sure that she would be rolling on the ground by now.

The moment she began to lose balance and her grip Cynder pushed forward, placing her paws on his back just to start running down his spine seconds later. She couldn't stop laughing as she traversed through the unstable scaly territory.

With every step she took Cynder felt as Spyro's paws were bending just to straight up soon after. He was like a purple surprised grunting spring, a spring that had its patience.

The moment she was about to reach his rump Spyro yanked his body sharply upwards just to sway to the side soon after. Cynder let out another giggle as she was forced to jump on the ground, the landing wasn't perfect, she had to struggle for a while to recover her balance but failed to do so since momentarily Spyro's tail ran along the ground and kicked her paws in the air making her topple on the floor.

She brandished her teeth in a vengeful, yet playful snarl as she pulled her nose from the floor " You're not going to beat me twice in a row"

Spyro was surprised with how fast she pulled herself up, and even more shocked when she tackled him without any warning. He wrapped his paws around her, not knowing what she tried to accomplish with such a move, he was undoubtedly stronger than her. They wrestled as they rolled on the ground, he felt that she was fighting valiantly, but no matter what she did he was still getting the upper paw.

It wasn't long before she landed on her back with his paws on her shoulders pressing her to the ground. He threw her a triumphant grin " Guess who's on top"

Cynder didn't respond, he was so overtaken by joy after his victory that he failed to notice how her cheeks are puffed up. When he put two and two together it was already too late, and the wink she gave him only confirmed this.

Cynder released all her accumulated Wind energy, the gust of wind that wafted from her mouth blew the triumphant and completely unaware Spyro off her. Not high and not far but it was enough, she was on all fours even before he hit the ground, the moment his back collided with the floor Cynder was already near him. She patted his belly with her tail, the gentle smack made him gasp and cringe in a natural defensive posture, as if his body prepared itself to withstand horrible amounts of pain.

Cynder began to prance around in a circle while humming a cheerful tone, giving her friend the time to recover from her ambush. When he finally pulled himself up she turned towards him with a broad grin.

She cleared her throat and adopted an elegant posture " Cynder- two, Spyro- one" she announced with the most manly voice she could muster while trailing the forms of the two mentioned digits with her claw

She began to dance again while observing her friend, his eyes were never leaving her " Wanna make it even or you had enough?" she started headbanging delicately to her own whistled music

Spyro wanted to make the score even, but he just couldn't stop watching her, the melodic whistling, the dance, the smile, all those things put together made the perfect image of his joyous friend. It wasn't often when he saw her so happy, in fact he couldn't remember when was the last time she let herself be lost in mirth. She was simply overjoyed, even with everything that's been happening she hadn't lost her spirit, and that happiness was contagious, just by staring at her he felt like all the troubles from today faded away. If he could he would stare at her for all eternity but then again her glee would end and he just didn't want it to be gone, he wanted to keep her happy, just for a little longer.

With that thought in mind he channeled his Ice element, and moments later took advantage of his Polar Bomb ability. He directed the freezing spray just below Cynder's dancing paws, turning the floor under her into solid ice.

With a gasp she impulsively jumped but it wasn't enough to avoid the projectile, the icy square the attack created was way too big to avoid with a simple jump. The moment her legs landed on the slippery surface Cynder felt as her legs were sliding away in every possible direction. She tried to pull them together again, but they kept sliding away, farther and farther. It was then when she wanted to leave the icy surface but only managed to quickly swing her paws back and forth, as if she was running in place before she finally collapsed on the pleasant chilly surface.

It was then when Spyro approached her to the accompaniment of her merry laughing. He slid around her on the ice like a professional before swatting her rump gently with his tail.

" Two-two" he announced joyfully as he craned his neck towards her during another circle around his struggling friend

Giggling uncontrollably Cynder tried to pull herself up again but the attempt proved to be as successful as her fight for balance. The contact with the icy floor triggered another laugh from her throat.

Spyro kept smiling as he listened to her laughing, it was such a beautiful sound that he just wanted it to continue, or better, to start it all over again.

His neck once again found itself above her head " Three- two" he whispered

Barely able to contain her laugh Cynder tried to get up again after this announcement, but just as before she ended miserably. Yet she wasn't angry about it, in fact she was very happy with the outcome, if another portion of feminine laughter was any clue.

" Four"

His voice was like the perfect nudge to try again, which resulted in another defeat, and another dose of laughter.

" Five"

After another collapse her joyful outburst reached the point of hysterical, she was laughing so hard that she had troubles catching breath.

" Six"

Cynder no longer had the strength to pull up, her body was using all of its energy to support the glee that quivered her body. With nothing else to do she began to crawl slowly on the ice, without even stopping laughing, even for a bit.

Spyro furrowed his brows " And where do you think you're going?" he stopped right behind her

" AAAHHHH!" she yelped happily and yanked her body to the left when his paw touched her waistline on the right side " Yo...you're...pa...paws!" she pronounced in between laughs

Spyro's smile only grew wider " What about them?" he touched her waist on the other side this time

" AAAHH!" she yelped once more and shook her body to the opposite side in the resound of another fresh dose of laughter leaving her throat " The...they...a...are...cold!"

He raised his right paw innocently in the air, faking a surprise " This paw?" he touched her right flank again, but this time slightly above the waist

" YYYYEEESSS!" she let out a wavering overjoyed yelp and continued her pitiful attempt to crawl away

" Or this?" his paw returned to the other flank of her body

" YYYEESSS!" her yelp sounded like she was crying, yet the constant laughing proved that it wasn't because of sadness

This time he couldn't help himself but to start to laugh with her " What about this?" another touch

She no longer had the air to pronounce any more words, her hysterical laugh only intensified with every new touch. Even Spyro was lost in the merry outburst, he kept laughing together with her as he kept poking his friend, he even moved a bit forward and trapped her body in between his legs so he could touch her even faster. His laugher was not as heartily as hers but he was still having fun.

S-S-S-STOP!: Cynder stammered loudly in between laughs after another poke " STOP IT! STOP IT!" she managed to exclaim

Still laughing Spyro stopped his paw in midair.

" I GIVE UP! I GIVE UP!"

He placed his risen paw on the icy floor and kept laughing together with his friend as he stared at the back of her head. Cynder laughed and laughed with her nose touching the ground, only after a while when she finally managed to calm her mirth she rolled onto her back.

Only then she began to giggle and finally opened her eyes to look at him " You got me" she said happily

" Looks like it" Spyro replied, still smiling

With another giggle she wiped a tear running down her cheek " If you didn't stop I swear I would choke"

He chuckled " Yeah"

She aimed her gaze on him " Got something planned for your beaten opponent?" she smiled at him

Spyro however could barely hear what she said, the sound of his pounding heart blocked mostly every other noise " Thinking" he found himself whispering " Maybe you've got some ideas"

She opened her mouth but no words came out, there was some strange unexplained force in his eyes that sucked all her confidence. Cynder shifted on the ground wanting to get away from it but just couldn't move, or perhaps she didn't want to.

Her eyes returned on him, as she watched his amethyst pupils she gave him the most loving and as Amela said enslaving smile of her entire life. She was unaware of that since as she stared at his purple orbs she began to hear a strangely addicting thudding sound coming from above her.

Suddenly the floor below her wasn't so cold anymore, she even felt as the temperature of her entire body started to raise significantly, and kept going up and up, if it won't stop raising the ice under her back will definitely melt.

Cynder felt the temperature on her snout, she could feel it heating her black cheeks, she felt the blush on her draconic maw. She didn't care. She only wanted to reach that thudding sound, with her sight locked on his eyes she began to extend her foreleg, slowly, but steadily.

With every inch her raising paw made the temperature of her body rose together with it. The paw kept going up and up, just mere seconds and it will reach its goal, the temperature was so high by that time that she felt her blood boiling.

And then she found the source.

Cynder let out a muffled gasp when her paw touched the golden scales of the muscular dragon above her. She swallowed as she trailed her paw across his underbelly in search of the origin of the source.

And there it was.

Another shy and blissful gasp escaped her throat as she felt her paw bouncing slightly in accordance with the addicting thuds. Cynder was unaware that her smile returned to the previous enslaving form, as if deep down even her mind knew that it was the right thing to do.

She was completely lost in the thudding sounds of his heart. As she began to trail small circles on that spot the pounding only intensified. It was so strong that she felt the heart stretching his scales like some sort formidable gum and touching her paw.

She could feel the heart's entire form on her paw as if it wanted to be caught and gods of this and any other era know that she wanted to catch it. Unconsciously Cynder began to clench and unclench her paw, trying to grab the organ and drag it towards her. She craved for the warmth and security it provided, she wanted to feel it beating against her chest and to never let it go.

The world around ceased to exist for him, whatever was out there was unimportant compared to her, she was all that mattered, everything else was shrouded in darkness. Spyro felt her paw on his chest, every gentle rub she performed was like some sort of a wordless magical incantation.

The delicate caress was full of intoxicating magical fascination and passion that his heart just couldn't resist. With every pound of his most important organ Spyro felt as his stomach began to curl, as if she was enthralling the most vital parts of his body, while pushing away the insignificant ones.

His heart currently was being charmed by the wordless spell, her paw carving invisible runes on his scales, preparing a wall for his heart to break so she could steal it for herself. And he even for a moment didn't think about protesting, whatever scolding voices that were screaming at the back of his head couldn't break through the silent enchantment, not that he cared about that now. In that never-ending moment Spyro knew that his heart belonged to her, and her alone.

While she deliberately or not worked on caging his heart, his eyes received their own share of magic. Spyro just kept looking at her smile, he felt like he was drowning in it, if there was an image that you won't forget for your whole life, he was certain that this was it.

He just couldn't get enough of her smiling snout, he saw her cut, bruised, tired, angry and any other grimace wasn't able to ruin her charm. This particular smile suited her perfectly, it was for dumb people like him who don't see the obvious, they need something literally right in front of their noses to appreciate it. In this moment Spyro was glad that he was an blind idiot, otherwise he would never have the chance to admire that pretty smile on an even more prettier snout.

By the Ancestors, she is so beautiful.

He thought that there is absolutely nothing that could add more charm to her grace, he quickly changed his mind the moment he looked in her eyes. If his heart had a voice, it would surely scream to be finally released so it could drown in that green ocean below.

His gaze was locked on those two pupils, the cheerful tears that cleaned her eyes gave her orbs a magnificent shine. Her pupils were like a pair of emeralds emitting the most beautiful and enthralling glow. Those crystals were just a part of even more beautiful gem, that gem's black glow outshined everything else, and deep down he wished, he yearned, that she shined for him.

Spyro felt a numbing squeeze in his head and every other muscle that was both pleasant and uncomfortable. His eyes traveled slowly across her whole snout, once more admiring her smile, her lips but eventually they found their way back to her eyes again. He saw and felt her gaze on him, those green eyes stared at him in the dark, stealing his freedom.

And he liked that.

Suddenly he felt as if some sort of an invisible paw grabbed the back of his neck and began to push him forwards, towards the black snout. His whole body tensed, it was a wonder that his head moved at all, yet his snout slowly made its way towards the sweet cage below, a cage he belonged to.

Cynder's eyes sparkled nervously when she felt her risen paw bending under the slowly approaching golden chest.

" What are you doing?" she muttered

" I don't know" he whispered

Whatever reasonable thoughts remained in her head dispersed the moment she felt his warm and wavering breath on her nose. Her brain was cut off from her, like the sound of someone speaking in a gale. Her eyes closed themselves, she let out a muffled gasp and her lips wavered when another warm breath caressed her snout.

Nothing made any sense.

They didn't care.

" LEAVE HER ALONE!"

The furious roar was like a thunder, both young dragons blinked, as they stared at each other like that they saw focus returning to their pupils, their minds woke up, the world around was once again the key element in their perception.

" LEAVE HER ALONE!"

Another familiar angered roar reached them. Their bodies were still frozen in place, their brains still didn't retake whole control. Yet their confused eyes were alive, they shifted towards the direction from which the roar came from, towards the stairs to the guest quarters.

Seconds later Flare jumped from the staircase and landed on the floor below with an audible thud. Seeing his fallen friend and the purple dragon standing over her made him angry and scared beyond words. His eyes flared up with murderous flames, literally, as he bent on his paws, preparing himself for a charge.

" GET OFF HER!" Flare roared again, he was at the brink of self-control

Spyro only let a shocked gasp, still not fully aware of the whole situation. Cynder however had awaken from her trance completely. Her eyes widened when everything came back to her, Amela's warning regarding Flare, his feelings towards her and his broken soul after his traumatic past.

In a moment she realized how he could perceive the position she and Spyro was in when he caught them. For Flare Spyro was just another vile, yet calm purple dragon, a vicious manipulating creature standing over her trapped body with his maw close to her throat, ready to pierce her soft magenta scales and bleed her out. It didn't matter that they were friends, not now.

" No, no, no, no, no!" Cynder yelled nervously as she chaotically slipped all of her paws below Spyro and forcefully shoved him off of her. In accordance to the sound of her friend landing on his butt she swiftly rolled over and jumped on all fours while rising her one foreleg to the air and urging the red dragon to calm down.

" This is not how it looks like" she pronounced each word slowly and calmly

Flare narrowed his eyes on the confused sitting purple dragon " I've told you he can't be trusted" he growled threateningly

" He is my friend Flare"

" A friend that attacked you!" he snapped, bending on his paws even more

" He didn't attack me!" Cynder protested " We were just fooling around"

" Oh, I'm sure that was just a game for him"

The dragoness bit her lip and cursed her poor choice of words. The moment for diplomacy was over, time to wake up her commanding and bitchy side.

" Look at me Flare" she demanded sternly

" He-"

" Now"

The dragon winced, there was something in her voice that just forced him to obey, because if he wouldn't he knew that it would end badly for him. She sounded like one of the generals he heard in his world, give her some more years and she will grow up to be a ferocious leader, she would have hundreds or more soldiers kneeling at her paws in fear of her, if she only wanted it to happen.

He was just like one of those imagined soldiers, who had no other choice but to obey her orders. The fiery drake turned his eyes on her.

" Look me over and tell me if you see any wounds"

Flare did as he was told, he tried very hard to spot even the tiniest scratch but failed to do so. She was completely healthy.

He shook his head.

" We weren't fighting, this was all just a stupid game"

" Dude! What the hell!?" Sparx appeared yelling from the staircase, completely furious " You almost trampled me!"

" I'm sorry" Flare whined " But when I heard Cynder screaming I thought she was in trouble…"

" I've told you she was laughing!" the dragonfly exclaimed angrily

" …and...and then I saw him standing over her" the fiery dragon continued his explanation " Cynder had her eyes closed and-"

" It was just a gameeeee" Sparx whined

" …B-b-but when I saw him leaning towards her very s-s-slowly I thought h-h-h-he is torturing her b-b-before he finally kills her"

" Damn Dude, If my bro wanted to kill-" then suddenly Sparx voice trailed off " Wait a moment" he darted towards the fiery drake and stopped just right next to his head before covering his mouth with his hand

" She was just lying there and Spyro was getting close to her, and when I say close I mean VERY close?" he whispered while eyeing the dumbfounded black dragoness

Cynder just stood in front of them cocking her head to the side. Whatever those two were whispering about is probably strictly connected with theirs _special_ personalities.

Flare gulped " Yeah" he whispered back

The dragonfly sighed " And you stopped him?"

" Wouldn't you?"

Sparx morosely rubbed his forehead " Of course you did"

" I seriously thought he wants to hurt her"

" Dude when I told you to stay away and pay attention regarding those two I've meant it"

" But-"

The dragonfly angrily pointed at the staircase " Go to your room now! We have much to talk about young boy! And if you try to trample me again I swear I'm going to kick your ass!"

Flare looked at the dragonfly, completely taken aback by his outburst, then threw a quick glance at Cynder. With a sigh he dropped his head to the ground in embarrassment and scampered in the direction of the stairs, dragging his wings and tail behind him as a guilty hatchling.

Sparx observed the walking dragon in complete silence, only when he disappeared from his sight and was quite certain that he won't be eavesdropping he spun swiftly and pointed a scolding finger at the black dragoness " And you!" he exclaimed

Cynder jerked her head back at the sound of his sudden yell.

" Have you no shame?"

" What?" she blurt out shocked

" Doing stuff like that, it was obvious something like this would happen, all she needed was more courage and my brother more brain, is it really so hard? We would avoid cliché scenarios. Progress Dude, progress. Do you hear me people? Progress!"

" What the hell are you talking about?"

He waved his hand dismissively and turned around with a snort " No tact whatsoever" and with that he followed the red drake upstairs

" And they say I have issues"

With a shake of her head Cynder turned towards her purple friend, he was still sitting in the same spot still clearly bewildered. She approached him with an amused expression.

" What just happened?" Spyro mumbled

She shuffled her paw on the ground in faked shyness " I don't want to brag but it seems I have some social skills after all"

He frowned " Did you just kick me?"

" No...no, of course not" she muttered while scratching the back of her head, wanting to take advantage of his shock and avoid mentioning that it was Flare who caused her to react like that " I...just...gently pushed you away. You had to trip over my tail or something"

" Did Flare just wanted to attack me?" he threw another question the moment she stopped talking, as if he tried to make sense out of this situation using his still barely active synapses

" Not attack but rather he tried to...umm... open your eyes for reason"

" I don't understand how he could think that I was trying to kill you"

She cackled nervously " That's Flare, a mini Sparx, no explanation can be found here"

" How did he show up here so quickly?"

" The guests quarters aren't far"

Spyro's frown deepened " He wasn't looking for me"

" He said he heard screaming and wanted to check it out"

He looked at his friend " He came to defend you"

The dragoness shrugged, keeping her calm and not betraying a thing " We're friends, he was worried"

" But why so fiercely?"

Cynder bit her lip, if she spills the whole truth about Flare, if of course Amela's hypothesis is correct, Spyro and Flare will be at each other's throats sooner than later. She wanted to avoid any more bad blood between the two, but only now she realized that is not the only reason why she defends the fiery dragon.

Flare's situation so much reminds her of her own, both of them carry the burdens of horrible lives they had, and those burdens more or less dictates their lives. Spyro's voice was like the voice of the lynch mob back when Brill was giving his speech, blaming him for all the odd things he does not truly understanding why he acts the way he does. Such horrible experience leaves a mark, a pestering wounds that never heals, she knows that all too well.

Cynder realized that Flare was just like her, maybe his burden was lighter than hers, but it was still a burden that weighted on him. Yet he didn't stand against a crowd of people but her best friend, she understood perfectly that if she has a chance of convincing people about forgetting about her past and make them see that she has truly changed and is trying to make up for her crimes, she first needs to help Spyro trust Flare, because if she won't be able to convince her best friend then there is absolutely no chance she will convince all those people. Her redemption is harder to achieve than she thought, but if she will be able to cure Flare from his traumatic past she will know that her own redemption won't be beyond reach.

" What does he want-"

However she won't be able to do anything right now, it requires careful planning and time. The constant listening to Spyro's questions and answering them in her own specious way only threaten her to spill out the secret, and more importantly, her plan. To avoid such a scenario from happening she swiftly spun around and started to make her way towards the staircase, with intention to end this conversation once and for all.

" Come to bed"

"-with you?"

They've said almost simultaneously.

Momentarily Spyro's eyes shot wide open after hearing one sentence right after another. When he saw her stop he knew that she noticed the unintended meaning behind those words. Spyro's heart began to race when suddenly, for a brief moment, he started seeing flashes where she says yes and wondering how it would play out after that.

" _What is wrong with me? That's my friend!_" he could hear his own voice screaming inside his head

"_BETRAYAL!_"

He instantly felt guilty, he is stretching the thin layer of trust between two friends and he was scared that if he breaks it he won't be able to put it back together. Part of him wanted to pierce that layer and finally see what's behind it, but there was also that stronger part which didn't want to break it, or just didn't want to admit to the temptation. It was all a mess, but one thing was for certain- he cared for her much stronger than ever before.

" _What if she turns around?!_" another panicked shout run through his mind

Spyro felt blush invading his cheeks, if she turns and ask what is wrong with him, he knows he would spill everything out, she would force him to do so, she knows how to do it. And she will certainly turn around, she had to realize how silly the spoken words sounded together. She will turn around! In like two seconds! He's a goner!

Or maybe not?

To his surprise Cynder continued walking without a word. He felt like a great weight was lifted from his heart, maybe he simply overreacted, perhaps his male brain works in a different way than hers. And makes fuss about something that isn't really there.

Yes, it had to be it.

With a relieved sigh Spyro pulled himself up and followed his friend. If he had the possibility to somehow notice the fierce flush on her snout, he would know that in that particular moment their minds worked on the same page.

* * *

" Come on man, pick up the pace will ya?" Sparx urged the fiery drake as he kept flying all around him

" I feel like an idiot" Flare mumbled " It was stupid and embarrassing"

" Well...yeah"

The drake gave him a sad and beaten look.

" Oh come on Dude" the dragonfly put his hand below the dragon's jaw and pulled it higher " Chin up, it's not like this was your first time"

The fiery drake yanked his head away irritated " Yeah, thanks, you uplifted me now"

Sparx grinned and clapped his hands " Sarcasm! But man be careful, they say it's the winner's weapon and you...well you know yourself how victorious you were"

Flare snorted offended " I'm not talking to you"

He moved in front of the drake's eyes and spread his arms innocently " I'm just teasing you"

The dragon averted his gaze " No"

" Come on man" the dragonfly smirked smirked " I'll give you a worm for your thoughts"

Flare looked the dragonfly over angrily " A single babbling one is enough"

Sparx laughed " Ohohoho! You fought back!" the dragonfly fisted the drake's shoulder " Point for you" with that the dragonfly continued forward

The dragon with no other choice soon followed the dragonfly " Why you?"

" What?"

" Why did you insist on showing me my room?"

Sparx laughed arrogantly " Dude, my plans are beyond your tiny brain's comprehension, but you really have a talent for ruining things, I'm not in the mood to see it through. You just suck the joy out of everything"

" There!" the dragonfly exclaimed while pointing with his palms at the door " This is your room, me and my bro live just on the opposite side of the corridor, so if you want something don't come to us. But you can knock on the door on our right, whenever you want, our neighbor won't mind"

He grinned and with a clap of his hands spun around " Alright Dude have fun" Flare moved past him " They key is inside, you'll see it" as Sparx began to head towards his own room he heard the door opening behind him

" It was supposed to be such a nice day" he sighed sadly

" What is that?"

Sparx balked at the sound of Flare's question, a mischievous grin instantly found its way on his lips " Thank you"

With renewed energy the dragonfly stopped right above the dragon's head and looked inside the room " What's the problem?" he asked, barely able to hold back his excitement

Flare pointed his claw at a wooden, long thing with four legs and some sort of white sheets on top of it " That"

Sparx was so used to hearing the dragon's stupid questions that he didn't even flinch after this one " That's a bed"

" A bed?"

" You sleep on it man"

The red dragon snorted " Yeah right, you're trying to trick me again"

" I'm not, honest. Just hop on it and you'll see how comfortable it is. Way better than a cold floor"

Flare was reluctant about this whole thing, Sparx already got him in trouble more than once, what are the chances that he isn't fooling around now? Yet Flare couldn't deny the fact that this so called bed was intriguing, he just couldn't resist his curiosity. After all nothing will happen if he just touches the thing first right?

With an anxious gulp the dragon stopped in front of the bed and extended his paw towards its white sheets, expecting horrible things to happen when his paw will finally make contact with the material. His eyes widened and he let out a gasp when his paw wasn't hurt in any way, in fact it has never touched a more soft and delicate thing in its entire existence.

Sparx folded his arms " See? Told you it's legit"

Not able to hold his anxiousness any longer Flare jumped on the bed " Whoa" he blurt out amazed

The dragon began to walk across the whole bed, completely lost in the feeling of such a soft and delicate material under his legs. Not to mention that this thing was indeed comfortable, he could tell just by walking on it, also that round almost ball looking squishy thing on one of the bed's end was so cool!

" This is amazing!" Flare laughed cheerfully

" It only gets better when you jump on it long enough"

The dragon looked at him in excitement " Seriously?"

" Yeah" Sparx pressed his forefinger to his mouth " but shhhh" he whispered " Don't tell anybody, it's a secret"

With a broad smile Flare jumped on the bed, the material bent and sprung delicately, making his paws bounce slightly. He then leapt in the air again, the bed retaliated the same way. Another jump, same reaction, then another, and another, and another. Flare didn't even know when he began to laugh as loudly as his lungs let him while he kept bouncing on the bed up and down. He wasn't so happy in his entire life.

With a grin Sparx slipped through the doorstep and closed the door, muffling the cries of the overjoyed dragon before he pressed his head to the wooden obstacle and began to listen intently.

It took a while but eventually a loud crushing noise came from behind the door accompanied by a startled yelp when finally the wooden legs gave up under the bouncing dragon's weight.

Sparx pushed away from the door with a proud grin " If this isn't magic then I don't know what is"

* * *

Spyro made sure to keep his distance away from her but never to lose her tail from his sight, he just had to know she is close, he just had to know if she didn't run away anywhere.

She didn't.

Cynder was already waiting for him by the door to his room. When he rounded the corner Spyro found himself looking at her. His heart began to race when once again his frivolous imagination started sending him pictures of her lying on the soft bed, moaning and panting. Also...

He shook his head fiercely, discarding the inexplicable and horrendous thoughts.

Men are pigs.

It was a very nice thing to think about Cynder in general but whenever his senses returned to him he felt dirty and depraved. They are friends, a special bond connects them, you don't test its strength, you don't risk its destruction, this isn't right.

But then again, she didn't seem to protest when he was doing...what he was doing exactly? When their little game of strength was over, or more precisely, when he thought it was over, Cynder in truth Cynder prepared a surprise for him to get the score even when he is preoccupied with…something else.

Of course, this has to be it. What else could it be? It was a cunning trap, nothing else.

…then why he doesn't feel convinced?

This is wrong, all this turmoil in his head is just wrong, in fact why does he torments himself with such thoughts? They were playing, and that's it, he imagined the rest, he can right? It's not like he can block his imagination, it just happened, nothing can be done about it, his mind did a quick math, connected the spoken words and given looks and created meaningless flashes, things like that happen, it's simple like that.

Yeah, he just imagined this whole thing.

Phew! Spyro smiled under his nose, he didn't see the obvious explanation, it was just the heat of the moment, nothing else. He shook his head, looking for sensation where there isn't one, he is the only one capable of doing such things. With a confident stride he made his way towards his room.

Cynder was still there, her tail was swaying slightly, her back still facing him. So what? let her stay there, they will some words and he will enter his room, what's the big fuss about? Her form grew in his eyes as he approached her, Spyro felt his blood pulsing in his veins, the corridor instantly got hotter.

They don't have to talk, everything that had to be said was said down below, what else is there to add? Yeah, he will wish her only a good night and then disappear within his room. It'll be polite and not overdone. Simple and clean.

She was just mere meters ahead of him, he could smell her delicate feminine scent. Spyro swallowed, a couple of times actually, the gulp that formed in his throat just didn't want to move.

They don't have to talk at all, what's the point? They are friends, they know each other very well, they care about each other, there is no reason in wishing goodnight to one another. After so much time together they understand each other without words. Yeah, he will slip into his room in complete silence…and preferably unnoticed.

He was right behind her, he could feel the warmth emanating from her body. The door to his room were just to his right, so close and yet so far and all because of her damn pretty tail sliding across the floor like a charged electric eel. He needs to be fast, a quick jump, press of a the handle, a delicate push, return and a leap into the room, Five steps to haven.

Spyro's eyes trailed her sliding tail constantly, the optimism slowly leaving his head. What if the tail suddenly makes a fast sweep and he will accidently step on it? She will turn around! And she will have him! She'll catch him red-pawed, she'll keep asking and asking, and there's no way he'll talk his way out of it.

Spyro sighed realizing that he can't stay here and has to finally do something, she'll feel him standing behind her otherwise. He examined the floor and the door again, this job requires speed and dexterity and as a warrior he has both these skills, all it takes is just to lean swiftly, push the door open and jump inside, as if this building was about to explode and his room is the only bunker prepared to withstand the blast. That's the plan.

Spyro reached for the handle, then his eyes caught an unpredicted movement, the black tail left the ground, now it was in the air, swinging in a wide arc. His blood froze, she is turning around!

It's funny how plans work out.

In a moment she'll look at him and when she does he's a goner. Five more seconds and he's hers.

I can't breathe, I can't breathe.

Great, now you're choking you moron.

Cynder turned to face him and offered him a kind smile " Spyro don't sneak up on me like that"

He stared at her in complete silence, second after second passed and with each one he saw her smile fading and her eyebrows raising to form a curious expression. His throat was sore, but he had to say something, this moment is taking like forever and it gets only more awkward by the second.

Ok, here goes.

He opened his mouth but the only sound that came out was a rough grunt, his vocal cords were so tightly squeezed that they were unable to form any words, he sounded more like a retarded grublin than an actual dragon.

She jerked her head back at hearing his grunt, for a while she stared at him in complete disbelief just to let out an amused snort soon after " Wh-what?"

Spyro hastily cleared his throat " Thank you" he rasped and coughed a little more to get his vocal cords working " Thank you for sorting my head back there, I keep thinking about this whole mess with Brill and the Veils and I feel like it's making me like two hundred years older. Add something else to the pile of problems and I swear I'm going to dig a grave and jump into it" he smiled

He noticed that she averted her gaze for a moment, she was still smiling however, but it was no longer a cheerful smile like moments ago. Her lips wavered just like she struggled to keep grinning, as if her smile just wanted to be gone already but she ordered it to stay.

" You're welcome" Cynder muttered, her colors seemed to fade, she looked like something just drained the life out of her

Spyro noticed that, worry overcame his soul, he just couldn't bare the sight and has to cheer her up somehow. Did she take that joke about digging up a grave seriously?

" I was kidding about that grave thing"

" I know it's just…" her voice trailed off, she raised her gaze to meet his and with a smile walked towards him.

Her snout was just in front of him.

He held his breath.

His heart stopped.

Cynder craned her neck forward and planted a soft kiss on his cheek before withdrawing her head " Goodnight" she said with a loving smile and disappeared within her own room.

Spyro just stood in the corridor with his mouth opened, moments later there was a hollow thud when his heart began to work again while also waking up all of his other senses. Momentarily tremendous heat enveloped his body, he began to sweat, his legs buckled and he had to press his body to the door to avoid falling down.

The temperature reached his head, almost boiling his brain, the world swirled around as the sensation of grogginess overpowered him. Slowly he raised his numb paw in this swirling world and touched his moist cheek. Her kiss was like a brand, it was hot to the touch, yet he couldn't push his paw away, his claws began to slide across the burning moist spot, he could feel every curve of her beautiful lips.

Once again his imagination let itself loose and wondered how it would feel like if he would press his lips to hers. What if...

" No" Spyro slurred with a shake off his head and pressed the handle on the door. They swung open and he was thrown through the doorstep, he wavered on his legs like a drunk but eventually managed to recover his balance and closed the door.

He then lurched to the middle of the room and pressed his forehead to the wall that separated his room from Cynder's while dropping his eyes to the ground and panting heavily. He couldn't get her out of his head, his heart was torn in half, the bold part was in constant battle with the cautious side, screams of joy intertwined with the screams of guilt. He clenched his paw on his chest where his heart pounded like it was mad, the thuds were so strong that he could feel his bones rattling, this battle hurt.

Yet Spyro's eyes landed on the glassy door leading to the balcony from which a simple jump is all that's required to reach the next room. He was afraid but at the same time longed to see her again, they parted ways minutes ago and he already missed her. The space separating the two balconies was like the fragile barrier of trust and friendship, only a single jump is required to break the ties that bind, and find out if the risk is worth the gain.

Only a single jump.

* * *

It was late in the night, the moon was high in the air illuminating Warfang with its brilliant light, silence embraced the city in a protective cocoon as it slept. Nothing moved on the streets of the Dragon City, everything and everyone were wrapped in their own cocoons.

Except for the four purple paws which just passed through the glassy door like it never was there in the first place and entered the dark room. The white moon hanged on the other side of the city, which resulted in complete absence of any kind of light in the interior. However the purple paws walked through the room unhindered, as if the darkness didn't bother them and obscured their owner's vision at all.

In fact the blackness seemed to ripple just like a dark ocean, as if something was meddling with the water. The shadows bent and stretched, just like the non-existing ocean, and the meddlesome being who rippled its structure had four purple paws and was heading towards the obscured bed and the figure sleeping on it.

The purple dragon stopped near the bed and closely observed the coiling and uncoiling form of a black dragoness. His tattered green wings were folded on his back. The two brown eyes scanned the female without any sign of emotion and life in them.

" So sleep sugar" sounded a hollow low voice with a poor hint of slow melody in it

" Let your dreams flood in  
Like waves of sweet fire you're safe within  
Sleep sweetie  
Let your floods come rushing in  
And carry you over to a new morning"

The dragon touched her moving chest, and instantly jerked his paw away when a white light illuminated her head and shoulders and stung his paw, a delicate layer of shadow dispersed with the dying light

" Lots of work await us" the drake hissed impatiently


	46. Chapter 8 Book III

Chapter 8

The world around him was burning, he could see the blurry earth behind the window, ravaged by elements of different kind. Ash and smoke hanged thickly in the air, preventing him from properly seeing his companions and oppressors. But they were there, he could feel them.

He squinted when a powerful bolt of lightning cracked the air and struck something, illuminating the area for a moment white a bright yellow right.

Even through the thick walls of the citadel and many other noises of the ongoing battle he heard that particular sound perfectly. It was a distinctive feminine roar, a roar full of anguish, despair and sadness, the last breath of a dying dragon. He saw her delicate form swirling in the air and falling down, her fluttering wings reminded him of the games they used to play as hatchlings.

They created their own special leafy helmets and with them on their heads they cut through the air, he could hear her wings making the same sound as the leafs fluttering so many years ago in the air. They were the Black Scaled Wind Warriors, fighters of crime and villains, protectors of the world and bringers of justice.

Superdragons.

Now one of the Wind Warriors has fallen, her super powers ebbed away into nothingness with her last dying breath, only a lifeless husk has remained of his sister. He watched her fall down until her black body finally disappeared somewhere within that thick ash. She is unimportant, they are all unimportant now, they are all dead anyway.

The balance had been broken, their demise is nearing and nothing will prevent it.

He moved forward, his claws clicked on the citadel's floors, their sound echoed throughout the whole now empty corridor. The noise bounced off the walls with echoing thuds, it was like the sound of a completely destroyed bell, announcing its final hour in its artificial lifespan before it'll collapse and finally be destroyed.

Destroyed. Like this world will soon be.

His walk through the empty hallway was abruptly ended by a window shattering just next to him. It gave under the empowered artificial gale, many wind breaths were joined together, creating a powerful tornado that was ravaging the landscape in the distance.

He was unmoved by the sight, unmoved by the sound of the wind howling through the corridor that shook every possible door, just like he was unmoved by the shards of the broken glass impaled in his scales, or the crimson blood trickling from the wounds.

He just stared at the battle ahead, he observed the scene in awe and fascination to be precise. But he didn't know that, he didn't know what feelings are. Everything that sat in his mind was an empty emotionless silence.

He observed the thick smoke which was occasionally lightened by all different colors, of all eight elements, he could see them all, many blind fools only discerned five. Painful and angry roars accompanied the light show, green, black, red, white, yellow, blue, brown and orange, all those rays and orbs were constantly mixed with purple and black winged dots disappearing into the misty thick veil. As he stared at the battle through his blood covered eyes only one single thought crossed his mind.

The balance had been broken.

Finally, after so many eons of futile existence it was over. That one single thought was so sweet, so intoxicating that he had to think about it again. Recite the words as if it was a prayer.

The balance had been broken.

There is no stopping now, what was postponed for so many years is now stirring up, so many miles to the north, in the middle of the world, in that wretched volcano where he was ALSO trapped with it. Now they will both walk free, and they'll keep on going until there will be no one left to stop them.

Stop me.

The cycle had begun, it is the perfect moment to keep the wheel of time spinning and by doing it he will reclaim what is his. Even with all this death, the hunger is unseated, it is time to feed.

With another roar and flash of lighting in the distance he turned towards the door on the far end of the corridor. The citadel was timing with life once, he could feel its obsidian walls pulsing with the only true element, HIS element, he could sense it even from such a long distance, after all parts of him were spread across the whole world .

No wonder that wind was his only companion as he traversed through the corridor, many of the citadel's inhabitants were out there, on the battlefield. Not aware of the cancer that spreads through their home, not that it mattered really, they all will be forgotten, it's the little things that decide who goes first.

As he approached the door he passed another window, he slowed down his walk when that happened and looked through the transparent mirror. He could feel himself over there, he didn't see his own, not exactly the same reflection in that thick smoke, but the silhouettes of purple and black dragons who suddenly froze in the air just to be puffed like piles of ashes only confirmed his presence there.

The battle wasn't over but the desperation in its most powerful form spreading through the ranks of the purple oppressors only sped up the inevitable process. With an emotionless gaze he once again turned his attention to the beating door at the end of the hallway. He will add something himself into the fast spinning wheel of time.

He forcefully pushed the door open to counter the pressure he felt on the other side of the door. The moment both wings slammed against the wall, the impact was so powerful that one of the frames couldn't withstand the force and broke off from its hinges.

He watched the wing being lifted in the air and dragged by an invisible force to the opposite side of the currently visited. His eyes followed the flying door until they were shot into the world through a tremendous hole in the citadel's walls. Bits of rocks were laying everywhere, but even those were steadily being stolen by the devastating twisters outside.

No matter how big the hole in the wall was, the empty spot on the ceiling proved that there were parts of the citadel that were in a worse state. The ceiling was mostly rubble, he could see the dark sky above, the moon crying over the fate of the world as it illuminated the hanging blocks of obsidian with lines of green lichen like threads running in between them.

One of the dangling blocks was torn down by the wind and hit the floor with a loud thud before bouncing off the created cracks and falling even lower through the hole in the wall. The sound of the whizzing wind once again overpowered his hearing, add to that the sliding and falling rocks and you have a recipe for making your life worse.

Yet he wasn't bother by such trifles, he had his goal and his own element won't scare him off. The moment he made a single literal bloody step he felt as tremors ran underneath his paws like they were much more heavier than his whole body was. In truth, it was just an illusion, it wasn't him who was strong but the ground which was weak.

A second step confirmed this.

When his other paw touched the ground the black floor creaked, the sound was like the noise of many shrill screams, then a grinding sound reached him, it was getting louder and louder until finally cracks appeared on the floor and the obsidian path crumbled, many black blocks were dragged down below with a tremendous rumbling sound. Everything that remained of the once awe inspiring ground was nothing more than a hole leading to a very long fall, down the ragged mountain below.

With a calm steady steps he moved around the what seemed like an endless hole and pressed onwards, towards the destination the hunger demanded. As he walked down the ordered path another loud rumbling noise reached him, somewhere behind him, most likely near the crumbled ceiling more blocks gave up under the constant pressure of the howling wind, collapsing more floor and blocking even more doors.

The ground shook underneath his paws, cracks began to appear on the obsidian floor he walked upon with the sound of ripping rocks. He was unmoved by the situation, he steadily walked towards the door in front of his nose, cracks already bored with the floor began to cover the surrounding walls.

He clenched his black paw on the silver handle and pushed, the door rattled but didn't move, he tried once more, putting more strength into it this time. The result remained the same, something was blocking them on the other side.

The part of the mountain responsible for holding this part of the citadel was starting to slump, finally having enough of the constant blows it received. The cracks that widened under and around him showed that this particular part of the citadel belonged to that ruined part of the mountain. If the obsidian structure had feelings it would be now shrieking in agony, everything began to shake violently, and with each such shake the part of the fortress he was currently in began to skew to the left.

This trifle inconvenience won't stop him, there isn't anything that can stop him now. Be it either the force of angered nature or the desperate living.

He narrowed his gaze on the door ahead and opened his mouth.

It wasn't the standard way of channeling elemental energy she was used to, in fact it didn't feel like focusing elemental energy at all. She felt her body burning, like a fire would be ignited inside her, the moment the dragon released a powerful gust she felt that part of her own being was puffed out.

We are one.

The door shot off its hinges like they were released from a ballista, with an almost deafening the flying door took care of the blockade of black rocks which prevented it from opening. At the impact the door split in half, one wing slid on the ground with some parts of the embellished obsidian while the other flew straight ahead and struck a wall in the distance with an echoing thud while breaking completely and making a quite sizeable indentation in the wall. Dust instantly shot in the air after the blockade was forcefully parted.

He stepped calmly through the freshly created opening, the moment he touched the more solid part of the fortress the crack behind him grew to immense size and in the mixed cacophony of sounds of grinding stones and rumbling rocks the weakened part of the mountain split from the rest of its surface and dragged the unfortunate segment of the citadel into the mist below, leaving in its place nothing more than a simple hole in the mountain.

Where he was now once was an impressive hall, which intimidated the few lucky guests who had the privilege to be invited within the black walls of the Shade citadel. Now nothing remained of the decor of the once awe inspiring fortress. The columns were cracked barely able to hold the ceiling above, the statues that adorned the halls were mostly crumbled, the paintings were nothing more than torn canvas, even the magic flowing through the walls which gave them an ominous shine withered. Everything that made the fortress impressive was gone.

And soon Shade will join the decadence.

He was one of the black majestic creatures who made the citadel their home, and from the hollow sound of the clicking claws in the distance and the overpowering sense of his own unique essence approaching, he knew that he wasn't the only one still traversing this fading memory of the past.

Moments later the sound of clicking claws intensified, when it was close enough he instantly recognized what part of him is approaching, accompanied by someone else who was unimportant right now.

He turned towards the noise of rocks being moved, he watched the obsidian blocks being raised and hurled to the sides by black paws with a dark blue underside. He had paws like that too, an unique characteristic among his kind. Easy to remember.

He watched the black rocks being moved, he stood still and in complete silence. That changed the moment the path was cleared.

" Hello Mother" he said with an emotionless voice the moment a black snout emerged from the shadows

" Koren, no!" the female cried out as she stepped out from the shadows

She was a beautiful creature, the passing years did not threaten her grace in the slightest. The cornflower blue color of her underbelly, neck and chin perfectly contrasted with the black scales of the rest of her body. He was always fond of the tiny spikes projecting on her nose, that mixed with her slender silhouette and the two magnificent and beautiful dark blue eyes was an image of perfection for him. He loved and adored his mother.

Once.

" No, not you! Just not you!" Why haven't you taken me?" the female sobbed, tears were running down her cheeks in streams

" You were too strong Mother" he replied with the same cold voice

The dragonesses eyes burst with another streams of tears " My son..." she sobbed " my dearest son..."

" I am here Mother"

She looked at him more intently, her dark blue eyes were moist with tears, they shimmered like an ocean under the moonlight. Even if her eyes radiated serenity there was that blindness within them, like they knew that the sight ahead of them isn't true but in their desperation and realization of utter defeat they made that sight real.

" Oh Koren..." the dragoness sobbed through tears and made a slow step towards him

Then from the shadows emerged another black paw which grabbed the other dragonesses' tail.

" This is not your son anymore!" sounded a raspy, angry and very tired feminine voice

The dark blue dragoness yanked her tail away and spun around " Leave me alone!" she growled through tears

From the shadows stepped out another black female, he watched her closely, intrigued to know what remained of the once impenetrable blockade. Not much it seemed.

The newly arrived female was old, but not as old as her scales seemed to tell. She looked like a walking ruin, as if her body was dying together with the fortress, yet he knew better, he knew what caused her scales to wither.

It was him.

Almost every part of black dragonesses body was covered with white markings, once they shone brightly on the scaly canvas of her black scales. Now they were faded, as was her whole black body, it was like her leathery armor was falling apart on its own, not able to contain the thing it supposed to keep in check.

" You need to listen to me" the old dragoness rasped and coughed soon after " K-Koren is no more" she placed her withered paw on the other female's shoulder

The younger dragoness shoved the paw away " Do you think I don't know that?" she blurt out indignantly, her moist dark blue eyed filled a spark of desperation

" We still can-"

" What?!" the dragoness cut off the other one with a sad lough " Our brothers and sisters are dying as we speak, there is only a handful of us left, and let's face it Channeler, you are not able to fight it, look at yourself, it's destroying you"

She looked at Koren again " This world is lost, we failed, and if I'm to go I want to say goodbye to my only alive child, at this point I no longer care if his truly standing there. That dragon looks like my son, and that's enough for me"

The old dragoness lowered her head without a word, she too knew the truth yet her position among her people demanded that she'll always give hope. However now, there is absolutely nothing to say, nothing to do to somehow turn the table. This is the bitter truth.

The younger female focused her watery eyes on the only male in the room, as she walked towards him her body language betrayed her feelings. There was everything that a loved one and an enemy would feel, her totter was a mix of love, worry, hate and disgust, yet above them all was that indescribable and magical motherly instinct that ordered to remain close to her offspring. Be like a family in this last moments.

She gently touched his cheek and sobbed when she delicately brushed it with her paw, every image from her son's childhood flashed before her eyes.

Maybe in the past her touch would trigger some feelings in him, now they meant nothing. However this was his mother once, he had many mothers, but this one had unique characteristic and she was the only one who had the courage to actually show her motherly devotion, she is worth remembering. She is unique.

" I will never forget you Mother"

After hearing her son's emotionless voice more tears caressed her cheeks.

He leaned closer as if preparing to kiss her but stopped in midair, he sensed her terrified gasp and the scared pounding of her heart.

" This will hurt only a little" he whispered

Before she could truly process his words and the whole situation, he made his move. His sharp teeth went for her throat and in a split second his maw shut itself tight. Blood splattered on his snout as he tore the throat of his mother with one fierce and swift bite.

The dragonesses eyes sparkled with last shimmer of life in them when she gurgled and spit more blood. Her eyes became cold and empty moments later, the spark of life had been extinguished.

He instantly bent on his paws, her now lifeless body with his help fell directly on his back. He didn't care about the blood flowing from the mortal wound and down his black scales as he kept getting lower and lower. He then swiftly slipped away while keeping his paws extended, the body gently fell on them, moments later he removed his forelegs and the corpse of his mother was laid respectfully on the floor.

" Goodbye Mother" he closed her still moist eyes

He turned his blood covered snout towards the old dragoness, failure, pain and sadness were woven in every grimace on her snout. He directed himself towards the nearby window where another flash of lightning illuminated the sky.

" So many years you held me back and now nothing remains of that resistance. Tell me Channeler, did you truly believe you could be successful?"

The old black dragoness swallowed " I truly did, and I did everything in my power to preserve the balance"

" Are you certain that there was nothing else you could do?"

" It was you abomination, I don't know what weakling you deceived or where did you find one, it was your tricks that ruined us. My strategy was flawless"

" Ah, still so proud even at the brink of destruction" he spun around to face her " I wonder why? Did you not see yourself in the mirror?"

The female growled offended " I took this burden on me because I had no other option, given more time I would make you submit"

" No Channeler you wouldn't, you aren't the one with the strength, no one from your kind could fully contain me, such being does not exist, at least for now"

" You're a liar"

He looked at her surprised " Am I? Did you not feel stronger when you imprisoned more and more of me?"

" I did because I know how to use you"

" You did not allow me to flourish, and this destruction is a consequence of that, you weren't able to dominate your oppressors and lost the battle for your survival. If you would accept me as one, as we are meant to be, everything would be different, we would have the time before you would expire"

The dragoness wanted to lough mockingly but only ended up coughing painfully " You are losing yourself in your own lies. What would that change? You would dominate my own people as you did now"

" Yes, but then you would lose more of your people instead of the whole world. It was you who said that you could contain me, would not that be a better alternative? Yet for all your pride you did not take the risk"

" Silence!" the female growled " You are a curse and the only way to defeat you is to tame you on our own rules"

" Curse?" he pointed at himself " We are more powerful than ever"

" We? What we? Do you take me for a fool? Koren is dead"

" Koren is alive, I can feel his love for our mother"

The dragoness snorted " The one you murdered? You want to tell me you killed her out of love?"

" Her death was necessary, I showed love by offering respect to her body. One you will not receive"

" You're nothing else than a monster"

" Yet it was not me who doomed the world"

" But you are the one destroying it"

" You know my nature, that is why you kept me imprisoned. Why do you blame me?"

" Silence!" the female roared with her last strength " Do what you came here to do horror and spare me your babbling"

" So eager to die? Without the knowledge of what happened? Is this what you want? You? Who always wanted to know everything?"

He didn't receive any response, but silence spoke louder than words.

" It was not me who started all of this, I did not rick anybody nor did I broke free. I was released"

" Nobody from our city or those on the other part of the continent even would be that stupid. I made sure of that"

" Yes, but the creatures from the Pit were ignorant of your schemes"

" That vermin? Those beasts are barely working together, let alone be of any danger to dragonkind. They are only a nuisance"

" Do you know the saying to put a cat among the pigeons? Your endless provocations towards the Pit had to finally retaliate. Your iron paw led the beasts as you call them to finally reorganize, one can be bullied for so long after all. However they would have been unable to be of any real threat if not for your harsh leadership"

The old dragoness jerked her head back in surprise " You want to tell me it was all my fault?"

He looked at her, there was that evil shimmer of satisfaction in his eyes " It is because of you that the world is being destroyed now"

" You're lying monster!" the female roared and coughed soon after

" Why would I be lying? You are no threat and soon you will be nothing more than a faded memory. Yes Channeler it was you who started all of this"

" I'm not be listening to this nonsense"

" It was your constant control which ignited the fuse of rebellion and curiosity, especially in the young ones"

" No, this is not true!"

" One from here and one from the other camp was enough"

" Not another word!" The female growled, her proud demeanor crumbled

" Those two kept slipping away more often, secretly cursing you and your rules. Their happy dream was ended when they got caught and then executed by the Pit. The rest I am sure you know"

The dragoness wasn't looking at him, she was staring in the distance, connecting the facts and with each second she became more and more pale.

He started to approach the female " This is your grand failure Channeler, and now we will show you what you could achieve if only you would accept me. This was your second failure. Where is your pride now?"

His raised his paw, one of his silvery claws turned yellow, it looked like it decayed in a moment's notice, like it belonged to a very old corpse in an advance state of putrefaction.

However it wasn't fragile, the rotten claw pierced the female's scales easily, it was gone just as quick as it went in. A swift stab, such strike wouldn't put a deer down let alone a dragon, but it wasn't the stab that caused the agony, but the thing that happened later.

Soon the old female's eyes swelled with blood, she then dropped on the floor and began to cough while thrashing violently. She rasped trying to catch breath but ended only coughing even more fiercely than before, spitting blood and what looked like parts of her throat or lungs. Soon blood started to flow from her nose, the round eyes began releasing red tears. Seconds later she let out two long raspy and definitely painful coughs and then her head dropped on the ground with blood still flowing down from her swelled red eyes.

He stared at the withered corpse with an emotionless gaze " Proud people breed sad sorrows for themselves"

* * *

Cynder's eyes snapped open with a gasp, she found herself laying on her back trying to see the ceiling through the thick darkness embracing her room.

She swallowed and winced in pain, her throat was sore, it felt like it turned into a sand paper over the night. Which shouldn't be that surprising since she was wet from sweat and soon started panting, she had to lose lots of energy after nightfall. Pretty understandable reason, if not for that teeny tiny problem.

It all happened to her while she was SLEEPING.

Cynder threw her paw across her forehead and closed her eyes listening only to the sound of her rapid breathing. Everything sooner or later would return to a perfect order, if not for the burning and uncomfortable sensation of being...

...watched.

Cynder dropped her paw and slowed down her breathing while raising her head with her eyes wide open. She scanned the surroundings, only darkness greeted her, she squinted, trying to somehow pierce the thick black veil.

And then she saw something on the opposite side of the room.

With a gasp she swiftly rolled on her belly and flexed her muscles. Blood started to pulse quickly in her veins.

" Who's there?" she let out a muffled shout, trying to hide her shock

Whoever was there didn't respond, yet she knew that something was standing there, she could barely make out the slim protrusion in the darkness where the leg of whoever was here was most likely.

" Spyro is that you?" she whispered with a meager hope in her voice

There was no reaction, whatever was there remained in the same position.

With each silent second the gnawing sensations of danger and fear were getting stronger, something was very wrong with this darkness, it seemed that even the moon dared not to peek inside her room. It was driving her mad very slowly.

" I'm warning you" she let out a wavering growl " I'm about to lose my patience and you won't like it when I do"

Nothing.

Swallowing the gulp of nervousness stuck in her throat Cynder narrowed her eyes a little harder on the protruding shape. That leg, or at least she thought it was a leg didn't resemble any leg she saw before, but in the light of the current events she has to expect that there will be many things she could have not possibly ever imagined.

What if one of the portals just opened in her room and some sort of mute and deadly creature was just passing through it?

That single thought empowered by fear and the feral survival instinct kicked her adrenaline in. Not wanting to rush into the Veil blindly just to end in another bug's maw she decided to try a more safer approach.

Taking advantage of her quick thinking she grabbed the soft pillow lying nearby and hurled it at the presumed portal. Time seemed to slow down, with the eye of her imagination she saw the pillow rotating in the air as it headed for the veil, glowing like some sort of a godly magical projectile, ready to end the portal with a single thunderous rumble.

For a moment Cynder was paralyzed when instead of a deafening rumble she heard a soft smack as the pillow hit something hard, and then another smack when it landed on the floor.

Suddenly every cog in her head started turning, the darkness was no longer hindering her sight, for a moment she was every single piece of furniture in her room.

With the anxiousness being gone she reached for the lamp standing near the bed on the nightstand, not even knowing why she didn't pick it up sooner. With a smile she lit it up, put the handle in her mouth, bounced to the other end of the bed and extended her paw with the lamp in it towards the invader. Seconds later everything was clear.

" It's a wardrobe" she muttered with her smile growing steadily as she examined the wooden door and the wooden handle being revealed in the light. She looked down on the legs, and then up on the door again.

" It's the damn wardrobe" tears instantly filled her eyes as she started laughing heartily. The explosion of joy lasted for quite a while.

When it finally ended Cynder sat on the bed, leaned the lamp on her leg and wiped her tears " Ok keep cool" she mumbled " Let's just say that crazy people don't get freaked up by a wardrobe, normal people do, just like yourself"

She giggled " And don't forget that normal people also talk to themselves and dream about being the opposite sex" the dragoness shook her head in disbelief " Did I seriously dreamt about being a guy?"

I did.

And then her smile vanished and her tears dried up, in a moment's notice she recalled every part of her dream perfectly. Yes, she was dreaming about being a guy, who killed his mother, that old female and probably many more poeple in cold blood, there is nothing funny in that.

But why did she dreamt about that? She has never seen the guy in her life, she has never seen so many black dragons before and never been inside this...Shade citadel or whatever where all the fighting took place.

If she has never been there, then why all those things feel so familiar?

Suddenly she bounced on the bed.

" What the hell?" the dragoness exclaimed while pushing on all fours staring at the sheets underneath her with wide eyes, not even caring that she tripped the lamp.

For a moment nothing happened, just when she was about to blame it all on her imagination the sheets started to punch her again. The dragoness stared at the white material completely paralyzed with shock and fear, not truly comprehending what is happening.

The moment the lamp was thrown off the bed and shattered on the ground she woke up from her trance. She couldn't really decide if it was the sound of the breaking glass or the sudden lack of any light that forced her to move.

It wasn't long before she jumped from the bed, dropped on the ground and with anxiety, adrenaline and fear gripping her heart looked under the bed.

The bed stopped moving.

Cynder found herself staring into pitch black darkness, the room went completely silent. She began to pant through closed mouth, her heart began to race, a sense of complete panic was slowly overwhelming her, she couldn't see anything and it was even more terrifying.

Until now she had already channeled enough of her Wind element to most likely blew every piece of the furniture away, yet she was holding back, she didn't know why, she could swear that there was something in that darkness staring right back at her, but the overpowering feeling of horror just squeezed her throat.

The bed creaked suddenly, as if something just jumped on it.

With her heart ready to break through her chest Cynder was on all fours momentarily. She delicately opened her mouth, wind whizzed through the opening her feminine lips created. Once again there was nothing there.

Something brushed against her tail.

The dragoness momentarily spun around, just as previously there was only darkness. Yet she didn't want to take any chances, with wavering steps she pressed forward, turning her head from side to side constantly, looking for any sign of...something.

To her surprise there was nothing there, however she could swear something touched her tail. She cautiously reached the end of the room where the door to the balcony were nearby and found nothing again. There is something seriously wrong here.

She spun around and made a step towards the bed. She bumped into something. The wardrobe again?

It was when she narrowed her eyes she noticed two brown eyes flashing from the darkness and staring at her.

She jumped back with a horrified scream, powerful gust of wind wreaked havoc in the room soon after.

* * *

Spyro woke up instantly at the sound of the loud rumbling noise coming just from the room next door.

" Cynder!" he shouted and pulled himself off the bed swiftly

" Dude!" Sparx exclaimed terrified from his sleeping spot near the ceiling " Did you hear what I've heard or was I dreaming?"

" It came from Cynder's room!" the dragon yelled and was momentarily in the corridor

With adrenaline now completely intoxicating his bloodstream he grabbed the handle and pushed the door, to his surprise they didn't budge.

" Cynder are you alright?" Spyro shouted and tried to open the door again, no luck. Something was blocking them from the other side

He retreated a couple of steps and prepared to charge.

" Bro try the balcony door!" his brother yelled from the doorstep of their own room " They're made from glass!"

Following his brother advice Spyro dashed through his own room in seconds. Sparx was right, it will be much quicker to get inside through the balcony than breaking down the front door. Without wasting any more time Spyro climbed on the railings, leapt in the air and landed on his friend's balcony.

Not caring to check if the glassy door were closed he ran directly at them. Luckily they were opened, in seconds he found himself standing in a complete dark room.

" Cynder?" Spyro shouted as he turned his head around

" You found here bro?" Sparx asked when he stopped in front of the opened glassy door

" Cynder?" the dragon shouted again

" I'm over here" he heard his friends voice coming from the darkness somewhere next to him

" Sparx go get our lamp!" Spyro yelled and carefully made his way towards the direction from which her voice came " Are you alright?"

" I'm fine" she mumbled

After three more careful steps he noticed one of her green eyes shimmering in the blackness, staring somewhere in the distance. She was sitting in the corner of her room, quite spooked

" I came as fast as I could"

" Ok"

" Have you found her?" Sparx shouted again as he entered the room, yellow light illuminated the area, the source of this brightness coming from the lamp he was holding

" We're over here"

The dragonfly turned towards the direction from which the sound came. When he did that he noticed both young drakes, it was the female that drew his attention. She was sitting in the corner, still as a board with her tail resting on her front paw, the second one was busy scratching the choker on her tail.

" Boy, being stiff like that makes you a perfect Footloose material"

" Sparx not now" Spyro snapped at his brother while keeping his worried gaze on his friend " What happened?"

Sparx snorted and turned towards the interior of the room while extending his paw so the light could reach farther. The image that the lamp he was holding revealed made his eyes go wide " Whoa" he blurt out

Hearing his brother's surprise Spyro couldn't help himself but to check what was so shocking. His eyes also resembled saucers when he followed the glowing shape of his brother, who revealed more and more of the room thanks to the yellow light.

From the spot where he was currently and almost to the middle the room was completely empty, every painting and other piece of the furniture was crumpled on the opposite side where the front door were. No matter if it was a simple nightstand or a heavy wardrobe, everything was broken and blown away to one side of the room. The only things that remained on the floor were splinters and the bed's white sheets with feathers lying and slowly swaying downwards in the air everywhere.

" What were you doing here?' Sparx muttered amazed

" Redecorating" she replied casually

The dragonfly nodded in faked approval " You got a knack for it" he pointed at the mess ahead " Hey, you missed a painting!" he put the lamp on the floor and darted towards the disorder ahead

Spyro looked at his friend again who was still staring in the distance " Why did you do this?"

" The room needed some feminine touch"

He shook his head " Cynder will you stop with the irony ple-" he was cut off by the sound of tearing canvas. " What the hell are you doing?" he blurt out when he looked at his brother who in one hand held the frame of a painting while his other hand pierced the canvas inside out

" Tying up loose ends"

Spyro just gave him a dumfounded look.

" Every story needs that"

The look didn't change.

Sparx rolled his eyes " Whatever" he hurled the painting behind his shoulder

Spyro frowned at the sound of the frame crushing somewhere on the floor.

The dragonfly covered his mouth " Oh, no" he mumbled in faked fear " Did I just ruin the decor?"

The purple dragon shook his head and turned towards his black friend " What happened?"

" Stuff" she replied automatically

Extremely worried and slightly irritated by her answers and the constant screeching sound he gently grabbed the paw which was busy scratching the choker on her tail.

" Cynder please, I want to help"

The dragoness blinked and looked at their joined paws, just to raise her gaze moments later. She no longer had that scared and distant look in her emerald eyes. She smiled weakly at him.

" I think I'm crazy"

" And you smashed the room just to tell us THAT?" Sparx blurt out

Spyro ignored his brother " Tell me everything" he said kindly

She withdrew her paw from his own just to pat it next " I'll try but first I need a glass of water"

" Done"

* * *

" Is he dead or something?" Spyro asked when the three of them stood in front of the door leading to Flare's room

Sparx pressed his head to the door and listened intently, he recognized the sound coming from the room immediately " You're not that lucky" he pushed the door open

On the ruined bed that was nothing more than sheets sprawled on the ground lay Flare, he was on his back with his head just beyond the edge of the white material, snoring loudly. VERY loudly.

" He sounds like Terrador after a few drinks" Cynder commented making all three of them chuckle

" At least now we know why he didn't hear a thing" Spyro added

Sparx moved towards the sleeping dragon and hovered just above his orange belly and dribbled his forefinger

Both young dragons winced in slight disgust.

" What are you doing?" Cynder muttered dumbfounded

" Playing as a team" he then pressed his slick finger on the dragon's belly and began to slide it across his orange scales, curling and uncurling it constantly.

It wasn't long before Flare's eyes snapped open and his snoring ended. With wide terrified eyes he screamed at the top of his lungs, rolled on the ground, got up, and began to flap his wings, swing his tail and occasionally jump while slapping his body.

" W-w-wo-r-r-r-r-m-s-s!" he let out a stammered scream

In that very moment Sparx burst out laughing.

Spyro and Cynder just stared with their mouths opened.

That only made the dragon more nervous, the room instantly became hot as the flames covering his body intensified.

" I-I-I c-c-can f-f-f-feel-l-l-l them o-o-o-on me!" Flare screamed again

Cynder snapped out from her trance " Flare calm down! There are no worms here!"

After hearing her shout Flare stopped thrashing and looked at her, panting heavily, she just stood there perfectly calm. He then examined his body, no worm was crawling on him and then he finally heard the almost agonizing laughter. He narrowed his eyes on the dragonfly, everything became clear.

" You!" Flare growled " it was you wasn't it?"

Sparx laughed for a while but eventually managed to calm down. With one hand wiping tears from his eyes, he raised the second one in the air " Guilty" he mumbled in between chuckles

" Why you do this to me? the drake asked sadly

The dragonfly threw his arms aside, as if trying to show that the dragon missed the obvious point " Dude we're a team! We're, you're up" he grinned " And because it's sooooo much fun"

" You're mean"

He raised his hand again " Guilty" he flew towards the doorstep " Now come on crybaby, Princess needs a drink"

And the group was on their way towards the mess hell, as they passed through the corridor that connected the City Hall's main room with the dining area and the kitchen as one, they heard a baritone shout that belonged to only one dragon they knew.

" Friends!" Terrador shouted after spotting them " I'm surprised that you're up so early, but I'm happy to see you. Come over here!"

The group made their way towards the Earth Guardian and stopped in the doorstep when they realized that the Guardians aren't the only one present in the room. In front of Cyril and Volteer was sitting a young blue dragoness. The moment they stepped into the room she pushed up and directed her eyes on them.

" I believe a proper introduction is in order" Terrador commented


	47. Chapter 9 Book III

Chapter 9

There she was, the mysterious guest and proclaimed murderer by some, judging from Cyril's and Volteer's expressions they weren't much lucky finding if she is actually innocent or guilty of the crime. Only Terrador seemed to be in good mood, most likely he is a fresh arrival, just like the four of them are.

Both the foreign dragoness and the four group of companions locked gazes. Every member of the little group was carefully looking the female over, she was doing the same with them. If the eyes of the young four companions could talk they would all agree on one thing.

That girl is unique.

She is a satin blue dragoness, the light blue colored scales cover most of her body, the rest are taken by pure white scales. However it was hard to tell where the scales changed colors exactly thanks to the brown bandage wrapped on her body which covered the middle of her draconic figure. There was a red stain on the lower part of the bandage where it covered her underbelly. Most likely it was there where the spear pierced her leathery armor, and judging from the blood it seemed that the wound didn't heal properly yet.

Even with the bandage they could try to guess where the whitish hue adorned her body. Three white streaks were clearly visible, two began on her shoulders and ended almost in the middle of her body, the third one ran along her back, right through the middle. The streak became thinner and thinner the farther it went, eventually turning itself to a barely visible dash when it reached the tip of her tail.

The tip itself resembled a sharp ice spike, it had the exactly same color as Cyril's scales, making it look like it was made of ice.

The lower side of her tail was also white, just like her underbelly and chest. The white color also adorned the toes on her paws, from which sharp silver claws protruded.

A delicate line of white ran along her nose, it got thicker in between her eyes just to split right above her eyebrows and encircle her eyelids. Giving her a _white eye_ illusion so to speak.

She had two diamond piercing eyes with a brilliant shine, there was something very intimidating about them, which made you crave and fear them at the same time. It was like her eyes had two layers. The scary one was the first.

Her eyes were cold, not even a tiny bit of emotion could be seen in them. They were dominating, and the shimmer within them was hypnotizing, it was like one look was enough and those eyes could read every pattern of your very soul. And something told them that no matter how pure your souls is, her diamond eyes will always find a scar.

Only after such examination you were able to tell that the magnificent shimmer was emanating from the layer below. Only then you realized that the first layer was once a pure crystal prison for that glimmer, which perfectly reflected the shine underneath. If the diamond prism wouldn't be tainted by invisible stains, it was certain that when those eyes blinked they broke and charmed many male hearts.

Two blue horns protruded from her head slightly forward, they were bent in the middle, almost at the right angle. The form of her horns resembled that of a bull.

What really caught everybody's attention was her wings, as the most characteristic feature of every dragon. However it wasn't their size that stood out, her wings were rather small compared to any other dragoness her age, what really mattered was their build. The outer edges of the wings which connected with her shoulders were solid bone for support, like every other member of the draconic specie had. Everything else was different. Instead of membranes the dragonesses wings were filled with actual feathers, they were mostly light blue, they adopted a white hue only at the end of the wings, where membranes should connect with the other bone.

She also wore three gold bracelets, two small ones were on her horns, the third, bigger, was locked around her right foreleg. She also had a tarnished gold chain wrapped around her neck which held a round medallion with a tiny faded sapphire in the middle. There was also some sort of an engraving definitely running around the medallion. However that peculiar embellishment was so small that it was impossible to tell if that were letters or some kind of images.

Just like Flare she had a gem inserted in her chest, it was a beautiful crystal, glowing with a blue and white illumination. The lights swirled inside the crystal like tiny colorful fishes in the water, giving the gem a delicate bright shimmer.

The dragoness made a step towards them, and then another one and another. Her tail began to sway tauntingly, her eyes were constantly locked on them. As she swaggered across the room she spread her wings, as if trying to show with who are they dealing with and at the same time demand admiration.

Cynder rolled her eyes with a mocking sigh.

Spyro however fell for her trick, even despite the palpable aura of arrogance radiating from her, there was something very enthralling and intimidating about her. It was because of her cold eyes, together with her almost diabolic horns that made shivers run through your body, but at the same time there was something breathtakingly charming about her, as she spread those angelic wings of hers you just couldn't get your eyes off of her.

Such combination of hell and haven in one body piqued your curiosity, fuelled your interest and ignited your imagination, daring you to make a move but at the same time preventing you from even leaning.

She had that specific evil charm about her, Spyro didn't know why but he always found ominous somewhat appealing.

" Everybody, meet Iris" Terrador's baritone tone announced

" This is the purple dragon of legend?" she asked with a cold tone, Cynder realized that her accent was exactly like Amela described. Mix of Common and Manweersmall's natural dialect.

" Precisely!' Sounded Volteer's typical excited voice " This is the one who conveyed our salvation"

Iris stopped in front of the purple dragon, Spyro felt the weight of her scrutinizing gaze on him. Then the dragoness began to encircle him. He smiled and gave Cynder a cocky look, pretending to be proud that a female found him interesting. His friend just rolled her eyes.

The blue dragonesses claws were clicking softly on the floor as she carefully examined every inch of his body, not betraying her thoughts in the slightest.

" I'm not impressed" Iris finally stated with her emotionless voice the moment she finished her examination and returned to the starting point in front of Spyro's snout

Cynder let out a muffled derisive chuckle at seeing her friend's beaten expression.

Cyril rubbed the ice spike protruding from his chin with a delicate smug smile on his snout " You should be, Spyro managed to prevent our world from breaking"

" Don't tell me what to do Old Man" the ice dragoness retorted and moved to the other member of the group

Terrador frowned after hearing the blunt display of disrespect, he even managed to open his mouth but no words came out since the paw of the Ice Guardian landed on his chest. The earth dragon looked at his old friend and saw the meaningful shimmer within Cyril's eyes, demanding in the most polite way the ice dragon could muster, that he stays out of it.

Terrador knew that look even from the time when they were hatchlings, from the very beginning of their acquaintance they, didn't see eye to eye regarding many different things, which always resulted in an argument between them.

This hasn't changed to this day, however there were moments when Cyril put all of his stubbornness on his point of view and never backed off. This situation here was one of this moments, even if there are in constant rivalry about many things, shared leadership demands debates after all, there are some lines that you shouldn't cross, and as a friend it's your sacred duty to honor those unwritten laws.

For that sole reason the Earth Guardian remained silent.

Iris continued her evaluation process, she moved to the other dragon in the group, it turned out to be a black female. The girls looked straight inside each other's eyes, the contact was brief, the male part of the group believed that the ice dragoness ignored Cynder, but as guys they weren't capable of understanding the feminine intuition. They weren't aware that in that case looks spoke louder than words.

As if not acknowledging the black dragoness the young blue female continued and stopped in front of the peculiar looking burning dragon. Just as previously she locked her piercing diamond gaze on the fiery dragon's eyes. Flare feeling the weight of her glance on him became extremely nervous and lowered his head momentarily.

" I'm F-F-F-Flare" he stammered bashfully

" I don't care" and with that she spun around towards the Guardians " I still think that you are nothing more than cowards"

" Hey!" Sparx protested and darted in front of the dragoness and folded his arms indignantly " Didn't you forget about something?"

She aimed her cold gaze at the dragonfly.

Terrador growled, his soldier's pride took a serious blow, there are words that offend more than the most brutal and straightforward insult. Coward is such a word.

" Remember where you are, insol-"

He was once again held back by Cyril's paw.

" Perchance you'd like to execute with great minuteness a statement in justification of your belief before you toss impetuous imputation of blame" Volteer interjected with his typical fast and still counseling speech

Iris moved past Sparx as if he didn't exist.

The dragonfly's arrogant and angry expression vanished completely " Now that's just rude" he muttered casually

" I think that you hid in a land that everybody believed to be inhospitable, there are places in the Glacier Mountains that even I cannot overcome. I believe that you somehow managed to avoid the blizzard and ran away from the fighting to save your worthless hides, using the prophecy as your great excuse" the blue dragonesses accusing accent echoed in the vast room

" You're thoroughly conversant with the prophecy?" the Electric Guardian blurt out, his lips twitching with agitation

" Everyone heard about the great and mighty purple dragons, bringers of peace, justice, bla, bla, bla"

" This is simply stupendous revelation!" Volteer yelled in uncontrollable excitation " Based on state of being assertive supremely on the basis of cited evidence we may convey that the tuition of lore about purple dragons was communicated from one group of individuals born and living contemporaneously to the other for perhaps many eons!"

" By the current sensation aroused by stimulation of the visual receptors we are unable to factually fathom if our friends of dissimilar origin are from the past or the future. Further oral exchange of sentiments, opinions and observations will unquestionably be abundantly teeming. This is-"

" Bullshit" Iris finished for the dragon

All three Guardians furrowed their brows in surprise.

" How can you not believe in the prophecy when you have the living proof standing right behind you" Cyril's voice could be heard

" Goldie over there looks like a street cleaner, ordinary, no different than any other dragon. In his paws we're supposed to put our fates? He wouldn't have a clue what to do with them, he would check if the thing he's holding is eatable. He would fart and wonder from where the stench is coming from. There is no spark in him, nothing special, he's suitable only for dumb labor"

" Goldie?" the purple dragon muttered with a surprised frown " My name is Spyro" he corrected the dragoness

" From all her rambling THAT'S what bothered you?" Cynder asked amused

" You couldn't have been more wrong child" Terrador commented

" Don't call me a child, filth" Iris snapped back

Everyone was taken aback by the blue dragonesses insulting reply. Terrador was shaken and disgusted by the blunt display of disrespect, his militaristic temper could not bear such insults. Her words even managed to shake off Volteer's typical cheerful smile, but not because the dragoness obviously didn't care about their position as Guardians but because someone treated his old friend so harshly and openly.

Only Cyril was amused, and it wasn't long before his wavering lips parted and a merry laugh escaped his throat.

" Such pride! Such arrogance! This is the true draconic heritage! Only the ice dragons know what kind of beings we truly are. Only we give the rightful credit to our royal and majestic blood. We are dragons! Powerful and mighty creatures! Meekness is for the weak!" the Ice Guardian burst with another dose of triumphant laughter

Terrador growled, his furious gaze never left the blue dragoness " I believe you got what you wanted Cyril?"

" Oh yes!" the ice dragon roared cheerfully and turned his victorious eyes towards his amber friend " Did you hear that Volteer? I didn't make up my royal blood, she is the proof of that. She is a highborn also! I know that such volatile temper can't be a coincidence. There are things you won't find in your books my old friend!"

" It may be the corollary of the condition of not being able to perceive beyond the end of one's nose" Volteer replied waspishly

" And you CHILD" Terrador growled with his stern commanding voice " You will behave, you are a murder suspect and you will remember your place or face the consequences"

" You have no hold over me!" Iris growled irritated " Do you know who I am?"

" A fool trapped in her now deluded world"

" How dare you!"

" Perhaps you were someone of important stature in your time but here you are reduced to equality. Yes, you heard me, HERE, we weren't trying to trick you by saying that you are a victim of most likely accidental time travel"

" Don't sell me this crap, I clearly remember colliding with a mountain where there shouldn't be one in the first place. So either mountains started to grow from the ground when I wasn't looking or I've passed through some sort of an illusion. You need to have an escape route correct? It seems I've knocked on your backdoor"

" I'll repeat myself again CHILD, you're a fool"

Iris growled again, more ferocious this time " Stop provoking me! For all your wise speech you still constantly mock me. I'm warning you"

Terrador narrowed his gaze on the dragoness, he couldn't deny the fact that his old warrior's bones were itching for a fight, yet the wisdom of a Guardian still directed his motives.

" I'm not mocking you, your arrogance and pride make you blind, you just don't want to accept the fact that you might be wrong. This is why you are a child. You also don't want to change your mind in the light of obvious evidence. This is why you are a fool"

A puff of white smoke wafted through the dragonesses nostrils, the Earth Guardian noticed the shell her overgrown ego constructed waver. The girl is obviously not stupid, the reason why she didn't want to accept the truth was not for his mind to understand, but now after his all in all harsh and well deserved chastisement she seemed to finally think clearly.

The blue dragoness snorted " Fine" she hissed coldly " Let's say I believe you, let's say that the cat I've seen earlier wasn't a lucky survivor of the Purge, let's say that you didn't ran with your tails between your legs, let's say that you didn't put this…" she pointed at the gem embedded in her chest "…into my body.

" We aren't well-acquainted with the designation Purge or Glacier Mountains, neither we conceive the nature of your charge of wrongdoing. This jewel I postulate is some sort of non-organic power source, perhaps the quiddity of this mystery lies in you, Flare and any other dragon we will assuredly meet in the future. Dolefully I don't know what produces the effect of bringing together the gem and draconic embodiment in this particular relation but I'm free from scruple that the crystal filters the energy from you"

" I order you to get it out!" Iris snarled " I don't want some parasite feeding on me!"

Volteer shook his head " We cannot do that"

She pressed her claws to her chest around the gem " Then I'm going to do it myself"

" If you want to throw away your life, by all means do it" Cyril said in his typical dry voice

She leered at the Guardian.

" Careful, accurate and exact postoperative inquiry established the validity of intrinsic conjunction between the crystal and your main vessels that carry blood high in oxygen. Extraction of the gem would mean your untimely expiration" the Electric Guardian explained the situation as clearly as he could

The dragoness narrowed her eyes on the amber dragon " Lucky me" she muttered coldly

Cyril recognized the ambiguous tone in her statement " Sarcasm is futile here, we have nothing to do with your condition. I'm sure you noticed that Flare over there has a similar gem and he isn't blaming us for that"

Iris turned her head to look boldly at the dragon.

Noticing her gaze on him Flare smiled bashfully and limply waved in her direction.

The dragoness confidently spun towards the Guardians, wiping the friendly smile from the fire dragon's snout. " Where am I? she asked, her voice was ringing with that commanding and arrogant tone of hers

Terrador watched her closely, the insolent girl was getting on his nerves, she had a way of breaking even the thickest armor of calmness. Even if her inflated ego didn't even waver he could see that at least now she is truly considering the option that everything she heard might be true. That's a start, a poor one after everything that occurred, but still a start.

" This are the Dragon Realms, currently you are in the city of Warfang, the capitol of the Realms. I wish I could welcome you here in a far pleasant mood however" the Earth Guardian gave her a meaningful look

She repaid him with a glance of her own, in this circumstances he thought he will see something else in her eyes, but he was wrong. Her glare was stern and challenging, the green dragon realized then that no apology is coming.

An awkward silence has befallen on the room.

" Have you heard of the Crystal Wyrm?" Iris finally asked, observing the three old dragons closely

All three Guardians shook their heads " No" Cyril commented " We aren't familiar with the name, or the title more likely"

" I believe you now"

" Excuse me?"

" I believe you, you didn't flinch when I mentioned the name. I'm buying, with difficulty I might add, your story about time travel. For now"

" You seem awfully calm for someone who just switched worlds"

She aimed her diamonds on the Ice Guardian, for a moment he noticed what he believed was a weak spark of indescribable pain " I've lived through worse horrors" she commented proudly

" I've lived through worse horrors" Cynder poorly mimicked the dragonesses accent and dropped her right paw on the ground with freshly polished claws with a scoff. " Look at the heroine, about time you pulled your head out of your ass!" she muttered to herself

Then as she observed at the four draconic figures ahead she felt that irritating scratching at the back of her mind, as if someone was staring at her, and not in the discreet way. She turned her head around and spotted the two foster brothers observing her with wide eyes, their looks spoke volumes.

Cynder bit her lower lip " Did I say that aloud?"

Both brothers just nodded in dumfounded silence.

" Are you the Crystal Wyrm?" Volteer asked the blue dragoness astutely

" No" she replied

" Had that creature so much substantial influence and the power to determine, adjudicate or otherwise settle issues or disputes that the lack of discernment was like a verdict?"

" If I time jumped…" Iris acted as she didn't hear the question "…then where am I? is this the past or the future?"

Both Cyril and Terrador looked at Volteer, since they didn't have any answers for that question.

The Electric Guardian rubbed his chin thoughtfully " I can undertake with unwarrantable boldness only one elucidation. You're in the present. I have a thesis that when Spyro refitted our world the parts of our land that fractured prior to that specified time were enticed back together creating those caesuras we call Veils. Why the clash caused the portals to have no enclosing or confining barriers drifts I don't know. I speculate that the puissance Spyro unleashed somehow fueled our reduced in intensity or effectiveness world, and perchance the essence got stranded in between one of the elements or factors, which give our world its entity"

" Whoa" Cynder muttered " From where he get his ideas"

" I know right" Spyro replied amazed " It's like Volteer's theory just rules out any other possibilities. It's like a…a-"

" Totalwipeout" Sparx finished for his brother

Terrador rubbed his forehead, he had enough of keeping pace with Volteer's fast speech for a lifetime " Perhaps it would be best if you would tell us how your world looked like"

" Splendid!" the amber dragon exclaimed excited

The Earth Guardian winced " But!" he pointed his finger at his electric friend " We will listen in silence, and speak only when it will be our turn"

Cyril grinned seeing the Electric Guardian's sad look " You heard the boss"

" Maybe you'll start why you've been surprised to see Spyro, after all you are familiar with the prophecy" Terrador pulled the young dragonesses tongue

" This is the last time you told me what to do" Iris snapped back

The green dragon growled furiously " Listen girl, I won't tolerate yo-"

" There are no purple dragons in my time" the dragoness continued as if nothing ever happened, silencing the angry Guardian " The prophecy is nothing more than a fairytale for kids, no purple dragon came to our rescue when they were needed. One of those suckers is standing behind me, so that's a proof they existed, yet none of those guys pulled their head out of their hiding hole when things got rough. They are nothing more than weaklings and cowards"

" She's getting on my nerves" Cynder hissed angrily

Sparx patted her head " Tell me when you want to kick her ass, I'm with you"

" Shhh" Spyro urged his friends to be quiet

" Spyro saved our world from total destruction" Cyril commented, swallowing his pride with difficulty " He's a hero, there is none who can match his power"

Iris snorted in disgust " And what this so called hero had to do to save the world?"

" Spyro defeated Malefor, the one who was just mere second from annihilating our world"

" And Malefor was?"

" An evil purple dragon"

" Figures. Weakling fighting weaklings"

" This doesn't bother you at all? She's openly insulting you" Cynder muttered to her purple friend

Spyro offered her a broad smile " I've learnt from the best" he winked

" You don't know what you're saying" Terrador admonished the blue dragoness

" it turns out it is you who live in a deluded world brick, not I" Iris commented coldly

" Do not lecture me, I'm far older than you, I've seen more blood than you can possibly imagine. Terrible scenes of horror"

She gestured at the surrounding area " You mean this?" she scoffed " You all are sitting inside your safe four walls, I can hear people walking outside, many, many people living peacefully. This is your scene of horror? And don't tell me about all those past wars and battles, because you know what, they are in the PAST, they are as worthless as the last year's snow"

The Earth Guardian shook his head in disbelief " You are too young and arrogant to understand, such moments scar you for life"

" So what? Whatever happened here in the past perhaps was terrible but you know what's the most important lesson here? IT'S OVER NOW. You can continue on with your lives, build another city, have some kids and eventually die in FUCKING PEACE"

She noticed the green dragon opening his mouth but she stopped the incoming words with her risen paw " Before you give me another shitty wise speech and idiotic arguments imagine that someone didn't have a break. Someone out there in another time or world had to fight for her life the moment she hatched. Imagine that she didn't have a place she called home and had to move constantly to avoid her pursuers. Imagine that sometimes she begged the gods for help but nobody listened. Imagine that she tasted happiness only for a brief moment that in the end turned out to be a ruse. Imagine that as time passed everyone close to her died. Imagine that many of her kin were slain, almost driving the draconic race to extinction. Imagine all those things and tell me if you still know what horror means. Imagine that and tell me if you know what true EVIL MEANS!" she roared furiously

She narrowed her gaze on the Guardians " Idiots"

Cyril's mouth twitched into a mocking and wrathful smile " Seems like this barking dog seldom bites"

" Cyril!" Volteer admonished his friend

A screeching sound resounded in the City Hall when the dragoness ran her claws across the ground " Another word and you will be busy finding your tongue"

An icy mist wafted from the old dragon's nostrils " Come and get it CHILD"

" ENOUGH!" Terrador roared " All of us have rough history, every one of us deals with the burden differently. Let's leave it at that and try to work with each other for the better good" he looked at the blue dragoness " I apologize for jumping to conclusions and misjudging your situation. I wonder what was so dangerous that it drove our kind almost to extinction, enlighten us if you will"

"A plague which not only destroyed my kind but also the world around" she gritted her teeth " Humans" the dragoness hissed with obvious hate and abhorrence

Terrador and Cyrill furrowed their brows " Humans?" the earth dragon asked surprised.

" Does the locution _humans_ classify within a general category or group as Mankind?" Volteer asked curiously

Iris furrowed her brows " You know about them?"

" You were not able to think and speak clearly especially because of your post-operative malady"

" We found the remains of those humans and couple bodies of dragons near the place where we found you" Cyril interjected " Have you killed them?"

" They're dead?" the ice dragoness asked with a hint of arrogant triumph in her voice " How many of them were there?" a delicate note of worry could be heard in her voice

" It is impossible to tell, scavengers got to the bodies before our people did. You were lucky that our scout found you and called a healer, otherwise you'd be dead"

" Think!" Iris growled with a commanding tone " How many corpses were there?"

Cyril frowned " I've already told you, we don't know"

" Where is the scout who found me?"

" You aren't going anywhere until we prove your innocence" Terrador added

She narrowed her gaze on the Earth Guardians " Aren't you a smart one, didn't my questions about the corpses prove my innocence already?"

The Earth Guardian growled " I rather hear you admitting it openly than rely on guesses. You didn't have problems speaking your mind earlier, you won't have them now"

Iris snorted " Fine. I didn't kill any of them, wish I had though, they deserve much worse anyway. Happy now?"

" Even dragons?" he looked at her closely, judging if the words coming from her ill-mannered mouth have any truth to them

" Those things are made from the same clay like mankind"

" I don't understand, we all are dragons, you are a dragoness, why you compare those humans with us? Are we that much alike?"

" No"

" You need to elaborate on that"

" I'm tired of this questions" the dragoness blurt out annoyed " I believe I've satisfied your curiosity. I'm innocent, we're done here"

" But have we placated yours?" Volteer suddenly asked

Iris looked at him with interest shimmering in her eyes.

The look was enough for the Electric Guardian " The past or the future?"

For a brief moment the dragoness averted her gaze, she touched the medallion on her neck, for a teeny tiny second her diamond orbs shimmered with a held back light as she quickly looked around the room.

" Past" she muttered without the usual arrogant confidence in her voice, almost hopefully. She dropped her risen leg and narrowed her gaze on the amber dragon, once more everything was back to normal " How are we going to decide that?"

Volteer smiled kindly " You are the crux"

The blue dragonesses eyes glowed with raw curiosity.

" Your wings, they are startling in a way that endear attention, I haven't seen such wings for many years. Who are your begetters?"

" My mother was an ice dragoness, my father I think was a wind dragon"

Both Terrador and Cyril gasped in shock, it was so obvious and they just didn't connect the dots.

" You aren't assured?"

" it was the females who chose their mate, the males didn't have a say in this matter. To be chosen by a female was a great honor, and when the child was sired it was solely risen by the mother. Why is this important anyway?"

" Wind dragons are no longer in existence"

" What?" Iris blurt out " Then that means…"

Volteer nodded " You're from the past by reasonable assumption"

" Whoa" she exhaled amazed " I'm dead and everyone else is dead too" she paused, suddenly her eyes burned with an evil triumph " Good"

The Electric Guardian's eyes looked at the fiery drake in the back of the room " There were no purple dragons in your epoch, correct?"

" None that I know of. Why?"

" Is there a contingency that they might exist in your world, in a not readily indubitable settlement perchance?

" No, my suspicions about some fertile land in the mountains are gone, knowing how the situation looks like now. There is no other place where those cowards could be holed up, I still don't see h-"

" This are prodigious facts and minutia regarding the Veils! This is something that furnishes proof that the portals agglutinate more than one era. Flare comes from a time where purple dragons were manifesting recurrently. Do you regard as plausible without utter staunchness what this preordains?"

" Both of you hearkened about purple dragons and in more commendable precedence I'm certain that both of would take heed about the prophecy. Flare has been endowed with great cognition about purple dragons, you, withal, were not. This insight presents extemporaneously an idea to me, the Veils steer us in a course of a sole world but in diverse stages of our draconic generation"

" With this entity actually coeval to consciousness I believe that Flare is from an era dating from the remote past, feasibly even the first one conveyed into subsistence. Determining from the populace of the purple dragons from yours and Flare's epoch I envisage that there were more draconic generations than two. After all they couldn't just cease existing in a span of a single era"

" Fascinating" Iris commented with her typical emotionless voice, when the amber dragon finally ended his irritating, worthless monolog. She has already learned what she wanted to, history from the past is unimportant right now.

She aimed her cold gaze at the Guardians " This meeting is over. You bore me" and with that she turned around, and made s step towards the front door, not caring that four guys were in her way

" We bore you," Cyril muttered indolently " yet you spent so much time with us. Something doesn't add up"

" I was determining your usage. Only Waggler got a point"

Terrador leaned towards his ice friend " You're still proud of your royal blood?"

" Shut up" the ice Guardian snapped

" I'm sure you know you can't leave the city" the ice dragoness stopped at the sound of the commanding voice coming from a familiar feminine throat.

" Is that so?" Iris hissed coldly and spun around to face the agitating creature

Amela folded her arms and leaned against the wall leading to the corridor from which she arrived " Or you are going to open that wound again, you don't want to rely on my help again do you?"

The blue dragoness growled " I don't need anyone's help"

" If that would be the case, we wouldn't been having this conversation right now"

" What the hell do you want Puss? A thank you? You're not getting any for doing your job"

Amela smiled " Puss?" she laughed " I'm not trying to get appreciation for saving your life" she smirked, one thing she already realized is that the girl hates impuissance, but nothing stops her from rubbing the girl's nose in it. An eye for an eye after all.

" I'm trying to show you that people are still good, and they still mean well, if you just let them get close"

Iris snorted and spun around " People will get out of my way if they know what's good for them" with that she renewed her walk, focusing her gaze on the group of four ahead

" You can't shove your way through life"

" Don't tell me what to do Puss" she continued her advance towards the group ahead, when she got close she saw the two draconic males wavering. Good, they already learn, what she didn't expect was a black feminine paw landing on her chest and holding her back.

She aimed her gaze on the insolent creature, her diamond eyes clashed with a pair of fierce green ones.

" Ohohoh" Sparx mumbled in fear while grabbing his brother's horns and pushing him away " This gave me the chills"

" What are you doing?" Spyro blurt out surprised

" Man you don't want to be close, we are better off if we pretend that we don't exist"

" What? Look at them! They're going to kill each other soon"

Sparx nodded with a hard swallow " Yep, and bro trust me, you don't want to get involved if you want your head intact. You just don't get in between angry chicks, it's the true test of strength and ironically real masculine guys like me, you and, if I get drunk even Flare, get reduced to the role of a punching bag"

Spyro shook his head " I'm not going to let them fight!" he protested and made a very confident step towards the females " Girls! This is enough, let's j-" four furious feminine eyes immediately focused on him. His paws wavered underneath him, his blood froze and for a moment perhaps his heart stopped.

The purple dragon coughed nervously " C-c-carry on" he mumbled and instantly jumped back the way he came and hid behind his brother

Both females once more focused on each other, Iris' snout was wrinkled by an agitated snarl " Get out of my way"

" Not until you apologize" Cynder hissed back

" I won't repeat myself"

" Me neither"

" Sweetheart" Amela's voice echoed in the room " You won't win with stubbornness, just let Iris go, there's no need to start trouble over such a trivial matter"

The cheetah had a specific effect on her, Cynder just couldn't say no. Eventually she dropped her paw, even if reluctantly.

" Good girl" the blue dragoness hissed triumphantly and shoved her way through the black dragoness forcefully, making the black female moan slightly. With her tail swinging proudly the young ice dragoness left the City Hall

Cynder observed the door until they closed " Bitch" she hissed furiously

Terrador sighed tiredly " Now that was an interesting meeting"

Amela rubbed her forehead " She's a piece of something isn't she?"

The black dragoness snarled " I won't say a piece of what"

" What are your thoughts on her Amela?" Cyril asked

The old cheetah played with her earring " Well, she wasn't really interested in sharing her thoughts as you already know I'm sure. What I know is that she is keeping everyone at a distance, she just doesn't trust people, why I don't know. Oh and I believe she is looking for something, or someone, she is really interested in finding the spot where she almost bled to death" she raised her hand defensively " And yes, I've listened to your conversation, sorry for that"

" If she's hiding something we better not allow her to leave the city"

" I don't think she's going anywhere, not in her condition. She may have a big ego, but she's not stupid, she won't risk her health, especially when she knows how it ended last time"

" We still better have an eye on her" Terrador commented and smiled " Any volunteers?"

" I think we have a perfect person for the job" Cyril replied " She's looking for the scout who found her, who's better to keep someone in check if not our best tracker? Not only he will sharpen his skills but also feed his fascination. Everybody wins"

" I propose a minute of silence and deep prayer for Hunter" Amela added with a smile

And with that everyone present in the City Hall burst out laughing, for a moment an arrogant girl was their whole problem. During this explosion of joy they weren't aware that somewhere out there, in the Dragon Realms, at this very time, were people who'll never laugh again.


	48. Chapter 10 Book III

Chapter 10

The Mess Hall was more lively than usual, even from their table in the corner every barely audible and loud murmur reached them. Many of Warfang's houses were already rebuilt or were in a condition that offered a decent amount of comfort and privacy. Yet people still came here in big numbers, in fact the crowd in this place seemed to grow daily, it seems that shared dining has an intoxicating effect, perhaps that's why people still flock here, they seek companionship.

The atmosphere in the mess hall was pretty normal, joyful and carefree, it all changed with an arrival of a group of workers. Their took their meals, picked a table and immediately started talking among each other, and what's more importantly also with other people who seemed to gain an instant interest in their conversation. The food laid on the table untouched, clearly a sign that something much more important has taken the worker's minds.

The freshly arrived laborers were like some sort of organic magnet for all kind of whispers, they accumulated all of the conversations just to discharge them moments later and suddenly two more tables were murmuring in the same tone they were. Another discharge, and another tables joined the nexus, not only the source sent out signals, also the already taken tables were spreading their influence to the surrounding people.

To observe this scene from the corner was a peculiar sight to say the least, people acted like they were zapped and momentarily forgot what they were talking about, now only one thought was bouncing in their heads. It wasn't long before the young group of friends senses that the atmosphere in the Mess Hall has changed completely, joy and smiles were no longer present here.

Worry, anxiety, irritation and the overall concerned grimace has overtaken the massive cafeteria. The three friends observed the people closely while at the same time trying not to rise any suspicions that they are listening. Whatever is bothering this people seems to be really serious.

Sparx constantly threw side glances while munching on a fruit slowly " Who wanna bet it's about Cynder again?" he whispered

Spyro frowned " Why do you always think it's about her?"

The dragonfly nodded at the black dragoness meaningfully " She's here alright? Usually that's enough"

Cynder snorted " Charming"

Sparx shrugged nonchalantly " Wait till you hear what they say about you"

" Let's see…" the dragoness huffed and raised her paw " Slut, murderer, kinslayer…" with each word she counted her claws

" Pffft" the dragonfly shrugged " I've called you worse myself"

Spyro threw his brother an angry, admonishing glance.

Sparx threw his arms up defensively " What?" he blurt out surprised " That was a compliment"

Cynder waved her paw bashfully " Oh stop it before I blush" she squeaked shyly while covering her mouth and flapping her eyelids flirtatiously

Spyro shook his head with a smile, she already had a way of relieving tension, yet combined with his brother's carefree attitude the effect was so much greater.

" …the Guardians…" someone whispered

Sparx burst out laughing " Imagine if we-"

" Shhh" Spyro hushed his brother

" …Keep your voice down!" someone from the table behind them admonished his companion

All three friends looked at each other meaningfully, it was then when Sparx cleared his voice and pretended to talk with Cynder, while Spyro was listening intently and slowly eating his portion of the food.

" …I'm not really a fanatic" another worried male murmur reached them " and don't care about that guy at all, I think he's not right in the head, but what if he actually got a point?

Somebody behind them clashed the tabletop " …How dare you speak about a genius like that?"

" …I can say whatever I want, got a problem with that?"

"…I've said keep your voice down!" this time the admonishing murmur was louder, it was clearly a female

" …You've heard what those guys said?" a draconic whisper from the table ahead reached them

" …I agree with Brill if you ask me" a female cheetah added " there's something fishy going on and nobody says anything"

" …I bet Lightbane has something to do with it!" someone else let out an angry muffled shout

Both Spyro and Cynder looked at Sparx who just waggled his brows triumphantly.

" …Don't be ridiculous, Spyro wouldn't let that happen" another admonishing voice

" …How can you be so sure? Maybe she did charm him or something"

" …Are you crazy? We're talking about Spyro here, he wouldn't fall for such simple tricks"

This time Cynder and Sparx looked at Spyro who was just grinning with fake pride.

" …The Guardians must tell us something! They have no right to keep us in the dark!" someone, it was difficult to pinpoint where, muttered indignantly

" …The Guardians know what they're doing" a high pitched feminine voice protested

" …Let's ask them" a different female voice resounded " They have to know something"

" …If Spyro isn't saying anything then he has to have a good reason. I trust that boy with my life" some male assured voice echoed

Sparx rolled his eyes " When they're going to finally stop licking your ass?"

Cynder smirked "Jealous?"

The dragonfly grinned " No, I'm still better than you"

" I don't need anyone's attention"

" Really?" Sparx scoffed

The black dragoness frowned "Yeah, really"

He shrugged " If you say so puppy"

" What's that supposed to mean?"

Sparx munched on his fruit with a knowing little smile" I don't know what are you talking about"

Cynder let out a tired sigh " Whatever"

" …I'm not one of those zealots who dances to every tune Brill plays for me, but in all his idiotic rambling he might be right. All this strange new arrivals may be harbingers of something really bad" someone commented

"…Isn't Brill one of those freshly arrivals himself?" someone else replied skeptically

"…alright, my mistake, maybe they aren't that bad"

"…First that Flare guy" a female voice could be heard " a literal walking fire and now that odd girl. Have you felt how cold the air is around her? Gives me the creeps"

"… Yeah, I hear you. They appeared out of nowhere" a different feminine voice commented

"… It's too quiet I tell you" a hectic whisper stood out from the cacophony of other murmurs " something horrible is stirring I can feel it in my bones"

"...all these people talking" a different terrified mutter reached their hearing senses " they just keep reminding me of my fear and misgiving. Something terrible happened, I just know it"

"... I don't like this either" another person agreed

The whispers, the murmurs carried on and on and on, people were so stirred about the events and the news brought by the anxious group of laborers that they didn't realize that the mess hall now resembled a bee hive. Every now and then the group of young friends saw that some of the people wanted to question them, interrogate even about what is happening, yet in the end no one approached them.

It was hard to tell if they had so much respect for Spyro and even Sparx that they didn't want to insult them, or perhaps the reason for their reluctance was Cynder, who many of these people considered as the seductive evil mastermind and were afraid of her. Truth lies in the middle they say, but honestly it didn't matter for the three friends who these people blame, they had other worries.

After a while the numbers in the mess hall thinned, some new faces had overtaken the seats of the previous guests. It was because of this exchange that the atmosphere in the cafeteria finally changed tone, becoming more calm, yet not as happy as they were used to, at the same time.

Spyro played a quiet hollow and somewhat nervous rhythm on the tabletop with his claw as he observed the surrounding inhabitants of Warfang closely " Great, people are starting to talk"

" It's about time honestly, people are not stupid or blind, they know that something is happening" Cynder explained

The purple dragon sighed " Guess you're right, all this silence had to backfire sooner or later. The only thing that bothers me is that Brill once again had his claw in this, I just wonder what kind of crap he sold to those people" the dragon growled quietly " How I hate that guy"

Sparx gasped in shock " No, bro!"

Spyro looked at his brother with a dumbfounded frown.

" You who always loved everyone hate someone? I don't recognize you anymore!"

" Sparx cut it out"

" What that poor zombie mole do to you? The dragonfly asked with a wavering voice, almost as if he was about to cry

The purple dragon just commented it with a tired sigh.

" Just because he has a different point of view on things doesn't make him worse than you and I. We are all equal here, even moaning zombies have rights you know!"

Cynder shook her head in amusement.

" How can you be so cruel bro?" Sparx squeaked, his lower lip twitched as if it was struggling to hold back a sob " He has feelings too!"

The black dragoness giggled.

" You enjoy making fun of me don't you?" Spyro asked casually

The dragonfly patted his brother's head, the hurt expression was replaced by an evil grin " I think you know the answer dude"

" When you're going to grow up finally?" Cynder muttered mirthfully

" When you're finally gone"

The black dragoness grinned " I'm not planning to leave until I'll see your bug eaten and withering corpse"

" At least now we have an estimated date" he replied with a snicker of his own

Spyro chuckled " Do you guys hear yourself?"

" Oh come on Spyro, what else is there to talk about?" Cynder replied happily " People will find out the truth sooner or later, there is always that one big problem with secrets, eventually they always get revealed. Nothing can be done about that"

The purple dragon's eyes widened in sudden enlightenment, he was so focused on the surrounding murmurs that he completely forgot about the main thing that brought him here.

" Speaking of secrets…"

Cynder's expression darkened instantly after noticing her best friend's grimace and recognizing the tone in his voice. She just dug her own grave.

" Shit" she mumbled under her breath

" I think it's about time yo-"

" But now when I think of it!" Cynder interjected, cutting Spyro off " I believe that people are overreacting"

" Cynd-"

" They should know when we aren't saying anything we are doing it for their safety right?"

" Cy-"

She let out a faked laugh " Or at least should know that you want what's best for them, they would never count me in the same team"

Spyro threw his brother a pleading look.

Sparx leaned closer " Bro this is your girl, you need to learn how to shut her up" he whispered

Spyro jerked his head back in shock " My what?" he blurt out and instantly looked at Cynder, at the sight of her confused gaze he blushed and momentarily focused on his brother anew

" Of course I'm not saying you'll be successful" Sparx continued his mutter unhindered " Not the way you think at least, but getting smacked in the head, repeatedly, will eventually silence her"

Spyro stared at his brother completely dumbfounded " What?" he blurt out after a moment of silence before impulsively turning towards his black scaled friend, defensively retreating from the conversation with his brother" Enough games, we-"

" You guys are thirsty too?" Cynder blurt out while shaking the turned upside-down pitcher which held water before they emptied it.

She threw quick nervous glances at the two brothers " Gonna refill this thing, be right back" she stammered hectically and instantly got on all fours

" Sit Cyn I'll go" Sparx interjected with a kind smile

The dragonesses eyes widened at the sound and look of his friendly expression " Y-you?" she stammered

" Yeah" the dragonflies supposed kind smile only grew wider when he patted the tabletop meaningfully " Come, sit"

Cynder cleared her throat and forced her mouth to twitch into a indistinct " Stay" she replied with forced politeness " This pitcher will be too heavy for you"

Sparx waved his hand dismissively while chuckling happily " Oh stop worrying about me so much, you know I work out, I could lift a sheep" he pressed his hands to his chest " Besides you two don't really have the time to talk anymore since I just get in the way"

Spyro observed the whole scene with an amused smile.

" T-t-talk?" Cynder stammered in fear while she threw her purple friend a quick glance

Taking advantage of her shock Sparx swiftly darted forward and snatched the pincher from the still confused dragoness. The kind smile that adorned his face stretched to unimaginable limits.

" Yeah, I'll leave you two alone for a while" with that he pet Cynder's head " Don't hold back on details" he winked and flew away with his mouth twitching strongly as it tried to hold back the explosion of a rumbling laughter accumulated in his throat.

Cynder watched the dragonfly go " That ass played me" she mumbled in disbelief

And then there was silence, not even the ongoing conversations seemed strong enough to pierce it, for her everything stopped mattering. She just stood there watching the flying dragonfly maneuvering between the crowd in this silent world of hers until he finally disappeared from her sight, behind the many scaly and furry chests and backs.

And then she felt it, the burning and itching sensation of someone's eyes on you, she swallowed, she felt like a black rat in a cage, there was no escape, his amethyst eyes seemed to be everywhere. The air suddenly got hot, Cynder felt as his gaze was boiling her from the inside, she gritted her teeth trying to fight it back, but was unsuccessful, she has lost this crucial battle for the ongoing war and now it was time to face the consequences.

Cynder hesitantly spun around, there he was, sitting at that table in the same spot as before, his delicate smile was full of worry and kindness, she knew that if she decided not to say anything he wouldn't pry.

However avoiding the topic completely would not only be cowardice but also a betrayal of their friendship, and the trust they built up after so long of being literally chained together would mean nothing. She couldn't let that happen.

Cynder sat next to Spyro, he averted his gaze the moment he felt her tail brushing against him, he knew that his staring was making her uncomfortable and to spare her this burden he focused his sight on something else entirely.

He is a great friend.

She just stared at the tabletop in front of her nose, her head was so low that she could smell the delicate scent of the wood. Time kept flowing and they both still were sitting in complete silence, the dragoness eventually realized that she was staring constantly at the same spot on the table for the whole time, as if there was some invisible battle going on.

Cynder blinked and with a delicate shake of her head snapped out of her trance. For the very first time since Sparx went for the water the silence between both of them really began to bother her. It was like the loudest silence she has ever experienced and the longer she dwelled in it, the stronger the urge to spit everything out and be done with it finally was becoming.

But to somehow quench the sensation of guilt that tossed her about like she was a ship on the ocean after keeping secrets from her best friend for so long she had to use a combination of words that nobody has ever heard before. A combination of words that at first make your eyes grow wide in disbelief but then make you realize that the eternal long pause you made before speaking them mean that you are serious. Combination of words that aren't popular in the slightest.

" I see dead people" Cynder muttered under her breath

Spyro looked at her with a corner of his eye, trying to determine without being nosy if she's fooling around again. Judging from her wavering sigh, he could tell that this is not a game.

The purple dragon blinked " Okay…" he mumbled quietly, not really sure how to proceed with the info he went for a delicate nudge

Cynder threw him a bashful glance before aiming her eyes on the table again " Only one to be more precise"

He watched her closely, another wave of doubt wafted through as he observed her. Something about the way she behaves was a somewhat obvious clue about her honesty, yet no matter what Spyro had a hard time convincing himself entirely to her story.

The dragon nodded slightly " O-okay" he mumbled, uncertainty gushing from him

Cynder narrowed her eyes on him angrily, that precarious tone in his voice hit the right button, her temper was boiling, she is spilling out one of her secrets and he just _okays_ as if not taking her seriously " You don't believe me" she hissed wrathfully

The purple dragon gulped when he noticed her reaction " It's not like th-"

She slammed her paw on the tabletop, the wooden legs moaned in agony while the mugs and plates rattled whiningly " I'm opening up here and you don't believe me!" she shouted furiously

After the dragonesses outburst the mess hall really got silent, everyone present turned their heads towards the yelling black dragoness.

Spyro looked around the room chaotically " No, you don't unde-"

" You can be such an ass sometimes!" she snapped, brutally piercing the silence

Suddenly she felt all the disgusted, angry and taunting eyes on her. Without any second thoughts she raised her head and challenged the annoying eyes. She can do whatever she wants, she can shout at her stupid friend whenever she wants, it's nobody else's business " What the hell are you staring at!?" she growled

One big muscular dragon stepped forward " How dare you speak to Spyro like that?" he growled

Spyro rose on all fours in a moment " Everyone calm down!" he yelled, the big dragon ceased his advance at the sound of his voice " Sit and enjoy your meals, nothing spectacular is happening here. Please, just enjoy your free time"

All at once people started to act differently, all of them stirred and averted their gazes as if in shame, those who stood up and those who wanted to returned to their seats. Silent murmurs once again began to circle around the mess hall, whatever Spyro had in him people just couldn't fight it. There was that indescribable force emanating from the purple drake that just made them obey.

His influence had the same effect on Cynder, the dragoness just stared at him blankly and impulsively dropped to a sitting position, her angered expression softened instantly as she rubbed her forehead.

" Shit, I'm sorry Spyro, I shouldn't have yelled at you, I know it's much to swallow at once"

The purple dragon scanned the room again, just in case before he sat down and smiled while turning towards his friend " It's ok-"

Even despite her apology he noticed more angry wrinkles forming on her snout, he instantly realized why this is happening.

Spyro cleared his throat " I mean it's alright, sometimes my slowness surprises even me"

She smiled at him gratefully " You can't take my faults on yourself all the time"

" How about you start from the beginning? You've got my full attention, but make it quick, my head can't work on such high pace very long"

Cynder let out a chuckle before taking a deep breath " It all started when we slept in that cave back in the Valley"

Spyro's mind was instantly thrown back down the memory lane, back to the moment when he was woken up by her in the most sophisticated way a friend can stir you. He impulsively wriggled his wings, a numb sting ran through his back when his body remembered the pain her silvery claws caused.

Dragons have natural regeneration process that seals every wound, yet even this magical healing cannot remove the invisible scars that are left on draconic scales. The body remembers what the minds forgets.

" I completely forgot about that!" the purple dragon blurt out quietly, there was a tune of blame ringing in his voice " I promised to help you figure this out"

Cynder narrowed her gaze on him, not entirely sure what he is talking about at first but seconds later everything came back to her. The shadowy creature standing over Spyro ready to plunge its black sword into her sleeping friend.

A cold chill ran down her spine when she remembered that particular moment, only thinking about losing him made her feel dead and ruined already. She discarded the horrible thoughts with a blink of her eyes and a wavering breath.

This is not what she meant but now when he mentioned it she couldn't help but wonder if those creatures she saw, like the hulking beast in that forest, the previously mentioned shadow, or that thing in the water were somehow connected with the creepy dragon that has been haunting her. She didn't have an answer for this question, but something told her that this wasn't a coincidence, if it's good or bad only time will tell.

Cynder shook her head, she once again was looking at her friend, the memories from that day were fresh in her mind, just like it all happened yesterday " I don't remember anyone saying _promise_"

" it doesn't matter!" Spyro protested

" it does!" she snapped back

The dragoness noticed his mouth opening to voice another protest but she killed the air coming from his maw with a sharp rise of her paw in the air " Besides this is not what I was trying to say. That night I had one of the weirdest dreams ever…"

" _Not even close_" she mused to herself

"…I've dreamt about my past, you know the happy times when I couldn't think straight and killed everything that moved"

Worry shrouded the purple dragon's snout in an instant " You've began to remember your...b-but how? And why?" his voice was becoming more hectic, more wavering by the second

" I don't know, but-"

" We need to make those dreams stop, they can't continue, nothing good will come out of it. Why didn't you tell me anything?" words were shooting from his mouth one by one. In this particular moment he sounded just like Volteer, minus the fancy words and the obvious fear in his voice

" Spyro relax an-"

The purple dragon pulled himself up " We need to do something, I-I need to do something" he spit sentence after sentence while staring in the distance, like he was cut off from the whole world and was only seeing what his mind wanted him to see. He really resembled those crazy hermits now, lunatics living in their own imagined worlds.

" You feel any different? You want to plot? Think about the Dark Master? Have the urge to kill someone?"

Cynder frowned " You know what, there is currently that one purple dragon that forces that special tug…" she muttered with a hint of mirth in her voice

" _Expose your heart to summon ghost, then face alone what you fear most"_

In Spyro's head it was the Eternal Night all over again, he was once again back on the White Isle, he has finished all elemental challenges and was now standing in front of a portal that led to the most terrifying place in his whole life. The Elemental's Dragon waited for him there, a dragon which exactly looked like Cynder's adult form under Malefor's control. His blood froze just thinking about it.

" I can't just sit here and do nothing!" he blurt out scared and panicked as he spun around while jumping straight on his paws

Cynder blocked his chest with her wing and his legs with her tail " And what are you going to do?" she asked calmly and with a bit of sadness in her voice, the sight of him so sacred because of her hurt badly

" I don't know! Something! I won't allow you to become corrupted again"

" Spyro" she muttered, there was that powerful kindness, gratefulness and charm in her voice that made him listen, as if some invisible hand would squeeze his heart and made it obey

" Those are just dreams, I had to eventually remember, you can't just discard that part of your life just because you don't like it. Corrupted or not, it was me back then and there is no changing that, sooner or later the nightmares had to start, that is how our minds, our conscience work. Those dreams have nothing to do with corruption..."

" _Are you certain?"_ she once again heard her doubtful voice inside her head

"...The Dark Master or any other similar horror. Dreams are just dreams, unimportant flashes"

Spyro eased the pressure on her feminine blockade " Are you really that sure?" he asked worryingly and still scared

The dragoness averted her gaze, she didn't have to say anything. He already knew the answer.

The dragon sighed painfully and once again returned to his sitting position while watching his friend closely " You said you see ghosts, this is why you thrashed your room right?"

" Something like that" she mumbled

" And I bet it all started after that dream?"

Cynder dropped her head " Yes" she whispered, barely audible

" Then how can you say that the dreams have nothing to do with it?"

" I don't know, ok!?" she growled in desperation, making his head jerk back. She rubbed her forehead, she felt horrible after screaming at her friend " Sorry, everything is so confusing lately" the dragoness muttered after a little pause

Spyro rubbed her shoulder caringly " Cynder, you know you can tell me everything"

The dragoness looked at him sadly " You sure want go down that road?"

He nodded with a silent gulp " Positive"

" Before I begin I want to say that I will never allow myself to become corrupted. I don't know how that really feels but when I will want to kill your brother more often than usually I'll slit my throat myself. There is no way I'm going to the dark side again"

" Somehow I don't feel any less calmer"

She swallowed " With that out of the way I want to clarify that I don't see ghosts. I don't really know in what category you can classify the dragon I keep seeing"

Spyro furrowed his brows " Dragon?" for a moment he looked a bit calmer " It's just a dragon, it could be worse right?"

" Maybe. What I know for sure that this is no normal dragon, his wings are tattered, and darkness seems to follow him. Not to mention that he almost looks like you"

The dragon's head reared back " Like me?"

Cynder nodded slowly.

Spyro's expression brightened up " That's good news! Just look at me, I couldn't scare a fly off even if I wanted to"

She smiled weakly " Don't forget the wounds and darkness, also I've said he looks ALMOST like you. His body is purple, but his wings are green, and he has those two emotionless creepy brown eyes"

" Do you recognize the guy?"

" Weren't you listening? I've said he looks like you"

" You said he almost looks like me, as far as I know I don't have brown eyes and green wings"

" What's your point?"

Spyro shrugged " Did you meet a dragon with green wings and brown eyes somewhere?"

" I've met many dragons" she scoffed " Just in Warfang there are more than dozen dragons with similar green wings. Where else I could see-"

The dragonesses voice trailed off abruptly as every cog in her head started turning at its top speed, sorting through every memory, every sensation, every dream.

Dream...

And then everything cleared, every memory was cast out like useless cards, sensations followed, dreams joined also, except for one.

She was looking inside a burning, ruined building, a mangled corpse of a female dragon was lying on the ground. Next to the body stood a barely alive male, his green wings and brown eyes began to glow like huge colorful braziers when he began his suicidal charge.

" I know who he is" Cynder muttered hoarsely, her throat was sore

Spyro leaned closer and swallowed impatiently.

The dragoness cleared her throat " He is the dragon from one of my creepy dreams, in a more younger version..." she began to scratch her choker thoughtfully

" Why him?"

The delicate squeaky sound of scratching carried on, minutes flew by while her silver claw kept moving up and down the choker on her neck. Eventually her paw stopped moving.

" I don't know" she mumbled defeated

" Oh, well, at least that's a start, right?"

" I guess" she mumbled half-heartedly

The conversation died, Spyro didn't pry, he just waited patiently for her to continue her story.

" I'm scared Spyro" Cynder finally continued " Whenever I see him fear overwhelms me. I don't know why, darkness is following that…that…thing like a loyal dog and I'm terrified of it, of that dragon" she cackled " I'm scared of the dark, of my own element, can you imagine? Pathetic"

" Hey" he huffed caringly " Nightmares work that way, in them we can be scared by even the most stupidest things. Maybe that's why you keep seeing him, just think about it, we've been through some seriously traumatic experience, especially you, facing your former master. Maybe the purple scales don't represent me but him, maybe now everything piles down on you, maybe your mind needs some time to sort it all out. Some rough nights and everything will be back to normal, you'll see"

She looked at him, confusion and resignation shimmering in her eyes " Then how you will explain the fact that I've seen him while being fully awake?"

Spyro looked genuinely startled " What?"

" Last night when I've…redecorated my room I wasn't sleeping and he was in my room. I didn't see him until the very last moment but I just knew he was there, watching me from that thick impenetrable darkness"

" Are you sure you weren't sleeping?"

Cynder narrowed her gaze on him, his disbelief was irritating " I'm certain"

" Because you know, it was the middle of the night, I've heard something about _waking dreams, _maybe-"

The dragoness slammed the table once again in fury " I wasn't dreaming for fuck's sake!" she growled and the mess hall went silent again

Spyro raised his paw while not losing her from his sight, giving the most common signal that everything is under control. After a while murmurs once again began to circle around the room. He dropped his paw.

" Just think, it is a quite feasible explanation"

Another growl rumbled in her throat " I wasn't dreaming"

" How can you be so sure?"

" I- WASN'T- DREAMING" she pronounced each word slowly with palpable wrath in her voice while moving her claws down the tabletop, deep scratches appeared on the now wounded wood

" Cynder pl-"

She clenched her paw around the edge of the table and yanked it forcefully, tearing a bit of the wood as a result while she furiously narrowed her gaze on the purple dragon " Alright Professor, what will you say when I tell you that I've also seen him in broad daylight, huh? On our way to Munitions Forge I've seen that fucker standing behind some trees in the distance, I've also took a glimpse of him when we were fighting with those fucking bugs. What do you have to say about that? Was I dreaming back then too?"

Spyro's eyes widened in complete terror, he took notice of her enjoyment as she slaughtered those creatures one by one. Back then he thought he was overreacting, that the misgiving he felt had no sense, but now something told him he was right, something deep down told him that he needs to be cautious in this hour of dread.

_He only saw his friend enjoying such a killing spree when…_

Something deep down finished the sentence for him that he didn't have the courage to do himself back then.

"…_she was CORRUPTED"_

Some time ago it might have been just the heat of a moment, a simple chaotic display under the influence of unsuspected fear, happens, you eventually fight it and beat it into submission.

_CORRUPTED_

Now it was different, his entire being was filled with such a dread that he lost contact with the surrounding world.

_CORRUPTED_

In an instant nothing remained, even the feeling of his own limbs, fear is a powerful weapon…

_CORRUPTED_

…horror even more so. Nothing existed for the purple dragon…

_CORRUPTED_

…there was only that one word rumbling inside his head…

_CORRUPTED_

…like an unending powerful ringing of a huge bell.

_CORRUPTED_

_CORRUPTED_

_CORRUPTED_

This time however his fear was justified. This time it was serious.

Spyro didn't even feel when he got up, he was completely numb, the world around him seemed to slowly wake up.

" No, not again" he moved his mouth but only heard the last letter and the moment he pronounced it the world swirled back into its normal pace, where he was again stopped by the black blockade.

Cynder watched his panicked gaze as if enthralled " Where are you going?"

" This is bad" he mumbled " this is no coincidence or bad luck, I just feel it"

The dragoness frowned irritated " Just stop right there"

" NO!" he shouted and pushed her paw away harshly " You don't realize what is happening!"

" Oh yeah?" she snorted angrily " I bet you do, correct?"

" Imagine that I do"

" Of course!" the dragoness scoffed " You're an expert on everything"

Spyro narrowed his gaze on her, mix of irritation and fear was boiling inside of him " No, not on everything, but I know how to recognize danger, especially when I've already faced it once!"

" What danger are you talking about you overprotective imbecile?! It is me who see ghosts, not you! And you seem to be more freaked out about it than I do!"

" You know what freaked me out?! I tell you! It was y-" as he yelled a red light howled inside his head killing his shout in an instant. In that moment Brill flashed before his eyes for a second and he knew why. The dragon raised his gaze, everyone in the mess hall was staring at them, listening to their argument.

He didn't care about that, what really struck him was the fact that he was seconds from spitting out words that some of these people just wanted to hear, words that would condemn his best friend, especially if they would come out of his mouth in the already fragile situation. After so much time with her he subconsciously programmed his own safety switch that always goes off when he would obviously bring harm on her, even if in anger.

Spyro quickly approached the dragoness and clenched one of his paws fiercely on her shoulder " I've seen you" he growled through clenched teeth " the older you in that fight. I've thought I was imagining things but now I'm sure that it was all true"

Cynder ferociously clenched her paw on the purple one holding her shoulder " Just because I wanted those things to pay makes me evil now?" she shoved his paw away indignantly

" I'm not buying this, I know what I saw and I'm going to do something about it. You won't stop me"

" See!?" she roared furiously " This is why I don't tell you anything! Whenever something is happening with me you go all knight-like and try to shield me from everything! I'm not weak, I'm not some damsel in distress in needing rescue, I don't need protection!"

" I'm your friend!" Spyro protested angrily " Whether you like it or not I'm going to help you, nothing else matters"

" Just think about yourself, just this once!"

" I don't care about me, you're the most important thing that happened in my life"

Tears of anger welled up in the dragonesses eyes " Don't you understand that I don't want to be the center of your world?!" she yelled with a wavering voice

Her words struck him deeply, it felt like a stab with a cold blade directly in the heart which shattered on impact making part of his heart explode in display of gushing blood, blood that swept some of his anger accidently and replaced it with something much worse.

Cynder felt like a huge lump just got stuck in her throat almost choking her. The clear pain painted on his snout broke her heart. She approached her friend and began to rub hone of his forelegs up and down with great care, apology and bashfulness.

With difficulty she raised her gaze to meet his " I want to be a part of your world" she whispered pleadingly " Not the whole deal. There has to be some room left for Spyro"

Spyro pressed his paw on top of hers, she gasped faintly thinking that he will push her away, but to her surprise he gently trapped her paw inside his. A sensation of pleasant warmth flooded through her.

" I'm scared Cynder" he confessed painfully " I can't let you become corrupted again, I can't go the same road again, I can't"

His words moved her, but also filled her with tremendous force of joy, this only proved to her once more how lost she would be, how gone if not for him holding her even if he doesn't realize it. He is her anchor, without him she would have drowned in this sea of guilt, rejection and accusations long ago. The least she can do is to help him conquer his fears.

" Hey, I'm not going anywhere, I plan to nag you for a very long time"

Spyro smiled, yet there was something in that smile that betrayed his doubt and not truly sincere relief " Do you see him now?" he asked bluntly

His down to earth question caught her unaware, at first she wanted to ask _Who? _But only seconds were needed for her to understand what he was talking about, the fear in his eyes only confirmed it. With an anxious swallow Cynder looked past him, she ignored those many different eyes staring at the two of them, she only looked for that single dragon, luckily she didn't see him.

_But he sees me._

That single thought ran through her head like as fast as an arrow from a bow, a chill ran down her spine, something told her, her feminine intuition perhaps, that this isn't just simple misgiving.

This is the truth.

" No" Cynder eventually mumbled as confidently as she could despite that horrific thought still bouncing in her head

Spyro let out a sigh of relief, it wasn't a complete freedom from this fear and anxiousness, but at least it was a start, and it was his duty to see it end. " That thing usually haunted you at night right?"

She looked at him curiously " Yeah…"

" Then next time I'm sleeping in your room"

Cynder furrowed her brows " Spyro I-"

He shook his head fiercely " I don't want to hear about this. I'm sleeping in your room and that's final, if that thing is going to show up again, we're going to kick its ass"

The dragoness observed him with great relief, she didn't want him to be in the middle of her mess, she didn't want him to defend her in every situation and put his good name on the line. Yet, this offer of help she accepted gladly and without even the slightest hint of protest, it was so good to finally get this secret out of her chest.

Amela was right, at least partially since Cynder really doubted that he will just forget about his stubbornness and she would seriously need to correct him then if that happened. However this was different, he was afraid, she could see it and was ready to face that fear. She didn't have any other choice but to do the same thing, let that thing come, this time they, she, will challenge it.

Amela was right.

When both dragons finally agreed on future actions regarding the strange dragon they returned to their normal tone of talking, about just anything that isn't related with any today's problems. Eventually the inhabitants of Warfang lost interest in the young drakes, yet most likely many of them will record this argument in their heads, for better or worse.

When everything returned to normal Sparx returned to the table with a pincher full of water and placed in on the table " There" with that he joined the two dragons.

Cynder eventually looked at the dragonfly suspiciously, not used to see him so silent, especially after everything that happened " You're not curious at all?"

He shrugged with a grin " I don't have to hear the details to know that you're crazy"

* * *

Flare slowly maneuvered through the many rows those big things that held all those colorful… What was it again?

Bookshelves!

And those things on them are called books!

He moved through one row of these bookshelves, then another and another, and his gaping maw just didn't want to shut itself. Not only because he has never seen a book before and to find so many of them in one place was somewhat intimidating, but mostly because he just couldn't imagine, if he ever learns to read and write that is, that he could finish all of them.

There are just so many words in them, how is he supposed to learn all of them?

" Fascinating aren't they?" Flare jumped at the sound of Volteer's voice coming from behind him

He still wasn't used to the way the dragon talked, he was like a completely different dragon. His fast speech, fancy words were gone, now he was talking slowly, like everyone else does, maybe even slower, yet when he talked he made pauses in his speech, as if he was looking for the correct word. It made Flare laugh, in those moments he wondered if the amber dragon didn't need some reading lessons as well.

" Sorry!" the Electric Guardian exclaimed apologetically " I didn't want to…startle you"

The fiery dragon raised his paw defensively " It's ok, I'm still not used to the way you talk. Without those crazy words and stuff, I could never understand you, or follow you. Why don't you talk like now always?"

The amber dragon shrugged " Force of the…habit"

There was something else different about the Guardian. His sentences were short, not tremendously huge as always, and were lacking the typical great amount of detail. Strictly businesslike sentences, that was the new Volteer.

However there was something else in the new Volteer that made Flare chuckle every single time. Whenever the dragon finished one of his sentences his lips seemed to move on their own as if they were trying to spit more words out while the dragon fought with them ferociously to keep them in line. This struggle twisted the old dragon's snout into a most hilarious grimace.

Not wanting to stare Flare turned his gaze towards the nearby bookshelf and examined the tall structure from top to bottom, resignation filled him instantly " There are so many of them here! I will never learn to read"

Volteer let out the most amused and kind laugh " Dear boy, you…don't need to…know every book to…learn to read"

Flare's eyes widened in hope " Really? The how many will I need to read?"

" None…actually"

" WHAT?!" the young drake exclaimed in a display of youthful impatience and the sight of achieving a goal without straining yourself much

The amber dragon smiled " Reading is not about… amounts of books you'll…sort though. It's about the…ability to…form letters into…sentences. Books…help us to…understand…meaning behind those…sentences"

The red dragon nodded slowly " Ok…sounds easy enough. One questions though, what are letters?"

" Let's…call them a…graphic representation of our…thoughts" the Guardian reached for a nearby book and presented its random page to the young drake. He then poked each sentence with his claw, making sure he didn't miss any letter " These are letters"

" There are so many of them!" the young dragon exclaimed horrified

Volteer shook his head " Many of them…repeat themselves. Look…closely"

Flare leaned closer, almost pressing his nose to the soft pages of the book. He sees it now, the amber dragons is right, many of those letters are identical.

" Hey you're right! But how I will recognize which is which? I mean I can see they are different, but when somebody talks how I'm supposed to know which letter he is using?"

Volteer smiled again " Alphabet, I'll…teach you alphabet"

The fiery dragon stared at the Guardian completely dumbfounded "A-what?" he mumbled

" Alphabet. A…set of every…usable letter"

Flare's eyes impulsively jumped from one bookshelf to the other " Every letter? Ok, this doesn't sound easy now"

Volteer smiled " It's very…simple. Follow me, we're going to…begin with…writing lessons"

The fiery dragon was more resigned than excited, he remembered that page with those letters, ok many of them were the same but that didn't change the fact that there were still many of them. He wasn't really optimistic about this whole thing.

" I don't know if I'm smart enough for this"

" You don't have to be a…genius to…learn to write. I'm…certain that you will…love it, writing is so much…fun. Who…knows maybe one day you'll…write about that…crystal of yours"

Flare looked at his chest, he remembered that the Electric Guardian was very interested in that crystal when they first met. It was only honorable to repay the dragon somehow for the upcoming lessons.

" You know what Volteer? You will teach me how to read and write and I'll let you…" he swallowed, this particular words he was about to say weighted heavy on his heart "…experiment with my crystal"

The amber dragon's eyes flared up with almost overwhelming excitement " Splendiferous!" he exclaimed, for this brief moment the old Volteer was back

Flare laughed heartily.

They have finally arrived near the fireplace that adorned the library, in front of it stood a desk with already prepared necessary books and paper to write.

The Electric Guardian patted the wooden desk " Here you're going to…make your first…steps in learning Common. This…library has also many studies where you can…practice on your own without any…interruption, but that's left for the…future. Come…closer"

The fire dragon approached the Guardian and his eyes instantly landed on one very thin book, he didn't know how an alphabet looked like but if he had to guess he would say that this is it, judging from the many different letters, very similar to those he had seen in the book earlier.

Flare swallowed anxiously " If this is the al…phabet then I think I will spend much time here. It looks hard!"

Volteer smiled kindly " Not at all, you'll…see how much…satisfaction gives reading and…writing. When you…start it's very hard to stop, there are just so many…different things…hidden inside many book's pages. Either…interesting legends, or…practical knowledge. Who knows…maybe one day you'll…write your own book"

" Even if I do" the fiery drake replied doubtfully " I don't think there will be anyone interested in reading it"

* * *

Is this truly a draconic city?

Judging from the looks the people were giving her, which were filled with suspicion and worship she could figure out the answer.

She heard stories about magnificent and intimidating draconic cities and fortresses, where dragons would receive their completely deserved respect as the most fearful and powerful kind. Those many statues that dotted the streets seemed to tell her that it was exactly like that.

Those stories weren't fairytales after all.

Whatever.

The brief moment of fascination was over, this isn't her time, if of course Waggler wasn't making up the whole time jumping thing.

No.

He was telling the truth, as crazy as it sounds, it's real... and completely unimportant. What really bothered her was the nagging sense of disgust and hatred for her own kind, even here she could see that her kin was outnumbered, a draconic city without dragons being the dominating specie.

And she was supposed to rally them? They didn't have pride, they weren't putting the lesser creatures in line. They were weaklings and soon they will be gone, cast out by the numerous creatures who will eventually see that they are outnumbering the so called powerful dragons and will try their luck.

And they will win, because apathy is death, she knows it all too well, not to mention that there will be definitely some fuckers among her kin that would do everything to save their hide for promises of power. Dragons are exactly like that, the future doesn't really look that much different.

Whatever.

She needs to find that damn scout who accidently showed up where she almost bled to death. The rats from the hospital told her that he was currently working on a nearby construction site to the north. Hunter is his name and he is one of the walking fur rags.

Iris completely ignored the many stares people were giving her, from curious, to suspicious just to end even on lustful. If one of those fuckers would even try to talk to her she would show them their place. Luckily for them nobody was bold enough.

Weaklings. All of them.

The dragoness eventually noticed a scaffolding surrounding a house, renovation process is taking place here.

Whatever.

She made her way towards the construction site, sounds of ringing hammers and commanding shouts led her. Eventually she arrived at her destination. The workers weren't paying her any attention, she was standing with her eyes aiming high to find the cat while people were just running around her as if she was just a lifeless obstacle.

It made her furious.

With a growl she stopped one of the nearby dragons " I'm looking for Hunter" she announced commandingly with her typical accent

The red dragon who was maybe three years older than her leered " Could you repeat that love?"

She narrowed her eyes on the drake, she didn't like his attitude " I'm looking for Hunter" she repeated coldly

" Damn girl your accent!" the dragon exclaimed amazed "It's so hot!"

Iris could feel every bit of her being screaming, the imbecile in front of her was getting on her nerves.

" Where. Is. He?"

The drake red dragon examined her lustfully, not even caring about the furious tone of her voice " I'll tell you" he leered again " For a kiss"

Iris didn't say a word, the murderous flames burning up in her cold eyes spoke volumes.

The dragon laughed " You like to play rough? I fancy that"

Her eyes didn't change even a bit.

" I can tell that here is some chemistry between us, you know what love? I'm a gentlemen and will fetch Hunter for ya, just don't move your pretty tail from here" he grinned as once more he examined her from top to bottom " I'll be right back"

The dragon leapt into the air " Hey Hunter! My future mate is here to see you!"

A low audible hysterical laugh came from some higher level of the construction site " Your what!? You would have troubles seducing a whore!"

For a moment the renovation site turned into a bee hive as many worker's throats burst out laughing.

" Shut up Capro!" the red dragon roared angrily

" And who managed to ruffle your testosterone ?" from the crowd of workers up above Iris noticed a green snout with a horn projecting above its nose emerging

" Oh my" Capro muttered amazed as he appeared on one of the huge scaffoldings " Hunter you lucky bastard!" he shouted at the top of his lungs

" Stop drooling" the red dragon snapped as he landed near the malachite drake " She's already mine"

Capro laughed, the cold gaze inside the dragonesses eyes were telling a completely different story and the blind fool doesn't see it. A perfect opportunity to hone his manipulating skills " Oh right, the obvious lack of interest somewhat fooled me"

" She's tough I give her that, and I like fiery girls. She wouldn't be the first one I cracked"

" Yet, she isn't interested in finding horny guys. Someone completely else interests her"

A growl rumbled inside the red dragon's throat " Business only"

During their conversation a feline scout appeared on top of the scaffolding. With a frown the cat acknowledged the blue dragonesses presence and made his way down. He humped from one wooden surface to the other, slid down some wooden poles just to land gracefully in front of the blue dragoness without breaking a sweat.

" Hey Hunter! Introduce us when you're done!" Capro yelled from above

With a fake arrogant smile the cheetah turned around and showed the muscular dragon his middle finger before turning towards the dragoness.

A smirk found its way onto the malachite dragon's snout " Now we'll see if the business will get out of hand. I tell you, Hunter can win many female's heart with that gallantry of his"

A puff of fiery sparks wafted from the red dragon's nose " Watch this" he leapt into the air and make his way down

The feline bowed respectfully " I'm Hunter, and I'm at your service" he locked his sight on the female. He has already seen her, but only in her unconscious state, and honestly it didn't give her much credit. He spend long time around dragons to know which of them is special, and the girl in front of him definitely counts as one.

There were many female dragon's here in the city that were noteworthy, that stood out from the rest. But until now there was only one that was truly magnificent and it was Cynder, today another one joined her on his personal pedestal. She was a pretty creature, that's an undeniable fact, but it wasn't her beauty that caught his interest.

It was her aura, that both enthralled you and sent shivers of anxiousness and intimidation through you. Tearing you in half and leaving you within a pit of uncertainty and confusion. Dragons are truly fascinating creatures.

As he raised his gaze he noticed one of his co-workers approaching the blue dragoness with a triumphant and arrogant grin. He knew that guy and he didn't really like him. If there were exceptions to the admirable image of dragons, that guy belonged there.

" See love? Told you I'll get him" the red dragon announced lewdly " Now about my reward..."

Hunter glared at the dragon, yet he remained silent, he was already warned about the dragoness and her _special _attitude. This is no place for chivalry if he wants to get on her good side, if that's even possible, besides the dragoness didn't seem to be bothered by the intruder anyway. She treated him like air and it would be best if he did the same.

The cat's display of respect earned him the right of evaluation, this is how all lesser creatures should behave and they would be granted the honor of her attention. Iris closely examined the cheetah from top to bottom, besides very dirty clothes she didn't see anything unique about him, that would make him stand out from the crowd. A scout through and through.

Point for him.

" I've heard you're the one that found me, correct?" Iris asked, completely ignoring the red dragon behind her

The red drake frowned " Hey I'm talking to you"

Hunter nodded, taking into notice her strange accent, easy to remember. Truly unique.

" Yes"

" Good" she stated " You're going to take me to that place"

The red dragon took a step closer " You're playing hard to get?"

The cheetah focused on the bandage covering her body, it didn't escape Iris' notice " It's a long way, but if that's your wish we better head out now if we want to get there before nightfall" orders were clear, keep her close, keep an eye on her and try not to piss her off.

" I need rest first. You have guards here?"

The red dragon stopped just next to the female " Hey love, don't make me ask twice"

" Yes" Hunter confirmed

" Prison?"

" Yes"

The fiery drake pressed his paw to her soft scales while smirking lustfully " I'll give you some wild time"

The female's eyes flared up with hate " Good"

What happened next lasted maybe fifteen seconds. The air around Iris suddenly became cold as a thick block of ice materialized around her right front paw, transforming it into a brick of ice completely. Seconds later Iris made a swift spin while swinging her icy paw powerfully, the red dragon opened his mouth to say something but never got the chance to finish his task.

Hunter winced impulsively when the icy brick struck the dragon right in the snout, blood shot from his mouth accompanied by the sound of breaking bones and crushed teeth. Some seconds later the dragon was on the ground screaming in agony.

Commotion stirred around the construction site.

" Yoshhh- bitch!" the drake spit out blood between screams of pain " Yousshhh brokssh my jawsh!"

Momentarily two dragons wearing blue capes representing the city guard arrived at the scene.

" What is going on here?!" one of the guards roared commandingly

The fallen red dragon pointed a wavering claw at the blue dragoness " Thishhh slhhlut broke myyshhh jawshh! Shhh atacksshed me!" the drake screamed almost at the brink of tears while spitting out blood everywhere

" Is that true Hunter?" the guard addressed the cheetah, knowing that he is trustworthy and also the closest witness

The feline looked at the blue dragoness with wide eyes, one look into her cold gaze was enough for him.

He swallowed " Yes"

" Get him to the healers" the leading guard barked out an order to his partner while he himself took care of the blue dragoness " And you will come with me, I advise that you behave and don't make your situation worse. We don't tolerate troublemakers here"

Iris followed the guard without any defiance. As she walked away she looked behind her shoulder " When I get back I expect you to be ready Kit"

* * *

Some hours passed after the _accident_, Hunter was about to go on a break when he spotted a dragon quickly cutting through the air. The drake stopped in the air right above his head, even from here Hunter noticed how tired the dragon is. He had to be flying for very long, without even a single stop.

" Boven!" the dragon roared loudly using his last amount of strength " All the people! Dead! Boven…is…gone! Hel..." and with that he fainted


	49. Chapter 11 Book III

Chapter 11

Everything is happening so quickly, moments ago they were sitting in the mess hall, chatting like friends do. Then some guards burst in shouting about Boven being attacked, the news spread like fire, in minutes the whole city knew about the unfortunate fate of the small village.

Mobilization went even faster, people acted like they were expecting trouble and were ready to face it in a moment's notice. The shocked snouts of Terrador and Cyril when they stepped out from the City Hall to announce an official organization of forces and spotted an already gathered force of dragons ready to retaliate said everything.

One word from the Guardians was everything the small army needed, momentarily they were in the air and were flying towards Boven. As the fastest regiment of Warfang's army the dragons will arrive first on the scene, leaving the cheetah's ground forces behind so they wouldn't slow them down. Situations like this require quick action.

Whatever is happenings in the south of the Dragon Realms will pay for this aggression and the quick yet still slower cheetah support force will make sure that the counteroffensive is entirely successful.

This mobilization was very admirable, especially when there wasn't really an organized army of Warfang after the battle with Malefor. The cheetahs were here to help rebuild the city, some of them of course decided to remain inside the draconic walls but they weren't part of Warfang's army. Even the natural inhabitants of the Dragon City didn't have an army, after the War Dragons were wiped out the dragonkind never again got the chance to reorganize their forces. This is why the people's decisive mobilization was that more praiseworthy.

However this is where the good news end.

When the Guardians gave the signal the retaliation force took off but many people remained where they stood eyeing the Guardians rigidly, both groups immediately knew what to expect from each other. People had enough, they were there now and awaited answers, the three friends were glad that they have already left the city. Judging from the people's serious and the Guardian's sour look it was time for a confession and it will be quite a memorable moment for both parties.

Yet no matter how far the three young friends were from Warfang the atmosphere from the city circled around the airborne force of dragons like some kind of disease, infecting slowly each and every drake.

" What do you think we'll find there?" a worried voice of one of the surrounding dragons was carried by the wind

" Nothing good, that's for sure" another voice echoed

" We could prevent it if only we knew what to expect!" a different voice, full of anger and pain cut through the wind

Spyro closed his eyes, a wince of anguish wrinkled his snout. He was flying with Cynder and his brother right in the middle of the formation, it was like the surrounding dragons were a devastating force of an indignant emotional cyclone and the three of them were the unwilling eye of it.

It all could be avoided if they would only tell the truth, everything that was needed was just to get back to Boven and tell everything. Tell about the portal, tell about the creature, tell about Flare's origins, and every other more or less important detail, everything could be the key element in avoiding this tragedy.

Now the secrets are striking back, punishing them for all those unspoken lies, revealing their true faces to the people. In this selfish and defenseless moment Spyro was glad that Flare or that girl Iris weren't here and stayed back in the city, who knows how the soldiers around them would behave with palpable evidences of their unrevealed facts were just at paw's reach.

The pain that filled his heart was so much stronger because Spyro knows that he could stop all of this from happening if he only listened to his instinct. It was as simple as that, all that was required of him was to follow his gut. All that time ago, he felt that, that peculiar feeling only those who faced and understand what true danger means can recognize and he ignored it. Fooled by the calm sky, cheerful laughs and praises of his glory, the overall happiness was intoxicating and after everything he went through he needed some respite, he needed to drink from that well of joy very, very much.

People of Boven paid dearly for his selfishness.

Guilt is a tremendous weight to carry, the purple dragon's eyes impulsively landed on his best friend, automatically seeking any help she can provide, especially when she is going through the same phase. Cynder looked like she wasn't bothered by the news even in the slightest. How she does that Spyro has no idea, envy filled him instantly, he wanted, needed that seemingly callous power. If only for a little while.

Once again selfishness of a helpless creature is speaking through him.

The purple dragon looked around, pondering on his guilt riddled thoughts, for a moment his involuntary masochism was gone, replaced by anger and blame which was strictly aimed on the Warfang's inhabitants, those present here and those back in the city.

Why these people are so angry anyway? They did all of this for their good, for their peace of mind, they couldn't foresee that it would turn out like this. Everything they've done was to protect them, was to spare them the horror of knowing that perhaps another danger is approaching. The idea was to put all the weight of worry on their own mostly young and sparse shoulders. This was a noble goal, people have no right to blame them for something like this, even if it meant to retaining some details for themselves.

If this is the truth then why the guilt doesn't go away?

Who is he trying to fool? The consequences are on them, are on him, wherever he walks rivers of blood follow him. Now to the thick crimson pool was added the blood of Boven's many innocent people. Prowlus was right, that insufferable cheetah was right, he is the harbinger of destruction for both his allies and enemies. Something he has in common with another purple dragon he knew.

" Malefor" Spyro mumbled in terror

He heard stories about the difference between the young and adult Malefor, he also learnt that the former Dark Master obligated to protect everyone, just like he did. What if this isn't the only thing they have in common? What if the same evil fate awaits him in the future?

Today Spyro just can't imagine that he can fall to the dark side and sacrifice the fate of all these people without even blinking, but what if this is his destiny? He never believed Malefor when he spoke like he had no choice in the matter, for Spyro everyone trample his own path, he proved that to the Chronicler.

But what if he didn't?

What if all this free will was just a delusion? Perhaps his revolt against the Chronicler's will was predestined as well? Perhaps every choice he makes, no matter if it's a good or a bad deed leads him down the unavoidable path of utter destruction?

What if the destruction of Boven is not the result of keeping secrets but a sign showing him what awaits him in the future and the innocent as a lamb village is just a foretaste of what is to come?

" Spyro why you haven't told us anything?!" a low angry growl echoed with a loud rumble

" I…" the purple dragon muttered, not able to form any words with the result of breaking his train of thought so suddenly. He was so startled that he didn't even realize just how quiet the dragons around him became after that single male growl

With a corner of his eye he noticed Cynder narrowing her gaze on something or someone.

" Nothing to say again? We have enough of your silence!"

" Capro stop it!" some female demanded

" Can't you see what is happening?" the malachite drake roared with pain in his voice " Boven is gone! Everyone dead!"

" We don't know that" someone else commented half-heartedly

The powerfully built drake cackled contemptuously " You don't even believe your own words"

Sparx curled himself around his brother's gold horn " I have a bad feeling about this"

" We thought it was nothing" Spyro muttered under his breath

" What was that?" Capro snapped irritated

Cynder clenched her paw in the air, oh how she wanted to kick this asshole out of the sky while at the same time wondering if she should interfere and what that dragon is planning since she didn't really buy all that anger towards her best friend. One thing was for certain, Spyro isn't his target, whatever he is doing is strictly connected with her, she was sure of that. The only way to spare Spyro all this fake hate was to let the game of the malachite drake to continue. Sooner or later she will be the main point of focus

The purple dragon swallowed impulsively his pupils ran across the dragons in front of him. Their snouts were turned towards him, even despite the shock after hearing the bold and blunt questions of the muscular drake, their eyes betrayed curiosity and a hint of subconscious blame.

" We wanted you to enjoy some peace while it lasted" Spyro muttered, this time however more loudly than before

" You think we're stupid?!" the malachite drake roared indignantly

" Capro give it a rest!" a dragon from the back ranks protested

" What he said!" Sparx yelled while impulsively rising above his brother's head with his fist clenched aggressively. However the moment the green dragon aimed his gaze on him the dragonfly instantly hid behind Spyro's horn again with a delicate whine.

There was something really wrong with those grey eyes.

Madness?

" And what?" Capro snarled " Start to smile again and pretend that everything's alright while deep down we all knew that something is happening? This is what we are supposed to do? Dance to the same song again?"

The dragons began nodding and silently agree with the yelling drake. Some voices of protest could be heard but they also eventually died within the swirl of uncertainty and suspicion.

" I myself don't buy the stories about trying to protect us, we all lived through the fighting with Malefor. We all are battle hardened, we all could prevent this disaster from happening! Together!"

" We're the good guys here!" Sparx shouted loudly and with his arms spread wide open darted high in the air as if trying to point out the obvious

Capro frowned " Tell that to the people of Boven"

" We were trying to help" Spyro's voice was hoarse, barely audible and hardly understandable like a creak of a broken record

" Help?" the malachite dragon scoffed " What is so noble in lies? They always lead to disaster, you of all people should know that, didn't Malefor die because he so desperately believed a lie? Do you really want to be like him?"

" You can't possibly compare the two, man!" a dragon protested

" Yeah!" Sparx chimed in

" I'm really sorry to say this but Spyro's mind is evidently twisted, the hero I adore would never allow innocent people get hurt, especially when there was a high possibility that another threat is incoming while we were kept in the dark. Spyro I know would never put our lives at risk"

" Listen here muscle head, leave my bro out of this, he did all of this for you. He wanted to sort all of this by himself so you could only worry about tomorrows weather" the dragonfly fought valiantly

" Then why he won't say that he did all he could to prevent this?"

Sparx looked at the drake challengingly " Oh but he will"

" I certainly hope so, because good intentions as noble as they are just intentions. Action matters"

" Oh yeah?" the dragonfly blurt out, the drake had him against the wall here, he just couldn't come up with a good argument " You think you're so smart? Just watch this, my bro will tell you everything, how hard he tried to help of you!" he exclaimed and looked around the flying dragons daringly

Awkward silence has befallen in the formation of drakes, everyone was expecting to hear Spyro's voice and Sparx as the announcer of such battle of words received all the attention he didn't plan to get.

The dragonfly swallowed, he felt his confidence sinking in the sea of those many colorful eyes, eventually it was too much for him and he quickly lowered down just to glue himself to his brother's head.

" You're going to say something, aren't you?" he whispered worryingly

" He's right" Spyro muttered defeated

" But not this dude!" Sparx whined " I'm fighting for our good name here. Man up and make me proud"

Spyro only closed his eyes.

The dragonfly looked past his brother's head, every single eye was still aimed at him. Swallowing hard he raised in the air as if feeling the surrounding dragons expectations " Patience, he's preparing his speech!" he exclaimed the barely comprehensible sentence while presenting the most false cheerful smile ever before he returned to his purple safe zone

" Bro work with me!" he hissed admonishingly

The purple dragon remained silent, you didn't have to be an expert to realize that he was deflated with guilt.

" Come on man, you promised to say something"

No response.

With a sigh Sparx once again took notice of the many curious eyes.

He cleared his throat " Why always me?" he muttered to himself and with the same fake happy broad smile raised in the air

" My apologies guys and gals but you know how it is with heroes, they work at their own pace" he clapped his hands enthusiastically " So chop, chop, turn around and fly, everything will be explained later"

" He knows I'm right" Capro stated bluntly

Sparx spun around towards the drake and shook his forefinger " No, no, no, no, he-"

" …Knows that he could do much more but some influence ordered him to not interfere"

" Alright!" the dragonfly exclaimed angrily " You want the truth? Here it is!" he looked around again, and once more he felt like he was drowning in the colorful sea.

Sparx swallowed, the frown of his anger was slowly replaced by a tremendously fake painful grimace " He's retarded ok!?"

In his head the dragonfly heard shocked gasps and mutters of disbelief but in reality he only got the stare of many furrowed brows that didn't take him seriously.

Sparx covered his eyes as if trying to prevent them from producing invisible tears " That's right!" he exclaimed with a wavering voice " There are times when my brother has troubles telling if his tail is attached to his ass or mouth!" he sobbed pitifully

Cynder just stared at the glowing idiot with wide eyes. She spent so much time around Sparx that she thought nothing would ever surprise her, and yet Spyro's brother proved how wrong she was.

Besides the black dragonesses wide eyed shock, the dragonfly received some very angry responses.

He sobbed again, ignoring the commotion " But that's not the worst of it! Imagine that during that moment of confusion he tries to eat! He grabs a really thick piece of meat and puts it in his-"

" Enough!" someone screamed in disgust

" What the hell is wrong with you?!" another irked shout could be heard

" Are you insane?!" and another one

" Don't insult Spyro!" Capro growled angrily " He's your brother, show him some respect! This is serious, we only want to know why all the details about this strange events were kept from us!"

Sparx looked at his brother, humiliation didn't work, he was still his pathetic self. There was only one way to wake up the intimidating male inside him that he one day was supposed to become.

With a gulp Sparx covered his eyes and pointed a finger to his left " It's her fault"

This time the gasps of shock weren't his imagination, this time nobody called him crazy, this time the silence that befallen on the formation wasn't awkward but full of held back rage. As he looked from between his fingers Sparx spotted his brother's head perking up at the sound of that single sentence.

Cynder stared at the tip of the dragonflies finger in complete disbelief, her eyes were so wide that they looked like they were about to shoot out from their orbits. In that moment of shock she felt betrayed, but the sensation soon passed.

She couldn't blame Sparx, from the very beginning she knew that Capro was planning something to turn the people against her, or something similar to that. Perhaps the unwanted attention she received thanks to Sparx was unexpected, probably even for Capro but that didn't change anything, it would happen one way or another, the dragonfly just rushed things a little.

" Why did you do this?"

Sparx shivered at the sound of his brother's almost murderous tone, putting her on the line wasn't probably the best idea to bring him back from his stupor, but it worked.

The dragonfly " I've panicked"

" What have you done you bitch?" one of the female dragons in front of Cynder roared and stopped in her tracks, blocking the black dragoness

Cynder smiled wryly " Oh, you know, the usual. Bitch. I ordered my men to slaughter all the villagers., Telepathically, imagine that!"

More dragons surrounded the young female.

" Stop it!" Spyro roared furiously and darted towards the group

However hate is a powerful thing, a havoc like this once started is hard to stop, even by respect.

" How dare you make fun of this tragedy?!" some other dragon bellowed

Cynder let out a faint gasp when suddenly somebody shoved her " I'm serious" she exclaimed with mischievous laughter " There are already necklaces prepared for me made from peoples intensities. Every size in the latest fashion, for every season!"

" You whore!" a dragon roared and tried to lunge at the dragoness but was stopped by some other more calm soldiers who noticed that Spyro was making his way through the commotion and out of respect for the purple drake tried to force the same repute on their surrounding companions

" Stop it right now!" Spyro roared again, some dragons listened but there were still many that were blinded by rage.

Cynder shrugged with faked modesty " Not my fault that I look good in blood"

There were so many shouts, both from Spyro and the other dragons that she couldn't make out any words, however the shoves she was getting told her exactly how people felt.

The black dragoness laughed " Especially children's blood is fantastic for my scales, gives them that ominous glow!"

After these words even more dragons started to yell and shout wrathfully.

" I'm going to cut out your tongue!" a female roared at the top of her lungs yet she never got the chance to actually attack the black dragoness. There were still some drakes in the group who respected Spyro's authority more than their own hate.

Another shove, Cynder's evil expression remained unchanged, she was so pumped up on adrenaline that she completely didn't think about Spyro's intervention and the consequences of his action. She just wanted Capro's guerrilla actions be over finally, and she will see them end in her own way, she won't give the drake the satisfaction.

It didn't make much sense since she is achieving what the dragon wanted in the first place most likely but currently she didn't care about this. The only thing that mattered was to strip the dragon of his moment of triumph and show him that not everyone will succumb to his manipulation.

Cynder rolled out her tongue and poked it at the dragoness provocatively while pointing her claw at it as if making sure the female will focus on it.

" It'sshh ssstill herlle" she muttered with her tongue out before hiding it behind her snow white sharp teeth which seconds later formed a broad grin " And it grew a taste for some baby meat. How far we are from Boven again?"

The provoked dragoness thrashed and roared furiously, still barely contained by two pairs of draconic paws.

The cacophony of many taunts, furious roars and insults intensified tenfold. Spyro's not yet fully developed commanding tone died somewhere within.

" Come on guys!" Cynder chuckled " Save your energy, when we get to the village. I propose we relax and play a game there, I recommend headball"

" SHUT UP SLUT!" some drake roared so loudly that even the wind seemed to squeak in agony. Her instinct kicked in, already experienced in recognizing danger. She made a swift dodge in the air but the screaming dragon was too close to avoid his attack completely, his paw still caught her and cut her lip.

There was a strong triumphant roar of many dragon throats.

Cynder touched her aching jaw, a metallic taste has filled her mouth instantly. She smiled as she narrowed her gaze on the snarling dragon who just attacked her, presenting a row of now bloody sharp teeth.

" Somebody told you that you hit like a girl?" she spat out blood " I feel sorry for your mate, no wonder I saw her whoring around with another guy"

The male dragon roared again, his eyes filled immediately with so much hate and wrath that nobody would ever believe that a peaceful drake once inhabited this scaly husk.

This time the attack was serious, there were no clenched paws ready to teach her a lesson, but fully extended draconic claws, which just couldn't wait to bleed her dry.

For a moment there Cynder's mind was filled with clarity, the bitchy temper as she called it subsided for a while and in those tiny seconds she realized that she pushed these people too far.

It didn't matter now.

The dragoness swiftly dived in the air, her move in the sky was so agile that it surprised the rabid dragon. Before the male could realize what is happening she was already below him, exposing his body by kicking one of his extended paws with her wing away. Her tail went next, the blade-like tail swiped, cutting through the air with a sharp whizz, momentarily the sky was filled with a cry of pain. Cynder felt blood trickling on her backside from above, directly where her tip left a cut almost fully across the dragon's brown underbelly. Some centimeters deeper and she would gut him like a still thrashing, freshly caught fish.

More dragons were on her momentarily. And they smelled blood.

During her descent Cynder managed to dodge a swipe of someone's tail, the bony round plate that was attached to it would kick the breath out of her lungs in an instant, leaving her at the mercy of the other furious dragons. She was very fast, and dexterous in the air but even she was unable to avoid attack after attack, especially when they happened one after the other.

Cynder managed to block one set of silvery claws slashing at her with the bracelet on her left leg, the sound of scratching metal and sparks were sent flying in the air, mixing themselves with other noises that now filled the sky.

However that sound ended abruptly for her, unable to deflect another attack Cynder received quite a solid slap to her snout from a blue wing. The blow threw her to the side with a painful moan, the world swirled around and the metallic taste in her mouth became even stronger.

Another dragon was attacking her from ahead, Cynder with a shake of her head dashed straight at the charging female, preparing to fool the dragoness with her dexterous moves, but then something unexpected happened. The black dragoness cried out in pain when something really heavy struck her rump, her spine and the bones in her hind legs screamed in agony. The powerful blow threw her off balance and she tottered in the air.

There was luck however hidden behind all this anguish.

The uncontrolled moves surprised the charging dragoness from the front, as the female tried to clench her paws around Cynder's wounded body, the young dragoness accidently slipped through the gap the clenching paws created, she could feel them brushing against her bloody black scales.

It was that irritating sting those female paws created that brought her back from her trance, Cynder momentarily began to slash with her claws as fast as she could while never stopping in place. Scratches were appearing on the hostile dragonesses body just as fast as an action painting artist fills up a blank canvas.

When she was about to reach the end of the dragonesses body, the female's tail swiftly wrapped itself around Cynder's neck and pulled her up, hanging her in a vertical position. The gasp the dragoness let out was not entirely for air, once again luck was hidden behind the curtain of pain, for a moment there she forgot about everything there as she observed the world ahead with wide eyes. A malachite tail with bladelike extensions on both its sides swung itself vertically and cut through the empty air just in front of her, like an merciless executioner's axe. If the dragoness wouldn't try to choker her, Cynder was sure that now her head would be falling down below, just to later be followed by her beheaded body.

The whizz created by the swinging deadly tail and the cold touch of Death brushing its skeletal fingers against her jaw made her fighter's spirit boil with even more additional power. Cynder chugged, the last amounts of air were being forcefully pushed out from her throat, the stinging in her lungs was a clear sign that no more oxygen was to spare.

She began to thrash in the air, but the tail around her neck formed a very powerful grip. The dragoness wheezed again, this time even weaker than before, the choker around her neck was slowly piercing her neck. Cynder began to slash at the tail with her claws, the dragoness that held her hissed painfully and the trap she wrapped around the young female began to move on its own in a very futile attempt to avoid more anguish, yet the grip remained steady as ever.

Cynder's attacks were getting weaker and weaker, the world started to fade away and the usually beautiful green eyes were turning bloodshot red. With a faint gasp for air her mind clenched to the last straw of survival, the dragoness pushed her wings down as far as she could, just to yank them upwards moments later with all the strength she could muster.

A squeal of pain filled the air when Cynder's blade claws on her wing thumbs pierced the scales surrounding the most vulnerable area of every creature. The dragoness thrashed wildly, the blade claws were pushed out from her scales, blood followed soon after, it was like the female just entered the stage of the most unwanted and premature heat.

Momentarily the pressure around Cynder's neck began to subside, when the proper time came the dragoness slipped her paws under the tail and pushed with all her might, it gave away. Cynder's paws flopped down, her wings moved slowly up and down, making her look like she would be drunk and unable to keep her balance in the air. The dragoness took the deepest breath in her life, she sucked all the air her lungs could contain and then began to cough uncontrollably.

An accidental slap to the snout from the still hurt dragoness brought her back to her senses.

With some more coughs Cynder instantly folded her wings and dived downwards, she was lucky that the dragons knew what friendly fire means, if they would ignore that single rule they would tear each other apart, just to shed her blood.

As she headed directly down while still coughing and wiping the tears from her eyes she noticed a dragon appearing below her who didn't waste any time on thinking and decided to charge her with a pair of his really powerful horns. Cynder narrowed her gaze and pressed her folded wings closer to her body, turning herself into a draconic black bolt.

With a corner of her eye she noticed that two dragons were attacking her also from the sides, but then suddenly something struck one of the drakes and sent him tottering down the sky, the other one immediately ceased his attack at the sight. Whatever it was it didn't stop the charging dragon from ahead.

The drake was closing in, and with each flap of the wings that brought him closer to her, Cynder's blood pumped faster and faster. The moment she noticed the murderous glimmer inside the dragon's eyes she knew it was time to act.

She pushed her wings from her body and flapped them sharply while throwing her body into a spin, in an instant her wings connected with her black scales. Months of experience taught her how to control almost every muscle so she could properly develop the potential of her Wind element. She threw her body into a wild spinning motion, imitating her Twister attack.

The powerful dragon yanked his head, aiming his even more stronger horns at her feminine body, however the fast spinning the dragoness threw herself into confused the drake greatly. Cynder saw the glimpses of the dragon's horns thrusting at her, but she continued unhindered, completely trusting in her aerial skills.

And that faith wasn't unfounded.

She spun just next to the dragon's head, for a second she could hear his horns cutting through the air, and that was her cue to counterattack. She unfurled her tail, the blade like tip shone maliciously with an reddish glow of blood of its recent victim under the sunlight. She swiped with her tail, it cut through the thick scales, the male roared painfully and yanked his body.

Cynder's eyes widened when the dragon's back came into view, there were plenty tiny spikes covering his back, her blow forced his body to yank upwards, almost vertically, especially the dragon's rump looked most threatening and she was heading straight at it. With a gasp the dragoness jerked her body sharply and pushed with her wings forcefully, her slender body instantly succumbed to the force and twirled around, pushing the dragoness on her left side.

Cynder let out a squeaky scream when her back connected with the tiny spikes on the dragons rump, thanks to her move she avoided impaling herself on the dragon's natural defensive system, instead she bounced off the dragon's scales. Yet that didn't mean she avoided the spikes, droplets of her blood were left on the drake's rump, the tiny spines pierced her scales, leaving many small puncture wounds along her whole back.

This wasn't the end of her troubles.

Just right behind the dragon another drake awaited her, he has been hovering in the air, waiting for her while constantly sharpening his claws. The unwanted collision with the previous dragon threw her completely off balance, there was absolutely no chance she would avoid the dragon ahead, even with her skills.

Once more luck proved that it was on her side this day.

The hurt dragon in his anguish kept swinging his tail impulsively, and that tail rose just in front of Cynder. All synapses in her mind responsible for her reflex buzzed with life. The dragoness pushed her paws forward with fully extended claws. In seconds her claws sank into the tail as she latched herself on it. With a grunt of pain the tail swiftly swung to the opposite side. As Cynder cut through the air on her unhappy mount she noticed the dragon ahead staring at her with wide eyes, his sharpened claws sadly hung in the air.

In the crowd of dragons Cynder spotted a dragoness almost her size, narrowing her eyes on the target the black dragoness let go off the tail in the appropriate moment.

Once more she resembled a black bolt cutting through the wind, and judging from the wide eyed dragoness ahead Cynder managed to surprise her attackers again too.

In a combination of feminine grunts and flopping wings the two females started to roll in the air when they collided with each other. Thanks to the speed and the element of surprise Cynder managed to overpower her enemy quickly. She swiftly found her way on top of the fighting dragoness, later all of her paws were free and a strong kick of her hind legs was enough to send the still confused female flying down.

And then as she hovered in the air victoriously something very unexpected happen.

There was a brilliant blinding flash of almost golden light, a powerful bolt of electricity struck her right in the chest, every muscle in her body tensed and turned itself off. Electricity in this dosage is far from pleasant, she has learned it when in her corrupted form she fought with the last hope of the Realms. The body remembers what the mind forgets.

" S-Spyro?" she rasped weakly and then her wings also succumbed to the paralysis.

Her body gave up completely and she fell down, but it wasn't long before her silhouette was shaken to a stop when two familiar purple paws wrapped themselves around her shoulders and held her in place.

" ENOUGH!" Spyro roared at the top of his lungs when he made sure Cynder is safe in his paws.

The roar was so intimidating that even the wind seemed to whizz in fear. Every dragon who ever thought about attacking the wounded black dragoness quickly discarded that thought. They couldn't attack her, not while she was in the paws of their hero.

In seconds everything went silent as every dragon skidded to a halt. Only the wind emitted some noise but even it seemed to obey the legendary purple dragon.

" HOW DARE YOU DO SUCH A THING?!" Spyro roared powerfully, the world itself seemed to shake under its strength

No one spoke.

" HOW DARE YOU ATTACK MY FRIEND?!"

Silence.

" ANSWER ME!"

Cynder stirred underneath him, her body was slowly waking up from the shock.

The dragons murmured among themselves.

" She's the reason behind everything. We tolerated her enough." the dragon with the cut along his underbelly spoke softly

Spyro narrowed his furious gaze on the drake.

The male cringed.

" SHE FOUGHT TO PROTECT YOU! BLED TOGETHER WITH ME SO YOU WOULDN'T HAVE TO RISK YOUR LIVES FIGHTING MALEFOR! THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY HER?!"

" She slaughtered our families!" someone else exclaimed from the crowd, fear was clearly heard in that voice

Cynder hissed, the grip around her shoulders was really strong.

Spyro roared at the sky wrathfully " SHE COULDN'T CONTROL HERSELF! How long you need to realize this? She isn't to blame for all this deaths, are you so blind that you don't see that she has changed and tries to redeem herself for actions, that she couldn't even prevent from happening?! THIS IS WHAT GOOD PEOPLE DO!"

" Brill said that she would resist the corruption if she was truly good!" someone else yelled from the crowd

Spyro's eyes flared up with murderous flames " BRILL IS A PARANOID ASSHOLE!" he roared furiously

Cynder groaned, her friend's claws were sinking into her scales " Spyro it hurts!" she mumbled quietly, still not fully recovered from the paralysis

" HE ONLY WANTS TO FIND JUSTIFICATION WHEN HE WILL FINALLY STEP OUT AND DECIDE TO MURDER CYNDER! I KNOW HOW MADNESS LOOKS LIKE, I'VE SEEN IT IN HIS EYES! "

" You can't compare him to Lightbane! Brill is not a killer!" someone else exclaimed indignantly

" HE IS A MURDERER OF RACIONAL THINKING AND AN OPPORTUNIST! YOU SO BADLY WANT A SCAPEGOAT? TO BLAME ALL YOUR SORROWS ON HIM? DON'T LOOK FAR, HE'S RIGHT AT YOUR DOORSTEP!"

" Spyro please!" Cynder muttered pleadingly from below and raised her eyes on the legs that were hurting her.

She gasped. The paws no longer belonged to her purple friend.

They were black.

" This is exactly what Brill was talking about!" another voice was heard " She has a bad influence on you, she is turning you against us. You fight for good!"

" AND NOTHING HAS CHANGED!" Spyro roared back " IT IS YOU WHO TAUNTED, INSULLTED, MAIMED, TRIED TO KILL HER! CYNDER NEVER DONE SUCH A THING, SHE HAS NEVER SHOWN YOU ANY KIND OF HOSTILITY AFTER SHE WAS FREED FROM MALEFOR'S INFLUENCE! EVERYTHING SHE HAS DONE WAS IN SELF DEFENSE!"

Blood was trickling down her sides, an obvious sign that Spyro's claws were tearing through her flesh. The black taint was now slowly reaching the middle of his legs. People didn't notice it now, but they soon will if she won't do anything. And judging from his words it won't be long until the corruption will overcome him with one final push.

" You haven't lost anyone to her evil schemes, we have all the right to blame her!" again someone protested

" I'VE LOST IGNITUS AND I DON'T BLAME HER! YOU'RE BLINDED BY HATE, YOU LET YOURSELVES BE MANIPULATED BY BRILL AND HIS MADNESS. LETTING GO OF YOUR FREE WILL WILLINGLY, ALLOWING SOMEONE ELSE TO DECIDE FOR YOU WHILE YOU YOURSELF JUST FOLLOW THAT PERSON'S ORDERS WITHOUT A SLIGHT PROTEST. THIS IS TRULLY EVIL!"

" But-"

" I'M TIRED OF YOUR WHINING! AS A FIGHTER FOR GOOD I WOULD SACRIFICE ALL OF YOU TO SAVE THE ONE NOBLE SPIRIT IN THIS DAMN WORLD!"

Only many shocked gasps were given as a response.

Spyro's eyes narrowed, the color in his eyes was fading away, just to be replaced by ominous cold whiteness " In fact I'll think I do it ri-"

The most surprising, scary yet very familiar shriek rang inside his head and cut him off in an instant. His muscles tensed, his heart sped up to an uncontrollable fast pace, and he began to emit wavering pants.

Fear.

A strange very familiar sense of overpowering raw fear.

He impulsively looked down, Cynder no longer was in his paws, the only thing that remained was the blood on his claws and tiny shreds of black scales. Further below he spotted a black shape falling down, the red wings fluttered in the air uncoordinated.

Spyro shook of the forced fear momentarily and dived after his friend.

He has never flown so fast before, her seemingly unconscious shape was quickly growing until it eventually occupied almost his whole field of vision.

He extended his paws to catch her, but then her eyes snapped open suddenly together with her wings, and it was her who grabbed his paws.

Spyro let out a gasp of surprise.

Cynder examined his paws carefully, they were purple again.

" W-what is going on?" the purple dragon mumbled dumbfounded

She put more strength into the grip around his legs.

" You were going dark" she said bluntly

" What?"

" Dark Spyro was wakening up" she furrowed her brows " How come you didn't feel a thing?"

With a shake of his head the dragon withdrew his paws allowing Cynder to adopt a more comfortable position in the air.

He looked at the ground below " I was so mad at them...I still am. When they attacked you I just snapped and threw myself at them. When I saw that they wanted to kill you...I just..." he shook his head

" Doesn't matter now, you didn't kill them, meaning that you still clung to your true self in that anger. Do not let go"

Spyro aimed his eyes at the formation of dragons above " I feel the blood boiling in my veins just by looking at them"

" I know a thing or two about fighting against the odds" she rubbed his shoulder caringly " You need to go there and challenge that anger, bottling it up is not an option. You need to show Dick Spyro who's boss"

" They hate you so much...and it pisses me off"

" Then tell them what we came here to do, tell them where the real enemy is, at the moment at least. They can thrash me around later"

" Cynder…"

" Do it. Only you can convince them"

Spyro stared at the group of dragons for a while and sighed " No pressure then" and with that he raised towards the drakes

" What other lies she whispered in your ear?" a dragoness exclaimed the moment Spyro approached the group of dragons

A growl rumbled inside the purple dragon's throat, he could feel his blood pumping with sheer anger and wrath. These people are blinded by hate, and he felt that quiet echo inside him, telling him that he can punish them for all of this, the only thing he needs to do is to listen carefully.

Spyro shook his head fiercely.

" You are blinded Spyro not we! We discussed this and Capro is right. it is you who blindly defends her while ignoring the fact that your girlfriend provoked us! How would you react if somebody would insult Ignitus? You too know how much it hurts if someone so bluntly mocks your grief.

All these dark emotions were swirling inside his head, he couldn't really name them, they were just too many. They were focusing on those dragons ahead, on his brother, even on Cynder, there was no longer a sole antagonist, all of them were equally guilty.

" NO!" Spyro roared at the top of his lungs

The formation of dragons stirred.

" Listen to me!" the purple dragon continued quickly " We all are wrong, we all made mistakes here, and we all are equally guilty for all of this…"

" You-"

"…BUT!" Spyro raised his voice, cutting the voice of protest as a result " We all came her for the same reason, we all came here as an army, we all came here as ONE! And what do we do? We fight with each other! We all are sad and angry about the recent news, we all want revenge, but we cannot allow to unleash it on ourselves!"

" Warfang sent us here, because the people there knew that we can be trusted, they now that together we will crush the enemy that killed our friends and families in Boven!"

Spyro pointed his claw in the direction of the village " Because that's where our enemy is! We waste our valuable strength on ourselves while they are there cherishing their victory on top our friends bodies. You want vengeance? Punish them! It's our duty to avenge those people and let their spirits rest! It's our duty to show our enemies from what we are made of! It's our duty to PROTECT-THIS-LAND!"

At first there was silence, but then the sky was filled with motivated and determined roars. The dragon recognized the leader hiding behind the shy and scared facade of their savior. Today they would follow the purple dragon to the end of the world.

" LET'S MOVE!" Spyro roared

The soldiers obeyed, the sky was filled with the rumbling sound of many draconic throats. He observed the formation pushing forward, blood boiled inside his veins.

" Whoa" Cynder muttered truly amazed as she approached her friend " You really-"

Spyro swiftly turned towards her " What were you thinking!?" he growled right in her snout

She jerked her head back with her mouth hanging open in shock.

" What were you trying to achieve by provoking these people like that? You have a silent suicide wish or something? Because if that's the case then tell me! I really would like to know if I'm wasting my time here!"

" Hey slow down there general!" Cynder shouted indignantly " My words didn't change anything, the verdict was set the moment Sparx pointed his finger at me!"

" You can't play on people's feelings like that!"

" Come on! You know me, I just wanted to ruffle their feathers. I just need to tease, it's stronger than me"

" You don't belong in a united group with such attitude"

" Yeah?" she hissed angrily "Then maybe I should go my own way and leave you with your new buddies!"

" No. I'm not blind, some of them hate you so much that they don't care about anything else. They might follow you. No you're staying, you're safer with me"

Cynder scoffed " Safer? Really? Just look at me oh mighty protector!"

Spyro spun around " You deserved it" he replied coldly " Now move your whining ass" and with that he took of

The black dragoness growled " You dick!"

The anger faded from her snout in an instant.

Her eyes widened with sudden realization. This wasn't her friend, not truly. At first he wants to protect her and then says that she had it coming, his switching loyalties like used pairs of gloves. He is an emotional cyclone, and none of these emotions are noble. Dark Spyro is knocking at the door, and he only needs a worthless excuse to kick them open.

She has to watch herself, she is also the target of that black dragon, if she somehow provokes him then that would be the last thing she'll do in her life. The dragons are like sitting ducks, not aware of the danger, telling them about Dark Spyro would not also betray what Spyro is hiding but also ruin the already fragile alliance between him and the drakes.

Cynder turned towards the flying formation of draconic shapes, in that crowd she spotted Capro's eyes watching her, the malachite dragon was currently whispering something with some other drakes. That sight was enough for her to tell that the upcoming battle will be bloody, because she just knew that when the conspiring dragons will make their move against her, they will find that the blood won't be only flowing from the bodies of Boven's attackers but also their own.

" I've got bad feelings about this" Sparx muttered anxiously while he hovered next to her

Cynder examined one of her black paws " You have no idea"


	50. Chapter 12 Book III

**Decided to split the upcoming chapter into two, it would take me quite a while to finish it completely and if there is anybody waiting for this I just didn't want to keep you waiting for so long:P**

**Bad language warning**

* * *

Chapter 12

A very awkward and troubling silence has befallen onto the draconic formation, that argument earlier was still a recent wound and no amount of determination can heal it.

Among the formation were dragons who decided that the injury is like any other, they just can't afford it to weaken them and the only way to do that is to ignore it and focus entirely on the mission.

There were also dragons who understood the importance of their assignment but just weren't capable of turning a blind eye. In their nervousness they constantly looked behind their shoulders, as if feeling that something terrible will happen, as if a very dangerous predator is stalking them. However everything they saw was their Savior and Lightbane some meters further behind the purple dragon. It wasn't just her that caused this anxiousness, something far more horrible than the dragoness is very close by, they just didn't know what.

In the formation there were also those who didn't care about the death of their people in the village, nor did they care about the smell of palpable restlessness in the air, no, they cared about something entirely different.

Hate.

Capro's words created quite a sizeable group of conspirators, it made the malachite dragon beam with pride. He became good, he just knew what button to press to make people dance as he wants them to. Today, these dragons were connected by the scent of blood and the urge to spill more of it, especially if it came from a certain black whore.

A creepy smile crept across his snout, he was surprised himself that things turned out the way they did. The game he orchestrated was going in his favor, but he never expected that the final round would be so close. Despite this nearby victory he felt that this was too good to be true but he ignored that thought just as fast as it crossed his mind.

There was absolutely no possibility that he will miss a chance like this, here he can finally have his revenge. He won't have to waste more time in ruining her reputation, in turning people against her, it was tiring. All thanks to that purple dipshit that constantly runs all around her.

This wasn't the priority now, after he's done with her he'll make sure that that twit will also get what's coming for him, everyone who consorts with that black bitch is just as evil as her.

He sighed, this is not the time to be angry, first things first.

And today's goal is to finally rip her apart. Something that destroyed those idiots in Boven must be strong, the whole village was wiped out after all.

Perfect.

Everything can happen in the heat of battle, who says that the black whore can't be slain by the big enemy? If he plays this out discretely, nobody will suspect anything, the assholes that surround him will weaken her but it will be him who severs her head, if somebody will try to get in his way, he won't see another day.

The smile on his snout grew wider. The plan was perfect. There is absolutely no one who can stop him today, only something very powerful can save her today, like a guardian anger for instance, be it a divine or a fallen one, who knows what kind of angel protects a murderer. Who the hell cares anyway, such things don't exist, she is alone, there is no light or dark force close by that will save her.

The silent aerial march continued onwards, nobody said a single world, even Sparx remained quiet for the whole journey and surprisingly instead of keeping up with his brother he stick to Cynder. The two didn't really have to talk to know what was going in each other's heads, the worried looks they were giving Spyro's swinging purple tail spoke volumes.

" Listen Sparx" Cynder eventually broke the silence while never leaving Spyro from her sight " Today you'll be my eyes"

" Oh come on" the dragonfly whined " Why do I always get the hardest things to do? I can barely hold back my lunch as it is. You really want me to throw up? Because that's what's going to happen, one can look at you for so long after all"

" Good, just make sure that your lunch lands on someone's head. Distraction good as any"

He frowned and looked at the dragoness, one glance was enough to tell that intuition of an experienced fighter was speaking through her " I wish I have eaten more" he muttered with a gulp

She presented him a weak smile " Just do your best, disgust and you are like two sides of the same coin. You'll pull it through"

" Of course I'll pull it through!" he exclaimed indignantly " I'm a hero remember?" with a corner of his eye he looked the female over, wounds and blood were still covering her scales " How about you?

" I'm peachy"

Sparx looked her over once more " I can see that, I forgot that swollen lip of yours is the new trendy makeup"

Cynder pointed at her snout " This?" she snorted " This is just the starting layer, our friendly companions made sure that I'm properly prepared for the professionals in the village"

" Being in the center of attention serves you"

" I know, right? I tell you, a loose tooth will be the new top fashion"

" Good that we finally got this covered" he looked at his brother and the will for a sarcastic barter left him instantly " Got any plan?

The dragoness frowned " Well…the plan is still in the thriving phase, but I already got some rules. Unimportant really, small details, just to know how to move around. One- prevent Spyro from going berserk. Two- stay alive"

Sparx inhaled with faked enlightenment " Oh yeah…the little unimportant details" he patted her shoulder with even more fake admiration " Great plan"

" Why thank you, it took me whole five minutes to come up with it"

With that insight they later continued in silence, Sparx observed his brother all the time, and the longer he did that the more powerful the gnawing feeling of anxiousness was becoming.

" How bad you think it'll be?" he finally asked " From scale one to ten"

" Eleven" Cynder replied unhesitatingly

After some more time every feeling of hate or nervousness vanished from the group for a tiny moment, exactly when the village of Boven came into view surrounded by the greenwood landscape. From this distance it seemed peaceful, nobody would ever believe that this village was attacked, even the birds that circled above the small town sang their natural serene songs.

The walls of the scarce number of buildings were completely intact, no sign of a siege or some kind of vandalism, the house stood exactly in the same spot, and was looking exactly the same as the three young friends remembered from their previous visit.

The dirt roads crisscrossing Boven had seen much use, it was hard to tell if more than previously, in villages like those the roads were mostly created by footprints as different as different were the inhabitants of the village. Some marks were so deep that it was possible that the roads carried the remnants of many other generations of villagers.

When the draconic formation finally managed to wake up from its trance the dragons pushed forward, their colorful eyes never leaving the town below.

More and more buildings were revealing themselves, some were simple constructions, others carried a more sophisticated design and all of them seemed untouched by destruction, exactly like before. Nothing has changed. The exact same well finally came into sight, together with other familiar wooden porches. Further investigation revealed the pretty memorable and exactly the same flowery gardens, also hulking statues were seen standing completely still in between buildings, but that's new.

Cynder's eyes grew wide with fear " Twenty"

Sparx gulped.

" What the hell are those things?" one of the draconic fighter blurt out

At the sight of the golem Spyro completely forgot about the anger, he was once back to his not very intimidating and commanding self.

" Listen to me!" he exclaimed with palpable tension in his voice while dashing towards the front of the formation

" There's quite a few of them down there" a dragoness commented

" What is it Spyro? You know what those things are?" a nervous dragon asked

The purple dragon quickly nodded a few times " Yes! Those golems are called Keepers. They're very dangerous, aggressive and practically indestructible. However they have a weak spot, if we work together we can-"

" They look like the Destroyer!" Capro yelled horrified

" Hey he's right!" someone chimed in " Just look closely!"

Spyro raised his paws defensively while shaking his head fiercely " No, no, no! You get it all wrong!"

" I agree, those things are like the mini versions of the Destroyer!" another panicked shout wafted from the commotion

" She's preparing to bring back Malefor again!" some dragoness yelled from the crowd

And those words were enough to awaken panic again within the unorganized and not entirely professional strike force.

Momentarily every draconic eye landed on Cynder, wrath was burning almost inside every one of them. She smiled bashfully and greeted them with a slight wave of her black paw.

" I'm going to rip you apart!" a dragon roared and dashed towards her, however he was unable to get past the formation of dragons. He looked down and noticed a purple tail firmly blocking him.

" You will go no further" Spyro pronounced slowly while looking straight in the drake's eyes. His voice was dripping with pure malevolence and callousness.

The dragon backed away impulsively.

" Whatever people!" some dragoness yelled " If he's so protective of her so be it! We have a job to do, if those are really Destroyer's clones we need to stop them! Or this will be the end of the world all over again!"

The female's voice had the proper tone in them, instantly most dragons began to talk among themselves, cheering, and motivating each other. The dragoness looked at the muscular malachite dragon, with a tiny smirk on her snout she exchanged meaningful nods with Capro.

" Hey! People!" a more rational dragon exclaimed from the gathering of his more reckless companions " In case you haven't heard Spyro said those golems are indestructible!"

" Spyro recently is known for his wrong opinions! Attack!" a dragon roared and dived in the air

Many other drakes followed in his wake, emitting their characteristic draconic war cries.

" Let's turn those things to rubble!" another roar chimed in

" Wait!" Spyro yelled after the descending dragons the moment the drake he was blocking pushed away from him and dived down, only a handful of dragons remained by his side

" Idiots" Cynder sighed and went after the usurpatory fighters

Whining under his breath Sparx clutched himself to one of her white horns.

The dragoness smiled " What's wrong?" she scoffed, her voice adopting a more squeaky loud tone thanks to the amount of decibels she had to use to break through the barrier of the whizzing wind " You're not enjoying the ride?"

" I'm used to a more respectable mount" he gulped " And slower"

Cynder grinned, and cut her gaze to the formation of dragons descending on the what seemed dormant statues. They were still quite ahead of her and the only way, at least she hoped so, to make them see with what kind of enemy they will be fighting was to get to the golem first.

" Wanna bet who's going to get down there first?" she yelled with clear amusement in her voice " Think fast!"

Sparx looked at the descending dragons, the two of them were even behind the tails of the largest ones " You seriously can outrun them?" he yelled

" Clock is ticking!" she laughed " Who's your favorite dragon?"

The dragonfly sighed and tightened his grip around her horn " What the hell, at least we'll have an effective entry" he smacked her neck " Giddy-up my pet dragoness!" he shouted at the top of his lungs

Screaming happily Cynder made a swift spin in the air, the horrified yelp from above her head forced a merry laugh from her throat. With a single shake of her head she dropped her playful attitude and narrowed her eyes on the Keeper below. Time for games was over.

Out of curiosity, or simple arrogance perhaps she once again threw a glance on the formation of drakes, it only took her a while to locate Capro's heartless grey gaze from the group. With a roar of her own Cynder spread her wings, her green eyes sparkled with almost feral ferocity, the blades on her wings reflected the sunlight like a deadly sharp swords, her magenta membranes adopted a more fierce reddish color under the sun, like the color of blood spilled from a recently slain enemy.

In this very moment she represented one of the many meanings of black, the reason why blackness sows fear in every living soul. She showed them the reason why they were afraid of her all this time ago. Black is intimidating, unfriendly and unapproachable because of the power it exudes.

Her wings went down, her body stretched to its limits, each flap of her wings seemed to empower the wind that surrounded her. The sound no longer resembled the noise of a creaking door but that of a wildly spinning mill's huge vanes.

The hollow thuds seemed to bounce off Cynder's magenta membranes, each rumble sounded like a wind's war cry, which now loyally served the black dragoness and was now twisting and bending each gust to her will.

She was approaching the golem, its stone body was rapidly growing in her eyes. Time for games was over, Cynder no longer cared if she outrun the dragons, however it seemed that she got past them, if the frustrated roars were any clue that is.

Cynder swallowed a lump of anxiety when she noticed the golem below stirring, with a wiggle of her shoulders she stretched her body even further and continued onwards. The sound of stone grinding upon stone echoed in the air as the construct swiftly turned its massive head at the descending dragoness while its body remained in place, still facing the opposite direction.

Moments later its empty sockets resembling eyes flared up with malevolent fire. Then the heat spread across its whole body, as if breathing life to the massive obsidian body. More scraping sounds echoed as the golem turned its chest so it would be facing the same direction its stony neck was.

Cynder let out a nervous breath.

And then the golem's mouth parted, fire roared from inside its artificial solid throat, the construct let out an intimidating rumbling blare that shook the very foundations of nearby buildings while also leaving a scar on the confidence of the attacking dragons. Its huge arms were extended in a blink of an eye, two seconds later a similar loud slap of stony hands was heard.

She was fast enough to avoid the shockwave the golem released, her slender body slipped through the opening the creature's spread arms created. Yet the dragoness still could feel just how powerful the golem's attack was, from behind came the sounds of breaking glass and shattering rooftops.

Cynder flew below the golem's massive arms, she could feel the black rocks scraping her back delicately. In an instant she made her way behind the golem and stopped right below the back of its head. Her front paws began swinging, the dragonesses silvery claws began to slice at the golem's neck, where previously they found its weak spot.

She made a couple of slashes, rocks began to shoot in every direction, it was hard to tell if she was successful in weakening the golem, no visible crack appeared and she didn't have the privilege to continue her offensive. The golem made two heavy steps forward before it extended one of its arms fully and swiftly spun around.

Cynder gasped, it all happened so quickly, however she was lucky that her instinct wasn't daydreaming. Impulsively she pushed up, with a corner of her eye she noticed the massive arm approaching. She made two quick flaps, Sparx was screaming in horror, certain that their next destination will be the walls of a nearby building. Yet nothing like that happened, she didn't avoid the arm completely, for a moment she had to do some running there since her paws involuntary touched a quickly moving solid stone ground. The slight contact with the arm was enough to throw her off balance.

Before she could recover from the uncontrolled sway, the golem's second extended arm was already on the way. Even with her natural agility she just couldn't dodge it.

" Oh crap" Sparx muttered horrified while tightly wrapping himself around the dragonesses horn.

Cynder closed her eyes expecting pain to twist her bones very soon.

But then there was a loud rumbling sound, just like a thunder would hit the ground a meter from her. Cynder winced when something little and very numerous began to bounce off her snout. Accompanied by the golem's furious blare the dragoness covered herself with her paw and opened one of her eyes to look past her claws.

The construct's arm was fiercely pushed down, a familiar artificial spiked boulder was hanging above the struck massive limb. The golem began to raise its arm again but then the boulder fell down sharply. Another rumbling sound, another angry roar the moment the boulder hit the black rock. It bounced upwards at the impact while the golem's arm was thrown towards the ground.

He won't anyone touch her, be it the dragons or every other piece of shit craving for her blood. Nothing like that will happen, not on his watch. With a concentrated frown Spyro pulled his spiky armor down once more, the golem's arm was once again struck with great strength, the limb was once more sent flying towards the earth like some kind of an ownerless black hammer, but this time a hollow rumble could be heard as it struck the ground for the very first time.

Take that you piece of crap!

He was so mad, he didn't really knew what made him so angry, were it the blind dragons, the murderous golems, his impudent best friend or his stupid brother.

Whatever, it didn't matter, he was angry on all of them. What mattered now was the golem which attacked her, it will learn that it was a stupid thing to do.

Spyro in his stony form broke his force of inertia and went down again, chunks of black rock shot in every direction, the golem roared furiously when its arm was forcefully pushed down, this time however the arm almost got burrowed in the earth.

He needs to let go, he needs to let all of this boiling anger go, and the golem's arm seemed like the perfect punching bag.

Spyro went down again, there was another rumble, another roar, and another thud. The arm went into the ground even deeper than before. The golem tried to raise it but the boulder struck it again.

Another rumble, another roar, and another thud.

The construct stirred, yet this time it barely managed to move its arm since the boulder bounced off from it even faster than the last time.

Not really knowing what he is trying to achieve Spyro continued his attack, the anger wasn't fading, in fact it was getting stronger than before. Whatever. Let this glued rubble have a taste, it's time to let it know how bitter wrath feels.

To Spyro's surprise however the golem reacted differently this time, just when he was about to strike the arm for like tenth time, or more, he didn't count, it slipped away. With a fiery roar the golem dragged its burrowed arm backwards, not even trying to raise it from the ground, and surprisingly it worked. The ground began to shake as if a small earthquake just began, cracks appeared on the nearby more solid buildings while the weaker ones crumbled instantly. With a powerful roar the construct freed its arm eventually, it dragged it from the ground forcefully, like a gardener would rip a very sizeable weed.

Dirt, grass, rocks and some plants shot in every direction, Cynder had to hide behind her wings and risk colliding with the ground to protect herself from the many incoming diverse projectiles. However this wasn't the worst thing that happened.

When the rocky arm slipped away, Spyro's magical round form took its place, the hole in the ground was deep enough to muffle every shockwave Spyro's collision with the ground created. He tried to roll out of the hole but discovered that he buried himself. When he prepared to return to his natural draconic form a huge shadow blocked every possible sunray.

With the spiked armor fading away Spyro raised his eyes to see what caused this eclipse. His eyes went wide when he realized what was behind this darkness. It was the golem's massive feet, which swiftly went down at him the moment he looked at it.

Spyro's rocky armor went up again, just in time in fact to repel the golem's powerful stomp. The dragon let out a groan of anguish, he could feel the pressure on his boulder-like form. The golem was pushing hard, trying to crush the life out of him, it took much concentration to hold this barrier up.

The creature roared irritated that its attempt to crush this aggravating rock has failed. It raised its leg again just to push it down forcefully once more. Spyro groaned through clenched teeth as the golem's heavy feet was once again withheld by his magical armor. It was difficult maintaining the flow of elemental energy, even if he was protected he could still feel pain, much, much pain.

Cynder turned her head from the formation of dragons in the distance, some of the drakes took notice of her tactical approach and followed the same pattern. However there were also those who didn't pay any attention or ignored her completely.

Those were the dragons who had the unfortunate meeting with the golem's reddish unrelenting force. The ring threw the dragons around like massive ragdolls, no matter how big they were they all met the same fate. And it wasn't a single shockwave that ravaged the draconic ranks, at least two more rings released from two different golems had their share in this havoc.

" You have to get to them Sparx" Cynder said while observing the dragons in the air, tossed in every direction as if they were unwanted toys

" What?" the dragonfly blurt out horrified " Oh no! I don't want to play in that playground"

" Go to them now!"

He smacked her forehead " Are you nuts?!" he darted in front of Cynder's eyes while pointing towards the sky from which the dragons were struck down " Can't you see what's happening? Those guys are getting thrashed all around the place!"

" That is why you must tell them how to attack the golems"

" Why me?" he whined " Can't you do it?"

" They won't listen to me" the dragoness narrowed her eyes on the ground, where a golem was stomping a spiked boulder

Sparx shook his head in resignation seeing that there was no way of convincing her to listen to his protest " I'm too old for this" and with that he did as he was told

Without wasting any more time Cynder made a backflip in the air and aimed her body at the ground, close to the golem. She pressed her wings to her body, the wind whizzed ferociously around her, she was like some kind of a falling black star with sole intention to collide with the earth.

However there was no explosion, no bright flash when she touched the ground, no sound relating to a crush could be heard. Instead of turning into a pulp Cynder dived into the earth as if it was nothing more than water. The shadow through which she supposedly fell into the ground sealed itself shut the moment the blade like tip on her tail vanished completely.

Similar black splotch appeared right behind the golem, moments later a black dragoness with dark mist emanating from her claws shot straight up from the magically created portal. She kept raising up until she reached the golem's neck. Hovering in the air she extended her dark empowered claws. Cynder began to slice at the back of the creature's neck.

Rocks kept bursting in great numbers from the spot her claws aimed at, every slash left a trail of dark mist behind her silvery claws. She kept on going restlessly, with every growl that grumbled in her throat her blows were becoming faster and faster, her priority was to distract the construct, prevent it from attacking her best friend, breaking through the golem's armor was only a secondary objective.

The golem however didn't care about her personal goals, or any other thing for that matter. The construct only understood violence, especially when it is the one spreading it and when the dragons were the victims of this violence it was all the better, teaching the drakes a lesson is everything it wants.

Cynder's unending attack had to make an effect, even golems don't like to be harassed it seems. With one final stomp the golem spun around in a blink of an eye and began to flail its arms chaotically. The move was so dramatically fast.

With a shocked squeak Cynder pushed backwards, dodging the golem's powerful fist by mere inches. After the miss the construct roared furiously like it has never done before, the blare was so strong that it shook the very foundations of surrounding buildings. After that display it renewed its attack with even greater ferocity.

It was then when Spyro sent an ice spike directly at the golem's neck just to start to fly in close proximity to the creature's back while using his ice breath to freeze the spot his icy projectile hit earlier. It was hard to tell if his attack was successful, the icy residue remained on the creature's body during his attack, but if it will remain there when he'll stop that is an entirely different matter.

The knowledge of the golem's offensive capabilities and coordinated attacks of both Spyro and Cynder were proving them to be considerable enemies for the creature, it wasn't dying as far as they could tell, but it couldn't get them either. They were in a deadlock, and the distance they kept from the golem seemed to prevent it from using the shockwave that hurled them at the walls when they first encountered the creature, a shockwave that would easily break this deadlock. It seems even such powerful beings have limits.

This game of bullying came to a conclusion when the golem suddenly became dormant and the fire burning within its body died completely, it all happened so fast and unexpectedly that it surprised both young dragons.

Nothing really led to something like this, the golem was taking a beating but instead of weakening it the dragons unrelenting attacks seemed to strengthen the creature. It was becoming faster minute by minute until it stopped, turned itself off just like that, as if by a magic touch.

That same magic touch had to be responsible for awakening the golem a minute later. Fire burst from its rocky eyes with such intensity that Spyro who was currently in front of the construct had to cover his eyes. Momentarily its whole black body began to glow red, second after second the reddish hue covered more and more of the golem's body.

The fire inside the creature seemed to be out of control, it was growing rapidly like a recently started fire when you put too many leaves in it. Tongues of flames started to slip through the cracks on the golem's natural armor. It was looking like some sort of a massive dynamite with numerous already lit fuses.

Before the young drakes put two and two together it was already over. With one final roar the golem released all that accumulated flames. The sound of cracking rocks was heard when a fiery ring shot from the construct's body.

Both young drakes let out some really painful yelps, in Cynder's case her scream was empowered by a feminine squeak. The fiery ring not only was a powerful shockwave but also it carried all that boiling heat inside the golem with it.

Both dragons impulsively protected themselves with their wings. The ring not only tossed them like ragdolls but also scorched the two dragons leaving a trail of black smoke and the scent of burned flesh behind their hurled bodies. Cynder was hurdled straight into a building, the impact was so strong that cracks appeared on the weakened walls like spider webs from the spot where her black body met the stony obstacle. Spyro before he hit a building collided with a tree, that sent powerful bolt of pain through his spine and made him spinning wildly like a tossed twig before he finally had a close encounter with one of the houses, not as powerful as his friend's but still quite noticeable.

* * *

Some minutes before both young friends had their unexpected meeting Sparx was coordinating the attacks of the other dragons… with a very pitiful effect.

" Listen to me!" Sparx yelped while he was spun around by the wind created by another diving dragon

" Those things are tough!" a battered drake exclaimed from above

A powerful draconic roar echoed in the air as one of the bigger dragons tackled one of the golems, however the battle didn't go in the drake's favor since it was the dragon who landed on the ground with the golem on top of him choking the life out of the draconic soldier.

The dragons who hovered near the dragonfly began to spit all kind of elemental attacks at the golem, yet no matter what hit the construct it remained unhindered and completely focused on ending the life of the dragon below it.

" Idiots!" Sparx shouted at the top of his lungs while slapping one of the dragons across his snout

" Get out of my way bug!" the slapped dragon shoved the dragonfly away forcefully

Sparx was hurled away, the shove was so strong that it sent him spinning in the air. As he was making another round around his own axis of rotation he noticed the dragons who spat every possible elemental attack at their disposal being shot down from the sky by a reddish ring released by some other golem from the ground.

It was then when his wild spinning was gently ended by a greenish scaly paw, Sparx shook his head and pushed away, his eyes went wide when he realized that the dragon who stopped him was the same one who caused Flare all that unwanted jabbering.

" What do you propose we should do?" Capro asked gently, his body already carried the signs of battle

" Push that thing from that guy!" Sparx screamed and pointed his finger down towards the ground where the dragon was struggling with the golem, his eyes followed soon after.

His mouth went agape when he noticed the pinned dragon below being approached by a second golem. The freshly arrived construct raised its massive leg, just above the dragon's head, Sparx winced and averted his gaze the moment the leg went down and the sound of crushed bones was heard. Only a lifeless corpse with a broken neck remained of the reckless yet somewhat brave dragon.

" Damn…" the dragonfly muttered sadly

" We have all the sky to us, let's bombard those things!" a dragoness yelled

Cheerful roars that resounded after hearing her idea were a clear signal that most of her companions agreed with her.

" No!" Sparx protested " You need to keep close!"

" What they can do if we are so far away? Let them set loose those shockwaves, we will avoid them easily!"

" Don't be so sure! As far as I know those things are meant to fight dragons!"

" You know jack squat!" the dragoness snapped back " Let's show those things what creatures rule this world now!" the dragoness roared enthusiastically and released a fireball at the golems below

The fusillade of many kind of different elemental attacks followed soon after, it was like a rain caused by intertwining every element with each other from which this world is made from. Bolts of lighting, spikes of earth and ice, fireballs, all those things were flying down towards the golems, there was absolutely nothing in the whole world that could survive something like this. Even Sparx who was already familiar with the constructs capabilities looked down hopefully, maybe it will be all over with this single massive attack.

For once something could go their way.

Extremely loud rumbling sounds echoed as every possible projectile from every possible element collided with the ground, or their targets. The earth burst with all kind of colors, and it wasn't only a single flash, many similar ones followed soon. If they didn't know better they would say that today is a festival day and a huge parade is marching through Boven.

When the dragons finally started to conserve their elemental energy and the colorful mist eventually died down, a sight no one expected presented itself to them, and the still standing and practically unharmed golems weren't the main component of this surprise.

From the fading mist appeared dozen or more cones of pure energy, the color of those cones were a mix of specifically four colors. Red, green, yellow and blue, all of them were sparkling with such wild intensity, each of them represented an element the Realms were made from.

And all of them were an unstoppable force.

Screams of panic circled around the formation of dragons when the cones arrived. The pure reaving energy was remorseless, the unfortunate drakes who were too slow to realize what is happening ended with their bodies being pierced by this cones of combined energy. Some tried to protect themselves behind their wings but to no avail, the energy drilled through the membrane armor, the only thing they achieved were some more seconds of agonizing death.

Moments later it was all over, a cloud of silence has befallen on the wounded army, and then all those boiling emotions were set loose. Dragons began to drop from the sky like flies, streams of blood followed in their wake. Painful and sorrowful roars filled the sky as the surviving drakes mourned their fallen companions

Sparx held back a wailing sob, with a hard swallow he made his way towards the big malachite dragon " Listen Dude, I don't know what your game is, or why you seem to be stalking us everywhere we go and now I sincerely don't care. I'm sure that whatever you got planned in that big head of yours needs people so you can see it through, you won't have any cannon fodder if all of those guys die today. I've noticed you got a knack for making people see your point of view, better make use of it before there will be no one else alive to listen to you!"

Capro narrowed his eyes on the cocky dragonfly, he is nothing more than filth, like his brother, how he dares to speak to him like that? Yet he couldn't deny the fact that the glowing dipshit was right, he needs those worthless assholes if he ever dreams of having his revenge, they need to take the blame if he is to cherish the upcoming spoils of his personal war.

Capro with great difficulty swallowed his hate " I repeat my question. What do you propose we should do?"

" Work as a team!" Sparx exclaimed while fiercely pointing towards the ground where Spyro and Cynder were ganging up a single golem " Like those two down there! Those things have only one vulnerable point, it's the back of their necks"

The malachite dragon snorted, that black tramp serving as a role model, he has never before heard a worse insult. There is absolutely no way he will debase himself like this.

The dragonfly took notice of the drake's obstinacy but he was too inflamed to pay it much attention " Stick close, don't attack from the air or you will have your insides turned upside down by one of those red rings again and hope that combined attacks will turn those things to rubble!"

And then something really unexpected happened, Sparx eyes went wide when he heard the golem below serving as an example emitting a one hell of a tremendous roar. The shock only intensified when he noticed the construct releasing a reddish ring of fire that hurled the two young dragons away from it.

Sparx gulped " That's new…"

Capro driven by curiosity also looked down, an intoxicating feeling of satisfaction flooded every fiber of his body, the pleasant sensation even caressed his soul. There was something marvelous in seeing her in pain, his only regret was the lack of possibility to maim her himself but it won't matter in the end anyway if he'll be the one who gets the slut's head.

But then the golem below moved towards Lightbane, Capro's heart was instantly filled with worry, that thing doesn't deserve the kill! He will have her head and nothing or no one else, his snout will be the last thing she sees before he beheads her. This is his purpose!

With an angry roar Capro raised higher in the air " Dragons! Heed my call! he blared commandingly. His ferocious roar was enough to throw the rest of the drakes from their states of sorrow

" Sparx is right! He and his brother have fought this things before, he knows what he's talking about! If Spyro won't be our guiding light then who will? He's a clear example of draconic wit and strength, it's our duty to follow in his steps! Let's make our Savior proud! Let's make our fallen friends proud!"

The determined and motivated roars that followed after Capro's speech were a clear signal that the volunteer army of dragons craves for some payback. Already some more experienced drakes who knew a thing or two about military tactics set up the necessary offensive formations.

" At least a pair occupying each golem" Capro continued his roar " Solo actions only in dire circumstances! Don't waste your energy on frontal attacks, distract it while your partner exploits the weakness on the golem's neck! Stay close to those things and make short work of them! Time to make use of our numbers! ATTACK!" the malachite dragon roared and darted towards the ground

In a cacophony of many different draconic roars the rest of the drakes followed in their current leader's wake. Capro deliberately slowed his descent, dragons basically phased on both his sides, he could almost feel their vengeful spirits raging inside, probably because he knows that feeling and can relate. Eventually the dragon he was waiting for caught up to him, exchange of nods between the two of them were enough, everything was clear, their goal was set.

Capro looked down, and narrowed his eyes on the feminine black form below.

And their goal wasn't far.

* * *

Spyro's shaken consciousness was slowly returning back into reality, with still swirling world he looked up at the sky from which many familiar rumbling roars were coming from. Yesterday perhaps the sight of basically raining dragons coming to their aid would breathe some second wind into him that would wipe the slate clean.

But not today.

Today he knew that if the dragons are coming to help, their intention is not to assist _them_ but rather _him_ alone. So those spiteful creatures better stay away from him, for the sake of this whole amateur army.

Spyro finally got his dizziness under control but then he began to feel pain in practically every part of his body, a perk of full awareness it seems. Groaning he pulled himself up, immediately an aching sting ran across his wings, they were burnt, in some places quite drastically. Hurtful wound but luckily not crippling.

Whatever that golem did was unexpected and completely new, next time he'll be prepared when facing all kind of constructs, at least prepared as best as he can be, magic is unpredictable after all. He scanned the surroundings, looking for the golem's charge, the moment he located his currently triumphant enemy his eyes went wide open.

The creature wasn't interested in him, it was marching towards Cynder, however that wasn't the reason behind his shock. On the golem's neck Spyro noticed the thing he wanted to find there the moment he laid eyes on the construct. He could clearly see the fire burning inside the creature's body through the opening on the back of the golem's neck.

It seems their harassment finally paid off, this thing isn't indestructible, it's just hard to kill or rather hard to destroy. Spyro made a shaky step forward, he needs a moment to get accustomed with walking again. Witch each new step he moved faster, and before he knew it he began to run, no pain is strong enough to stop him from protecting his friend. Even among this whole mess going inside his head, even among all those boiling dark emotions, that single purpose remained clear, yet there was no denying that it was also tainted.

As he ran he narrowed his eyes on the golem ahead, the fiery crack in its body was like a beacon drawing all of his elemental energy. He didn't protest, that thing is vulnerable now and no matter how much energy he will have to use he will bring it down.

And then suddenly all of that concentration was gone with one swift, powerful and trained impulse of instinct. Spyro immediately skidded to a halt, his fighter's gut worked like a third eye and during his wild chase it was wide open. The ground below his paws shook slightly, grass and dirt bounced off his snout forcing him to jerk his head to the side when a strong shockwave slid just in front of him. Two more reckless steps and he would be swiped by it like by a powerful oceanic wave.

Spyro opened his amethyst eyes, he began to bounce on the ground when powerful rumbling thuds of massive legs sent seismic disruptions across the earth. Another one of those golems was charging at full speed, behind the creature the purple dragon could see numerous forces of drakes engaging already in some skirmishes with other constructs.

The purple drake growled angrily as he turned to face the attacking construct. He was pissed actually, mad at the whole world and especially furious at the golem who had the nerve to distract him. With four more thudding strides the construct was on him, its arms were risen above its head, ready to slam at the ground and crush him.

With a strong flap of his wings Spyro jumped back, just in time to avoid the lumpish fists. Earth cracked under the powerful strike, however as intimidating as that looked like Spyro remained calm, as if he didn't take the risk seriously. The golem raised its arms, the moment it happened the purple dragon sprinted underneath them and between the golem's spread legs.

He jumped forward like a leopard and made a quick spin in the air, making use of his wings he propped himself up while still avoiding the ground. He pushed himself to a straight position, his hind legs barely dangling above the ground, it was then when he sent an earth missile straight at the golem's neck. When that happened he once again put his wings into action and pushed back, just in time to avoid the construct's second slam.

Draconic roars echoed all around him, some were filled with almost feral triumph while others were full of anguish. Spyro pushed higher, always keeping his distance from the swinging arms of the golem. As he dodged another strike Spyro raised above the construct's head, he just had to know how Cynder is faring. And it wasn't only worry that forced him to do it, it was something darker, it was difficult to name this emotion, it was like a swirling, gut twitching parasite of every bad emotion combined.

And it only wanted to see her making a move against the dragons, or perhaps it wanted to see the drakes attacking her...or both. It was so confusing but also so...so...enthralling, important. He just had to know, he had to.

And the fucking sight was blocked!

BLOCKED!

A fucking malachite dragon was fighting with a fucking golem! Right in the fucking way!

Fuck it!

Fuck them all!

The golem he was struggling with didn't matter anymore, nothing was more important than getting there, past that fucker ahead. Spyro pushed forward, however the only thing he managed to do was to yank his body slightly before his bones rattled in agony and his insides were turned upside down by a powerful shockwave from below. He paid dearly for this moment of distraction.

The purple dragon was sent spinning into the clouds above, even the pain wasn't strong enough to quench the fury boiling inside him. He roared wrathfully, another obstacle in his way, that thing has it coming, the fucking walking rocks who attacked him are once again in the center of his attention. The creature below once more spread its arms, preparing another attack.

" Come on fucker! Hit me with your best shot!" Spyro yelled like a maniac slowly regaining control of his body " I'll be ready!"

However Fate had other plans for him.

Spyro grunted when unexpectedly he collided with something, during this brief moment of shock he wondered when clouds became so thick...and scaly.

It's not a cloud! It's a fucking dragon!

Every nudge of surprise was gone, only that writhing dark emotional parasite remained within him. When he was about to make the golem pay the fucking lizard had to get in the way. Another fucking obstacle!

Still unable to regain control Spyro sank his claws into the dragon's scaly hide. A growl of pain escaped the drake's throat.

Yes! Scream you fucker! For everything you've done!

The shockwave pushed him with a great amount of force, it was just impossible to stop the spinning, and colliding with the dragon didn't help either. Yet even despite this discomfort Spyro whenever he could sank his claws into the body of the dragon he was currently bouncing off, and he did that with great satisfaction.

Bounce after bounce his claws left more reddish marks on the golden scales of the dragon, even in this blinded state of fury there was some advantage in this ruthless action. Whenever his claws pierced the other drake's scales his uncontrollable bouncing slowed down, the cuts his claws left weren't deep but they did their job, even if it wasn't intended.

" Whoa Spyro!" the gold dragon exclaimed when the pain reached a limit that wasn't to his liking and yanked his body away from the now almost stopped form of the spinning purple dragon.

" Watch where you put those claws! I'm here diving to assist you and you get blown by that thing. And look what I get for trying to help you!" the dragon yelled amused and wrapped his tail around the purple drake to slow him down completely " If I didn't know you I would say you wounded me on purpose!" he chuckled " Come on man, let's teach that thing a lesson!" and with that he dived

You want more fucker? It wasn't enough for you? So be it! Time to pay for this mockery!

Spyro with a furious roar followed the dragon.

The soldier ahead looked behind his shoulder while grinning widely " That's the spirit!"

Oh you have no idea fucker, when I get you I'll tear you to shreds, we'll see how wide you'll be smiling then! This is what you get for getting in my way!

The dragon turned his head again and yelled something.

Spyro didn't care. For him fuckers should be seen not heard.

And then the drake suddenly dashed to the side.

Another red ring of energy took his place.

The purple dragon didn't even try to run, before the shockwave reached him the drake let out a last furious and almost insane roar before once again he was blown away.

" FUUUUCK!" Spyro blared out wrathfully spitting saliva in every direction like a rabid dog while he spun in the air

This time however he recovered balance much faster than before, this time the pain was barely noticeable, it was like almost all the ache instead of hindering his movements just fueled him with more energy. And with this renewed dark vigor he went after the dragon, his red claws were sprinkling droplets of freshly spilled blood as he cut through the air.

The golden dragon landed near the golem Spyro fought earlier, and attacked it. The purple dragon however landed in between some buildings, keeping his distance from the fighting, preparing his move against the golden fucker who had the nerve to stop him. The struggling dragon eventually moved past the golem, so his tail was facing the rows of buildings where Spyro was waiting.

The purple dragon narrowed his gaze, this is the right moment to strike. Sliding his bloody claws across the ground he darted forwards, shooting bits of grass and dirt everywhere. This is the time where the drake will pay for his…his…his…whatever. He'll pay and that's what matters, the reason behind such fury is irrelevant. Nothing will stop him this time.

He was wrong.

The buildings around him began to shake violently, cracks started to wound their walls, the whole ground trembled as if a massive earthquake was ravaging the land. Then one of the houses in front of him collapsed, a deafening rumbling noise intensified only by many draconic roars hit him like a wave. Spyro jumped back instinctively, one of the side walls of one of the buildings ahead fell down, the pile of rocky rubble blocked his way in a cloud of dust, stone after stone piled on each other, effectively preventing any maneuver around it on the ground.

Moments later another wall collapsed on the opposite side of the already destroyed building the moment a rock hit its already weakened foundation. More stones piled in front of the purple dragon, he had to make some steps backwards to avoid some stones heading directly at his front paws.

Spyro stared at the hovering dust in front of him with fire in his eyes. His insides were twitching, struggling to hold back that slithering dark parasite that consumed his soul, it was proving to be too strong for him, but he managed to weaken it with one powerful roar.

" WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING?!"


	51. Chapter 13 Book III

Chapter 13

" Dammit" Cynder whined at the brink of tears as she pressed her legs firmly on the ground

The painful shocks running along her spine were excruciating, being thrown like an unwanted toy is not her most favorite feeling to say the least. The pulsing pain in her back was agonizingly irritating but so was the dizziness that unfortunately is a close companion with every strong collision.

As she tried to push herself up a yell full of anguish escaped her throat and she dropped on her belly, her legs were numb, not to mention that every bone in her body hurt like hell and rebelled against her every attempt to put them to use.

And the wings.

Those hurt too, and smelled like a frazzled lizard, Cynder chuckled scathingly. She's a dragon and she compares herself to a lizard, if only Cyril would hear this, where has her draconic pride run off to? Who cares, she's in pain, she has all the right to whine, nobody is here to tell her how to behave, nobody is here forcing any rules on her.

Rules.

Her moist eyes widened with sudden focus and determination, the master plan consisting of only two rules flashed across her mind. _Stay alive_, _prevent Spyro from going berserk_. How will she follow those rules by lying here?

Groaning Cynder began to pull herself up again, her legs shook with numbing pain but she was raising. Then she felt a piercing pain shooting through the bottom side of her left hind leg as if she was standing on something sharp.

With a yelp she instinctively reacted and kicked her paw away, just to get rid of the stinging pain and it was a bad thing to do. The three still not fully awakened legs just couldn't hold her weight and once again she dropped on the ground with a muffled thud and a grunt. The slight gust of wind her collapsing body created pushed dust and every small object from behind her towards her snout. Among those objects she noticed a small rock rolling on the ground with a tiny drop of red on one of its sharp edges. The reason for her misfortune.

But is this really a misfortune?

Cynder pressed her nose to the ground, the grass smell nice, it was soft, the perfect nature's blanket, everyone deserves a tiny break, even in the heat of battle. There is so many dragons out here that when one of them leaves the playground so to speak, like her for instance, nobody would even notice. Why everything has to be on her shoulders?

" Ouch!" the dragoness let out a muffled yelp when something fell on her head and landed in front of her forehead

She raised her eyes to notice a small rock in front of her nose, from where did it come from?

" OUCH!" another small stone bounced off from her head

Cynder turned her eyes towards the direction from which the rocks kept falling, they were coming from the wall she collided with. She winced when another one of those small rocks dropped on her black head.

" Alright!" she growled irritated " I'm getting up dammit!" she snorted " Even stupid buildings are against me"

The dragoness pressed her paws against the soft grass again. And stopped there.

The ground began to pulse, delicate tremors were being sent through the earth, like there would be a huge beating heart hidden underneath the dirt. Her body was bouncing to its rhythm, as if she was dancing to the thudding song.

To the familiar thudding song.

Cynder recognized the notes which got more louder by the minute and she didn't like this even a bit. With a resigned sigh she looked straight ahead, in the distance she spotted the golem she fought with Spyro heading in her direction, its flaming rocky body clearly visible under the azure sky.

" Of course you had to move against me. As if I didn't have enough problems on my head already!" she roared at the approaching figure indignantly and accusingly

Cynder hissed when a bolt of pain shot across her battered body after the ratty blare.

She forgot about this discomfort the moment another even more familiar noise cracked the sky like a thunder, a noise she can identify herself with. Cynder looked up, the sky was filled with plenty draconic figures, flying like birds in a formation, with the exception that this special draconic birds were flying straight at the ground. She narrowed her eyes on the dragons ahead, trying to spot that one single distinguish yellowish glow.

And there it was, something blinked at her from above, just like a mirror would be reflecting one of the sun's many rays.

" Would you look at that" the dragoness muttered in awe " He did it"

As she observed the drakes above she noticed the formation changing form, some of the dragons split from the main group, quite understandable seeing that there are many golems out here. Yet her feminine instinct forced her to focus on the groups that were diving on her side of the battlefield.

Cynder narrowed her eyes even more, she jumped from one draconic group to the other, looking for something, she didn't know what but ironically was sure that she recognizes it when she sees it. She kept on scanning the dragons until her head forcefully stopped on a descending pair of dragons.

Cynder couldn't make out the features, the image was way too blurry. She rubbed her eyes, narrowed them and craned her neck as far as it would go. She was like a captain of a non-existing ship, cleaning the glass of her spyglass before adjusting the focus to better observe the sea.

Her mouth went slightly open, her throat let out a faint gasp, there were enemies on the open azure sea above, two of them were closing in quickly, ready for a boarding.

It was the malachite pirate and one of his lackeys. ARRR!

" Oh sure, why not, come, attack. Don't mind me, oh no! I love the misery" with a sad derisive snort she dropped her forehead onto the grass with a muffled thud " Was me being born so much of a crime?" she sighed into the earth

A small rock dropping on her head was all the response she was given.

She winced and with a hiss put her paw on her head where the rock hit and looked at the sky indignantly while rubbing the aching spot.

" it was a rhetorical question!" she shouted to an invisible, malignant, pesky narrator

Her eyes once again narrowed themselves on the two approaching drakes, at least now however she doesn't have to hurry. Wherever Spyro is currently he has to fend for himself, those two up there aren't going here to help her stand up, in fact they would be thrilled if she wouldn't stand up at all.

As stupid as this will sound Spyro is much safer wherever he is, or no matter how many golems he is fighting with right now. If this is what it takes to protect her friend from succumbing to his dark side, if this is what it takes to protect these people from the wrath of Dark Spyro…so be it.

Not that they will appreciate it, it seems that her destiny is to remain in the shadows. Literally and lyrically.

Accepting her role in all of this mess Cynder rested her chin on the soft grass and let out a tired and somewhat anxious deep breath through her nose. Her eyes remained opened, strictly focused on the green ground, yet with a corner of her emerald orbs she saw two massive black legs ahead, they were getting bigger and bigger with each passing second.

Cynder wasn't even bothered by the intensifying tremors running across the earth, she was like a cat who didn't see anything else expect a small black shadowy dot sliding on the ground in front of her. Not really interested in attacking it, but still always vigilant.

The dot slid swiftly to the right edge of her perception and her emerald eyes followed it, the dot remained there while shaking with each tremor. Or perhaps the spot followed her eyes? The point jumped to the opposite edge of her perception where it remained completely still. Her body was getting magically warm, as a mythical creature her scales and veins were like sensors for any kind of magical energy. Both that flowing inside and the foreign approaching from the outside.

The black spot jumped once more but this time it has vanished completely, with a stoic breath Cynder looked ahead. She caught a glimpse of a reddish ring and a spark of a huge fireball before she felt the familiar black dot spreading underneath her and sank into the ground.

She reappeared at the side of the building into which she was hurled, craning her neck slightly forward was enough to see clearly what was happening in the place she occupied some seconds ago. The weakened wall collapsed completely under the force of the shockwave, rocks rolled onto her recent green mattress which soon scattered in every direction when a powerful fireball exploded on them.

Fire burst in every direction after the collision, some of the flames found their way into the house through the recently created opening and momentarily set on fire every flammable object within. Already used to the chaos of a battlefield Cynder kept her head cool, yet even in familiar surroundings surprises happen. For instance she never expected the malachite dragon who always was after her blood throwing himself at the golem which just turned in her direction, ready to chasten her for her dodge.

The little unexpected moment was enough to force the dragoness out of her focused trance, this is why she gasped and turned towards the window at her side when suddenly something crashed loudly within the burning building. Fire was dancing behind the transparent mirror, even from here she could feel the heat wafting from the inside. It was quite a horrid view in a way, even if empty, a burning house represents how fragile even the most secure place in the world can be.

However at this time, the growing image of a red dragon in the corner of the window's glass was way more troublesome.

With a squeaky yelp Cynder jumped forward and landed flat on her belly. Those guys were expecting a shadow walk from her, yet no matter how well versed so to speak they are in her abilities nobody can truly foresee exactly where she will pop up next. This is why she had those quickly flowing several seconds that most likely saved her head.

The building literally exploded when the big dragon crashed into its wall just mere inches behind her tail tip. Tongues of flames shot from the already burning building, as well as from the drake who just used some kind of an aerial form of Spyro's Comet Dash. Not to mention that the shooting stones were instantly heated by the magically imbued flames.

Instinctively Cynder crawled away from the destruction, the heat was unbearable as it is, besides the annoying scorching pain she managed to come out of this situation pretty unscathed. Long live her instinct, it would be much worse if she didn't drop to the ground when she did.

An irritated growl rumbled behind her, the dragoness looked behind her shoulder and noticed the red dragon furiously emerging from the building with one swift jump. He instantly spun in her direction while still sliding on the scorched earth, his tail gracefully followed in the wake of his rump, as gracefully as a male could manage that is.

The angered dragon shook his head fiercely, tiny stones and sparks flew in every direction. The drake roared ferociously the moment he got rid of the annoying obstacles, as a fire dragon he was completely indifferent to the hot flames wafting from the crumbled building. He had other priorities in life, and his risen paw was already seeking one of them.

Seeing the reddish paw coming her way Cynder once more used her Shadow element to get away from this dangerous situation. When the big silver claws slashed at the ground only grass shot into the air instead of a draconic feminine blood.

The black dragoness emerged some meters behind the attacking drake, yet instead of preparing a counter-attack she just hovered in the air eying the dragon ahead who's gaze meticulously scanned the ground around his paws.

" Come on!" Cynder wailed and the red dragon instantly faced her with a snarl. Seeing his reaction the dragoness raised her paws defensively, which with the ominous shadowy coat that embraced her claws gave her a somewhat comical look

" Can we let bygones be bygones for the time being?"

" Shut up!" the drake roared and slashed at the hovering female

Cynder made a swift flap with her wings and pulled back, deftly avoiding the strike " Don't listen to Capro! He's brainwashing you! Why do you think he's taking care of the golem? It's simple! He's using you to wear me out, somebody has to do the dirty work for him after all!"

" I've said SHUT UP!" the drake breathed fire at her

The black dragoness dived moving out of the way of the elemental fire yet still feeling its hot touch on her back. " Look around you!" Cynder exclaimed when she once again stopped in the air, safely away from any danger, at least for now

" We have a common enemy here! You're not stupid, you know that I haven't created those things, if I did I would never let them attack me, I'm not a fan of delusions when it comes to fighting. I'm a rather straightforward type"

" I know, you made sure that me and other survivors of the massacre of my home city remember that!" the dragon leapt forward, trying to crush the female in between his powerful teeth

Cynder dived again, using her agility she slipped right underneath the drake's firm jaw, leaving behind her the sound of snapping razor teeth, like the sound of a guillotine.

" See?" the dragoness said while she stopped right above the dragon's back. " I'm telling the truth" she avoided another bite " You get on my nerves too but I know what's at stake here and I put all those soldiers in front of my anger. And I know you are able to do the same, just look into your heart"

" I only want to look into yours" the fire dragon roared and tried to crush the dragoness again, with the same effect " Especially when I claw it out from your chest" he growled and lunged once more

It was clear that the time to shove some sense into the dragon's head was over, however she was aware that even the slightest aggression against those self- righteous dragons, even in self-defense will make the situation even worse.

The drake slashed at her twice, she avoided those strikes, however even her natural agility wasn't enough to counter what came next. The dragon was an experienced fire wielder so the moment he opened his mouth a huge ball of flame appeared and split into four fireballs the moment he sent it at her.

The incoming fiery projectiles formed some sort of a strange figure. Two of them were flying in a vertical line, where the one on the highest point was moving slowly farther and farther towards the sky, while the one on the bottom stretched into the opposite direction. Between them two more balls could be seen that leaned to the west and east.

The formation effectively prevented any form of escape, Cynder thinking quickly pushed to her right flank, yet unfortunately she wasn't fast enough to dodge the fireball in the middle. The flaming ball hit her and exploded at the impact, the hot shockwave made her spin in the air uncontrollably while forcing a painful scream out of her throat. And that wasn't the end of her misfortune.

The drake instantly shot a tiny fiery dot at the highest fireball, it cut through the air like an arrow and collided with the fireball. It exploded, it was too far away to actually hurt her but the fiery shockwave that was released was strong enough to hurl her at the ground anyway.

Cynder hit the ground with a loud thud, dirt burst into the air as she bounced from the ground, every new bounce forced a yelp from her.

Two unwanted prances,

three,

four,

five.

The sixth one was barely able to lift her from the earth, instead of pushing her into the air the dying force of the shockwave hurled her across the ground until she eventually slid to a stop, wafting choking doses of dirt and dust into the atmosphere. The brownish mist effectively obscured vision.

The pain was horrible.

She began to cough as she pulled herself up from the ground, this was it, either she starts protecting herself or she's as good as dead. Diplomacy time was over. Cynder's eyes stung from the dust hanging in the air but even from mist she noticed a flicker of freshly ignited fire.

She rolled on the ground to the side, the draconic fire pierced the brown veil with ease and cracked like a huge torch just a meter or two from her rolling body. The dragoness hissed through clenched teeth, forcing back the cough and the yelp of pain from the heat down her throat. The vision is obscured, there is no need to betray her position for the dragon again.

Fighting with pain Cynder pushed herself up, another fire breath wafted through the mist, yet this time it was a prolonged one. It started from the position where she was earlier, moved right, just to make a wide arc and broach in her direction. The dragon is not taking any chances, he will burn the whole ground just to make sure she's not coming out of this fog alive.

The dragoness leapt into the air, flapped her burned wings with great effort several times before pressing them to her body. She began to spin, faster and faster with each passing second. A powerful wind sprang up from nowhere, at least that's how it looked from the dragon's point of view.

The dragoness was fully aware of her capabilities and the capabilities of her Wind element, and from this confidence the draconic Twister was born. The brownish choking cloud dispersed in a moment, clearly revealing the tongue of flame sliding quickly towards her, and the opened mouthed owner of this fire breath came into view soon after.

She is one of the dragons who stopped Malefor, a breath of a single common dragon is no match for her powers.

The moment the drake's fire breath reached her spinning form it was momentarily stolen by the twisting wind swirling around her. The dragoness moved straight into the hot breath, as she spun she could see fiery dashes flickering before her eyes as the draconic breath was being defeated by the summoned nature's reaper bit by bit.

The dragon was retreating slowly under her pressure but he still kept attacking.

The air around her was getting unpleasantly warm, if the drake would continue his offensive she doubted she could withstand the heat. Powerful or not she needs to tip the battle in her favor, and the unhindered focus on the Twister will do just that.

Small rocks began to levitate, just to be sucked into the draconic tornado moments later. Cynder concentrated on the red dragon, the swirling rocks around her began to gush at the dragon one by one, like projectiles fired from a small fast shooting cannon. It didn't matter that the stones were tiny, the speed with which they have been thrown out of the twister turned the small missiles into sharp rough needles.

And the dragon felt their sting.

The fiery drake was wincing and flinching, the fire coming out of his mouth wavered, for a moment it was intense just to weaken soon after, even the speed he was falling back increased.

She noticed she was getting the upper paw, yet the dragon in his stubbornness wasn't about to give up just yet. The whizzing wind intensified, it was roaring around her with a deafening rumble, getting stronger by the minute. More rocks where sucked by the draconic tornado, this time they were bigger, almost the size of a melon.

The moment they were hurled at the drake he was pushed into the defense.

The dragon tried to keep the fire breath going but the pain caused by the bigger stones was just too much. With a roar full of anguish and anger he stopped his attack and covered himself behind his massive wings, clenching his teeth and withstanding every dose of shocking pain. He was not about to give up, he pressed his paws firmly on the ground and sunk his claws into the earth, however the wind was too powerful now, even for him. The dragon struggled to remain in place but to no avail, his claws left deep scratching marks on the earth when he was being slowly sucked into the cyclone.

Cynder didn't want to hurt him…badly, it would make things only worse for her if somebody saw that she is beating up one of her own. They wouldn't care who started this, they would throw themselves at her, not knowing that only a handful would actually reach her. Dark Spyro would take care of the rest.

That is why she stopped, the twister she made out of herself was still fully operational so to speak, but it wasn't moving anymore. She just remained in place and sucked every possible stone in close vicinity just to hurl it at the covering drake. After some time even the big rocks that were once a house were lifted from their spot, eventually slowly cleaning out the rubble that the dragon made out from one of the walls of the crumbling house.

She wanted him to finally give up, dragons have a high threshold for pain but even they have their limits. The dragon seeing that she isn't continuing her charge decided to push forward, in his stubborn stupidity trying to ignore the flying rocks.

He kept on moving forward, stones smashed against his body but no matter how many flinches such collisions caused him, he still kept on walking. Making a very formidable shield from his wings, his membranes were bleeding, in some places quite badly but he still kept on walking.

The idiot.

Cynder channeled her Wind element even stronger than before, she tried to play it nicely but if he doesn't understand subtlety so be it, he'll have it the hard way. The collapsed wall was shaking, the solid stones from which it was made from began to raise in the air one by one, and those were quite massive solid blocks, able to crush a cheetah under their weight easily. She lifted all of them, the stones began to swirl all around her accompanied by their smaller variations. If she wasn't a fighter Cynder noticed that she would make quite a good maid, the wind cleaned all the rubble from the collapsed wall, opening up a second entrance to the burned building.

She hurled one of the slabs at the dragon, he let out a painful wavering roar, staggered on his legs before covering himself behind his wings again with obvious grimace of pain wrinkling his snout. The dragoness hurled another slab at him.

Same reaction, and still that annoying stubbornness kept him going.

Another slab.

Still the same thing.

Cynder knew that he has his limit, and it wasn't far.

Another throw.

She was right.

The last rocky explosion finally took a visible toll, the dragon's legs bent under the weight of the constant bombardment, his bones no longer able to fuel the rest of the body with necessary amounts of strength. However no matter how battered the drake was, he didn't want to show any signs of weakness, the moment his belly touched the ground he immediately sprang back up on all fours, even if his legs were shaking from exhaustion.

About time.

The dragon seeing that his stubbornness isn't paying off prepared his bloody wings and leapt into the air with an furious roar. The first few several flaps were shaky and very uncoordinated but they did the job and lifted the heavy draconic body into the air. If Cynder only wanted to she would shoot him down with ease.

But she didn't, mostly because she didn't want to, but there was something entirely else that drew her attention.

In the distance behind Capro and the golem she saw the only purple dragon alive, she would recognize her friend even from the clouds. He was currently engaged into a skirmish with one of the golems, as much as she wanted to help him, she knew she just couldn't do it. Something at the back of her mind warned her of incoming danger, and the reason behind it wasn't the fire dragon above or Capro ahead.

It was Spyro.

She could see him clearly from here, no doubt if he would raise in the air he would notice her too, and the link between them would mean the end of both golems and dragons.

She just can't let that happen.

Cynder was aware that the dragon above was resting and preparing himself for her attack, if the battle between them would continue…she needs to hide. She needs to hide from her best friend as stupid as this sounds.

The dragoness quickly scanned for a rock or something else big enough for her to hide behind it, or inside it. She instantly thought about the burned down house but then again the idiot who attacked her won't just let her be, and the flying stones when he would follow her would certainly draw Spyro's attention.

She needs to think of something else.

Then her eyes landed on the pair of enemies fighting ahead, there wasn't much space between the building and the two fighters but it was enough. If it comes to a confrontation between her and the red drake, and something told her it will, she and the fire dragon will fit there, and when that happens all she'll need to do is to play this right.

The golem is huge, Capro as a dragon fairly in his adulthood is quite big for his age, the two of them will serve as the perfect obstacle. Not to mention the idiotic fire dragon above, that one was a typical fully grown male, he will easily fill any gap between the two fighters, she'll just need to maneuver him properly.

Cynder immediately killed the elemental energy flowing through her veins, the howling wind died instantly even before she and the spinning rocks landed on the ground with muffled thudding sounds. Not really dwelling on the moment she dashed into the building, just to buy herself some more time.

It worked, she could see the red dragon above through the many cracks and holes that now make up for the building's décor. For a moment he just hovered there, completely surprised by her move, clearly expecting her to continue her offense and not to run away just like that. Eventually the drake shook off his shock and went after her, cautiously, expecting a trap it seems or just didn't want to risk another blind attack like earlier.

However no trap was coming, Cynder just waited for him to get close enough, and when he did a terrifying shriek greeted him. The dragon momentarily jumped back with a startled yelp, he didn't run away but couldn't press forward either, that screech still echoed within his head.

The dragoness however didn't waste the opportunity, not wanting to strain the patience of her Luck she slipped out of the building, making sure the dragon sees where she is going. When he finally managed to quench back his fear he once more went after the female, yet this time he decided to make his way around the house.

Cynder was there where she planned, waiting for him, her tail swinging slowly from one side to the other. With a snarl the fire dragon stepped out from behind the building, his massive tail tearing parts of the cornice as it slid threateningly along the house. He let out a challenging growl as he began to sidestep on bent paws from left to right while not leaving the black dragoness from his sight.

She emitted a defiant growl of her own " How about we do this the old fashioned way?" she bent on her legs and brandished her razor sharp teeth in a cocky grin " Or are you too scared to try?"

The dragon lunged at her without a word of warning, his powerful paw cut through the air in one fast crosswise swing. Cynder expected such a move from him, before the strike could do any damage to her she backflipped out of its way.

The drake tried again using his other forepaw. Cynder swiftly rolled on the ground to the side. Her enemy was about to slash at her again, she momentarily sprang up on all fours and darted towards the drake. His big paw cut the wind behind her as she slipped underneath his foreleg, biting his other paw and slashing at the risen one with her tail.

The dragon jumped back with a painful roar, the moment he leapt into the air Cynder jumped too, straight up, and managed to delicately scratch his scales. The smell of draconic blood hung heavy in the air, the scent disgusted her, she has enough dragon blood on her claws as it is.

The male threw himself at her again, this time however trying to smash her in his powerful jaws. She avoided his maw with another graceful backflip, her enemy was obviously not used to seeing dragons doing such acrobatic moves but that didn't discourage him in the slightest.

He continued his attack, Cynder dodged another strike by one of his powerful claws by simply jumping backwards, seeing that the male was expecting another acrobatic leap from her she decided to lunge forward. Before the drake could react she managed to catch his leg with her silvery natural weapons right below the elbow.

Wanting to punish the dragoness for her dirty fighting the dragon bounced up and tried to claw his frustration on her feminine body, but she was already gone from his reach, circling him for unknown reason just to wait there for his attack, as if taunting him, trying to show that he is nothing in comparison to her.

The sassy bitch.

Her plan was working, at least for now. During her attacks, and especially when she retreated she stayed hidden behind the big dragon. Whenever she got the chance she threw quick glances at the battlefield, and surprise, surprise the dragons were winning. They have already taken out some of the golems, they aren't as indestructible as one may think, with good tactic everything can be defeated. However when you're alone it isn't a simple task to take out a golem, Capro is a good example of that, or perhaps you just need to see the weakness appearing on the golem's rocky body to count it as one.

This is good news, she doesn't need to hurry, she only needs to stall the drake for as long as she can. In due time the battle In Boven will end and the remaining dragons will be too busy cherishing the victory to bother with her, hence avoiding a gruesome fate from Dark Spyro.

The red drake attacked her again, more ferociously this time. He slashed at her with one paw, she avoided the strike by jumping to the side. The drake followed soon after with his other foreleg, Cynder ducked under the horizontal cut just to quickly leap forward above another strike while curling into a fast spinning ball with her tail tip as the deadly tongue of it. That blade like tip managed to cut the dragon's chest before she landed just below his neckline.

The drake roared furiously and tried to crush the dragoness like a little bug but she managed to jump out of the way. He then tried to bite her head off but this attempted also failed when she cut his cheek with the blade on her wing thumb and forced him to back off with a painful hiss.

He pulled back but was not about to give up, she knew that, that is why she returned to the same spot as before. He attacked her once more, the dragoness had a very hard time dodging his strikes but she managed somehow. However this time the drake didn't give her any opportunity to counter-attack, momentarily he spun around and swiped with his tail.

His reddish tail was sliding across the ground, kicking dust in the air, she didn't think it through, Cynder was sure that with her agility she will jump over it with ease. Her eyes went wide open when for the very first time she got a good look at his tail, especially the tip. It resembled a dorsal fin of a shark with a narrow sharp rounded tip, many small spikes sprouted from it.

The worst thing however was that the main round tip was quite tall.

With a startled yelp Cynder jumped, using her wings to gain altitude, but it wasn't enough. The spikes caught one of her dangling hind leg, especially one of them got hooked in her scales. She cried out but it wasn't the end of her agony, the speed and strength the dragon put into the swipe was enough to yank her body in the wake of his tail. However the small spike wasn't meant to hold onto things, this is why the swift slide of his tail was enough for the spike to tear a bit of the dragonesses flesh from her leg, followed by a cascade of blood gushing from the wound.

Cynder's agonizing scream only intensified after this unfortunate scenario which toppled her to the ground. She didn't even feel the force of the impact with the ground, the hot pulsing pain in her leg took the nerve's whole attention. Her warrior's spirit kicked in, before she knew it she was already pulling herself up while letting out all that boiling screams of anguish in groaning hisses through her clenched teeth.

The wounded leg acted like it had a mind of its own, not allowing to put pressure on it and punishing every such attempt with strong aching shocks. Cynder obeyed, instinctively avoiding more pain by bending the wounded paw slightly as every other living creature would do in her place, only allowing her claws to touch the ground delicately.

The thick tail was moving towards her again, the drake seeing that his attack was effective decided to continue it by sliding his tail back the route it came. As she threw a glance at the sliding tail Cynder cursed her stupid ideas, if not for all this no magic fight she wouldn't have to bite her lips almost to the blood just to spare her tongue the fate of being sliced under her own teeth!

Agony.

This is her reward for being nice.

" _Story of my life_" she whined to herself with resignation while still eyeing the incoming tail

There was something very interesting about it, besides the tip there were no spikes or anything similar sharp enough to pierce her body on the whole length of it, only a simple reddish thick scaly tail. If she would get slapped by it, the force of the swipe will hurl her away from the drake and this very bad position and she would be safe for a moment.

This was such a bad idea.

Deciding that bad ideas are her lifestyle Cynder began to quickly limp forward, or prance more like it, sometimes even using her hurt leg for support. She barely made it, the deadly tip no longer threated her, the tail however was only a couple of meters away. She tried to form a proper shield from her wings but ran out of time and received a powerful slap on her still not prepared draconic barrier.

Every possible bone within her wings rattled in agony, the slap was like an uncontrolled jump from a high building, if you won't bend your knees properly, you'll break your legs. Although her bones didn't break, it still hurt like hell.

Dust and grass shot in the air after her rolling body, in her state Cynder could no longer tell from where the pain is coming from. Between her feminine grunts whenever her head bounced off the ground she could hear the dragon roaring not far away from her and beginning his charge. After a couple of more quick spins she eventually stopped on a tree, a bolt of numbing pain shot across her whole left flank when after the impact. The force of the collision forced her to cough out dirt mixed with small amounts of sordid blood.

In between coughs she took a quick glimpse at the golem, it was all alone. With a frown on her snout and little coughs still scourging her lungs she focused her vision. Capro was heading her way, she saw that murderous shimmer within his callous grey eyes, he completely ignored the construct and concentrated entirely on her. The red drake abruptly ended his charge seeing his moving companion, there was something about the posture, the way he walked, or perhaps the malachite drake has already sent the fire dragon a meaningful look that made his intentions waver, splashed by the feeling of intimidation.

He smelled her blood, Cynder was sure of it, he recognized how deep her battle scars ran, he smelled her body weakening and he was about to take advantage of it.

And it that moment she felt that special phenomenon popularly called second wind filling her body.

She couldn't tell if it was caused by the natural fear of death or the simple satisfaction of wiping that barely visible triumphant and malicious grin from his ugly mug. With a challenging frown Cynder confidently wiped the blood running down her lower lip and pushed herself up. Surprisingly the pain in her leg was no longer so annoying.

Capro noticed her confident self-assured stance, his arrogant walk ended abruptly, the irritating triumphant smile twitched into a surprised grimace. For a moment he was completely frozen in shock.

It changed soon enough.

" Stop playing with her!" Capro roared, his snout was wrinkled by a comical grimace of wrath, that wanted to cry and scream at the same time

However the red dragon still found such outburst intimidating, his whole body shivered uncontrollably after hearing Capro's roar. But then he shook off the awkward feeling and got a good look at the malachite drake, he was younger than him, what gives him the right to bark orders at him?

The furious muscular dragon didn't answer his unspoken question. With another wrathful blare he threw himself at the golem and let out all that boiling anger on the creature.

Cynder turned her eyes at the fire dragon ahead, he was slowly making her his priority again if his flaring nostrils were any clue. However she wasn't saddened by this, she wasn't even bother by it, he was as noticeable as air was, with her renewed determination and in the open he has no chance against her.

In the open.

Everything suddenly became unimportant to her, panic was creeping towards her heart when she realized that this wasn't part of her plan, this was certain doom. The dragoness turned her wide eyes towards the village where all the fighting was going on, expecting to see Dark Spyro killing his way to her.

Nothing like that was happening. Spyro was nowhere to be seen.

Something was wrong. And it didn't take her long to find out, the number of golems increased greatly, it was like they appeared in the place of all the destroyed ones. There was total chaos going on there, it was hard to see anything with all those hulking figures moving about and the constant flashes of every possible elemental attack. The dragons were obviously in trouble, she has never seen so many golems before, and she is here wasting her energy on this stupid plan of hers.

The real enemy is out there and the fire dragon is attacking her, she could understand this yet. Roars, shouts and different kind of explosions were a part of this scenery sound from the very beginning, who would even react to the intensifying noise. But Capro, this is a different kind of story, he definitely noticed what is going on and just ignores it. There is absolutely no way she can overcome hate like this, it's time to bail and go where the real fighting is taking place, all paws are needed on deck.

Ironically Capro's also.

The fire dragon following the malachite drake's orders threw away their agreement regarding the claws only fighting. A huge wave of fire was coming at her and she wasn't even interested in deflecting it somehow. Instead Cynder sank into the ground once more using her Shadow powers and reappeared not far from the place where Capro was fighting the construct.

The malachite drake was genuinely surprised to see her, his wide eyed stare could be easily seen from behind the golem's arm. She needs to get out of here, and there is only one way of quick transportation that can make this happen.

This was such a bad idea.

Cynder started to run towards the construct's back, for a moment Capro just stood there, observing her moving form by jerking his head to see past the creature's thick rocky body, wondering most likely if she's completely right in the head since moments ago she did everything to avoid any kind of battle and now is running straight at him.

However she had no intention of moving around the golem, when she was close enough to the construct the dragoness leapt into the air. Raising above the golem's shoulders she released her already channeled Wind element in a form of a powerful gust. No matter how solid Capro was standing on the ground the gale was still able to push him away from the golem.

" Hit it in the crack on the back of its neck" Cynder said and momentarily pushed away from the golem with a couple of swift flaps of her black wings while channeling her Poison element.

When she decided she was far enough she touched the ground and let loose a boiling green glob of venom straight at the crack in the golem's natural armor. The construct reacted to her attack with one furious roar and immediately crossed its massive arms around its body and hunkered down.

Cynder sighed " This is going to hurt"


	52. Chapter 14 Book III

Chapter 14

This is a complete chaos, everything was ruined by the golems. There is just so many of them and they are interfering with his...what exactly? Doesn't matter, interference means punishment and those creatures are all going to pay for this.

Everything started to shake all of a sudden, once only strong yet at the same time not so powerful tremors ran across the ground. It almost felt like Boven was inside a snow globe with snowflakes falling down around the place while being shaken violently by some unappeased brat. In reality golems were the brat and stones were the snowflakes.

And there is plenty of both.

Unexpectedly golems began to charge from the forest, throwing shockwaves as they ran and demolishing buildings on their way, either by the reddish rings they released or by hurled draconic bodies. Everything happened quickly after that, the constructs were at the dragon's throats in an instant, roars of agony and wrath filled the air, both coming from living and artificial creatures. Blood and overall destruction ruled this place now.

And he only wanted to add to the already hideous pool. And currently the golems were on the menu.

Spyro roared triumphantly as he stood on the crumbling golem, the creature had enough, the fire inside its body died and with it the invisible connection that kept the construct's form intact. There was a rumbling sound as the golem turned to rubble, in the middle of it stood a single bleeding purple dragon. Deep cuts were scarring his draconic body, streaks of blood were flowing down from them, in places very profusely.

He wasn't sated, Spyro didn't understand why he feels this...specific craving or what it is hungry for exactly. Or did he? Many different roars and explosions of all kinds of elemental energy rumbled all around him, golems were everywhere, EVERYWHERE. No matter where he turned his eyes at least one of those things was there, and it was interfering with his...something.

They have to pay for this.

Spyro marked his prey, it was a golem which just killed one of the younger dragons and now turned its attention to him. It began its slow thudding walk.

Spyro snarled and walked straight at the construct, or at least he wanted to. A sharp pain shooting across his chest forced his paw back. He looked down, droplets of blood dripped on the earth, a familiar metallic taste filled his mouth as the blood flowing down from his nose touched his lips. A shard of glass was sticking out from his golden scales.

He didn't care about the bleeding nose, he didn't care about the pain when he pulled out the hunk from his chest with one swift motion, and especially he didn't care about the lifeless gold draconic tail he just stepped over, whose owner served as bait.

The golem ahead was all that mattered.

The construct confidently walked towards the purple drake, Spyro walked confidently towards it, almost like two cowboys sauntering to the place of the final countdown. During one of its strides the rocky creature extended its arms and slapped its hands powerfully. A reddish ring was released straight at the purple drake, accompanied by tiny bits of black rock from the golem's hands.

Spyro didn't run, nor he tried to avoid the attack, he just continued his challenging walk unhindered by any emotion...or not.

Whatever. Unimportant.

The moment the reddish ring struck him Spyro cringed while letting out an irritated growl. Besides the powerful sting that seemed to pierce his brain and fresh blood gushing from his nose he didn't feel much pain. He wasn't surprised by this, just like he wasn't surprised by the fact that he was still standing when he should be blown away by the shockwave.

Whatever. Unimportant.

As if trying to show the golem with who its dealing with the purple drake roared deafeningly. Crimson blood shot from his mouth as he parted his lips covered in red wet, thick liquid, while at the same time brandishing his razor sharp teeth that also adopted a reddish hue. A sight that possibly would scare any living creature away.

But the golem had no mind, it knew no fear and this is why exactly the young male began to run at it.

His head went low, his horns pointed ahead and flames burst from below his paws and from between his horns. He gained immense speed in seconds, leaving a tongue of burning flame behind him, the golem was just too slow to stop the attacking dragon. Spyro went at one of its massive legs, the ground shook when the golem's big fists dented the earth behind him.

There was a rumbling thud when his horns made contact with the rocky leg, flames shot in every direction after the impact, together with bits of black rocks. Spyro was thrown back by the force of the impact but kept standing, even the golem felt the strike, he could hear the creature roaring furiously as it slightly shook on its legs.

It recovered quickly, its leg went up in a blink of an eye, ready to crush the insufferable drake below, however Spyro was on all fours, so when the leg went down he was already safe away from its big dimension. Yet he could still feel the tremor running through the ground, and being so close to the origin point pushed him into a very shaky course, as if he was drunk.

To counter this Spyro spread his wings and went up quickly, he could feel the air squeezing around him, something very heavy was heading his way. He pressed his wings to his body and made a crosswise dive while channeling his Ice element. Bluish sparks began to bounce of his tail tip, like sparks from a recently started fire. Instinctively he swung his tail, the icy tip made contact with the flying arm, slowing it down a little, thanks to that he was able to push away from its reach, if only by inches.

However the dragon completely ignored the fact that the golem has already seen its share of battle and possessed the ability to swing its arms much faster than a freshly engaged construct. Before Spyro could react he was struck by an another arm, it came so fast that he only managed to take a quick glimpse of it before being hit.

Something cracked, as he was spinning he wasn't quite sure what it was. A bone? Or something else?

He forced his body to a stop, he felt no pain, only something dark was eating at his soul right now. A parasite sucking out the pain but at the same time feeding its host with confusion. Chaos even.

Whatever. Unimportant.

Spyro dashed at the creature, if he would feel pain flying would be impossible, no dragon would be able to withstand the grating of bone against bone in his currently deformed right wing. But he was no ordinary dragon right now, he was something more, something indescribable.

When he got close the golem swung at him again, Spyro however instead of trying to maneuver around them to find a gap in the golem's defense he flipped up towards the sky and went down momentarily. The rocky creature tried to crush the drake in one powerful clap of its hands but missed, the golden tip slipped out of its reach.

Spyro went directly at the ground, with his Earth element built up in his veins he covered himself with his wings, as if wrapping a scaly cocoon around his body before he stretched it horizontally. The brownish draconic cocoon smacked at the ground, his Earth Pound ability was fully charged by then. Green waves of energy shot across the ground at impact.

Each of these waves sent shockwaves across the ground, in some places the earth had enough, the ground cracked right behind the sliding green waves, coughing up dirt when it parted. These spider-webs surrounded the golem's leg and then the ground gave up under its weight. It cracked inwards, just like a carton box after a blow from a clenched fist.

The golem roared surprised when its leg went down and sank into the big hole. Its whole body faltered, it tried to punish the drake for this attack but when its other leg touched the earth same situation happened.

Taking advantage of the construct's vulnerable position Spyro flew right in between its spread legs. The golem tried to crush the drake, but when it raised one of its legs, the hole in which the other one was standing grew deeper. Forcing the creature into another fight for balance.

And this is what the dragon waited for, he dashed towards the stammering hulking creature and swiftly maneuvered his body around the golem's left flank. It was then when time froze, literally, Spyro didn't even hear the specific hollow noise whenever he stopped the sun. He didn't even feel when he actually channeled his Time powers, it happened just like that, naturally, as if he didn't lose contact with his time freezing powers in the first place.

Power.

He had all of it at his disposal.

But there was something far more deadlier clawing at his flesh from the inside, wanting to get out, almost peeking through the invisible holes in his scales, and Spyro just couldn't push it back. For that barely noticeable second it scared the hell out of him.

Whatever. Unimportant.

He made his way towards the creature's back where the only know vulnerable spot was located, the world trapped inside a huge still bubble didn't even move by inch, he was the only one moving at full speed, and he took advantage of it. His claws slashed so fast that Spyro was barely able to register their movements with his troubled and confused eyes.

Spyro added his ice breath to support his slashes In this chaotic attack. The cold breath he was letting out at the neck should at least sting his paws, but he didn't feel a thing, as if the freezing mist coming out from his mouth was nothing more than a weak puff of wind.

It looked like his strikes didn't have any effect, the neck looked the same, as if nothing ever touched it. Spyro knew it was just an illusion, the world around him was slowly starting to break from the time freezing bubble. Deformed noises of roars and ongoing battle were reaching him, some small black rocks were slowly splitting from the golem's neck. The vinyl record entitled time was slowly disposing the screeches on the gramophone of life.

The dragon pushed back, when he was far enough he started to release every possible elemental projectile at his disposal. Fire, Ice, Earth and occasional Electricity were being sent at the golem like lashes of a very enthusiastic torturer. The attacks were coming out of Spyro's mouth so quickly, just like shallows breaths after a very long run. He didn't feel any waver of his form, nor he ne needed any rest, breathing out elemental attacks was as easy and natural as breathing air.

And then it happened, with one powerful thud every possible sound that was held back by his Time power hit the drake all at once. The purple dragon didn't care about those other noises, as uncomfortable as they were, for him the only sound that mattered was that of cracking rocks and a furious rumbling roar of a construct. The natural armor on the creature's neck exploded into bits, revealing the fiery essence in its wildest form.

The golem stammered, its whole body wavered, fighting to recover from all this magical projectiles and then after one earth missile too much it went dormant. Spyro knowing how the golem reacts to a beating was already a safe distance away from the fire ring that soon erupted from the roaring golem.

However safe distance doesn't mean complete security.

A powerful shockwave hit him from behind, the unexpected strike didn't cast him like a ragdoll but was enough to push the dragon's body forward. Spyro groaned after the surprised attack, but couldn't hear his own voice, the ringing inside his head after the strike was deafening. Blood gushed like lava erupting from a volcano.

To make things worse this wasn't the end of his troubles.

The thing he so prepared to avoid was now his torturer. Even in his state Spyro roared painfully when he was pushed directly into the hot reddish ring. A bone cracked somewhere again, not able to withstand the crushing forces from both sides at the same time. He felt like a rolled paper, that is being pressed and pressed until it resembles a round ball.

And the heat.

The stench of burning flesh filled his nostrils, in places where his body was more exposed to the effects of fire his purple scales started to peel off slightly, like used bloody, scorched strands of bandage. Not to mention that every possible cut on his body sent agonizing pulses throughout his entire body as they were involuntary seared by the heat.

The parasite reminded him of its presence, so harshly that Spyro could imagine a bulge slithering just underneath his scales, stretching them to their limits. There was something overpowering behind this roughness however, the bulge was like a beating second heart, filling him with dark addicting energy. His mind was slowly behind hypnotized with every thud inside his skull that followed the dark heart's beats.

The pain was gone.

The two golems that Spyro was currently in between began their charge, the constructs were probably too dumb to realize that he seems to be at his finest no matter how hard beating he got. The constructs were obviously created to do one thing, stop the dragons at all costs and don't bother with trifles like caution for example.

The purple drake straightened his battered body, completely ignoring the fact that the previously broken wing looked much worse than before, no dragon would withstand the pain that unfolding such wing to flight would cause. Spyro had no problems with that.

He darted upwards while beginning to spin around, faster and faster. His Snow Storm ability was powered in a blink of an eye, a feat that usually took a while to be properly fueled was now ready to sow destruction in a couple of seconds. The temperature dropped considerably around the drake. A whizzing wind suddenly sprang up, but this whirl of nature was different than Cynder's twister, this wind was cold as the snow itself, punishing anyone that dared to come near with icy lashes. Spyro turned into a freezing cyclone so quickly that the charging golems only made two steps before he began his attack.

Snow and ice shards began to shoot in every direction like from some kind of fast spinning cannon. The first projectiles slowed every enemy while the second ones usually killed everyone around. But the golem's were tough so Spyro had to be content with the slowing part only. He began to spin in the direction of the golem he attacked earlier, deaf to the painful roars of other dragons, the purple drake didn't even realize that the reach of his Snow Storm extended far beyond the usual boundaries.

The spitting winter's ammunition was taking effect, the golem he marked was wavering on its legs, even if it's practically indestructible it still felt the effect of the freezing cyclone, and thanks to the wafting snow it had no means to protect itself. It was slowed and it was the perfect opportunity to strike, Spyro ended his attack just as fast as he started it and got behind the golem quite fast, even despite the fact that one of his wings looked miserable.

To buy himself even more time he looked behind the golem's massive shoulder and spit a leafy bomb at the golem ahead. The greenish projectile exploded on impact and turned into a large tornado, sucking everything and everyone close enough. The golem ahead with two combined slow effect was practically immobile, the purple dragon had all the time in the world to finish what he started.

Spyro spun around, channeling Ice to his tail tip, soon small bluish sparks began to jump out of it. He then sunk his tail into the fiery crack on the golem's neck, the creature roared agonizingly and began to thrash as fast as it could to shake off the annoying draconic vermin. Its flailing arms and twisting body was not the only mean of defense, the fiery essence from which the construct was made of almost began to boil, it felt like he was putting his tail into a volcano filled with lava.

It hurt at first, no, hurt is a wrong word. It was suffering, one profound, indescribable anguish.

And then there was nothing.

At first the fiery essence completely overwhelmed his tip, the end of his tail was totally gone, vanished somewhere behind the cracking flames, as if it fell off. But then there was that flicker of bluish light, then another one, another and another, like a pulse of an icy heart. The glacial hue began to grow stronger with each second, dispersing fire like light of a candle disperses darkness. Soon nothing could be heard besides the sound of hissing dying flames and the familiar sounds of cracking ice.

It grew cold.

The golem's insides, if you can say so, were no longer hot but cold. Ice began to glue itself to the inner side of the golem's rocky armor, while the sparks that constantly jumped out of the dragon's tip pushed the remaining fire down. A chilly mist filled the entire structure, the golem's body no longer resembled a volcano, it turned into an ice cave.

The golem thrashed slower and slower and it wasn't because of the fact that it was fighting off the hindering effects of the Snow Storm, no, it was slowing because it was being ripped of its soul. Eventually the layers of frost covered the golem's inner structure completely, killing the fiery essence in the process. It was then when Spyro withdrew his tail and the golem went dormant with only icy tongues of air wafting from the cracks on its armor.

And then it collapsed.

It was then when Spyro took a glimpse of his tail, the end of it was scorched beyond imagination, where there were scales once now only charred and mostly bloody flesh remained. Not to mention that the scales on the upper parts of the tail were wrinkled, had stinging boils on them, or completely peeled off.

Whatever. Unimportant.

" Spyro watch out!"

The purple dragon turned into the direction of the shout, he couldn't see the owner of this draconic roar, the view was blocked by massive black and fiery golems marching his way, all of them had layers of snow still covering their bodies. Some of the constructs extended their arms. In any other situation he would curse himself for drawing such attention to himself, but currently it didn't bother him in the slightest.

With rumbling claps reddish shockwaves were released at him, he didn't really count how many.

Three maybe?

Five?

Six?

Spyro laded swiftly on the ground and pressed his belly to the earth, the reddish rings cut through the air with hollow whizzes just above his horns, the golems obviously don't have much prediction when it comes to magical attacks.

There were several golems approaching him, the ground below his belly bounced like a drum, sending delicate shivers throughout his whole wounded body.

" Spyro get out of there!"

Someone shouted but the purple dragon ignored the friendly advice completely, it had the same meaning for him like yesterday's food. Instead he pushed himself up and turned his head around. There were five golems coming at him from all sides, there was no way to run besides going up.

He closed his eyes.

The grass below his paws burst in flames, yet he didn't feel the heat, the air around him began to waver, just like a gas would be escaping through an invisible pipe. The mirage around him soon adopted a more yellowish hue, before it finally burst in hot red flames with the sound of a single crack of igniting fire. A cylinder of fire surrounded the dragon, holding him in the middle like within some kind of magical barrier. All the surrounding grass burst in flames, the heat around the drake was unbearable.

" FURY!"

" GET BACK!"

Were those terrified roars or just whizzes of the wind?

Whatever. Unimportant.

The dragon felt great, he is drawing the energy from the very essence of his existence and doesn't feel even a bit drained. In this fiery cocoon he felt that dark parasite pumping something very addictive, very quickly underneath his scales. It was sucking the exhaustion out, Spyro felt like he could wipe the whole world with just a single blast if he was given the time.

The golems will do for now.

He opened his literally flaming eyes.

* * *

Cynder could barely see anything, only flashes of the surrounding battlefield flipped before her eyes as she bounced across the earth in a straight line. The shockwave is quite powerful and has quite a throw if you don't try to stop your body, such tactic has also its downfalls.

Pain is one of them.

The dragoness constantly let out feminine grunts whenever her body forcefully sprang from the ground. Every part of her slender body took the beating from the rough ground, starting from her head to end on her tail, occasionally the mentioned tail was thrown in such unfortunate twist that she slapped herself.

She was sliding so fast that no golem or backstabbing dragon tried to attack her. With another ground and another bounce she spotted a tree in the distance, sharp rough rocks were protruding from its trunk, probably remnants of a building and she was heading straight at them.

Cynder gritted her teeth. This is going to hurt like hell.

And then suddenly the air around her grew immensely hot, soon after there was a rumbling thud with explosion following soon after. The shockwave after the blast not only burned her body slightly but also threw her in a completely different direction.

She didn't have the comfort to think what just happened, since seconds later she collided with a wall. Her back hit the obstacle first, Cynder let out a moan of pain when the impact glued her body in a vertical position to the rough stones.

She opened her eyes and spotted the sharp edge of her blade like tip dangling in front of her nose. The dragoness slapped it away impulsively, it was then when she spotted some wooden boards falling down on her from above. The building's rooftop was in a terrible condition, the wooden planks from which it was made were loose in some places. The dragoness collision with the house sent delicate pulses through the whole already weakened wall, it turned out that the shock was enough to push the loose boards down. Unfortunately straight at the female below.

With a gasp Cynder pushed her rump from the wall, the lower part of her body made a flip backwards, following the black tail, as if trying to catch the slender center of gravity. With her head now against the wall and the lower part of her body landing on the ground with a hollow thud, Cynder instantly covered herself with her wings, so that only the end of her tail stood out from the protective cocoon.

Wings as the dragons natural means of defense were more resilient to pain and overall damage, yet even those shields were a part of a draconic body and whenever they received a blow they reminded their owner of that. She was used to the numbing, specific pain, every dragon was, this is why the dragoness gritted her teeth, muffling every sound of pain as best as she could. It was some kind of feral instinct, she has never met a dragon who would scream himself hoarse when struck at his membranes. As if it was some kind of natural draconic ritual to comfort one's body.

Cynder felt the boards hitting her wings, pilling on top of her, like snow from an avalanche. The additional weight on her back pushed her body lower and lower, if the boards won't stop falling her belly will soon make an indentation in the ground. But it stopped, sooner than she expected truthfully.

At least a tiny portion of good news in this whole mess.

Another explosion could be heard.

The shaking earth forced adrenaline to pump in her veins, instantly she arched her back and head upwards as hard as she could. It was enough, the boards slid of off her with ease and before she knew it she could stick her head out through the wooden pile of planks.

The air was warm, and not by natural means.

Cynder instantly turned her head in the direction from which the heat was coming from, her eyes widened to their limit. Up ahead, quite far, there was a battle going on, huge embers were shooting from the big cylindrical barrier of fire, which soon directed themselves towards the ground, as they went down they resembled small meteorites.

She recognized this phenomenon immediately.

Fire fury.

There were five golems circling the fiery shape, four of them were already down, pinned under the weight of the falling powerful embers. Only one golem remained standing, blocking her view, not that she really had to see who is behind all of this. She just felt his presence here, a delicate cold shiver of fear ran through her body after this realization.

Explosion after explosion ravaged the ground around the burning cylinder, each and every one them was coming from the fallen golems which were constantly bombarded by the falling meteorites. The flashes of fiery light were too much for her eyes, the dragoness had to avert her gaze.

Cynder instantly wished she didn't.

The wielder of this fury attack had no compunction, no hesitation and no care for his comrades in arms. Judging from the distance between the scorched ground and the cylindrical fiery barrier, the fury was released way too early, hell, using fury when your allies are around is reckless enough, but using fury when your allies are practically fighting back to back with you? This is callousness.

The golems were there where the ground was scorched, no doubt about that, prints of their massive feet were clearly visible on the black earth. The charred ground followed every big track, meaning that the golems were the target of this attack.

This is where the good news end however.

Blackened draconic remains dotted the earth where the first explosions happened, Cynder couldn't really tell if those fighters were dead earlier or were the victims of the fire fury. The sole sight was enough for the dragoness to feel cold fingers of fear and nervousness tracing her spine. If that fire wielder has no remorse about killing his allies than that means he is beyond saving, innocent blood taints for life, you can't just simply wash it off like some dirt. The guilt stays with you forever.

The only flicker of hope she had, even if she was gutted by it, was the sight of wounded dragons who were keeping their distance from the ember's reach. Some of those fighters had their bodies covered in fresh burns, an obvious sign that they tried to run but were caught in the blast nonetheless.

But they are alive!

That single comforting thought slipped through her mind like a speeding arrow and was as meaningful as last year's snow.

So what if they're alive?

The burns on their bodies were proof enough that the wielder of this fury didn't give a damn about their well-being, had no respect for their life. For him those fighters were expendable, meaningless casualties of war. Distractions. Bait.

Another fiery explosion rumbled close by, empowered by a furious, almost mechanical roar.

Cynder swiftly turned her head in that direction, the last golem has fallen, joined its rocky companions on the ground. As if to make sure it stays down a fiery ember exploded on its back. Yet the golem's downfall wasn't the trigger that filled her heart with joy…and terror at the same time.

It was the fire wielder.

When sparks of the last meteor finally cleared the view Cynder couldn't help herself but to let out a whine full of pain. Spyro was there as she knew he would, and to make things worse he was badly hurt.

That sole sight was enough for her, the dragoness arched her body forcefully and with such passion and determination that the boards on top off her seemed to slide out of her way on their own. Cynder clambered out of the wooden avalanche of planks in an instant and just as fast dashed towards her friend.

After four steps she stopped.

And what is she going to say? Tell him to stop because he's hurting people? Or perhaps that he looks like he just dug himself out from his own grave? What if he asks her from where the cuts came from? What is she going to say? That she scratched herself on a branch that ironically perfectly resembles dragon claws? She already sees as he listens, especially in his current state.

To hell with reason! That's her friend over there who needs her help more than ever. Bad idea or not she's going to see it through, she owes him that much. The dragoness renewed her run, determined to reach her friend without thinking of the consequences of such action. Was it love that drove her? Or friendship? Or both? The choker around her neck suddenly became warm, the scales below it reached the same temperature, it was like she was chained to him all this time by an invisible bond and this connection was currently pulling her closer to him.

This time however she didn't protest.

And then suddenly she caught with a corner of her eye something very large rolling down from her right side.

Cynder instinctively jumped back with a gasp, just in time to avoid being ran over by a huge boulder. She had experience with elemental energy, that is why she knew that this large rock is no ordinary stone that somehow rolled down from some sort of a mountain. That is why she didn't waste time looking for some rational explanation of this situation but immediately covered herself behind her wings.

Just in time in fact, seconds before her magenta membranes covered her vulnerable snout she noticed the boulder sprouting spikes. And then there was a loud rumbling explosion. The dragoness dropped to the ground as fast as she could, she could feel some of the spikes flying just above her head and piercing the area around her. However there were those that found their mark and now were sticking out of her wings.

Hissing painfully Cynder grabbed one of the rocky shards in her teeth and spit it out, together with bloody saliva gathered in her mouth. A sharp peculiar sting ran through her bones, a natural radar inside her body so to speak that sensed every hostile magical attack.

The dragoness rolled to the side, an ice projectile exploded directly in the spot she occupied earlier, shards of ice dropped on her head when the elemental attack struck the ground. Cynder didn't see her enemies but she knew they were above her, the young female swiftly pulled herself up. Another itchy sting pulsed through her veins.

She made a somersault forward but was stopped in halfway, a powerful bolt of electricity flexed her every muscle making her drop flat on the ground. All she needed now was a hostile electric dragon to make her day better.

Damn.

Electricity is a bitch.

Another sting.

Cynder shook off the numbing feeling and was running way before her mind recorded it, however she wasn't fast enough. The sound of cracking ice could be heard, something solid and rocky destroyed something cold and fragile, two dragons of two different elements combined their skills for this attack and she was the unfortunate victim of it.

The dragoness cried out in agony when an icy painful magical gale wafted across her body, it was like her every nerve died after the freezing touch of air. And it wasn't over. Some really sharp spikes made of ice followed the cold mist, some of them got stuck in her left flank and wing, one pierced her back leg, right in the knee making the dragoness fight for balance as her wounded leg gave up under her weight.

For a moment there she was glad that it was the other leg that took the beating and not the wounded one from earlier. The natural regeneration process has kicked in, but with so many wounds covering her body it was unable to heal her previously wounded paw properly. If it would get hit again, she doubted that she could stand and that would mean the end of her. The quick moment of glee however ended just as fast as it started, effectively silenced by the red flashes of ache.

This wasn't an ordinary stabbing pain, somehow the cool wind empowered the icy shards, she felt them pulsing inside her body, filling her hot draconic blood with a writhing cold chill.

The pain was unbearable. With all the remaining strength she held back a scream of anguish. The only thing that came out of her throat was a muffled groan of pain. She just didn't want to draw attention to herself, not when Spyro was so close, he would hear her and then a bloodbath would begin.

However her warrior's spirit was boiling with almost unquenchable rage, not able to understand how she allows herself to be beaten up like some blind mole. In those moments Cynder wanted to raise her head and let them taste her Siren Scream. She would let out such a shriek that they would think take their own tails for hungry monsters.

Yet instead of her head she raised her gaze. Her friend was there, his purple form jumping from one golem to the other. One look at Spyro was enough to silence the wrath eating her up.

She once again reminded herself that her scream would draw his attention and that would mean the death of the dragons that are attacking her. She can't let that happen.

Who is she trying to fool?

She's not doing it for them. She's doing it for Spyro, fighting so desperately to spare him the fate she endures. Yet there is another reason, which she is ashamed to admit. That she is doing it for her own selfish peace of mind, the guilt is like a cancer draining the life out of her and to purge it out, she needs to suffer, to eventually reach the cure called redemption.

As she soon discovered her attackers seemed to share the same nudge to stay inconspicuous. The ground around her began to spit out dust as four dragons began their descent towards her. She quickly looked behind her shoulder and breathed a shadow fire straight at the icy spike protruding from her back leg. The dark somewhat burning energy was enough to melt the projectile in a moment's notice. Feeling the gusts of wind becoming stronger Cynder swiftly rose up using only her three almost healthy legs and jumped forward, not wanting to provoke the drakes to try another elemental attacks by transporting herself by the shadows.

She was lucky that she pushed herself up when she did, one of the attackers, that who wielded Earth touched the ground firmly, her fully grown paws made deep indentations in the earth, exactly where the black dragoness was only moments ago, with an obvious intention to intemperately land on her.

Not wanting to go through this again Cynder decided to escape from her stalkers. However she only managed to make two steps forward before another drake, this time an adult Ice breather landed in front of her eyes, blocking her way. Without wasting time she turned right and renewed her sprint, but just like before luck wasn't on her side. A young electric dragon dropped from the sky right in front of her.

Cynder momentarily skidded to a halt and swiftly spun around, running in the direction of the last possible escape route. As it turned out even that direction wasn't lucky for her, an ice dragoness about her age made sure of that. She bent on her paws while making cautious steps backwards, always making sure that her tail never stops its slow dance and her alert emerald eyes keep track of every attacker.

The dragons surrounded her, trapping her inside a draconic circle while slowly thinning the space between her and their paws with each step they made. Their eyes were constantly following her every move, she saw the cocky smiles, she saw the triumphant and mocking glimmer in their eyes. Cynder wasn't afraid, she didn't even blame them for attacking her, the only thing that angered her was their poor timing.

" Get out of my way!" Cynder growled, her challenging gaze constantly shifting from one dragon to the other. Nothing else filled her with such ire like assholes keeping her away from her best friend.

An amused chuckle from the earth dragoness is all she got, she recognized the female, it was the dragoness who tried to choke her with her tail before all of this happened. The black female impulsively gulped.

" Your Savior is out there fighting alone against five of those things! He's protecting you and you repay him like this!?"

One of the dragons who was blocking her way to Spyro threw a glance behind his shoulder" It looks like he doesn't need our help"

The delicate shift of the drake's body was enough for Cynder to get a glimpse of the situation. Two of the golems attacking Spyro were already nothing more than rubble, and he was currently finishing the third one. The sight of his bleeding body squeezed her stomach, she just couldn't stand and watch. Her legs automatically pushed her forward.

And then the Ice dragon blocked her way completely and snarled threateningly at the approaching dragoness.

Cynder impulsively stopped, but not because she was intimidated but because the loss of Spyro from her sight silenced the subconscious voice in her head that commanded her to reach her friend. She had other worries right now, and they angered her greatly.

" I've said get out of my way"

" You're staying here with us. We'll take care of you" the young ice dragoness commented

Her ambiguous words forced some mocking chuckles out of the rest of the dragons.

The black dragoness gritted her teeth, some really foul words were bursting on her lips but she held her vengeful tongue back and acceded for a quiet sigh.

" Listen, I know you have all the right to kill me, but i ask you to reconsider just this once. There are people there that need your help, Spyro is out there and he needs my help. So let's just-"

" You're not fooling us" the ice male snorted disdainfully

" You corrupted Spyro!" one of the females exclaimed indignantly, Cynder didn't care which " He attacks those golems like some rabid dog! He doesn't think clearly with you around!"

" Words from Munitions Forge reached us. We know what happened there, what your presence cost Spyro. Same thing is happening here and we won't allow this continue"

Munitions Forge.

Her heart stopped for a moment. That name was like a passcode that opened a door inside her mind that she desperately tried to keep closed.

Those two words pushed her down the memory lane. Through the eyes of her imagination she once again saw Spyro taking a crossbow bolt to the chest that was destined for her. In another flash she was once again in a dark room where only a single candle was burning, located on a desk at which the manwersmall's leader was seated.

She remembered her words, she remembered herself saying that she won't allow Spyro to get hurt because of her ever again.

Cynder's mind shifted back to reality, her eyes automatically turned towards the direction where her friend was. A dragon was still blocking her sight, but somehow her eyes pictured Spyro flying over there somewhere. His whole body was covered in wounds, she felt the bitter taste of his blood on her tongue.

She didn't keep her promise, she failed her best friend. This time however she didn't force him to spill only his blood for her, but also sacrifice his soul.

" That's not true" Cynder muttered, but even she recognized the defeat in her voice

" You bring only pain to those around you" The blind manweersmall once more appeared before her.

She was once again inside the same dark room.

" _You are torn between love and reason"_

The room became darker than ever.

She hectically shook her head " No..." the dragoness mumbled

" You kill everything that's good Lightbane" Mole-Yair continued

" Stop" Cynder hissed with a wavering voice

" This is no place for you" a second Mole-Yair commented from behind her

" You will leave Spyro alone" another apparition of the manwersmall continued the speech, this time he appeared on the left

" We will free him from your spell" fourth Mole- Yair added, the one on the right

" Shut up" Cynder let out a desperate growl, the blind mole's constant yatter was driving her mad

" You are a curse for this land" the mole at the desk in front of her spoke

" You destroy everything you touch" it was the voice of the one on the left

" _But you won't fool me girl, even if I can feel that you changed, deep down you remained the same. Only someone who experienced your cruelty first hand will recognize that Shadow has a way of concealing herself_"

" _Perhaps darkness is fallowing you like you Shadow were once following us. If you care for the people you are with, you will go your own way_"

Tears of wrath filled Cynder's eyes.

" You taint Spyro with your evilness" Mole-Yair from behind added

" If you didn't charm him he wouldn't know of your existence" said the one of the right

" SHUT UP!" the black dragoness roared at the top of her lungs, incapable of baring the mole's words any longer. With shimmering eyes with pure mad fury she threw herself at the mole that spoke last, wanting to silence his poisonous mouth once and for all.

He has no right to tell her what to do!

The mole was caught unaware, before he realized what is happening he was already on the ground with the black dragoness on top of him. Cynder sliced her claws across the male's snout, he cried out in pain while blood gushed in the air.

Her head dropped down, the dragoness opened her mouth and closed her maw on the rodent's shoulder. Blood filled her mouth when her sharp teeth pierced the flesh. It had a strange taste to it.

She didn't care.

" GET HER OFF!" the blind mole cried out in anguish, his voice was somewhat different

She didn't care.

Cynder pushed her head up fiercely, her closed teeth dragged quite a hefty chunk of flesh with them. The mole's cry only intensified when blood started to pour from the freshly wound in streams like from a fountain. She felt the other apparitions approaching, she felt as one of them was already trying his luck.

She pressed her belly to Mole-Yair's torso, she wasn't fast enough. Cynder roared when tips of claws cut her back, for a blind mole he had quite the aim. She roared again after the strike and in fury thrust her every claw into the chest of the male below her. The rodent screamed once more when the female's claws sank deep into his body.

Using the mole's surprise , loss of control of his body and her formidable grip on him, Cynder yanked her body forcefully to the side. The almost limp body of the male wasn't that heavy, she easily rolled on the ground, pushing the bleeding Mole-Yair on top of her.

She wanted to hear him scream, when he will be struck by the one so similar to him. She wanted to give him the taste of her fate, when dragons similar to her have no mercy. She will make the mole taste his own poison.

And then there was that one abhorrent sound of someone choking on their own blood. Cynder's eyes widened when suddenly blood gushed from Mole-Yair's mouth with one rasping cough, every bit of that crimson spit landed on her snout. To protect her pupils she had to close her eyes.

When she finally opened them, there was completely someone else on top of her.

It was the young electric dragon. His eyes practically shot out of their orbits and there was still blood shooting out from his gurgling mouth. Cynder had to squint but she just couldn't stop looking at the rasping dragon, her conscience demanded that she witnesses every last bit of color fading from his eyes.

She felt more of this reddish liquid dropping on her belly, she looked and found the reason behind all of this. A huge bony blade attached to a greenish tail in the form of a scythe was stuck in the dragon's right flank, it went so deep that it almost reached his spine. Cynder felt some very strong tugs, the drake's body was being pulled sharply, the owner of this green tail desperately tried to pull his or hers tip out.

After some more tugs the tail was free.

When that happened Cynder let out a horrified yelp, the dragon's head went down, hanging limply in the air with a reddish saliva dangling from his mouth like a spider on its freshly knotted web. But this wasn't the thing that horrified her, it was the blood flowing down from the fresh mortal wound, it kept flowing in streams, like from an unending bloody waterfall and every bit of it landed on her magenta chest and underbelly. Eventually even some intestines pushed out from the hole in the dragon's body.

The first dream from her past flashed before her eyes, in which entrails similar to this filled her mouth and went down her throat.

Cynder gagged, she felt like she was about to throw up, with a horrified squeal she bent her paws and pushed them up soon after with all the strength she had while maneuvering with her claws so they would let go of the disgusting corpse. The lifeless corpse of the drake was thrown aside, with no respect like it was nothing more than thrash. The corpse landed on it back, its head tilted to the side, the dragon's frozen eyes were wide, staring at her accusingly with their cold gaze. The gaping hole on the drake's flank still poured out blood.

The black dragoness thrashed with her paws chaotically, eventually pushing herself up. She was panting heavily, her legs were shaking underneath her, as if they didn't have the strength to hold her steady any longer. She felt sick, her whole body and snout was sticky with the dragon's still fresh, thick blood. To make things worse she couldn't stop staring at the accusing dead gaze of the young male.

" What have I done?" Cynder muttered under hear breath, her voice nothing more than a whisper that even she had troubles hearing

Impulsively she raised her gaze, the three remaining attackers were just as shaken as her. As if feeling her gaze on them all the dragons met her gaze. It was then when she noticed their eyes flaring up with murderous wrath, and to empower that rage the dragons let out roars so fierce that they were capable of demolishing buildings.

Cynder realized that if she didn't have enemies in all dragons before, she certainly had now.


	53. Chapter 15 Book III

Chapter 15

Tiny bits of rocks were shooting in every direction, silver claws attached to bleeding purple paws were slashing at the black rock below in quick succession. Growls of pain and unspeakable rabidity followed each strike, the attacking creature had only one goal in mind and wanted to achieve it no matter what.

The black form moved, with a rumbling roar the rocky ground began to arch upwards. The Keeper which was the victim of this ferocious attack began to pull itself of the ground.

Feeling the golem moving Spyro let out a raging roar, his mouth was filled with his own blood, his lips were cut in many places, and the teeth sent numbing pulses throughout his whole oral cavity. he sank his claws into the cracks in the golem's natural armor and immediately closed his maw at the spot he was so feverishly attacking.

His razor teeth protested, sending sharp bolts of pain, as if trying to say that they aren't meant to bite rock. Spyro didn't hear that, his mind was filled only with the ringing sound of parts of his own teeth breaking on the solid surface. His first attempt to clench his jaw on the neck was a failure, his maw just bounced off the rock.

Swallowing down his own blood Spyro tried his luck again, once more his teeth rattled inside his mouth but this time he managed to catch a loose piece of rock that his claws provided early. The magical fire was gushing through the cracks in the golem's body, burning his paws and snout with its heat, the dragon didn't feel the pain, he was only focused on reaping the golem apart.

Flexing his neck muscles to their limit Spyro began to pull, blood dripped from his closed lips and onto the rock.

He didn't stop.

Growling, he yanked his neck farther and farther, the rock was giving up, bit by bit he was separating it from the rest of the golem's body. With one last pull he finally tore off the thick stone. The magical fire gushed from the hole, filling the nearby area with immense heat, the construct roared and began to thrash, as if trying to support its essence in killing the pest on its back.

Their combined efforts were in vain.

Spyro stared at the fire like it was nothing more than stale air and excess of water expelled from a whale's blowhole. The construct's shakes were no match against the dragon's firm grip on its body and to show who's on the winning side of this struggle Spyro breathed Ice into the hole on the golem's neck.

The creature roared and immediately hunkered its body down, the drake felt as its shoulders were flexing themselves when the Keeper crossed its arms across its body.

A shockwave was released.

Spyro shivered when the powerful gust of magical energy ran through his body. The quakes that tormented him were powerful, it felt like every part of his body was being squeezed by a strong metallic fist with only one task set before it- to press out all the blood from his veins like juice from a fruit.

Another shockwave.

The dragon let out a groan of anguish, his usual white of the eye turned completely red, it was like his eyes were bleeding from the inside. Crimson lines of blood trickled from his nose and down the corners of his mouth. His body remained steady, it was fighting against a force that in any other circumstances would bend it to its will. His bones wanted to submit, but the dragon pushed them against the magical wave, not allowing them to flinch even a bit.

It was an agonizing struggle.

Another shockwave.

The magical strike kicked the breath out of his lungs, for that brief moment Spyro achieved a total clarity of mind. Every dose of pain that was somewhat silenced before kicked in, the flush of agony was so intense that he didn't even have the strength to scream, not that he really could that in the first place. The constant struggle against strong pushes of gravity, magical in nature, but still bone bending gravity, exhausted his organism.

His muscles surrendered, they were completely drained of energy. His whole body dangled limply from the golem's back, the claws on his hind legs slipped from the golem's body, the only thing that was holding him were the claws on his forelegs that accidently got stuck against some tight cavities within the rocky armor.

Even his own blood didn't have any taste, if he couldn't see that he was actually bleeding he would never realize that, his tongue was completely numb. Spyro tried to inhale some air but couldn't do it, he only let out a horrific, heart breaking quiet rasp, then another one, and another. His lungs have collapsed, it was clear as day, his body had enough.

His vision darkened, everything became so... indifferently blurry, every sound became a distant echo. Not even a single thought was crossing his mind, the only memories he had were of this battle. It was like most of his brain was already dead, only a tiny portion of it remained...but not for long.

Taking all those Keepers solo had to end like this, those things were designed to crush life from creatures like him. Maybe he could destroy five of those golems all by himself but definitely not all at once. Purple or not he is still only a dragon.

And then he was reminded that's not the truth.

He felt HIM stronger than ever, his dark counterpart was clawing at his soul, Spyro could feel as he was tearing through the reinforced veil. The dark claws were slashing with such ferocity that it was painful, even in his current condition, but that was no ordinary pain of the body, it was something far worse and there was no cure for it.

The dragon wanted to defend himself but his practically depleted strength was no match for the dark force. He felt another slash and this one tore a hole in his soul, Spyro sensed as something evil, dark and parasitic slipped through the freshly created opening, like a worm slithering into a newly drilled hole in a rotten apple.

He gasped. His lungs were whole again, and they voraciously sucked every bit of air until they were full.

Spyro's whole body tensed when a powerful dark bolt of energy filled his every vein. His heart struck his chest with such a force as it awakened from its slumber that it almost tore through his torso. The pound was so potent that it pushed all the air out of his lungs with one bloody cough.

The golem tried to throw the drake of its body with another magical strike.

This time the dragon felt no physical pain.

He felt something entirely else.

It was hate, despair, pity, love, respect, it were the good emotions and the bad ones, all at the same time and in truth none at all.

Chaos.

It was an uncontrollable chaos.

The golem attacked again.

And the construct will learn just how destructive it can be.

With a rumbling roar that sounded like the embodiment of this chaos Spyro pushed his dangling body away from the Keeper's back, just to stop it when it was far enough. He flexed every muscle in his lower body, starting from his waist to his back legs, and they obeyed, boiling with raw energy. The dragon pushed his body back, preparing his claws to sink into the golem's body.

And they did sank, his claws went deep, forcing a surprise roar from the golem. When they could go no farther Spyro manipulated his muscles so the claws on his hind legs resembled bird's talons and just like the eagle's natural weapons they were able to get a firm grip on their prey, and the prey was nothing else than the rocky armor of the golem.

Taking advantage of the recently acquired foothold the dragon pulled himself up, his snout was directly in front of the burning hole in the golem's neck. The drake's mouth opened wide and from the bottom of his throat came a freezing ice breath that went straight into the fiery opening.

The golem roared and began to thrash wildly, swinging its arms behind its back like crazy. Spyro pressed his body to the rocky wall, he felt as the Keeper's huge fingers were clenching and unclenching themselves just above his folded wings. The construct's rough and massive build prevented it from squeezing the life out of the purple pest on its back.

The golem eventually realized that it can't reach the drake and returned to its earlier tactic. It was too dumb to understand that it only had to throw itself on some wall or something similarly large and thick, another golem would do, and the drake would be nothing more than a bloody splotch on its back. But then again why it needed a higher intelligence when it never encountered a creature that is capable of withstanding its shockwaves.

Even the most impossible things can change it seems.

The golem in its desperation began to hurl one shockwave after the other but they didn't have any effect, the dragon's icy breath remained unhindered. The fiery essence was no match for the dark fueled powers of the purple drake, the fire was losing this battle, large portions of it were being replaced by an icy mist with each passing second.

Spyro's offensive continued until the golem suddenly froze in place.

The dragon pulled away from the construct's back and immediately transformed into a spiked boulder. The moment the Keeper let out a powerful roar a fiery ring shot from its body, The usually hot lashes were now nothing more than a delicate graze of a warm feather on the dragon's rocky body.

Everything was so simple, his elemental powers were empowered tenfold, his defensive capabilities were also improved, the rocky shell that currently surrounded him was as thick as the walls of Warfang.

The golem eventually finished his roar and with it came the end of the fiery ring.

It was time to strike.

Spyro returned to his natural form and was back on the golem's back in an instant. Everything was replaying itself, the golem wanted to catch him, the dragon avoided its hands by pressing his body to the rocky armor, the golem tried to throw him off with another portion of shockwaves while Spyro started to breathe Ice into the hole in the golem's neck again.

The construct's moves were becoming more and more sluggish, the fire that was its life essence was almost entirely gone. It kept vanishing and vanishing under the constant aggression of the ice mist until it was finally gone.

The golem froze in place.

Then cracks appeared on the length of its whole body and the once powerful enemy turned to rubble during a cacophony of rumbling pounds, joining its other companions in their unwanted fate. Dirt and icy mist shot into the air when the massive rocks landed on the ground with thudding noises. In the center of this destruction stood a sole young purple drake, the howling nabbed the raising cool mist, eventually revealing the dragon's completely healthy body.

Spyro began to pant, but those gasps of air were not related to physical exhaustion but more like a spiritual one. It was like two hearts were beating underneath his purple scales, it was like two minds processed every detail at the same time, it was like two souls were merging into one. He felt the dark presence stronger than ever, it was just underneath his scales, if he would extend his paw he was sure he would feel it in his grasp.

There was no turning back now, the dark parasite has wrapped itself around his soul and was squeezing it will all its might, the dark tendrils sowing corruption across his whole spirit, until they eventually swallowed it whole. Spyro has lost the battle for his will, and there was absolutely no chance that he can overpower the evil presence by himself.

He felt like his dark counterpart tried to push all those dark feelings on the pedestal, as if encouraging the drake to pick one. Only one, it will be enough.

The evil parasite had forgotten about one thing however.

A heart that's made of gold, doesn't mean that it's for sale.

Spyro felt the darkness within him screaming in fury, its evil thinking was disrupted by the dragon's true nature. The dark presence could no longer think straight, one more chaos settled upon their combined souls. Even if his body was no longer his to control Spyro still managed to smile, there is always time for a tease, and hell it tastes sweeter when even if you lose you still provoke those cocky triumphant bastards. He learned this lesson from Cynder.

" WHERE IS SHE?" the darkness within him screamed, his evil counterpart knew that it's all her fault

Spyro began to look around, there were golems everywhere, blocking most of his view. Among them he noticed dragons, practically all of them were battling those constructs, but there were also some, like the three idiots over there, who formed a circle and were doing who knows what. The object of his search was somewhere out there, and nothing will stop him from accomplishing his goal.

" WHERE ARE YOU?"

He can't find him.

He can't find her.

He can't find it.

… What is he looking for exactly?

The darkness roared deafeningly from the inside, forcing its purple shell to drop on the ground while he covered his head with his purple paws. The evil presence felt as the brain of its shell was about to explode.

Pain.

He is capable of killing himself.

" WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS? WHO IS TOYING WITH ME?"

Dragons.

Spyro immediately sprung up on all fours.

These are the creatures why all of this started, it was them who forced him into this state. It is their constant aggression towards…towards…

" WHAT IS HER NAME?" the darkness growled

It was their hostile behavior that led to this, their gutless stealing up. Everything they needed to do was to grow a pair and attack…attack…

" WHAT IS HER NAME!" the evil presence blared furiously. It knew it was important and it couldn't focus

No matter, time for games is over, chaotic thoughts or not, he's the one who calls the shots now. He can't remember what he is looking for precisely, what will make his good counterpart disappear, but he was sure that he will eventually find it. it's somewhere out there and he will hear someone or something screaming in agony and showing him that thing he is looking for.

So close.

Spyro moved forward, his steps were full of confidence and that special cold sway, the walk of a hero and killer in one. The battle was still fiery, the dragons were holding their ground against almost unending waves of the golems quite well, bits of rocks, shockwaves, even elemental attacks, all those things were flying all around him and he just kept walking like nothing was happening.

Spyro's point of focus was the fighting ahead where large numbers of dragons and golems were fighting each other. Every step he made only empowered the chaos ravaging his mind, he didn't know his target, everything from that mess up ahead will do. So close to being free, there has to something out there that will point him in the right direction, there has…

A loud explosion came from his right, followed by a reddish shockwave, a battered body of a young drake dropped in front of his paws.

The wounded drake looked up at the purple snout above him, one of his eyes was missing.

" Spyro…" the drake rasped, his mumble was full of pitiful plea.

Spyro cocked his head and examined the thing below him.

This is not what will set him free.

The young dragon began to cough horribly, spitting out blood.

The purple dragon's head tilted to the other side.

Will it serve as a cue?

" Hel-"

Spyro sliced the thing's throat with one powerful slash of his claws, ending the crackling sound coming out of its mouth.

He waited patiently, observing the blood flowing out from the cut, the dying thing on the ground was gurgling the last tones of its fading life, thwarting the smooth flow of the blood with its spasms. No matter, Spyro continued his vigil like an artist waiting for an inspiration.

The thing eventually ceased its boring struggle. Nothing happened.

This wasn't his masterpiece.

Spyro callously stepped over the carcass, that dead thi...dragon didn't offer any guidance, he needs something else. A golem stepped out from the crowd of fighters, it noticed him immediately and greeted the purple drake with a shockwave. Spyro kept on walking unafraid of the magical attack heading his way. He felt nothing at all, except a single thought banging inside his chaotic mind.

Is this the one?

* * *

Cynder ran underneath another set of claws.

Part of her wanted to stop and let the dragons take out their anger on her, she deserves nothing else, there has to be a price to pay for her stupid mistake.

Another part of her protested, pointing out where her loyalty truly lies and for who she is really fighting for. Her every move was accompanied by a hardly noticeable shift of her eyes and her emerald gaze always found the one who she couldn't lose, but at the same time couldn't be close to. He is the one who forgave her mistakes, he is the one who always trusted her, he is the one who always stood by her.

That bond between them is what keeps her going, that bond is what prevents her from drowning in a sea of guilt and regret. Her anchor that protects her from the wild waves of the world, an anchor she knows that will always be there for her. Her only duty is to keep it from becoming blemished with her dirt.

What a wicked game to play.

Cynder jumped to the side, avoiding another slash of draconic claws.

One of the dragons growled furiously and instead of using his paws again just dashed towards the young dragoness. Cynder was surprised by this sudden move and was too slow to prepare her defense, the earth dragoness who was charging her made a swift slide and slammed into the black female with her swinging rump.

The strong smack threw her away and straight onto the ground, Cynder instantly tried to pull herself up despite her rattling in agony bones but her attempt was thwarted by the greenish ground turning into a thick slippery ice. Her legs pulled away in every possible crosswise direction, for a moment there she looked like a special draconic four-legged spider.

When her jaw bounced off the ice and her teeth almost sliced her tongue in half she swore that there will be a day when she starts to dance on this frigging ice.

Her wandering thoughts returned back to her the moment a huge shadow slid along the ground and loomed over her. Cynder instantly unfolded her wings and pushed them down sharply, pushing herself into the air with one fast move. Just in time to avoid two bluish paws striking the slippery spot where she was earlier.

The black dragoness instantly pushed herself below the belly of the female who attacked her, then she directed herself up, with her claws at the ready. She sank them deep into the purplish underbelly of the ice dragoness and glued herself to the female's body.

" Get off bitch!" the ice dragoness roared painfully and momentarily lifted all of her legs up

The gravity took care of the rest, the unsupported body of the dragoness was drawn to the ground. Seeing where this is going Cynder tried to let go off her attacker but ran out of time. She screamed in pain when her body was powerfully slammed into the slippery ground, she could hear the ice cracking when her back hit the once greenish earth.

The numbing agony that ravaged her body drained all the energy from the muscles in her legs, making them lose the bloody grip on the ice dragonesses body. Coughing crimson spits and with blood flowing down from her nostrils Cynder instinctively rolled to the side with groans of pain and began to crawl away.

The dragoness feeling that the painful weight was gone from her underbelly pushed her ferociously growling mouth underneath her chest. Restricted by the joints of her draconic skeleton her neck didn't went far, but went deep enough for the dragoness to locate her prey.

Cynder yelped when she felt rows of powerful teeth slamming themselves shut over her blade-like tip. Then there was a powerful tug, that felt like her spine was being pulled through her ass when her tail was stretched to its limits.

The Ice dragoness made a strong jerk of her neck and parted her mouth, the battered body of the young black dragoness was hurled across the slowly melting ice. Cynder's wild and agonizing slide ended even quicker than it started, she collided with something and stopped. Lying on her back she opened her eyes.

Just in time to see two bluish paws with sharp claws heading her way.

Cynder screamed and her vision went blurry when she felt long deep cuts tearing her chest and shoulders, the moment her body returned from the agonizing stretch she received two more slashes across her snout. Her eyelids automatically closed themselves shut, she felt the tips of the claws running across them, she was lucky that she didn't lose her eyes.

Blood was everywhere and the pain was unbearable, with her vision obscured by the reddish liquid Cynder had troubles to see what is going on, but even through this bloody veil she noticed a female snout heading for her throat, saliva was dripping from them like venom from dreadwing's fangs.

Despite the blood Cynder's eyes opened wide in horror, instinctively, driven by the sheer impulse of survival she slipped her right paw exactly in between the two sets of teeth belonging to the gaping draconic maw. Some of the razor sharp spikes reached her throat, just above the choker, making quite deep puncture wounds in it, most of them stopped on her paw however, devastating it beyond imagination, if not for the silver bracelet on her leg her paw would be crushed to bits.

Cynder's squeaky scream of agony died somewhere among the noises of her attacker's shattering teeth and roars of anguish. The crushing force on her paw ended instantly, the screaming ice dragoness withdrew her maw, bits of teeth were protruding from her widely opened shrieking mouth.

The dragoness made some shaky steps backwards and dropped on her butt, the moment she touched her snout her screaming only intensified. Remnants of her teeth were bursting from her maw, followed by streams of sticky, thick blood that currently filled her mouth to the brink and was even flowing down her jaw.

Cynder didn't hear her opponent, every sound was blocked by her own cry of pain, she stared at her paw with wide, watery eyes. Tears were flowing down from her shinning emerald orbs just like the ice dragonesses teeth were sliding slowly down her bloody silvery bracelet. Even the small claw on her wrist wasn't spared, there were still massacred strands of the ice dragonesses palate impaled on it.

Her leg looked awful, the teeth went deep slicing her scales wherever they could like they were nothing more than fragile canvas, if not for the bracelet that threw her enemy away nothing would be left of her bones. That impact with her bangle had its good and bad side, the good obviously being her intact bones, the bad one was strictly related with the teeth, shattered or not, the dragonesses sharp yank of the head tore patches of Cynder's scales like a healer peels off used adhesive bandage.

The young black female couldn't stop staring at her injured leg. The spots where her flesh was roughly torn off were pulsing, every such quick silent cadence pumped more and more blood from her veins. The feeling of it flowing down in streams was overwhelming, it was everywhere, on her legs, chest and neck.

Neck.

With a painful and horrified sob she brought her other paw to her throat. Cynder's heart was racing, she was terrified, like any other living creature would be, that her life was fading through the holes in her neck. As a fighter she was used to seeing death, and as a fighter was prepared to face the Reaper more boldly than anybody else, yet the natural survival instinct was against such meeting and its only goal was to prolong it as long as possible.

With adrenaline boiling inside her veins Cynder ran her paw along her neck, smearing the blood all over her scales. She looked at her paw, it was covered in the grimy thick liquid. The sight of it made her yelp in horror, impulsively she ran her paw across her neck again and again. Her breathing becoming more hectic every time she looked at her bloody paw.

With another yelp full of dread Cynder eventually rolled on her belly and used her wings to lift her body up on her three still strong enough legs. The move was so quick that she didn't know what was happening until the feeling of soft grass caressed the bottom sides of her paws for longer than ten seconds.

She was panting heavily but her mind was slowly adding everything up, she isn't dying, the cuts on her throat are serious but not mortal.

Not mortal.

Not mortal.

With a terribly bitter gulp Cynder looked down, her eyes automatically located her wounded paw, as if they knew what to look for. It was hanging limply above the ground, fifteen centimeters at least and curled in the wrist almost at a ninety degree angle. Blood was profusely flowing down from the wounds, it was dripping from her paw like water from an insecure faucet.

Droplet after droplet hit the ground below, turning it red. As she observed the flowing blood the world began to swirl around her, nausea and vertigo hit her. Fatigue is finally taking its toll, it had to, she lost lots of blood, and the wounds and overall pain ravaging her whole body didn't help either.

So much for being nice.

Cynder wavered on her legs and to prevent herself from collapsing she had to bounce a couple of times to regain her balance. She looked up and immediately was grateful that the dragons aren't seasoned warriors, otherwise she really doubted she would get up from that ground. They seemed to be as shocked as her, they obviously didn't see so much blood before, especially draconic blood. But even a trance of such fighters has to end eventually.

The eyes of the two still mostly uninjured dragons flared up, both of them let some really deafening roars. Cynder in her pitiful condition even felt the gust their draconic throats created and it was enough to push her into another struggle for balance.

" SHE'S MINE!" a profoundly aggressive male blare cut the wind, she recognized that voice instantly.

" Perfect" Cynder muttered and let out an amused painful chuckle seconds later. She couldn't help herself, she didn't have the strength to be angry or depressed anymore and her cursed existence just demanded a reply, a display of sarcastic joy is as good comment as any.

All three still alive dragons looked up, just in time to notice a powerfully built malachite dragon landing in between them and the black dragoness. His fierce landing sent dirt and gust in the air, the three drakes had to cover their eyes.

Cynder's and Capro's gazes met, his grey eyes were cold as before, his body however was in a worse condition than earlier. His scales were cracked in places, like something really heavy and almost round hit his body repeatedly. His jaw was also broken, not seriously but there was that clearly visible displacement of his teeth. However no matter how awfully beaten his body was the dragon didn't seem to be bothered by that, that hungry and arrogant smile that spread across his lips as he eyed the wounded black dragoness only confirmed this.

" I'm going to enjoy this" Capro growled, the smile never disappearing from his snout as he began his advance towards the female

The three dragons also shared the malachite drake's enthusiasm as they went right behind him, their murderous eyes focused entirely on the bleeding figure of Cynder.

And then suddenly Capro stopped.

" And where do you think you're going?" he asked never turning his head to face his followers, the dragon's voice was boiling with malice

The three stopped at the sound of the drake's voice, clearly recognizing the tone in it which caused all of them to look at each other in confusion.

" And what do you think?" The earth dragoness eventually snapped back " We're going to end this bitch"

" I sincerely doubt that"

" What?!" the green female blurt out shocked

" Shhe killed Arath!" the young ice dragoness exclaimed indignantly, bloody saliva was still gushing from her mouth

" We're going to rip her apart together!" the bluish male chimed in ecstatically

" There is no _we_" Capro replied with cold abhorrence and turned towards the three dragons " She's mine and mine alone"

Cynder let out an amused quiet snort " Seriously? All this time I've got my ass kicked just to be saved in the end by the cliché scenario of bad guys arguing who gets the kill?" she chuckled and looked around the sky as if searching for something or someone " Really?"

" Are you INSANE?!" the ice dragon shouted

" I'm so close" the malachite drake replied almost longingly " you won't ruin that"

" All of us want to see that slut dead!" the earth dragoness yelled " So let's kill her, a slice for everybody I say!"

" No"

The green female laughed mockingly " What? She's you're mate or something? Too young for you don't you think?"

Capro threw the female an irascible glare " Get lost. All of you"

" Like hell you crazy fuck" the young ice dragoness blurt out and pressed confidently forward, just right of the malachite drake

The dragon's eyes shifted towards the young female, if they could kill she girl would be dead already. The dragoness paid no attention to him, this is when his huge tail slid along the ground and then pranced up. The female yelped when she noticed a sharp bladelike extension of a draconic tail moving swiftly towards her. There was no time to run, she closed her eyes expecting the worst.

Nothing.

The girl eventually opened her eyes and immediately swallowed a very bitter lump in her throat, the green dragon's tail tip stopped just mere inches away from her neck. She offered the dragon a look full of incredulity and terror.

Capro's presumed indifference remained unchanged " Back. Off"

And then the dragons began yelling, Cynder just stood there watching the scene, desperately trying to find the signal for her escape. Yet she knew she can't rush things, if she would try to escape now, those idiots would definitely forget about their differences and throw themselves at her. She has better chances pretending to be a bleeding, breathing- barely to be precise-, black statue and maybe, just maybe they will be too busy fighting each other than looking for her.

What a wicked game to play.

* * *

" Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap" Sparx kept mumbling the same word over and over again as he was maneuvering through the trampled forest.

Forest! Bah!

If this place can be called a forest than he is a dragon. Everything was crumbled and smeared across the ground like it was crushed under a sliding shell of a very huge turtle. Those rocky creeps are everywhere and to make things worse, most of them are still out there where all of this hell began, just like he thought it did!

And those damn walking rocks can't shut up!

His head started to hurt after listening to the unending rumbling roars of those statues…golems or whatever. But they didn't care about his discomfort, of course they didn't! They kept screaming and with every roar calling more and more of their even more rocky friends.

There is no sense in fighting them in the open, their only chance for success is to make a push towards those thing's domain.

Easier said than done!

Who knows how long he was here, it was no easy task to get here, even for a small dragonfly like him, he had to play it safe otherwise everything would be nothing. Everyone would be dead and he would end his life like a mosquito, splashed on the hands of one those things.

He had to play it safe!

" Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap"

What if they are already dead? Every single one of them?

Sparx slapped the side of his head ferociously as if beating sense to it.

Those things are still roaring, they have to be alive!

What if she isn't?

There was no slap this time.

He was supposed to be her eyes, and where is he? Sightseeing! Maybe the risk wasn't worth it, finding the origin of those things cannot be compared to deliberate ignore of their deal. She after all kept the end of her bargain when he asked for her help, while he did…well, what he did. He has to pay the debt somehow and today he has squandered that opportunity. His parents tried to teach him many important things, most of them he doesn't remember by choice, but there is that one rule he will never forget.

The dragonflies of this family stick together.

The debt can't be paid today, but that doesn't mean he can't make amends for his failure. They both may be still alive and most likely in need of his assistance, if this will be the case he will have to choose one. An easy choice for Sparx from the past, but this Sparx today is a guide and a hero, self-proclaimed perhaps and more of a sidekick than a guide but it's still something.

His brother isn't prepared to make hard choices, but he has to learn that it is a necessary...curse, especially in time like this. To save someone, one has to suffer, it's the merciless rule of the universe and nothing can change that. He has to show how to obey it.

This is why his brother will have to fend for himself, whatever he is going through right now Sparx was sure he will make it, if not...there's his other part that will make sure he does pull it through. Eventually he will shake it off, as far as they know there are no consequences of that creepy change, the only problem is to deal with it.

Or are there more?

He sacrifices his brother's soul, letting it be corrupted by an evil being. Even if the corruption is temporary what truly happens when its finally gone? Who can say for certain that when it leaves it doesn't leave permanent scars on the soul that have nothing to do with guilt, without anybody realizing this?

These are the so called hard choices, sometimes for the best of all the good ones have to be sacrificed. This is how it is, and nothing can change that.

Sparx gasped when suddenly somewhere beyond the destroyed forest a some kind of elemental attack exploded with a garish flash. All kinds of silhouettes were moving around the battlefield.

He was so close.

" Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap" the dragonfly mumbled again and covering his eyes behind his fingers pushed from the forest and into the open

His eyes went wide when he noticed the destruction and overall carnage, in that moment he realized his mission took way too long. He instantly began to scrabble around with his eyes, they have to be somewhere out there, She has to be somewhere out there.

And then his scan came to an immediate stop.

In the distance he spotted the characteristic purple form of his brother engaging some of the golems, he was still himself, at least from his point of view, whatever is going in his brother's head is an entirely different matter. For a moment he wanted to dash towards the dragon, filled by hope and relief that perhaps he isn't late and perhaps he can still be saved from the horrible fate of succumbing to darkness at the cost of anything else.

Yet he didn't move.

He might be an idiot, and with all certainty is one, but he is an observant idiot. Only seconds of intense attention for his brother told Sparx that there is something really wrong with him. They have grown up together and the dragonfly remembered that his sibling had that special…that strange…that…whatever it was. A brotherly mark so to speak that he would recognize anywhere and that purple dragon out there…

He wasn't his brother.

No doubt he wasn't entirely gone, Sparx was sure that in he would apply a proper nudge he could be swayed from that evil path, even by him. However the dragonfly did nothing, those are the hard choices and he will have to live with them.

The dragonfly once again began to look around, if his brother is still purple then that means she is still alive. Spyro would definitely feel her death, he would also in his own way, but their hearts were silent.

His however awakened seconds later.

The moment he spotted a still form of a dragon and three more nearby and among them that crazy huge dude he just knew he found her way before his eyes actually located the dragoness. She looked horrible.

She was completely covered in a grimy layer of blood and dirt, it couldn't be entirely hers since she would most likely bleed to death right now. However that wasn't much of a comforting thought, her whole body was devastated, covered in cuts and slashes that bled profusely, not to mention her risen paw, now that was a sight that made him sick.

Yet she was still standing, barely judging from her shakes and if he won't do something she will collapse, or they will make her collapse. Either way she won't be getting up after that.

Not happening.

Sparx spun swiftly and instantly located a golem that was as close to the group of dragons as possible, the construct was a fresh arrival, it was currently marching to smash some heads. The dragonfly whistled loudly. The golem continued its walk.

He whistled again.

Still nothing.

" You dumb brick!" Sparx shouted " Look at me when I call you!"

Nothing.

The dragonfly made his way towards the ground and picked a small rock from it. The moment he returned to his natural position in the air the rock was sent flying at the golem. The tiny stone bounced off the creature with a barely hearable clap. Yet it was enough to get the golem's attention, the construct turned around, looking for the culprit.

Sparx waved his arms wildly " Over here! I'm over here dumb brick!"

The golem's eyes flared up at the sight of the dragonfly, with a rumbling roar it began its march towards the small glowing creature with sole intention to crush it.

" That's right!" he exclaimed triumphantly " Come, don't be shy" with those words he began to fly to the side and then in a circle, positioning his body so his back would be facing the dragons who cornered Cynder. While he did that he never lost eye contact with the construct and kept the necessary distance between both of them so it won't use that ring of its.

" Don't slow down" Sparx encouraged the golem while he himself began to back away from it

The Keeper roared.

This lure lasted for a while, Sparx kept encouraging the rocky creature while he himself kept throwing quick glances behind his shoulder. Every such look brought him closer to his destination.

" That's right!" the dragonfly continued his motivating speech " Just a little longer"

The golem roared again.

" Almost there…"

Silence.

" Now" with that Sparx swiftly spun around and started to fly towards the three dragons as fast as he could, his eyes however were looking behind his shoulder. His head shifted to its natural direction the moment he noticed the golem extending its arms.

" HELP!" he screamed at the top of his little lungs " IT'S AFTER ME!"

Every dragon in front of him, Cynder included, looked in his direction. They just stared at him in complete shock, unable to comprehend from where did he come from or perhaps wondering if they aren't imagining things.

Capro was the first one who furrowed his brows after getting rid of the shock " YOU IDIOT! GET CLOSE TO IT!"

Sparx swiftly descended towards the soil.

" NOT THE GROUND! THE GOL-" the dragon's admonishing roar ended abruptly within his throat when he noticed a familiar reddish ring heading his way. He quickly unfolded his wings, the other dragons did the same, but they only managed to lift their legs.

Grunts and groans of pain echoed throughout the sky when the magical shockwave hit the four drakes and hurled them away.

Sparx made a sharp turn to the side, he noticed that Cynder took advantage of the chaos and limped away to hide behind some bushes and lined herself with rows of trees, far away from the golem's sight. Her emerald eyes were watching the dragonfly with great intensity.

The golem lost interest in the little dragonfly, as a dragon crusher its attention was drawn to the group of involuntary flying dragons, at who another shockwave was released. Sparx continued towards the black dragoness with a cocky smile.

He looked her over closely " Well, I see some really good specialists took care of you, they didn't miss a spot"

" You helped me" she mumbled as if not hearing his words, her eyes were shimmering with gratefulness

Sparx snorted " Pfff, don't flatter yourself, I won't let those dudes steal ma fame. I'm the only guy entitled to kick your ass"

" Thank you" she said with all sincerity and almost tears squeezing emotion

The dragonfly waved his hand dismissively " Yeah, yeah I'm awesome, I know that. Just don't start crying"

Cynder laughed feebly " I'm too weak to cry"

" Then you should better find a way to pump some adrenaline into those muscles because I've found the place from where those things came from"

The dragonesses eyes widened " You did?" she exclaimed excitedly, it was hard to tell if she was happy or mad

Sparx cleared his throat " Yeah, they're coming from that ruined temple or whatever. You know, the place where we found Crouton. I think one of those holes in the world has something to do with all this mess"

" That's a great find!" she shouted, her voice was filled with hope

He folded his arms on his chest " You aren't mad or anything?

Cynder furrowed her brows " Mad? Why?"

" At me, for not being your eyes and all that"

" Hey you found the eye of the cyclone, it's fine by me. Of course some of us already figured it out but just didn't have the time to check it out" she winked and seconds later adopted a more serious expression, as much as her bleeding body allowed that is.

" Jokes aside, we need a plan"

" I already have a plan" Sparx replied confidently

She cocked her head " Oh?"

" You should go there now, you need a head start since those guys will surely go after you since they were so close to gutting you. There are plenty of those statues out there but they wander around outside the ruins, the place where the portal is should be clear. I mean, I wasn't inside, but I bet it's still safer in there than in the open. That place was ruined already, those golems only made more holes in it so you should slip inside easily.

" Wow" Cynder huffed amazed " You swallowed some brains out there or something?"

He raised his hand, giving her a clear signal that this was no time for interruption.

" When you'll leave I'll start directing other dragons to the ruins, they should offer enough distraction for us to close that portal or destroy it, whatever. If it won't be possible we still have better chances destroying those things by using the ruins as cover than fighting those things in the open. We'll need to figure it out when we get there. I might have a problem getting my bro there, he's…not quite himself but I'll manage somehow, just hide under a rock till we arrive"

" All this brain talk doesn't suit you"

Sparx rolled his eyes " And they call me annoying" he sighed tiredly

" Alright!" Cynder chimed in " Gosh, I'm going" she turned around towards the forest " Leave Spyro to me, he'll be right behind me, don't worry" she limped into the forest

The dragonfly observed her slowly disappearing figure " Oh yeah? And just how are you going to do that?"

At first there was silence when she vanished completely from his sight. Just when he was about to carry his part of the plan a deafening feminine roar came from within the trampled forest.

" SPYRO!"

* * *

The purple dragon froze in place, the echoing roar was like the sound of a pounding bell, playing its rumbling music inside his head. Everything became unimportant, Spyro even lost interest in the golem he was fighting with. He turned around and instantly took to the sky,.

Cynder,

Cynder,

Cynder.

That single name kept bouncing inside his head, it was her, it is the one he was looking for. Everything started with her and will end with her, a final nudge is needed and freedom awaits and with it chaos. A different one, because crafted by his own paw, his sole DARK paw.

Cynder,

Cynder,

Cynder.

The purple wings went down and up quicker and quicker.

He can't wait.

Sparx stopped when he spotted his dashing brother, he extended his arm for a greeting but the dragon just flew past him as if not taking his existence into consideration. Hopefully the two of them will have some time and Cynder will bring him back, she's the only one who can.

He shook his head.

She won't be able to do that if the golems will crush the life of both of them first. With boiling determination Sparx raised in the air near a group of extremely worried dragons who just didn't know how to react to the fact that their savior is leaving the battlefield.

" Listen people!" Sparx shouted at the top of his lungs, he caught the attention of the nearby group of drakes " We found a way to win this battle! To do that we need to attack those things at their place! Spyro is already going there and I want all of you to follow him right now! There's no time!"

All of the dragons let out determined roars and instantly dashed after the purple drake. Sparx stopped one of them.

" Rally the others"

The dragon nodded and craned his neck upwards as far as it would go and then let out a powerful roar. One of its kind really, in an instant every nearby drake sprang in attention to the air and followed the previously roaring drake, their new leader for the time being. Exceptfor the last dragon in the formation, that drake let out a similar roar to the earlier one and once again rallied another group of dragons. The drake ended his roar and dashed towards the woods, in the wake of the other draconic soldiers, with the newly acquired group of warriors behind him. Except for the last one who…

And so on, and so on.

* * *

Cynder stopped at the edge of the trampled forest, in front of her the ruins of Flare's prison stood in the middle of the clearing like some haunted temple. However the ruin's black ghosts were visible and walking all around the place, unlike the ones in the imagined temple.

Sparx was right, the massive golems made short work of the already shattered walls, it was like they all tried to get out all at once and those that didn't fit in the already created paths made newer ones by creating holes in the walls that perfectly matched their bulky bodies. Sparx was right about another thing, this place was like a maze, with the right tactic they can lure the golems away from each other and pick them out one by one.

Cynder nodded her head slightly, clearly impressed of Sparx' surprisingly correct deduction. Those were two things he was right about, what are the chances that he will be wrong about the Veil being the source of those things and their downfall at the same time?

Her eyes impulsively traveled to the entrance where they found the stairs leading to the portal. It was opened and quite roughly enlarged by the golems which most likely tried to leave the narrow tunnel in haste and not one after the other as it was meant to be traversed.

However for all the ruins new values there was a completely other difference that really caught her interest. Along the ground to the ruins, on some walls, like also on the entrance to the tunnel she noticed some dried red stains.

A familiar scent hit her nose the moment she spotted them, it was blood. No surprise there one might think, she's bleeding all over the place after all, but this wasn't the scent of her own blood, or the blood of the dragons she fought with that roiled her draconic nose.

That blood belonged to someone else and not only one person, but several. Cynder focused on the entrance and sniffed the air, her heart skipped a beat when another scent mixed itself with that of blood.

It was the stench of death.

There are bodies inside those ruins, several days old at least, the heavy scent rotting meat was definitely wafting from the staircase. If she ever had any doubts regarding Sparx' plan to hide in the lion's den they all faded away momentarily.

With an anxious exhale Cynder pushed forward, using her wings to move, helping her three mostly healthy paws to carry her weight by lifting her in the air slightly. Once could take her for a dragon mimicking a retarded rabbit..

The golem's numbers weren't so high here, most of them obviously joined the battlefield by now, the ones that remained weren't really interested in guarding the entrance to the portal. They looked quite bored actually, they seemed to walk around the ruins just because they hadn't anything better to do. It was like whatever job they had was already done, and now they are waiting for some signal, an order perhaps to get into action.

Luckily there weren't any rumbling roars coming from Boven.

She reached the entrance way faster than she anticipated actually, she didn't really had to play it smart and sneak around the place. Five or six heartbeats and she was already standing in front of the staircase.

It was creepier than she remembered.

The heavy scent of death and blood was strong here.

Not wanting to be seen by the golems Cynder instantly started to clumsily descend the stairs, this time however she kept strictly to the ground, afraid that whatever might be down there would see her shadow way before she would notice her attacker. It goes without saying that in her condition surprises aren't welcome, especially the deadly ones.

The dragoness gritted her teeth, each step was a painful struggle, first went her less devastated front paw, then as she was getting her rump down she pushed her center of gravity forward and had to bounce on her front leg with her wings serving as a mean for balance until her back paws didn't find a solid foothold. Every such _step_ ended with her listening intently, she was expecting something to leap an her from the stairs at any moment.

Nothing came. The only sound was that of the golems shuffling around the ruins and the occasional blow of wind.

With a quiet moan of pain Cynder continued her slow descent, she conquered the staircase with each clumsy step she made down. It was completely silent inside, yet even that presumed peace didn't rush her moves, she still progressed carefully, the smell of death was a perfect reminder of what you can gain by unnecessary haste.

Then after a while she saw the bottom of the stairs and the light coming from the room she so wanted to reach. After two more steps she could take a good look at the walls, the golems definitely began their conquest from this very room. The lower she got the bright light of the day became more intense and with it came a warrior's specific peace of mind. Nothing will attack her from the shadows as she expected.

Those rays of light would betray her enemy's approach by casting shadows thanks to the different angles from which were they illuminating the room. The rays were quite visible, they were coming from the top and sides, forming vertical and horizontal columns of light.

There's sun's light in here, meaning that this room isn't hidden underground but in a spot where the valley's ground level is lower than the rest…

She cursed her stupidity.

No wonder the golems didn't ruin the staircase, they found other exits. One only needed to follow the ruin's length and would find those holes. It would be so much easier to get here using her wings.

The moment she reached the bottom of the stairs the blaming voice inside her head became silent. Her eyes went wide and mouth opened itself automatically, her legs were carrying here slowly forward without her even realizing this. Cynder's attention was fully occupied by the sight ahead.

She found the source of the heavy smell.

Bodies were stashed in the place where Flare was supposed to take his final bath in lava. The corpses were piled one at top the other, some slid off the fleshy mountain and were sprawled on the ground like they were nothing else than thrash.

Cynder gulped.

Everyone was here, not a single inhabitant was spared, among the corpses she noticed the wizened old dragon who _greeted_ her in the village when they first came here staring at her with his cold dead eyes. A powerful feeling of blame wafted through her when she realized that she doesn't remember his name. It only got worse when she spotted the bloody corpses of children she played with surrounding the old dragon, their eyes were no different than his and all of them were staring at her.

This is where the golems have brought the bodies, to the Disposal room, it seemed the constructs were confused, most likely not able to comprehend that the world has changed. They were obviously doing what they were constructed to do, put the disobedient dragons in line or get rid of them probably and whoever got in the way shared the same fate.

" What have I done?" Cynder muttered in horror

All of this is on her, she was the one who started this, she is the one who brought Malefor back. She could do something back then, resist the corruption somehow or something else, no idea. One thing was certain, if she had done something bodies wouldn't pile up after her, even know when she has control of her actions she killed a stupid, blinded by rage dragon. He was a moron but didn't deserve to die.

She winced and averted her gaze, holding back the tears of anger and pain filling her eyes.

" Focus!" she blurt out an order to herself with a wavering voice

This is not the time for this.

Cynder once again looked at the stack of corpses, trying to desperately think about anything else but the blaming eyes of the inhabitants of Boven. She succeeded.

The portal.

She couldn't feel the thing, but it has to be somewhere here, those golems had to appear from somewhere. Where it was the last time they've been here?

A cold shiver ran through her spine.

It has to be somewhere underneath the pile of bodies. But if it is why aren't the corpses disappearing? Shouldn't they be on the other side by now? Or it is only a one way portal? Or maybe this one isn't in any way similar to the one they found in Munitions Forge?

There is only one way to find out.

With heavy legs she moved towards the dead villagers but then a shadow ran past the ground and over her. She instantly jumped back and looked up, the figure that was descending from above filled her with even more dread than the accusing dead glares.

Spyro landed some meters ahead of the injured black dragoness, forcing a horrified gasp from her when his wings flapped for the last time and folded neatly on his back.

" Cynder"

The way he pronounced her name stopped the dragonesses heart for a while. It was a greeting and a threat in one. A cold finger of fear gripped her spine.

" Cynder"

He was spelling her name like it was some kind of chant, at the end of which his mouth twitched into a very creepy amused smile.

" What happened to you?"

Cynder gulped, that smile, the way he was looking at her and the evil…hunger and concern in his voice was terrifying.

" I…" she muttered and swallowed hard once more "…fell down the stairs"

Spyro looked her over, his drilling gaze made her shiver.

" Those had to be some really sharp stairs"

Her throat was sore all of a sudden. " Y…yeah" the dragoness rasped quietly " You know…this place is old…time has grown some rough edges…on many of those stones" she muttered while staring at the ground. Only at the end of her sentence she had enough courage to look at him, yet it was a very fast glance, before she knew it she was staring at the floor again.

The purple dragon cocked his head while examining her bloody risen paw " Those look like dragon marks to me"

Cynder balked, momentarily her gaze landed on him, instantly noticing that he was observing her wounded leg. Impulsively she pulled it lower as if trying to make it less visible by placing it on the ground. At this point she didn't care about the pain.

" Yo…you're wrong. Some glass got stuck…in one of the golem's hands and…and I got hit by it. Not one of my best moments" she tried to smile but her mouth only wavered nervously

He made a step towards her " May I look at it?"

Cynder instinctively jumped back with determination " No"

Spyro looked at her again, his eyes were shimmering with that intimidating longing and malice.

" Why not?"

" Because you're scaring me" she replied bluntly

The purple dragon balked, the evil expression was gone, for the first time since this mission began he looked genuinely hurt. For the first time she since they got here she recognized her friend.

" I…I'm sorry, I…everything's so confusing, I…"

" Hey, hey" she interjected with worry ringing in her tone " You can fight it Spyro, you can win like you did so many times already. You're stronger than this, you know this isn't you"

He winced " I don't want to hurt anybody…I don't want to hurt you. What have I done?"

" It's not your fault. Please Spyro, don't think about it, we need you"

" I killed them…I killed them"

" I need you" she whined pleadingly

The purple dragon's eyes focused on her.

Cynder looked straight into them with her glowing with tears emerald orbs.

" Please, come back to me"

Spyro groaned in pain, he was throwing his head from side to side like two minds tried to move his body at the same time. Like-

And then the wall to the left exploded.

The shockwave that kicked the stones in was so powerful that it hurled both young dragons away, the force of the blast spread uncontrollably across the room throwing Cynder at the east wall while Spyro far away to the north towards the bodies.

When she collided with the cracked statues resembling dragons snouts some of the stones gave away under the powerful impact. They split from the construction and fell down, Cynder saw as they were heading straight at her, with no strength to run she closed her eyes expecting the worst.

She was lucky.

The surrounding rubble was so thick that the falling black stones got stuck, only tiny bits of rocks bounced off of her snout. Yet the weight of the addition stones pushed the rubble down, not crushing the dragoness but making the space between the rocks and the spot where her body was on the floor uncomfortably small. She was stuck, or at least getting out of this without magic will be one hell of a task.

" You idiot!" a female roar echoed throughout the room when suddenly three dragons stepped out from the dust

Capro was first, behind him where the earth dragoness who attacked Cynder and her ice companion.

Many rumbling roars were heard outside.

" You'll lure those things here!" the female yelled again

The malachite drake's eyes were only focused on the injured form of Cynder in the far side of the room " Take care of them, I just need a moment, she's trapped and not going anywhere. It'll be over in a minute" he began walking towards the stuck female

" Just kill her already!" the ice dragon exclaimed nervously

And then there was that characteristic smack of a meat hitting the floor coming from the north side of the room. Two dragons looked that way, only Capro was uninterested.

" By the Ancestors…" the earth dragoness mumbled when she spotted the piles of bodies and the creature standing on top of it

" What the fuck is that thing?" the male muttered in horror

Capro threw the black figure near the bodies a quick glance before focusing on Cynder again " One of her pets maybe, just kill it"

" Run you morons!" the black dragoness screamed at the top of her lungs, the shout made her cough horribly, the weight on top was preventing her from catching a solid breath

The ice dragon shoved the paralyzed female away " I'll take care of it" he stepped forward and instantly channeled his element

In seconds a huge ball of ice was released at the black dragon with terrifying white eyes, tongues of dark mist were dancing all around his body like flames from a fire. He looked like a living shadow.

The ball of ice hit the creature, sound of breaking ice echoed throughout the room. The male bent on his paws preparing to continue his attack but only let out a gasp of shock when the icy mist eventually died down and noticed that the creature was still standing in the same place, completely unharmed.

The sound that followed later froze the blood in the two dragons veins, the voice coming out of the dark creature's throat was not of this world, or any other for that matter. It sounded like it was coming from the deepest pits of Hell.

" You can't stop me"


	54. Chapter 16 Book III

Chapter 16

The earth dragoness roared, flexed her muscles and instantly sent a swirling leafy bomb at the dark creature, without giving the dead even the tiniest deserved respect. As a natural, the female could unleash some more advanced versions of many attacks related with Earth, like the leaf bomb for example.

When the greenish projectile exploded it not only turned into a tornado that sucked practically every corpse but also sprouted rocky tendrils that when the victims of the attack were eventually thrown at the ground made sure that they won't be getting up. Not to mention the damage those unformed arms caused to everyone who wasn't caught in the tornado, or the surrounding area overall.

The howling tornado killed every other sound in the room, if that wouldn't be the case the dragoness would hear some really indignant, disgusted and furious words from her Ice partner. The female didn't care really about anything else but the destruction of the dark creature. Whatever that thing was, she felt it was dangerous and the creature's terrifying white eyes only confirmed that suspicion. That thing was frightening, she just wanted to get rid of it, no matter the moral cost.

The tendrils wrapped themselves around the dark dragon when the twister smashed him into the floor. Yet even with such crushing pressure around the black being it still managed to stand up.

The Ice dragon who learnt that passivity is a mistake attacked the creature immediately, combining his magic with the elemental powers of his Earth companion. A huge freezing cloud came out of his mouth, turning the remaining tendrils that were too far away from the dark creature into ice in an instant.

The sounds of shattering ice followed soon after, the once thick, rocky tendrils exploded sending shards of ice flying everywhere, many were heading towards the supposedly trapped black dragon.

Supposedly.

What occurred next was beyond the dragons understanding.

The completely still bodies rose to perfect vertical positions, like they were nothing more than effigies on strings manipulated by an invisible puppeteer in one of the most bloody scenes of today's spectacle. In a blink of an eye five or six of the most massive corpses surrounded the black drake, bilious squishing sounds followed soon after when the icy spikes instead of piercing the black creature impaled themselves in the corpses one by one.

They were shredded momentarily and even before the two dragons closed their gaping with shock maws the spiked corpses were sent flying at them with such hauteur like rocks being thrown by playing children.

The dragons just stood there, never before seeing something like this, even if they wanted to run it would change nothing. It was already too late and as they found out later, it was the least of their worries.

The female was the first one who was roughly waken up from shock. The ice spikes protruding from the bodies were so huge that when three of the corpses struck her, the dragonesses paws bent under the surge of pain that came after. The bodies slammed into the female's body, the impact was so strong that it sent them spinning as they dropped right next to the Earth wielder. The tearing of scales and loud noises of snapping ice mixed themselves with the dragonesses scream of anguish. The icy huge spikes shattered, almost half of their size got impaled in the dragonesses body while the other ends remained stuck in the scattered bodies, icy mists were dancing from the cracked tops like fire from a candle.

The male however had enough time to dodge the incoming shredded corpses, the moment he was safe from harm he channeled once again his elemental energy and sent one ice shard after the other at the black dragon. However the ice dragon didn't take into account the waning strength of his Earth companion, it was that dwindling vigor that weakened the rocky unformed arm that held the creature in a tight grip.

The thick stony tendril exploded, the black drake broke free and momentarily was out of the way of the flying shards, he dashed so fast, that the ice dragon had troubles recording where he moved, only a trail of dark smoke was left behind, the shards penetrated the misty veil one by one. They shattered so loudly on the ground that it seemed like they were trying to tell the drake that he is no match for this enemy.

A cold chill of terror ran through his body.

The feeling only intensified when he heard his female companion roaring in her death-throes. His head impulsively turned in the direction from which the horrific noise was coming from.

Strangely the dragon heard two words echoing inside his head at the sight, spoken with a blood freezing low tone.

Finish her.

The black dragon was already near her, his horns were impaled in her chest and he was pushing with his hind legs and wings while jerking his head up. For a creature no bigger than a young dragon he had immense strength, the fully grown female was being lifted from the ground in a crosswise manner, the moment she was reaching a perfect vertical position the dark creature pushed fiercely with all his might.

The dragoness toppled like a trunk of a cut tree and landed forcefully on her back while letting another roar of agony when the black dragon's horns shook within her flesh at the impact. In a blink of an eye the shadowy creature withdrew its horns, dragging two long trails of blood behind them.

What happened next lasted maybe ten seconds.

After he was free the black dragon made a swipe with one of his forepaws, the slash was so quick that it was impossible to see his paw moving, the only thing that somehow betrayed what he was doing was the trail of smoke left behind.

The screams of the dragoness were silenced the moment a huge bloody chunk of her throat splatted on the cracked marble floor. The female's eyes shot wide open, the only sound that was coming out of her mouth were some rasping gurgles, each of them pumped more and more blood out of the lurid hole in her neck.

The dragon instead of ending the dragonesses torture moved towards her chest. The black creature began to slash at it, tearing quite considerable pieces of scales and flesh with each strike. Blood was everywhere and the barely alive dragoness could only see her flying gory remains.

The black drake eventually made quite a sizeable hole in the female's chest, he then sipped his paw inside and hooked his claws at the edges of the torn flesh. Then as if putting all of his strength he began to pull, the skin of the dragoness broke with a sound similar to that of bursting seams. The pull enlarged the bloody entrance, with two pieces of flesh jutting upwards at both its sides, revealing every possible organ, muscle and bone that can be found below the skin on practically every animal's chest.

The black drake withdrew his claws from the torn strands of flesh and pushed his head inside the bleeding hole. There was a sound of snapping bones and then the dragonesses gurgles turned into a hollow, dying gasp. The creature withdrew his head, small bones that once formed a rib cage were protruding from the corner of its mouth, blood was trickling down his maw, a maw that held a draconic heart in between its displayed sharp teeth, like the dark being wanted the wide-eyed female to remember that one peculiar beastly, fiendish grin.

The heart thudded weakly in between the creature's dagger-like teeth.

And then the natural draconic spikes went down sharply.

The heart burst in the shadow creature's mouth, popping like a crushed melon, spitting blood everywhere in huge streams. As the dragoness was letting out her final breath, the black drake made sure she remembers her last moments by spewing the flattened excuse of a heart straight inside the dragonesses opened mouth.

The Ice dragon flinched at the sight of this gruesome fate. Another aberrant word echoed inside his skull, spoken by the same odd voice.

Fatality.

The black dragon shifted his attention at the ice dragon, fixing his somewhat glowing and soulless white eyes on the drake. The male flinched once more, it wasn't an ordinary tremor, one that warms up the muscles, preparing them for a fight. This tremor was like a post-mortem spasm. Deep down the male knew that he just looked into the white, cold eyes of his executioner. He realized gloomily that he isn't getting out of this alive.

The black dragon lunged at him, at first every muscle in the male's body was paralyzed with terror, but as soon as the dark creature got close a jolt of electricity shot through his whole body, his brain wakening up every limb for this very last struggle for survival.

The male made a chaotic slash with his front paw while letting out a wavering roar, the dark creature however moved way too fast for the desperate strike to have any effect. The shadow dragon slipped underneath the flying paw and as he reached the dragon's belly he jumped in the air, spun and thrust his tip into the drake's scales.

The male's roaring ended with his eyes shooting open and a dying whizz coming out from his throat. His head impulsively went down, with his mouth wide open and eyes almost out of their orbits he looked down. Just where his chest connected with the underbelly he noticed a delicate red line, second after second it was getting wider, more and more blood was dripping from the wound.

The drake was so preoccupied with the sight of his body sliding apart bit by bit that he didn't feel the dark creature clawing, literally, its way up his waist. The black dragon moved across the male's back towards his head, every step was made with deep thrusts into the bluish scales for maintaining balance and because the creature didn't want it to go any other way.

The Ice drake didn't even feel the creature approaching, his practically glassy eyes were locked on the constantly growing slit on the lower side of his body. Unending and constant quiet moan was coming out from the dragon's gaping maw, a bit of drool was hanging from the corner of his mouth, his jaw acted like it was hypnotized by the continuously flowing blood, streams of which intensified together with the growing slit running across the middle of his whole lower body.

The frozen male who's spirit practically left this husk didn't feel the black dragon reaching the top of his head, his body seemed to be fueled only by the fading, prolonged moan coming out of his throat, he was like a candle which's flame was dancing in the constantly increasing waves of the wind.

It was a blessing actually, the male was spared the agony of feeling his eyes being pierced by the dark dragon's claws, he was spared the sensation of gore gushing from the now empty sockets when his eyeballs popped like balloons. He was spared the feeling of the black creature's claws being thrust into his head, he was spared the sensation of the same being sliding from the top of his head, down his jaw, neck and chest until it reached the previously started bloody line. Especially he was spared the feeling of his body splitting in half, his skin dropping flat on the marble floor, his insides splaying on the ground in a disgusting sanguinary mess.

The drake dropped onto the ground, not even paying any attention to the gutted dragon looking like a mascot torn apart, he only saw the tongues of shadow dancing from his crimson claws, like flames from a welding torch.

And then the wave of terror once more wafted across the ruined room as the black creature turned around, the invisible but extremely strong hands of horror gripped one particular malachite dragon when the dark drake's white eyes found their next prey.

* * *

Cynder from her very tight position couldn't see at what exactly Capro is looking, however the huge bulge running down his throat gave her a pretty good idea who, or what, scares him so much. Despite the boiling hatred for the green drake, especially after everything he's done she still pitied the poor, blinded fool, knowing exactly what gruesome fate awaits him.

" Start running you idiot!" she grumbled, the forced shout pushed her into another spasms of uncontrollable rough coughing

Capro shivered, her voice obviously dragged him back to reality, it was hard to tell if it was because he just heard a yell that isn't related with anyone mortally wounded and realized how much life is worth, or her shout reminded him of his objective, of what he came here to do.

Knowing her luck it was the second option.

The shadows ahead flickered, the dark being was on the move. Seeing this Capro instantly pulled his head up and coughed up a greenish ball, similar to the one that Spyro spins on a chain, yet this one had no chain, it was just a big, round spiked ball. Under which the greenish dragon slipped his paw and tossed it up, just to slap it with the flat end of his tail-tip seconds later.

The spiked ball was sent flying towards the ceiling, the moment it hit the cracked structure above it exploded with a deafening, rumbling thud. The whole building shook after the fulmination, cracks like spider-webs began to appear all around the ceiling, starting from the place where the ball collided with the stone. It was like a small earthquake was triggered above, and it spread very quickly, leaving devastation in its wake.

After some more really uncountable seconds the stone above had enough, the already weakened fundaments of the ceiling couldn't withstand the pressure of the artificial earthquake. Huge pieces of stone began to fall down with rumbling noises, parts of the ceiling around the spot of collision fell down completely. It was like an avalanche coming down from an invisible mountain, but instead of a wall of snow there were large, rough slabs of rock coming down.

They hit the floor almost immediately, the impact with the ground sent kicked choking amounts of dust in the air. Capro heard the black drake growling, he looked down and saw him running faster at him through the brownish mist, even as the rocks kept piling up quickly the shadow being didn't stop.

Yet the dark drake wasn't fast enough.

Capro saw the black dragon skidding to a halt through the rain of rocks, moments later with the final rumbling crash the last of the stones fell down, forming a huge impassable wall of rubble that cut the malachite drake and the wounded black female from the rest of the room.

A furious roar came from behind the wall, once more the dark creature used its telekinetic powers. The surrounding rocks that didn't belong to the freshly created rubble hovered in the air, even stones that formed the rocky wall were pulled from the ground, but the debris was huge, it was just impossible to lift all of those stones to create a passage, even for a such powerful creature like the black dragon.

Then came another roar, but this time it belonged to one of the golems. One of those things just entered the room, its heavy steps rattled against the cracked marble floor, sending tremors across the whole room. Seconds later more of the same roars echoed in the crumbled hall and even more mighty strides joined the first one.

The golems poured into the room on the other side of the rocky wall, some already lured by the dragons explosive entrance earlier, other driven here by the sounds of battle. Then another roar joined the other rumbling blares, this one belonging to a livid creature from the deepest parts of the Dark Realms. It was a roar full of anger and pain that froze the blood in Capro's veins.

The malachite dragon jumped when suddenly many rumbling thuds echoed all around him. He let out a wavering breath when he realized that the horrible sounds were created by the stones hitting the ground, the dark creature obviously didn't have the time to keep them floating with all those golems invading the hall.

Sounds of battle rumbled from behind the debris, the noise was so loud that it was impossible to hear own thoughts. However this noise calmed Capro, for him the sound of battle was just as normal as the noise of breaking stone for a stonemason. Normality. At last he can be himself again, only one purpose in mind, without frightening shadowy abominations trying to ruin everything.

The only thing he needs now is some true peace of mind, and only the agonizing screams of that black bitch can provide that. Even before he started turning towards the trapped female he already channeled his Earth powers. A rough and sharp earth missile was released in the direction where one of the female's black wings laid in the open, not hidden behind some rocks like her whole body was.

There was a sound of crashing stone, a malicious and victorious smile wrinkled the corner of Capro's mouth, for a moment his eyes closed blissfully, waiting for that sole feminine scream that would cheer his recently frightened heart up.

However no such shriek could be heard.

The malachite drake's eyes snapped open, he let out a gasp of shock when he noticed that only the remains of his magical missile dotted the spot ahead, the girl was nowhere to be seen. She slipped away, that creepy thing had to lift the rocks that were keeping her in place!

" Lost something?"

Capro growled, his eyes narrowed furiously at the sound of the arrogant feminine voice, momentarily he channeled his Earth element and swiped with his tail, not really paying attention where she is currently standing, his attack only driven by the direction from which her voice came. A greenish surge of energy in the form of a scythe shot from his tip. The magical attack cut through the columns like knife through butter, those rocks that weren't part of any construction were sent flying like rocky cannonballs.

The rumbling thuds and explosion deafened even his own wrathful roar.

" Careful or you might make a hole"

The malachite drake roared and turned towards the direction from which the sound came.

There she was standing, with one of her crippled paws risen in the air.

Mocking him.

The bitch!

" And that thing will come after you. You don't want that or you might shit yourself. Again" Cynder offered the dragon a blood covered, teasing, toothy grin

The malachite drake roared angrily and widely opened his mouth, this slut won't be telling him what to do! A greenish ball of energy formed inside his throat.

And then he hissed painfully.

Capro jumped to the side, a sharp bolt of pain ran through the back of his wing. As he turned to examine the wound a purple beam cut through the air in front of his eyes, the glow was so fierce that he had to squint his eyes. The magical energy flew across the whole room until it hit the wall on the other side of the room, near the stairs. There was a hiss when the purple laser collided with the wall and evaporated into a black mist, leaving a tiny hole in the structure.

A drop of something thick and wet fell down on his paw, then another and another, the drake impulsively looked down.

Blood.

His own.

Another drop from above.

Capro's eyes instantly went up, he pulled his aching wing in front of his eyes. If there would be anyone on the other end of it he would see the dragon's grey eye watching him through the bloody hole the size of the drake's eyeball, that pierced the dragon's wing thumb inside out. The malachite drake observed the wound, he watched as another droplet of reddish liquid was forming itself on the edges of the injury before falling down once more. He couldn't believe his eyes, it was like something pierced his wing with a sizzling pike.

Still watching the world through the specific monocle the dragon turned impulsively towards the rubble. Another purple flash blinded him and there was that rumbling crashing noise as if something huge just split apart and collapsed. He lowered his wing and stared at the debris for a while, suddenly he could spot every crack dotting the rocky wall. He realized just how fragile this structure is, one reckless attack can open a path for creatures, specifically one, that would tear him to pieces.

His head fell down, his throat became sore, the unwelcomed fist of fear once more gripped his heart.

" Something's wrong?"

Capro winced, the sound of that arrogant yattering fueled the only thing that kept him going.

Hate.

And that brutal reminder, that anew discovered purpose was stronger than some paltry, stupid natural fear of death.

Capro growled and began making determined strides towards the wounded female.

" I only need my claws to finish you"

Cynder narrowed her eyes on the approaching enemy, all of her muscles were tense, ready to serve.

" You sure about this?"

She groaned with quenched exertion as she back-flipped away from the drake's slashing claws just to sink into the ground later on to avoid the earth dragon's sliding tail. The dragoness reappeared some meters behind her attacker.

" It won't be easy" she continued her speech " I still have some juice left in me"

" Not for long" Capro moved towards her again and just as previously his claws only cut through thin air

" See?" she said as she popped from the black spot on the ground some distance away from her enemy " Your sidekicks done a poor job of weakening me. You want a piece of these black scales? You gonna have to work for it yourself"

A cold shiver ran through her spine when her rump bumped into the rocky wall. She is playing with fire, or darkness to be precise. She held back a pant, not only she was afraid, but also tired, there is no chance she can keep this game up without a risk and being just right on the other side of the debris while Dark Spyro is practically behind her surely count as one. The dragon has to know in how much trouble he is when he decides to attack her here and maybe he won't notice that she is in even worse.

The malachite drake hesitated, his eyes impulsively scanned the debris again when from behind it came another crashing noise that stood out from the typical, battle related, unending, rumbling cacophony. Capro shook his head, no time for doubts.

Remember that.

No time for doubts.

He pressed forward, with each step calculating how many and what attacks to perform to hurt her while not drawing the attention of the black creature. He didn't really come up with any idea, deciding that planning was pointless, he just couldn't focus with all those thoughts circling inside his head, the dragon went for a straightforward approach remembering only to be careful. The rest? Let Fate decide.

The drake stopped in his tracks when many powerful explosions and roars, mainly draconic, rumbled outside the ruined room. The sound slipped through every possible rock and crack, thudding from wall to wall with the force of a powerful hammer. Both Capro and Cynder began to look around the place, there was so much ferocity in this display of blaring sounds. The noise rang all around the place, it was like they would be standing right below a huge bell.

Eventually their eyes found each other again.

Cynder shuffled her body against the rubble" So how about a rain check?"

Capro narrowed his gaze on her and continued his slow advance " Stop talking"

" Look, they need us out there. I get it, you hate me, I understand, you have all the right to be angry. Hell most of the time I hate myself, but there are moments when we need to forget about that. We both fought to save this world and this world is made of people, people who now need all the help they can get. You can always kill me tomorrow"

" I don't care about them"

The dragonesses eyes widened " Wow" she blurt out surprised " For someone who thinks he's doing the Ancestor's work for trying to murder me in cold blood you sure sound like the old me"

Capro growled, as he made another step his claws clicked on the floor so loudly that when he slid his paws back to prepare for another step, the floor screeched below. His claws leaving visible scratches on the cracked marble tiles.

" I'm nothing like you!"

The dragoness nodded at the rubble next to her " Tell that to those two back there"

The malachite dragon swiped with his tail, with a gasp Cynder ducked, the blade extension on the dragon's head cut above her head, slightly scratching the rocky surface behind. Some small stones dropped on her head.

" I haven't killed them! I didn't touch anybody who didn't deserve this from our striking force! Same thing can't be said about…what was his name…Arath right?"

Cynder swallowed.

" Not to say that the two you mentioned were slain by a creature very similar to you. You who so easily tries to put the blame on me" he snorted " You arrogant bitch, so desperately looking for an excuse. That thing back there is your doing, I don't know how you created it but the similarity cannot be a coincidence. It's as dark as you pretend not to be"

The dragoness blinked, she tried to put her wounded paw to her chest, but couldn't do it. There was that stinging itching inside, like her own heart was bleeding, beating with a pace that seemed to be in some kind of code, as if tried to say something to her. She knew what it was.

That idiot is right.

Dark Spyro and all the deaths he caused and will cause soon are on her. If she would resist the corruption somehow, if she would beat it into submission, all of this wouldn't have happened. Spyro would never touch Malefor's dark essence which now resides within him like a parasite. She would never put on harm's way everyone she cares about, they would never have to risk their lives, reputation, to clean the mess she makes with every step. Everything could be averted, EVERYTHING, if she just…

No.

She won't give him the satisfaction. Whatever shit she caused, she will deal with it later and if the guilt will swallow her one day then so be it, but she won't let herself be manipulated.

Cynder straightened up confidently " You want to be the people's knight in shiny armor? Then bring it on, strike down the evil bad dragon. Stop talking and do your job!"

Capro chuckled disdainfully " My intentions are only my own, I'm trying to be merciful here, doesn't all this guilt tire you? How many more have to die for you to finally realize that you are made from darkness, and whenever darkness walks it kills all that lives and thrives. Don't you want this decadence to end?"

" I'm not that far gone to be suicidal, thanks for the offer but-"

Her voice died completely when suddenly the wall behind her exploded, shooting her and all nearby stones like from a slingshot. Then her vision became red, she screamed in agony when suddenly rows of daggers pierced her belly and back simultaneously, making rough holes along the whole length of her body. Only her head and rump with the tail dangled away from the sharp spikes, at first she didn't comprehend what was happening, why those daggers are covered with some kind of slick substance.

When her vision finally cleared enough she noticed the powerful legs of the malachite dragon below and everything became clear.

Deep down she laughed, now this is some bad luck. Those daggers were nothing more than draconic teeth, that substance was nothing more than saliva and she wasn't held by some sort of a trap but she was currently in between Capro's teeth. With his teeth sinking deeper and deeper into her body, as if he was savoring the taste of her blood and flesh while also trying not to surrender to that hunger. One snap of the dragon's teeth and it will be all over and she just couldn't stop thinking just how stupid this will be. But then again she went to that wall on her own, she willingly took the risk, she provoked him on purpose, it's only appropriate that he will end her life. She had it coming.

And to her surprise there was that peculiar hawk and she was sent flying through the air and straight into the piles of stones ahead. The pain after the collision with the rough rocks was dulled by the shock that she is alive. She could see her own blood flowing down the stones as she rolled deeper and deeper into their rocky embrace with only one thought bouncing inside her head.

The dragon spitted her out.

She lifted herself up, Cynder noticed his bloody maw, his tongue was sliding along his mouth getting rid of her blood that covered his snout.

" Why?" she rasped weakly, she couldn't think of anything else.

Capro curled his tongue and spitted a reddish ball onto the ground, mix of his saliva and her blood.

" You don't deserve mercy. By simply killing you I would grant you just that. I realized I was too hasty, the disgusting taste of your blood opened my eyes"

" I don't understand"

" Don't you remember me Lightbane?"

She narrowed her eyes on him.

The malachite drake looked straight in her eyes " I'm giving you two months, if you will be a good boy I'll let you live and I will even leave your mother alone"

Cynder's eyes widened.

* * *

_A pewter dragoness and an adolescent green dragon with small bladelike plates on his chin hesitatingly stepped out from the crowd…_

…_When she noticed a shadow on the ground the female lifted her head and looked at the black dragoness in front of her with watery eyes. " Lightbane" she sobbed_

_Cynder froze in place while her eyes shot wide open, soon she began to nod her head " I can't believe I will say this but we have a winner!" she exclaimed and pointed a claw at the young dragon " Kid you should be proud of your mother"_

_He ignored her, his mother took all of his concentration, he started to approach her, to hug her and somehow ease her suffering._

_She blocked his path with her tail " No time for cuddling, you have a job to do. You will spread that name in every place you visit, I want people to know about it. I'm giving you two months, if you will be a good boy I'll let you live and I will even leave your mother alone. If after two months I won't hear my new nickname, then…well you know what's going to happen. As you see time is of the essence so of you go!"_

_The young dragon stared at his mother, he would most likely ignore her order if not for a single nod from the pewter dragoness. He sobbed and after a while turned around and started to fly away._

_She stared at the disappearing shape of the young dragon in the distance " Lightbane" she huffed and swung her tail, not paying any attention to the sound of cracking bones behind her._

" _Lightbane" she repeated the word in a full of awe voice and swung her tail again_

" _I like it" she stated with full satisfaction, completely ignoring the pewter female head rolling down from the elevation._

* * *

Cynder swallowed " You"

" I've spent countless days on spreading your name, sowing fear and hate into hearts of the people. Some of them shunned me away, some let out their anger on me. Days passed and the news of Lightbane traveled faster than me, and I still kept going, eventually people started to hate me more than you. They didn't understand how can someone be so easily manipulated, they didn't want to understand that I was doing it for my mother, they didn't understand that I would do anything for her, even the Devil's dirty work"

" Eventually you and your army reached the places I visited, turning them to ashes. The news of the destructions spread like a fire, after that I was thrown out of every town and village I've encountered on my way, fingers of blame pointing at me wherever I turned my head. You ruin morale they said, you're her spy they said, it's all because of you they said"

" Maybe after a month practically everyone turned against me, there were some that wanted to help me but they were lynched by the angry mob so one day I've just stopped seeking friends, knowing how they will suffer because of me. I've spent days and nights scraping for food, mostly not finding anything. Weeks of starvation made me weak and I was a weak child to begin with, my mother always tried to keep my away from danger and the fighting. Her motherly protection turned me into an even weaker hunter, when every new day was a horror for me I knew I did my job and it was time to go back"

" And when I did come back you know what I've found? My mother's headless body strapped to a pole, crows eating away what remained of her flesh, only two words carved in her scales that were still legible reading _' Thanks kid'. _Hersevered head was chained to the pole at the ground, mostly devoured by worms. I screamed myself hoarse back then, and when I recovered my voice I did the same again and again until no more tears could flow from my eyes"

Another crashing sound echoed throughout the room as another one of the golems the black dragon was fighting with was destroyed. Both Capro and Cynder were unmoved by it.

" I buried her" the malachite dragon continued " I swore revenge, I swore that when I become strong enough you will meet the same fate"

Cynder closed her eyes, two tears slid from the corner of her eyes and down her cheeks " Then do it" she muttered devastated

" I want your head like nothing else in the world but taking it without you seeing how your friends suffer and people treating you like thrash isn't worth the effort. I will see you break and one day you will come to me, begging to end your suffering with one swipe of my tail"

" When people want to punish their mortal enemies by torturing them with the horrors of their lives it usually ends bad for them. They never get a second chance like you have now"

Capro shrugged " Perhaps, I might never get another opportunity to kill you but I will definitely see your world toppling around you. And when the time comes for Fate to turn against me, I'll die knowing that you suffered the same or worse horrors than me. My sworn vengeance won't be fulfilled completely but I doubt I will care then, I will see my mother after all"

After he dragon finished his monologue a otherworldly roar came from the direction of the now ruined rocky barricade. Capro spotted the dark creature reappearing through the dust, it's white eyes glimmering with no emotion as they aimed themselves at him. The malachite wasn't afraid, after he realized that there is no reason for haste everything became simple again.

He picked up a quite sizeable rock from the ground while constantly observing the approaching dark being. A smile found its way to the corner of his lips as he hurled the stone at the sprawled black dragoness, she gasped for air as the rock landed on her back, kicking the breath out of her lungs.

" Your horror begins today" Capro roared and instantly took to the sky

The black creature chimed in with a roar of its own and dashed after the Earth dragon.

" Spyro!" Cynder tried to shout, but her voice turned into a barely audible whizz of her dying breath, the stone on top of her was pressing her chest to the rocks, preventing her lungs to get a proper inhale of air.

She thrashed wildly, wanting to throw the stone off of her but had no strength to do so, the faster she wanted to get rid of it the weaker she became. She could only observe as the black tail disappears through the hole in the ceiling. The dragoness sighed feebly and pressed her forehead to the rocks and closed her eyes, imagining that she is somewhere else and the roars that rumbled outside didn't belong to the future victims of Dark Spyro.

She begged for all of this to be just a dream.

" Cyn?"

Cynder gasped and her eyes shot wide open when she felt something poking her shoulder. Then she began to cough, deafening the horrified yelp of a yellow dragonfly.

Yellow dragonfly.

The dragoness quenched the painful coughing and cleared her vision with a couple of quick flutters of her eyelids. Yes, there was definitely a yellow dragonfly hovering in front of her.

" Sparx?" she barely whispered, her voice rough thanks to the quenched cough

" You want me to have a heart attack?!" the dragonfly exclaimed indignantly

The dragoness cleared her throat as best as she could" You're worried about me" she chuckled weakly " How sweet" and offered the dragonfly a poor effort of a smile

Sparx snorted " You wish. If you would answer me when I first called you I wouldn't have my life span shortened now. You really need to find a better place for a nap"

Her eyes widened " I drifted away? How long I've been like this?"

" Dunno, but you better get up quick, Dark Spyro is kicking asses out there"

Cynder instantly began to push up, not really caring about the agonizing bolts of pain shooting throughout her whole body as she even pressed her wounded leg to the rocks, opening up some of the more or less sealed up wounds all over again.

Groaning she pushed with all her power but the rock on her back just didn't want to budge, the dragoness smacked into the rocky ground when the effort depleted all of her strength. However she didn't rest, she pushed again and ended on the ground once more. She began to push again.

" Hey" Sparx shouted and pressed his hand onto her shoulder, her body dropped flat on the rocks and she began to pant heavily

" You're going to finish yourself off, rest for a while"

She began to pull again.

" Rest!" he exclaimed and pushed her body down, the strength of the dragonfly was enough to put the dragoness in place once more

" Rest, and when you're ready we're going to do it together ok?"

Cynder nodded in between pants.

" Whenever you're ready"

She panted for a while, recovering her already faded strength.

" Ok" she muttered and inhaled as best as she could

Both of them began to push, at first nothing was happening but the longer the dragoness was straining her body, the scaly surface of her body was too much for the rock. It began to move slightly, it was then when the two of them began to push even harder, their combined efforts proved to be successful, the stone slid of the dragonesses body and joined its friends among the rubble with a thud.

Cynder exhausted beyond imagination dropped on the stony ground and began to cough in relief, how good it felt to fully inhale air again.

Sparx smiled and pushed away from the dragonesses, his eyes widened when he could get a good look on Cynder's body with the stone gone. Her whole back was dotted with holes, blood was flowing from every each one of them, and this wasn't the end of it. The rocks underneath her belly were greasy with the same crimson liquid, it was like she was drowning in the pool of her own blood.

He was no longer smiling.

His hands suddenly became very sticky, he looked at his opened palms and his heart skipped a beat, his fingers were covered in the dragonesses reddish blood.

" You have to go"

Sparx dropped his hands, the shock still plastered on his face, due to which he was unable to hear what she said. Or moaned to be precise.

" What?"

Cynder coughed again " You have to go, I can't do it" her voice was a barely audible whisper, of a person who still didn't fully wake up from sleep, or is about to fall in one

The dragonfly threw his arms to the sides ' What are you talking about?!" he shouted " What can I do? Your needed out there!"

" I'm too weak to even move Sparx. I'll…just rest here for a while"

" Oh no you don't! Get up in an instant! Everyone who says something never wakes up again!"

Cynder smiled weakly " You're worried about me after all. Sweet"

" I'm not worried stupid!" the dragonfly yelled with fake anger " I just don't want the worms to be sick when they're going to eat you"

" Poor things"

" Yeah poor things! Now get up and leave the little guys in peace!

Cynder took a wavering breath " I can't Sparx, seriously. I've lost lots of blood…I'm barely conscious… you…need to…to…"

" if you die-"

" I'm not dying…I think…you need to…save the dragons"

" How?!" he exclaimed hysterically " Spyro is out there destroying everything!"

" I don't know…you'll think of something…save the dragons first…then bring Dark Spyro here"

" How is that going to help us?!"

" Someshhh…." the dragonesses whispering ended abruptly

" Cyn?" Sparx swallowed hard

" Cyn?" he dashes towards her

" Cynder?" he shook her slightly.

The dragoness didn't wake up.

Holding his breath he pressed his head to her battered body, almost at the brink of choking he awaited for her chest to move.

Eventually it did heave, barely, but it did.

Sparx let out a huge breath of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He looked around the room and gathered anything that would help covering her. It was doubtful it would help with her blood all over the place but he couldn't think of anything better to do.

Eventually the dragonfly covered the female's body with whatever he could find, starting from small rocks, ending even in some tree branches.

He gave her the last saturnine glance before he looked up at the hole in the ceiling. Without any second thoughts the dragonfly pressed onwards, without a clue what to do next but knowing that this has gone too far.

Determination serving as his only guide.


	55. Chapter 17 Book III

**Not exactly how I planned this chapter to end but lately i had some troubles finding some quiet time to scribble so that's why I decided to make a pause here.**

* * *

Chapter 17

His heart was racing like crazy from the moment when he left Cynder's side and especially here, in the open, above the hole in the ruins that led straight into Dark Spyro's playground.

The dragonfly saw that big malachite dragon running away from the dark drake, he could hear him screaming for help and finally he saw four dragons surrounding the shadow being and attacking it all at once.

Brotherly loyalty took the reins of his determination, even if Dark Spyro wasn't really his brother it didn't matter now. Sparx didn't care about such things now, seeing the drakes ganging up on him, for that tiny moment the dark creature was his brother again.

It all changed when the black drake disappeared in a puff of darkness just to appear some distance away from the group of dragons. Sparx abruptly stopped in his tracks, if that was truly his brother he would never do what the creature is about to do. The dragonfly momentarily dived, the drakes not knowing what is happening dashed towards the creature. Sparx kept staring behind his shoulder as he went for the nearby tree, sourly realizing that it's every man for himself now. The four dragons have already failed this test.

Dark Spyro began to practically levitate in the air, pushing his transformed body in a straight vertical position while his black wings embraced him like the affectionate arms of a lover. The attacking dragons didn't even emit a sound when the black creature pushed his wings forcefully to the sides. Surge of dark energy shot from the creature, a shadowy ring of immense power cut through the air.

When it reached the four dragons they instantly stopped, frozen in place, paralyzed by an impossible contraction of muscles. Then the colors from their eyes faded away, turning sepulchral grey, just like their whole bodies did soon after, starting from the tail tip to the last bit of horn. However this wasn't a magical discoloration, the moment the dragons bodies altered completely the greyish hue that covered every bit of scale and horn solidified with that peculiar cracking sound, turning the four dragons into stone.

The four freshly created draconic statues began to drop from the sky, drawn to the ground by the force of gravity, the earth craving for their company. Sparx couldn't decide what was more horrible, to see the dragons crashing to bits on the ground or perhaps seeing them sharing Gaul's fate.

As if sensing the dragonfly' vacillation the dark creature who not so long ago was his oblivious brother released another surge of energy, being polite enough to resolve the dragonfly's doubt. The shadowy ring caught the two of four statues, just like the dark creature wanted this to happen by putting just enough power into the Convexity Fury. The two statues that were hit were dispersed momentarily, their rocky forms turned into dust and seconds later were blown away by the wind.

The silence that has befallen after that was just brain sizzling.

Sparx could feel the bitter taste of his saliva passing through all the canals in his body until it finally reached the stomach. The plop it emitted was simply numbing.

Dark Spyro scanned the area, looking for the one who dared attacking his…his…

There he was. Without hesitation the dark creature pushed towards the malachite drake.

" Help!" Capro screamed at the top of his lungs, putting much effort into the act of being powerless, surprisingly it came easy enough, maybe because he was in fact helpless

Sparx blinked several times, it's that guy again who supposedly got attacked by Flare, he seems to be absolutely everywhere, especially when it considers Cynder. Was he the one who wrecked her so badly? Most likely. For a moment Sparx thought about leaving the big dragon to his fate, that would be an adequate punishment for messing with his family.

However when he noticed that the drake was heading directly into the biggest formation of dragons that were in closest vicinity he immediately understood that there are more important things to do right now.

Save the dragons.

But how? That group is already lost.

" Think!" Sparx slammed his head with his hands several times and began to hectically look around. " Every creature has a weakness" he murmured to himself " Every creature has a weakness"

An obvious simple truth.

An obvious simple truth…

…Right?

Sparx smacked his forehead with the bottom of his palm a couple of times, wincing through the whole ordeal, as if wakening up every coil in his brain. Some sign, some sudden flux of brilliant ideas. Something.

Then a brilliant flash of purple passed through the corner of his eyes. The dragonfly couldn't help himself but to look up. He noticed the muscular dragon getting away from the group of drakes that was currently engaging his corrupted brother. A group that stood no chance against a creature of such caliber.

Dark Spyro didn't gave chase after the escaping malachite dragon, he was way too busy vaporizing the dragons in his way. When the first dragon who was struck by the Convexity breath melted like plastic under a tremendous heat, the rest of the attackers scattered away in every direction. Sheer panic overwhelming their minds.

The dark creature didn't care about the space that was made in the ruined formation of drakes, space that would allow him to catch up to the malachite drake. Something entirely else occupied his vile mind currently. The sheen of sweat that appeared on Sparx' forehead gave him a pretty good idea what the creature craved for.

Death.

The dragons without keeping any formation started to circle around the black figure while throwing everything they had at him. Dark Spyro didn't even react to those by trying to avoid them as soon as they were heading his way, the dark being decided to counter-attack immediately. The very first drake who dared to open his maw at him was the one who tasted the black dragon's otherworldly magic.

The breath the drake released at the black figure, Sparx didn't remember what element it was, was as much powerful as its owner against the potential of the dragonfly's corrupted brother. The Convexity breath that came from Dark Spyro's throat cut through the air, destroying everything in its path, including the elemental projectile heading his way and also the dragon behind it.

The vaporized drake didn't even let out a sound as the purple beam eaten him whole in a second, yet that didn't mean there weren't any roars echoing in the sky, They were, and every single one of them was ringing with blood freezing terror. It was like every remaining dragon let out his or hers cry of pain at the sight of his or hers vanquished companion, a cry that not only emanated hurt after the loss of a friend but also clang with a bitter and scary realization that they all going to meet the same fate.

Impuissance has such a bitter taste.

The magical projectiles of every elemental attack the Dragon Realms known of were just about to reach the dark creature, but just like every living thing that had a delusion it could win, those projectiles were just as powerless. Dark Spyro straightened up again, opening his wings as far as they would go and pressing his chin almost to his chest, just like the normal Spyro would just unleash his Convexity powers.

However the black dragon's intentions weren't focused on total annihilation right now. A purple bubble popped around the dragon, trapping him inside. When the incoming elemental projectiles hit the magical shield they just vanished, making the barrier glimmer as it seem to absorb every bit of of energy from which they were made off.

The bubble vanished exactly when the last elemental struck the shimmering shield. The black dragon's head momentarily jerked up, his white eyes glimmered evilly when they located their next prey.

The black dragon darted towards his freshly discovered victim. The dragoness who realized that she is the prize of this hunt shrieked in terror, letting out all that boiling tension pulsing in her veins during fighting, together with all the fear that gripped her heart. She was prepared for a battle, a natural warrior or not, dragons are predators.

Mostly.

This time however no spark of a feral killer was present in her, right now she felt like a herbivore, a zebra to be precise. Meat for all those lionesses lurking out there, yet as a very specific draconic equine she was prepared to repel the attacks of these mundane special cats.

One quick glance at the incoming black drake was enough to tell that he wasn't one of the typical lionesses. He was the representative of the male specimen. A fully grown, bloodthirsty draconic lion who seldom hunts, but when he does specific zebras like her have their survival chances reduced to zero.

The shriek that she let out when the dark creature caught up with her only confirmed this.

The wet slashing sounds still echoed in the dragonesses head, even despite her screaming as the dark being began to claw its way up her rump. At first, mostly because of panic she began to thrash in the air, coiling and uncoiling her body, kicking with both her hind and front legs and slapping with her wings occasionally, anything to get rid of the attacker.

Nothing seemed to work.

The female screeched even more intensely, the agony was unbearable, the creature seemed to avoid her every strike and the more dodges he did the more her body was cut open. She felt as she was being torn apart alive, the pulsing, sensitive and excruciating anguish in the back of her body was enough to tell that if there were any scales remaining they were gory strands by now, the rest was an open bloody flesh.

With tears springing in her eyes and hoarse throat incapable of emitting even a single comprehensible note she reached back, twisting her neck to its limits so even bones in her jaw cracked like popping knuckles. Blinded by tears and overwhelming pain the dragoness pushed her head as far as it would go, desperately and ferociously snapping with her teeth.

She put so much force into it that even her teeth rattled and sent bolts of anguish throughout her whole mouth as they slammed against each other multiple times. The female didn't care, she would do anything, suffer any kind of torment just to throw the creature off of her. Yet no matter how many times her teeth rang against each other she couldn't catch the dragon.

Simply because he was no longer there.

With a heart filled both with hope and terror she turned slowly withdrew her head to its natural position, or more likely it moved on its own, drawn by a powerful impulse. She let out a muffled groan the moment her head returned to its rightful place, through the blurry vision of her constantly widening eyes she noticed the black dragon hovering in front of her, a set of his claws on one of his front paws was already covered in blood.

Her blood.

She felt a strange numbing itching below her jaw, impulsively she ran her claw along her neck, feeling a strand of split scales across its whole length. Her paw went up, as her huge eyes lowered themselves they recorded a crimson liquid dripping from it. At the sight of it a constricted moan escaped her throat, while her eyes focused on the blurry black figure ahead.

The moment the dragonesses gaze met with the emotionless white stare of the dark dragon, the evil creature began his attack. He slashed once, exactly in the same spot like before, enlarging the strand of red on the female's neck. Then he slashed once more, twice, for the third time, and fourth and…the fifth slash never came.

By now after four powerful strikes the female's head began to limply drop down, droplets of reddish blood kept dripping from the dragonesses squeezed throat. Dark Spyro pressed his paw on the slowly flopping forehead, stopping it from moving any farther. When that happened the dark being tensed the muscles in his extended paw and pushed.

The head began to tilt backwards, exactly the way it came, more and more blood began to flow down from the cut on the neck, a cut that was getting bigger with every inch the head leaned backwards. The moment it reached a perfect unnatural vertical position the wound that was the size of a thread earlier turned now into a gaping hole, with the rest of the body practically separated from the constantly tilting head.

When it moved past the vertical position and even farther back, a move that was impossible for a creature without an elastic spine, sounds of snapping skin like twigs could be heard. The moving head was held to the rest of the neck by strands and remnants of scale, flesh and sinew, which were being stretched with every inch of the still flopping snout. They constantly kept snapping when they reached their limit and no longer could withstand the tension.

Then with one final wet snap the last piece of flesh and sinew gave away. Blood erupted from the part of the neck that was still attached to the now headless body like water from a geyser. The severed head bounced off the back of the feminine body with a sloshy sound, leaving a bloody stain on the scales and began spinning down towards the ground. The cold wide eyed stare never leaving the snout's features, just like it would be admiring the spirals of blood gushing from the roughly cut remains of a neck as it rolled around in the air.

The headless body of the female remained in the air for a second or two, as if time would freeze suddenly. However as its wings went limply down for the very last time, it could no longer resist the earth's coaxing call and sank down sharply, like a huge stone thrown into the water. Streams of blood seemed to hover just above the hunk of a neck, quivering in the air as they struggled against the forces of gravity.

Dark Spyro paid the falling body no mind, it was just another worthless carcass to him, one of many more to come.

It was somewhat obvious that the group that he is currently skirmishing with are some lifelong friends, no one else would be so stupid to prepare a fighting formation given the circumstances, especially no one else would be stupid enough to attack him when he beheaded their friend with practically a flick of his paw.

His white eyes focused on the incoming group of drakes, their furious, hurt and vengeful roars were as important to him as the sound of the whizzing wind.

Down below Sparx averted his gaze, he could no longer watch the dragons throwing their lives away. However he could understand them, if roles would be switched Spyro and Cynder would also fight to the death for each other, and they would win, or one of them would at least. In their desperation they would find a weakness in their enemy's armor and would exploit it mercilessly.

However the dragons don't have the skill nor the knowledge, they don't know who is hiding behind those black scales, they don't know that they are outmatched. Sparx wanted to shout, tell the whole world that the dark creature above is no one else but Spyro, a dragon who defeated Malefor and corrupted Cynder, he found a weakness in the beings no one else dared to cross. Those dragons up there, no matter how noble their intentions are, lost the battle way before it truly began. They were like an open book to him and the fury that blinded them only let the pages turn even faster, his only problem was in finding a proper way to slaughter them.

Dark Spyro remained still, not really caring that the dragons were almost on him. Some released elemental projectiles at him, while some others split from the formation, preparing to finish him the hard way. The magical attacks hit him one by one creating a colorful surge of energy as they exploded. The dragons who left the formation didn't wait for the magical fog to clear, they immediately dived from above with their claws at the ready.

Even more intense angry roars could be heard as the drakes cut through the mist sharply, their claws were gleaming from all the icy haze as they appeared below moments later. As far as Sparx could tell from below all of them popped out from that magical fog, only the different echo of the roars coming from above told him that something wasn't right, they were no longer filled with sheer wrath, now terror resounded in every single note.

What he couldn't see was that one of the drakes had a hole in his chest that pierced his body inside out like a huge sword, yet no blood or innards could be seen, it was a tremendously big round sizzling hole. With his heart and many more organs vaporized the lifeless husk of a dragon began to fall down from the sky.

The magical mist eventually cleared, revealing the black scaled drake that all so desperately fear. Fresh cuts were scarring his obsidian body, reddish blood seemed to shimmer on his onyx scales, as dangerous as the dragon is he got wounded. In better circumstances all of the remaining drakes would have their hopes lifted up, their warrior's hearts beating to the music of one true doctrine.

If it bleeds, we can kill it.

Yet they didn't got the chance, the moment the magical fog died down the black creature released a ball beaming with purple energy, it hit one of the dragons directly in the head, vaporizing it in the instant. The headless husk quickly followed its friend, the hiss of burning flesh was all that remained of the once mighty, magical reptile.

The dragons let out more painful blares, among the cacophony of many different roars one particular drake could be heard more than the rest. He was shouting something about a brother…or some other sibling, or maybe perhaps about a different family member whatsoever. It was difficult to tell what he was so angry about since he instantly charged the black creature ahead the moment he opened his maw and never even dreaming about closing his roaring mouth shut.

That is of course until another purple magical ball blew his head off.

Another wave of cries echoed throughout the sky, the remaining drakes through tears and broken hearts threw every magical attack they've got at the black figure. Dark Spyro didn't even budge, it was hard to tell if he wanted to give his opponents false hope to boost their morale and make the fight more interesting or simply not caring about it at all.

The black dragon's mouth parted, a purple shimmer welled up inside his throat, he began to spin around and then the shimmer transformed into a beam of purple energy. As the dragon made circle in the air the Convexity energy stretched to unimaginable limits, like extended arms of a giant. Whatever stood in its path, no matter if organic life or not was vaporized instantly, hence this was the end of the dragons desperate attack and many draconic lives. Those that remained, and there was only a few of them left, scattered in every direction. Vengeance or any other sort of aggressive nudges were pushed away, now only chaos directed their every move.

Chaos.

Chaos.

" That's right!" Sparx exclaimed as his whole body tensed as if hit by lighting at the sudden realization. It was so obvious and he wasted so much time already.

The dragonfly instantly backed away, not even caring that his eyes were turned in the opposite direction. However the moment he eventually spun around, he bumped into something big and scaly. Dragon.

" What is that thing?"

Sparx numbly pushed back and shook his head, wanting to free himself from the sudden shock and blurred vision caused by the unexpected, brunt force collision. When his eyes finally adjusted themselves he got a good look at the dragon. He was definitely in Spyro's age range, his legs were shivering uncontrollably and the huge, filled with terror eyes looked like they were about to explode.

" Where is Spyro?!" the drake shouted. His lips curling comically as he tried to sound angry and confident. With pitiful effect.

Sparx raised his hands defensively " Dude, calm down"

" C-c-calm down?!" the poor illusion of confidence shattered momentarily " That t-thing is s-slaughtering us a-a-and you want me t-t-to calm down?!" the drake swallowed " WHERE IS SPYRO?!" he shouted that last part so hoarsely that it made Sparx think that something is strangling him.

Perhaps something did choke him, fear is known from its tight grip after all.

" Hey!" the dragonfly shouted " Chill out will you?" he pointed at the ruined building " Spyro is in there, polishing the plan how to shoot that thing down"

" We gotta help him!" the drake yelled hectically " Two heads are more than one!" in seconds he dashed towards the entrance to the ruined hall

With a yelp Sparx instantly darted in front of the dragon and pressed his hands to the drake's chest" No, no, no ,no. He said he'll do it alone"

Somewhere above more painful roars could be heard.

" There's no time to waste!" the drake pushed forward, shoving the glowing dragonfly to the side

Sparx growled and again scuttled in front of the young male, repeating the exact same move as before " Listen, Spyro kicked Malefor's ass, he doesn't need someone like us to mess with his plan. Idiots like us will only slow him down"

The dragon growled furiously " Who are you calling an idiot?"

The dragonfly sighed " What I'm trying to say is that he knows what he's doing"

" So what?!" the drake growled, more ferociously this time " We wait and watch how our friends die?!"

Sparx closed his eyes and raised his forefinger up like some wise mentor " Nope" he folded his arms and narrowed his eyes on the drake " We're going to trick that bastard"

The dragon's eyes instantly shimmered with interest, probably realizing that there is nothing to lose now.

" How?"

" You will need to gather all the dragons, EVERY single one of them. When you'll finally regroup you're going to provoke that thing to attack you. B-"

" Are you out of your freaking mind?!" the drake blurt out in disbelief cutting the dragonfly off " Didn't you see what that thing is capable of? It's going to wipe us out" he shook his head fiercely " No way I'm going to do that, that's suicide!"

Sparx raised one of his hands in the air, a popular gesture telling somebody not to interrupt " Let me finish" he cleared his throat " Before you provoke him you gather up every golem that is still walking, you round them up, pretend to fight with them and when that black…thing sees you, you start to run. Without looking back behind your shoulder and as fast as you can"

" Escape?!" the dragon roared indignantly " Never!"

The dragonfly pointed sharply at the black figure in the sky " That monster is an addict, it tasted draconic blood and doesn't want to give up on it. it still hungers for more. Don't you see how much it is enjoying the bloodshed?"

The drake looked at him suspiciously " How do you know so much about this stuff anyway?"

Sparx rolled his eyes " From Spyro. What that has to do with anything anyway? Stick to your part, get the dragons, lure the golems and get away from here. Those rocky things will hold him for a while"

" Wait a moment, didn't you just say that this thing is addicted to draconic blood? Why that murderous son of a bitch will stop to have a chat with the golems while he can just go after us?"

" Don't worry about that, he'll destroy every one of those things, you will be far gone by then"

" This makes absolutely no sense"

" This isn't science!" Sparx blurt out angrily, tired of the drake's stubborn continence " That's what Spyro told me and I trust my brother, you should too. The golems will stop him, you just focus on getting out of here. Just don't return here or everything will be for nothing! Go back to Warfang or something, I don't know, just stay as far away as possible from this place"

" What you will be doing while I'll be playing general?"

" When that dark dragon destroys the last of those rocky guys I'll lure him into the trap. With Spyro so close he won't even think about chasing you"

Another roar came from above, both of them looked up at the same time and winced seeing another draconic figure falling from the sky.

" Can you do it?" Sparx continued glumly

The drake swallowed bitterly " Consider it done"

* * *

" Are you out of your freaking mind?!" Capro protested, his expression adopting a grimace of combined depression and fury

" We don't have any other choice" the young male who earlier spoke with Sparx commented as he looked around the group of drakes that already gathered around him, and scanned the surroundings for those brave ones who volunteered to lure out the handful of golems that were left

The nearby dragons also kept vigil, their snouts a mix of anticipation and sorrow as they occasionally shot quick glances up at the flashing sky above.

" Why? Because a glowing worm said so?" the malachite drake scoffed bitterly

" That glowing worm has a name!" one of the nearby females snapped " And he's Spyro's brother. Show some respect for the ones who risked and are currently gambling their lives to save yours"

" That" the young male chimed in " And those are Spyro's orders, if he thinks that's best then I trust him"

Capro laughed wryly " Seriously? When was the last time you've seen Spyro? Because I didn't see him since we left Boven and his definitely not in that temple, I've been inside not so long ago"

The young dragon rolled his eyes " Your point?"

" Cynder disappeared as well? Doesn't that seem too much of a coincidence for you? That black dragon appeared from nowhere, for all we know it can be Spyro, she finally got her dirty paws on him"

The malachite drake scanned the group of drakes inconspicuously, some of the dragons murmured quietly between themselves. From the looks of it they didn't quite believe his words but the seed of suspicion had been sown. It is enough for now.

" Don't be ridiculous" some other male commented

" We're clearly outmatched here" another dragon added " I don't want to sound selfish but we lost so many already. Personally I don't care right now if Sparx was telling the truth or not, I just want to get out of here and see my kids again"

Voices of approval and utter resignation circled around the group, some liked the idea of retreat, some didn't. However those who were against this were also aware that staying here means certain death.

" What about them?!" Capro yelled with the same painful tone as he sharply pointed at the sky where the black drake had killed another one of the draconic warriors

" We need to make sure that their sacrifice won't go in vain" the young dragon commented with a solemn and full of regret voice. It was obviously a difficult confession for the dragon since almost immediately he gulped, as if trying to swallow the bitter words.

" By running away?!" the malachite dragon roared indignantly " What are you thi-"

" Quit your whining Capro!" some other dragon cut him off, his voice reeked of fury and sadness " Nobody wants to leave them, if we could do something to help them we would! We're powerless, nobody of us wants to admit it but we have no mother choice but to accept it. We came here to protect, save or avenge the people who were lost, we did all we could, if we stay here we will surely die and there will be nobody left to fight another day"

" I hate to say this but we lost this battle, everything is in Spyro's paws right now. All we can do is to make sure that that thing won't follow us, we have to make sure that we won't endanger more lives. As you can see priorities have changed! It's our duty now to prevent more people from dying and if by running we will make that happen so be it! So either you're coming willingly or I'm going to drag you behind us by your horns. The choice is yours" the drake's eyes looked past the powerfully built dragon " Better make up your mind quick, I see the golems already"

A shimmering shade like the light from a car's reflectors in the night ran across Capro's grey eyes. For that tiny moment he forgot about everything, about Lightbane, about his whole unfolding charade. His blood was boiling with that immense sense of…hate? For a second he wanted this dragon to be the next Cynder, with the eyes of his imagination he already could see that fucker's head on a pole. When he would be done with him he would add another stupid mug to the pike, the bitch that stood next to the dragon would do just fine. After those two he would add another head to the pile, the snout of the drake next to the slut would do just fine. After that he would sever another head, then another and another, he would tear off every single one of them. After that…

Capro blinked, the heat pulsing inside his veins was gone, he looked around the group, once again his gaze was inconspicuous of his true intentions and thoughts. He was weighting his accomplishments so far in silent contemplation. Many were lost, yet not as many as he hoped but it'll have to do. Perhaps opening the still not entirely healed wounds will prove more fruitful than creating new ones.

" Fine" Capro replied with a defeated tone " Let's get out of here"

The young male nodded satisfied " Prepare yourselves" he bent on his paws, every other dragon followed his movements as he aimed his gaze on the group of charging golems from ahead, led by several running dragons flying low above the ground

" On my signal"

The dragons that were luring the golems pushed suddenly up almost as if they were jumping, they stayed in the air for some time just to dash sharply towards the ground where the formation of drakes was awaiting them. As they tails straightened in the air, many magical reddish rings could be seen cutting through the sky just above their tail tips. The dragons landed forcefully on the ground, kicking dust in the air as they skidded to a halt while sliding on the ground, low on their paws and turning their bodies so fluently that before everyone could notice they joined the formation and faced the approaching golems. Exactly in the same pose and with the same anxious breathing, just like they would be part of this group of warriors from the very beginning.

A snarl wrinkled the snout of the young dragon " NOW!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, a yell that was soon transformed into a feral roar

All at once the surrounding dragons let out blares of their own, the rumbling cacophony that the draconic throats created shook the foundations of every nearby wall. With that the formation broke into three groups, one jumped to the left, the second one to the right while the last one leapt into the air by jumping forward.

The charging golems skidded to a halt, the constructs began to rumble menacingly, their fiery eyes were traveling from dragon to dragon, not capable of targeting even the single one. The Keepers weren't intelligent creatures, they weren't able to comprehend the tactics the dragons used against them, instead of attacking the constructs just stood there, trying desperately to find a target, but all the moving draconic shapes were simply too disorienting.

" Remember!" the young male let out a somewhat admonishing roar " Keep your distance and stay safe! Don't get into a fight, leave yourself a window for escape!"

He didn't have to tell them twice, the drakes lost so much already that their every move was carefully planned with a huge dose of concentration. The three groups of dragons pushed towards the golems, nobody stepped out from the line and directly attacked the golems, all dragons kept their distance from the constructs, preventing them from releasing the shockwaves that would easily hinder their plan.

The drakes coordinated provocation split the group of Keepers into three smaller formations, the golems unable to coordinate their attacks spread in every direction making the dragons job so much easier. As the draconic warriors maneuvered around the rocky creatures they were constantly roaring, letting out their fake battle cries, making sure that the creature above has all the necessary arguments to spot them.

It took a while but eventually Dark Spyro's attentions was fully drawn towards the skirmish below.

The black dragon dashed towards the group of fighters, slipping underneath another crushed draconic body, reddish droplets like bloody rain covered his black features as he sped below the sliced corpse.

" INCOMING!" one of the females exclaimed when she threw her glance up as she avoided a huge rocky fist coming at her

" NOW!" the young recently appointed general barked out the order that every draconic warrior was waiting for

The growling and roaring drakes began to push away from the constructs, the artificial creatures tried to keep up the fight, not realizing what was in store for them. Perhaps they were fooled by the younger drakes who stayed behind while the bigger dragons retreated as first. The adult dragons left the golems behind in seconds, everything was going so smoothly that some began to wonder why didn't they act as a group sooner.

It was too late for that now.

The younger drakes focused the attention of the golems on them, making sure that no construct would follow the older dragons. It was an easy task to get their attention, their small bodies were perfect for maneuvering around and in between the formation of Keepers. It wasn't long before every single fiery rocky eye was turned at them.

Only then they pushed away from the constructs, while making sure to hit some with a magical bolt from at least two sides. The golems roared and began to bend on their legs while throwing their arms around their bodies, behind their crunched figures the drakes could spot the black dragon, his mouth was opened and a purple beam was forming inside his throat as he kept pushing towards the group, still hanging slightly above the ground as if he didn't want to miss any of this fray.

The struck golems released several shockwaves, the younger drakes were hurled instantly in the direction of the adults, the bigger dragons were prepared for such an outcome. The moment every drake was out of the way of the golems the older draconic fighters released every possible magical attack that didn't target a sole enemy but a certain area of effect. The purpose of such strike wasn't to hurt the golems but to block and obscure vision as best as possible.

Seconds before the magical barrage struck the ground some of the dragons noticed the black creature. The purple beam that was forming inside his opened mouth didn't achieve its full potential, or even half of it. The dark drake was struck by several powerful rings of energy, still not enough to turn his body into a spinning rag doll, but strong enough to jerk his head away, as if he would receive a potent hook to the snout.

The purple beam that was supposedly be coming from his mouth in a form of a laser never appeared. When his head was thrown to the side his mouth closed itself shut, his teeth abruptly cutting the beam like a guillotine. Instead of a stream of purple energy the dragon coughed up a small ball, the remnant of the devastating attack.

The ball flew through the air like a lobbed, enlarged tennis ball just above the net, without any purpose or target. Yet it did struck one unfortunate creature, the Convexity ball collided with one of the golems, its leg to be precise. The otherworldly magic eaten right through the middle of the rocky leg like a swarm of locust, with the leg split in half the golem toppled to its knee while balancing its body on two thrust in the ground fists, the other part of the leg that broke shot somewhere to the side, never to be seen again.

The last thing the dragons saw was the black creature colliding straight into the crippled golem, after that they turned their heads and flew away as fast as they could. Never looking behind their shoulders, even the furious roars of the golems and many rumbling crushing sounds didn't change their minds.


	56. Chapter 18 Book III

Chapter 18

_HOW DARE YOU GET IN MY WAY!_ his own otherworldly rumbling voice roared deliriously inside his head

The one legged golem was totally indifferent to his mental conflict, just like all the other constructs were. The Keepers kept roaring almost indignantly as they forced their way through one another, the noise of stone scratching against stone was almost unbearable. The golems didn't care about such discomforts, their only goal was to get their massive hands on the what seemed dizzied black dragon. In any other situation the golems could already cherish their victory, in their own special kind of way.

But not today.

If the constructs would have any dose of intelligence or any perception talent they would see that the fallen black dragon's eyes weren't betraying any sort of panic or nudge of defeat. Quite the contrary, if the golems possessed any sense of logical thinking they would surely notice that the drake's white eyes were far from showing any kind of defeat. Truthfully it was difficult to discern any emotion from those eyes, yet if one would look hard enough he might eventually notice what the dragon callous soul was speaking.

I may be down, but I'll be coming up a winner.

Many rocky arms were risen in the air, the same amount of them was sent flying down. The black drake melted into the ground, leaving behind himself only a splotch of darkness which the golems relentlessly attacked. Their massive arms were moving up and down several times, their huge fists enlarging the already big hole in the ground with each slam.

The golems acted like they were bent up on shape, so desperately trying to accomplish the sole task they were created for, especially when the last group of enemies fled. In their befuddlement the constructs completely ignored the fact that the blob of shadow was constantly widening below their feet. First reaching the size of a puddle to eventually stretch to the dimensions of a small pool, a pool which caught in its shadow the feet of every striking golem.

Seconds later the extending darkness wasn't just a shadow but transformed into a magical, earthly collapsar. The golems let out their own rumbling roars as their bodies were sucked by the black hole, their arms extended vertically started to shake violently when their bodies were swallowed by the earth. They kept sinking and sinking until eventually they stopped almost in the middle of their chests, then the magical hole sealed itself shut.

All of the golems roared at the same time, fire shooting from their eyes and opened mouths as rocks, remnants of their bodies were hurled into the air when the collapsar closed itself with a sharp sound and flash of purple, like some kind of round guillotine, severing the golems bodies in half.

Dark Spyro appeared just in front of them.

His white eyes traveled past the stuck golems, behind the frozen heads and flailing rocky arms the drake spotted several more golems coming his way, those weren't so stupid to fall in his trap, or simply they were just lucky.

Unimportant.

The golems charged.

Seeing this the dark dragon used his levitate powers, every rock that once formed the bodies of the now stuck golems was lifted in the air just to be hurled at the incoming Keepers. The running constructs bodies were being shook to every side as the stones began to collide with them, not really hurting them but effectively slowing down their sprint.

He jumped onto the head of one of the trapped golems, the trapped construct roared furiously and extended its arms just to send them down with their palms opened, just like it tried to squash a mosquito. Before the hands reached him the drake jumped onto the head of another trapped golems, some tiny bits of rocks scraped his dark scales when they were launched from the golem as he forcefully slapped its head.

The Keeper on which he was standing on currently acted exactly the same, the dragon once more jumped out of the way of the incoming hands by landing on the head of another trapped golem. This time however the construct's own hands weren't the only thing that smashed into its idiotic globe. One of the sprinting constructs reached its destination and was ready to pound the dragon into the ground, not realizing or caring that he is standing on its companion head.

The heavy clenched fists connected with the protruding head, pushing the Keeper slightly deeper into the earth and muffling the trapped golem's roaring. The blow was so powerful that even the ground shook when stones shot from the struck head, creating quite a visible crack in it, the fiery essence was slipping through the tiny hole.

More golems joined the fray, their arms were already risen in the air, prepared to strike the dragon. Yet the dark drake was too fast for them, he was already on another head before the strikes reached him. This time the trapped golem didn't even have the time to unglue its own palms from its head when four more big fists struck. The powerful blows not only cracked the golem's head but also smashed to bits one of the fingers on its hand.

More golems joined the group.

There were so many of them that they completely surrounded their trapped companions and the dragon hopping around each protruding head. Currently the fists were falling down one after the other, he didn't have the time to stop even for a while, the drake constantly kept jumping from one head to the other. Fists and rocks were flying all around him.

Dark Spyro kept going in circles, making rounds on the golems heads, there was no sign of panic, nervousness or any other similar emotion that would wake up in every other living creature if surrounded by enemies who want to literally crush the life out of you. His moves were full of that specific coldness and indifference, not even a hint of joy was wrinkling his snout, even now when he was playing.

Because he was playing, he had the power to extinguish their artificial life with only one puff of his Convexity potential, but a nameless force was directing his moves. Nameless for him at least.

Chaos is known for being moody. Anger or hate, it was the same, just a simple notion to make things interesting. Just like sadism, it is just as essential part of the mix like anything else and the golems will have a taste of one of the pieces of this destructive mixture.

The seemingly unending roars flowing from the Keepers maws deafened practically every other sound, including the noises of rocky fists slamming onto stone and cracking pates. Dark Spyro didn't care, he kept on jumping, faster and faster, occasionally landing on the ground to confuse the golems and avoid the risk of being crushed. Such brakes didn't last long, he was hopping around again in a blink of an eye, making sure that the attacking statues won't miss.

Eventually even the Keeper's natural thick, solid stony armor gave up, especially when being hit repeatedly by the fists that were formed by the same sort of magic. The heads of the stuck golems cracked like eggs, yet no yolk came from the fissure. The magical fire that kept the golem intact gushed through the ruptures like lava from an erupting volcano.

The wizardly fire didn't bother the dark drake in the slightest, in fact it was a cue for him to end this sadistic charade. The moment he jumped onto one of the cracked heads he sank one of his paws into the hole, the boiling temperature didn't even make him flinch. For a tiny second he looked straight at the roaring flames, at his leg protruding from the fire, the lower part of his paw completely obscured by the dancing flames.

Pain.

The drake cocked his head, such a familiar sensation but also a trivial and unimportant one. He could feel his scales cracking under the pressure of this boiling heat. Why feel pain when you can avoid it completely? And if you really want to feel it you can reach for it deliberately, like putting your paw into roaring magical flames for example. However there is no need for that, pain is unimportant, it can be avoided and ended whenever he wants.

Dark Spyro opened his mouth, a stream of Convexity energy shot from his mouth straight into the blazing hole in the golem's head. The construct's muffled roaring ended momentarily, it's risen arms dropped numbly at both sides of its trapped body, the magical fire died instantly, like a flame on a candle when you blow on it. The pain was gone, only that stinging discomfort remained.

I can't believe in you any longer, I am stronger, stronger than you.

The dragon jumped from the now cold and still head, just in time to dodge another set of fists coming his way. This time the blows went straight to the ground, shattering the lifeless cracked statue that was once one of the powerful golems to pieces.

In a display of flying cold, black rocks Dark Spyro landed on another head. From this moment forth everything went quickly, the moment his paws touched the rocky pate a beam of purple energy was instantly sent into the gaping, fiery hole. The stuck Keeper went cold in seconds, when the heavy arms of its companions turned it to shards he was already on another stony head.

Once more the drake began making circles around the protruding statues, every touch of draconic paws with magical rock ended with a purple flash. The gleam announced the shift in magical properties, or roughly theft of it to be precise, and the black rock was the target.

Golem after golem was being robbed of its fiery essence and one by one and every victim of this plunder was turned into pieces by the ones who followed the same orders, were designed to do the same thing, and most importantly weren't your enemies.

Without cruelty there is no festival.

Eventually nothing then rocky shards remained of the once trapped golems, as he jumped from the last head the drake landed directly in the middle of the circle. Keepers surrounded him from every side and in front of their massive feet laid the remains of their companions.

A job well done.

All at once the golems roared, roars that would inspire fear or nervousness even in the most fearsome of warriors. Yet the drake remained completely calm, in fact he answer the golems by lifting himself vertically up in the air and embracing his body with his wings.

And then he forcefully pushed them open. A surge of dark energy discharged from his body.

The roars ended abruptly.

The golems froze in the position they currently adopted. Some were standing completely still, some had their legs risen, preparing to make a stride while other were already after a step or two, yet all of them had their mouths opened. Fire was crackling from the slits on their rocky armor, a fire which light was slowly becoming more dimmer and dimmer until at last it extinguished completely. If somebody would look at the Keepers now for the very first time nobody would ever believe that this creatures walked once and were a threat. Now they looked like ordinary lifeless statues, their eye sockets empty and filled up with cold, empty stone.

Then came another gust of dark energy.

With it came the blatant end of the golems, their ashy remains were scattered like dust on the wind. Dark Spyro landed silently on the ground, his wings opened fully, displaying an intimidating shimmer of darkness before he neatly folded them on his back. He observed the twisting spirals of ash being carried by the wind, when they finally disappeared from his sight he took a good look around. He was surrounded by complete emptiness.

Silence.

What now?

What is my purpose?

The drake just stood there, completely still like one of the statues he just turned to dust. His white eyes were staring ahead, at one invisible point like it was some sort of a keyhole behind which unimaginable secrets were hidden.

Silence.

Something at the back of his mind kept thrashing around, bouncing like a ball held in an empty, closed glass jar. Every now and then touching that single nerve, triggering some flashes of recognition. Yet these glints were so brief, almost unnoticeable that it was hard to concentrate on them.

The drake raked his claws along the grass, parts of his muscles wanted to move...

Go where?

…however many more of them weren't reacting to his confusing thoughts and impulses.

Where's my drive?

The ball kept on bouncing off the walls of his brain. His white eyes constantly focused on that sole invisible keyhole. As he stared ahead flickering shadowy movements invaded his sight, they were hardly noticeable, blurry and smudgy like a mirage. The additional vision was like a background for the real world, wherever his eyes were stuck they could still see the trees, sky, everything that belonged to the real world, yet they were entirely focused on the moving shapes.

The smudges were forming shapes, rough and mostly deformed, yet there was no denying the fact that those smudges were forming draconic shapes.

The ball kept on bouncing.

He couldn't figure out what those images mean, every now and then he saw some silvery, sharp streaks piercing the blurred, colorful shapes. Whenever they cut through them the muzzy pictures dispersed…like…like dust in the wind.

The ball kept on bouncing.

Familiar. Why does it feel familiar?

The shapes began to shift chaotically, each flicker of new images…

Or constantly the same?

…was announced by a sharp stream of gleaming crimson. They blurry shapes kept on flashing, and the longer the drake observed them he was with each passing second more and more uninterested in them. They felt familiar, those silvery streaks felt familiar but they were unimportant. The keyhole showed him everything it could, he needs to find the door it belongs to.

The ball kept on bouncing.

The images kept shifting and shifting across his unmoving white eyes, they were appearing and fading faster with each passing moment. One didn't disappear fully and another took its place, eventually there was hard to see anything besides the streams of many different colors sprayed shambolically like paint from a thrown bucket. However there was something else among that colorful mess, a barely noticeable pulse of a black stain appeared whenever the images dispersed.

The drake thrust his claws into the earth.

Is this my drive?

The ball began to vibrate.

Something about that black dot was interesting, he didn't know what exactly, but it was definitely important. The longer he concentrated on that black spot the more it became clear for him that it's responsible for this emptiness.

_Don't forget about me._

He couldn't gather his thoughts, they were swirling inside his head just as chaotically as the images were flashing before his eyes. Among all this mess was that black spot, it was twisting, twirling, extending in places and shrinking in others as if trying to form a shape, a silhouette that stood out from all the rest.

_No matter what you do._

The most familiar of all of them, given time he will find the meaning behind this, he HAS to.

NEEDS to.

" Bro!" from the side came a wavering, scared and throttled shout

The black dragon's claws withdrew from the earth with one quick jerk.

An ominous glimmer ran across Dark Spyro's white eyes as he turned his head in the direction of the noise. A yellowish, glowing dragonfly was huddled to one of the crumbled walls of the ruins.

" HOW DARE YOU GET IN MY WAY!" a blood freezing, otherworldly and chaotically cruel blare came out from the dragon's throat

Then a purple ball of Convexity energy formed itself inside his maw.

* * *

" SHIT!" Sparx let out a squeaky, girly yelp as he pushed sharply towards the ground

Above him his hiding spot that was once a protruding part of some small wall vaporized completely when the purple laser passed through it.

The dragonfly gasped and clenched one of his hands on his chest as if wanting to clutch his heart in it " Hope nobody heard this"

He swallowed and instantly pressed his back to the debris that was scattered all around the earth, some pieces were bigger, some smaller but all of them were big enough to hide his little form. With one of his hands covering his mouth he began to slowly raise along the surface of his stony hiding place, making sure to keep his wings as close to his body as to avoid betraying his position by the natural sparkling and glow of a dragonfly.

As he moved upwards he also began to lean to his right side, eventually stopping just at the edge of the rough rock, one more delicate jerk and his shinning blue eye will be free to take a peek. With his lips muttering a silent cuss he pushed his eye free from the obstacle.

His blue eye sparkled as it widened in surprise. The drake was nowhere to be seen.

" Shit" Sparx muttered through clenched teeth, his voice barely resembling a whisper, he slid back along the surface the way he came.

The dragonfly pressed his back to the stone and made some quick shallow breaths, his heart was racing and beads of sweat started to cover his forehead. It became way too hot for him.

He swallowed " You can do this, you are fast and that's only your brother with weight issues. Nothing to worry about" he swallowed again, his saliva had a bitter taste " Nothing to worry about, nothing to worry about…"

He tried to move, but at first every part of his body didn't listen, his body only jerked slightly just to return to the same position. As if his limbs were clutching to some pole like in cartoons with all the strength in their non- existing hands. With a shake of his head he imagined those hands being stretched as he pulled to finally unglue his body from the pole, they stretched and stretched. Seconds passed and only the upper side of the palms were holding the pole, then only fingers, then only two and eventually, with one final pop the hands were defeated.

He got to the other edge of his hiding place very roughly and uncoordinated like a ship rocked at sea. His eyes shot wide open, his hands grabbed the sharp edge of the stone with all their might, he didn't care about the stinging pain as long as he can keep his body mostly obscured.

He couldn't.

Sparx squeaked through clenched teeth when his body shot past the hiding place, with the eye of his imagination he saw someone placing his hand on his forehead with a loud slap in disbelief. The dragonfly also cursed his stupidity and cowardice, idiots die in an idiotic way. Sooner or later it had to happen. In this final moments it's better to look straight into your nemesis eyes, have some pride and that's what's his going to do.

But his nemesis wasn't there.

With a pulse of relief and complete terror shooting through his whole body Sparx immediately darted towards the nearby rubble and buried himself within it, like a child hides under the safety of his own bed's sheets.

The dragonfly bit his forefinger nervously " Where the hell is he?" he muttered under his breath

He began to move along the debris, keeping his body well hidden behind the stones and all kind of other mess. As he moved along the walls with his back practically pressed to the rough surfaces like a trained assassin he couldn't shake off the feeling that it's just too good to be true. How could Dark Spyro loose him? There was absolutely no chance he didn't see him covering here.

Maybe he was lucky?

That spot from where he was observing his brother, preparing the perfect plan on how to lure him vaporized completely, leaving nothing but dust, streams of Convexity energy and falling rocks behind. Simple mess.

That's right.

He's safe, the dragon obviously lost him. With the havoc that purple beam created and his body being so small he looked like one of the glowing stones shooting all around the place as they were heated by the devastating energy. So simple.

Then why he's feeling more nervous by the minute?

As Sparx moved along the debris he convinced himself, or tried to, that this is only fright speaking through him. No matter what he thought about, forcefully trying to calm his racing heart he couldn't stop his eyes from darting from side to side. They were seeking something, they were looking for a pair of white eyes, eyes that were currently watching him.

The dragonfly shook his head " Nothing to worry about. You're hidden, you're hidden Sparx" he kept on whispering but no matter what he said it only made things worse, the tone in his voice made him extremely jumpy

" You're scared…normal thing in this situation….calm down and everything will be fine…."

Calm down.

Calm down.

" I can smell your fear"

At the sound of that voice which seemed to be coming from the Dark Realms themselves Sparx screamed at the top of his lungs, a scream that didn't sound like the shout of a larded with testosterone male but more like a bleat of a castrated ram.

Driven by impulse the dragonfly shot from the wall like a hurled rock from a sling, just in time in fact to avoid sets of silvery claws thrusting into the stone, a stone to which his pierced head would be impaled if he didn't move when he did.

When he turned this head towards the direction of the shooting rocks the squeaky bleat coming out from his throat only intensified when he laid his eyes on the dark dragon who was withdrawing his claws from the rock. The black drake momentarily hunkered down by pressing his paws on the edges of the sharp, devastated wall and leapt forward, towards the dragonfly, his maw widely opened, brandishing sets of hungry dagger like teeth.

The squealing cry reached such a high tone that it would put soprano singers to shame. Sparx swiftly dashed to the side, the sound of clamping draconic teeth vibrated inside his skull as he pushed forward, his glowing wings throwing tiny colorful sparks chaotically into the air.

He quickly looked behind his shoulder, expecting the dragon's breath on his nose or at least see him preparing another Convexity breath. Yet the drake did no such thing, when the dragonfly aimed his terrified eyes at him the dragon was already hovering above the ground, his body straightened in a perfect vertical pose.

Sparx whined when he realized what is about to happen, his head momentarily turned to the front and when it did his heart skipped a beat. The overwhelming panic that overcame him when the drake wanted to make a snack out of him pushed his body in the wrong direction. At this side there were no ruins, no debris or anything similar he could use as cover, just an open space at the end of which a forest awaited.

He swiftly jerked his body to the opposite side, once more directing himself towards the ruins. He blinked hoping that what he is seeing is only a delusion of his frightened mind, but no, he wasn't imagining things. The ruins were just far away.

Too far away.

Time seemed to slow down for him, his head impulsively started to turn itself, slowly, each turn accompanied by the audible crack of bones like a knock of a clock's hand moving around the dial. Eventually his head stopped moving, his saucer like eyes focused on the black dragon, black dragon who had his ominous dark wings opened fully, a black dragon who pushed his wings down.

Yet something had changed.

The drake's wings stopped just a moment before they embraced his body fully, a murderous snarl appeared on Dark Spyro's snout. His wings began to shake, waver from one side to the other, opening and closing just like someone would be pushing them open while someone else at the same time fought to close them. The struggle lasted for maybe five seconds, then the wings opened fully once more.

The roar that came out from the dragon's throat was nothing like any other blare Sparx heard before. It was a roar full of hate, joy, pain, desperation and who knows what else, the blare vibrated with two tones, just like two completely different dragons would be roaring at the same time, from the same throat. Sparx' heart almost jumped out from his chest at the sound of it, he wasn't so scared in his whole life.

Then the wings went down sharply, covering the drake's body, ring of dark energy shot from the hovering dragon.

The struggle Dark Spyro was going through bought Sparx enough time to reach one of the crumbled walls of the ruined building. He quickly dashed behind it and pressed his body to the cold surface, as if trying to make his body even smaller than it already is. The wall shook slightly, parts of the now collapsed ring passed at the both sides of his hiding place, Sparx observed the flying energy for a while.

" Too close" he mumbled to himself, his lips were dry and his throat was sore

He pressed his palms to the wall and pushed away from it, he rose above the wall's whole length and aimed his sapphire eyes at the black drake. Dark Spyro didn't seem to remember, or simply care about him, his head was directed at the ground, as if he was praying silently.

The dragonfly scanned the surroundings, a glimmer of hope flared up his heart when he spotted that the entrance to the room where all this crap started wasn't that much far away, thanks to whoever made that big ass hole in the wall.

Well of course in any other circumstances this wouldn't be much of a problem, you would barely notice the distance. However a bloodthirsty, overweight dragon that wants to tear you a new one changes perspective drastically.

Sparx sighed, now or never like they say, hopefully Cynder knows what she is doing. Chances are high after all, she just slurred deliriously before she fainted.

The dragonfly threw his arms up as far as they would go.

" BRO!"

Dark Spyro's white eyes narrowed on the glowing, yellowish shape immediately.

* * *

A purple beam cut through the air, heading towards the sky as if wanting to vaporize the clouds.

" HOW DARE YOU GET IN MY WAY!" the black drake roared into the ground. Dust, rocks and bits of grass shot in every direction as if escaping from his breath.

The black drake fueled another powerful blare, his claws began to slash at the ground fiercely, brownish dark earth was hurled in the air in streams like blood from a gutted pig. The dragon kept on hitting the ground as if it was his mortal enemy and to make sure it won't ever get up again, he will rip it to pieces.

_BRO!_

That single shout quavered inside his mind, he found his purpose and suddenly everything became clear. He knew what to do, why he is here and who truly is getting in his way. The drake raised his white eyes and aimed them at the hovering dragonfly.

He froze for a while.

Something didn't add up, the dragonfly started to flash before his eyes, as if he was like some sort of ghost. When his form was solid the drake knew that this is his obstacle, rubbish that needs to be removed for him to accomplish what he was meant to do.

What is that exactly?

Unimportant. Obstacle is an obstacle.

Dark Spyro roared furiously and threw himself after the dragonfly, his mouth parted, a purple shimmer started to glow from inside his throat. It's time for some cleaning.

The yellow figure blinked, faded like darkness in the morning.

The purple laser once more shot in completely different direction, the drake began to roar almost painfully, deafening the rumbling sounds of crumbling walls as the misguided Convexity energy cut through whatever wall or stone it found on its way. Then he forcefully jerked his body to the side, colliding powerfully with a wall as a result, the impact was so powerful that visible cracks appeared on the rough, stony surface.

The dragon never stopped roaring, even when he pushed away from the wall and hurled himself at the other. He acted like a bull in a rodeo with a nuisance sitting on its back that it wants to throw off at all costs. Yet this one just didn't want to give up.

_BRO!_

Brother, my brother, my dear, dear brother.

Not my enemy, my enemy, not an obstacle, not an obstacle.

My brother.

The dragonfly was no longer indifferent for the drake, only thinking about him, filled him with…with…he couldn't find a name for it. It was powerful, like a magical barrier that shocked him whenever he tried to cross it. Impassable, and he was glad for it.

" HOW DARE YOU GET IN MY WAY!" Dark Spyro let out another blare, the shadows shook chaotically, just like they were alive, out of reach but at the same time as a part of a world that is just past the invisible thin veil to another realm.

He dashed after the blinking image of the dragonfly, it kept slipping from his vision, every such fade caused his wings to slow down their movements. Hesitating, they were hesitating. The drake growled, forcing his way through the power that was trying to hold him back.

I won't hurt my brother.

The dragon roared, tongues of shadow shot from his claws as if they were their dark extensions. He began to swipe with his paws chaotically, the shadowy flames on his left paw touched a wall, their magical heat cut right through the middle of the thick stone, severing the wall in half. The upper part of the rocky structure slammed into the lower piece, rocks and dust was hurled in every direction as the stones connected with each other with a loud rumbling, grinding noise.

The force of the impact shook the upper part of the wall, yanking it forward as if was shoved by an invisible hand. The structure toppled down and exploded into pieces when it hit the ground, rocks and some bigger parts of the wall shot in every direction.

The dragonfly flew into that hole in the wall. He'll catch him soon enough.

A piece of the wall hit the drake's rump, making him waver in the air.

ANOTHER OBSTACLE!

Dark Spyro spread his wings widely and roared at the top of his lungs into the sky. Clouds seemed to scatter in panic while the shadows cast by the sun shrunk considerably, as if preparing to jump. As his wings went down and his roar ended the shadows extended themselves, growing way beyond the size the sun's rays could provide. They covered the ground below the drake and every surrounding part of the ruins, stealing colors and where they could even life.

Then walls of darkness shot from the shadows, raising above the ruins and began to intertwine with each other. Their shadowy surfaces kept on sliding, like some sort of an unending rolling, dark carpet, the constantly moving shadows joined with each other, forming a sphere of what seemed slippery surface. The perfect, dark ball went sharply down and once more turned into the unnaturally long shadows, which seconds later shrunk to their normal size.

Everything lasted for like five seconds.

However when everything returned to normal the dark dragon was nowhere to be seen, the grass was also gone, only barren land remained. The shadows around the place, now in their perfect size wavered slightly, if there would be anyone who could see this he would swear that the shadows acted strange, there were no trees around which would explain their movements. Not only they acted strange but also looked strange, on closer inspection that observatory would swear that the shadows looked like they were…munching.

Another invisible wave of dark, magical energy wafted throughout the ruins.

A dark ball of fast sliding shadows like the body of a boa wrapping itself around its unfortunate victim appeared near the opening the dragonfly flew into. The shadowy vines kept on getting bigger and bigger until they eventually reached the size of a young drake. Then the dark tendrils vanished, and with their last slide they formed the body of Dark Spyro.

The dragon touched the ground and without even listening to the rumbling inside his chaotic mind he quickly stepped into the opening. His eyes momentarily located the dragonfly hovering above the debris in the corner where the stones were covered with quite a big amount of recently dried blood. The dragon heard the dragonfly's shallow breathing, noticed the uncontrollable shaking of his body, smelled his terror.

With a cold glare aimed at the irritating obstacle that backed away slightly with each step he made forward. There is no escaping now.

Then a sudden familiar scent invaded his nostrils. The dragon froze in place.

Blood.

No ordinary blood.

_Don't forget about me._

His gaze traveled towards the blood covered rubble. He took another sniff, a deep one. The dragon wanted to roar when the disgustingly familiar scent burned strongly every nerve inside his nose but just couldn't do it.

Pain.

Not that of flesh, stronger, more vile. The dragon's paw went towards his dark chest, his claws sinking inside his scales as he clutched this part of his body fiercely. The rest of the claws making sharp, screeching noises as they slid across the marble floor, not even the blood dripping from the wounds on his chest could deafen the sound.

Heartbreaking.

" Bro" a gentle wavering voice called him from what seemed to be very far away.

He raised his eyes at the dragonfly, a snarl wrinkled his dark snout but no growl rumbled inside his throat.

That pain!

Overwhelming.

He heard the dragonfly gulping.

" I'm…going to show you something ok?" Sparx muttered

The dragonfly didn't respond, he just watched him quietly, yet there was something strongly piercing within his gaze that made the dragonfly shiver.

Good.

You're my brother, you don't have to be afraid of me Sparx.

Bad!

" Ok" the dragonfly sighed with a slump of his shoulders, this wasn't helping at all.

My brother's name is Sparx.

The dragonfly moved slowly towards the bloody rubble, his blue eyes fixed on the black drake constantly.

No!

Dark Spyro jerked his body as if preparing to pounce, Sparx yelped in horror and clutched his chest as if trying to keep his heart from shooting through his ribcage.

The drake remained in place.

The dragonfly exhaled deeply " Someone tell me why I'm doing this again?" he mumbled under his breath and once more began to move slowly towards the place where he covered Cynder

" I'm not going to do anything rash alright?" to get his point through he raised his arms defensively in the air, his eyes never leaving the dark dragon

Sparx could feel the weight of his white eyes on him and it was quite a burden to bare. His eyes darted towards the covered for a split second just to return to the more dangerous point of interest.

" _So close"_ he muttered inwardly.

" You really need to see this" Sparx said once again, he was surprised to hear the rough tone in his voice, it felt like his throat shriveled completely

KILL IT!

No!

Protect him!

NO!

The dragonfly touched the first small branch, his whole arm tensed when he grabbed the wooden twig with his hand as if bolt of electricity paralyzed his every muscle. He stared at the dragon, judging if his white eyes are allowing him to proceed. He had absolutely no idea what his eyes are betraying, if they are betraying anything in the first place, however the drake didn't throw himself at him yet so it's a good sign.

It has to be a good sign, he doesn't have much options.

Sparx bit his lip and gently raised the branch, revealing a part of feminine black scales and then moved his arm towards his body, clutching the twig so strongly just like his whole life depended on it. Ironically it just may be the truth.

Dark Spyro lost interest in the dragonfly, his whole attention was focused on the revealed spot. His white eyes widened, showing the first sign of any emotion for a very long time.

Black dot.

He wanted to run, but the claws on his paws, even on the bloody one which was now on the ground thrust deeply into the cracks of the marble floor, holding him in place like some sort of anchors.

Wavering courage filled Sparx heart as he noticed the drake's reaction, for the very first time he could sense his brother in that dark husk. He was fighting and the only way to help him win this battle is to show him the one who he most cares about, the one that clueless idiot loves the most.

Love can move mountains as they say so it has to be strong enough to overcome the thirst for vengeance or whatever other creepy thing that sits inside that skull.

He dropped the branch and without wasting any more time began to work on the rest of the illusionary cover.

" It's about Cynder…" Sparx said as he threw away another rock

Cynder.

CYNDER.

"…she's hurt and needs your help bro" the dragonfly put away another piece of this pitiful cover. As he observed the dragon while he was working there was no denying the fact that this was working. Is it for better or for worse? That needs to be seen.

As he removed another rock Sparx' eyes darted towards the lying dragoness " _Please be alive_" he heard his own pleading voice inside his head. As he reached for another rock he watched her closely, watching for any sign of movement, he just couldn't see anything. Was her chest moving? Or maybe because of all this fear his mind imagines that she's nothing more than a corpse now.

If she was breathing he didn't see this, if there wasn't a bloodthirsty dragon standing on the other side of the room he would check. He wanted and needed to check her vital signs, his racing heart and cold sweat running down his whole body demanded it. Yet he didn't do it, the drake is allowing him to uncover her, he had no idea how he would react if he tried anything else.

The black drake observed the slowly uncovered feminine body sprawled on the rocks, he knew it was…

Cynder

…some part of him wanted to be as close to her as possible. To support her.

MY DRIVE!

Another rock dropped on the ground. There was so much blood, they have spilled it, they have spilled it. Dragons, they have to die, all of them.

They ran away.

GIVE CHASE!

This time a branch fell down revealing one of her silver horns, small droplets of clotted blood dotted it.

The dragon's claws still bearing the stains of his blood dug into his chest once more, fitting perfectly into the previously made puncture wounds but going deeper than before.

Pain.

It was both irritating and unwanted, yet also partially desirable. The dragon, the dark part of his didn't know how to deal with it, it wanted to attack, punish the ones who caused all of this. However the dark part also had to acknowledge the presence of another, it could no longer deny or simply keep away the one who naturally inhabits this husk. What really made the dark part angry was that it could no longer fight it with the usual strength, and the power it was putting into the struggle now was receding very quickly.

The light side of the drake had no intentions in pursuing the ones responsible, because the one dragon responsible for all of this things is currently watching her. For this part of the dragon nothing else mattered now but her, whatever occurred in the last hours was of no value.

Spyro.

He understood suddenly, that he is her support, just like she is his, he realized that her suffering has an impact on him, a strong one at that, her well-being in general has an impact on him. He was pulled towards her, one single sentence ringing inside his head, shackling him like a slave. Resounding with the mixed voices of him and her, like they would be speaking at the same time.

_I'm always here for you_.

" Cynder" Spyro muttered with a voice wavering with pain and hardly contained agitation.

He darted towards her momentarily, ignoring the stinging ache running through his gold scales on his chest while also paying no mind to Sparx terrified yell as his brother shot towards the wall like he was flicked by an invisible finger.

Spyro reached her in seconds, he instantly began to shake off every bit of rock and branch of her, revealing her head sprawled on the cold rocks with her left paw stuck below her jaw. She would look cute if not for the grime glued to her head, a combination of dust and blood.

It didn't prevent Spyro from nuzzling her affectionately.

" Cynder" her name came as a whisper, a chant spoken with such a reverence that it would put even the most ardent priests to shame.

With his forehead gently pressed to her head he felt her shallow breaths coming from her nose on his snout. At that time nothing else felt so divine. He could swear that he sensed honey sweetening the painful beats of his heart.

" Bro!" Sparx exclaimed while spreading his arms wide open indignantly " About time you got rid of that creepy stare!"

Spyro didn't answer, he just looked at his brother with the corners of his eyes without even moving his forehead from Cynder's head. No words were needed for the dragonfly, he understood the hint and the shimmering tears of apology welling up in the drake's orbs perfectly.

The dragon closed his eyes, giving himself away freely to the warmth of her body and choking on her shallow breaths.

" Cynder" Spyro whispered her name again, as if he was muttering some kind of prayer

He licked her nose fondly and threw himself into the shackling whirl again as he silently prayed for her well-being with his forehead still tightly pressed to hers.

" Do it again"

Spyro's head jerked back at the sound of the barely hearable, familiar, coarse mutter. His wide eyed stare was aimed at her snout. He noticed her smiling weakly and squinting her right eye, the lively and beautiful shine of her emerald eye was leaking through her barely opened eyelid like a sharp glow from that crystal cave in the dark tunnels of Munitions Forge.

" Oh no" Sparx whined " She's awake" he sighed " There goes some quiet time"

Cynder giggled weakly and began to shift her body with hardly quenched groans.

" Don't move" Spyro said sternly

The dragoness stubbornly continued to shift.

Spyro leaned closer and her nose once more received the blissful touch of his tongue followed by an even gentler kiss to the forehead.

" Ok" Cynder purred

Sparx winced " Bro seriously give it a break, this day sucks already, don't make it even more disgusting"

The dragon nuzzled his friend again " Forgive me" he whispered and withdrew his head, seeing a pair of shimmering green eyes watching him with affection. He turned towards his brother.

" Both of you"

The dragonfly waved his hand dismissively " If I had a nickel for every time you tried to kill me"

" There's nothing to forgive" Cynder commented " This wasn't you"

Spyro lowered his head, however not before he threw her a quick unconvinced glance " Don't-"

" This wasn't you" she repeated more austere this time

He shook his head " You shouldn't have lured me here Sparx"

Sparx pointed an incriminating finger at the lying dragoness " That was her idea!"

Cynder rolled her eyes " It doesn't take much for you to sell me out"

The purple dragon's focus shifted towards his friend, his amethyst eyes glowed with pain and blinking images of a disastrous outcome " What were you thinking?"

" Why the long face? It worked, didn't it?"

" I couldn't control myself, I don't know how I would live with myself if I hurt you"

She reached for him with her left paw, she wouldn't be able to hold it in the air for long, but Spyro caught her leg into his. When that happened Cynder grabbed his paw as tightly as she could, using all of her pitiful strength.

" I knew you wouldn't do it"

" It always took some convincing to help me shake him off, you took a risk. If something like this happens again I don't want you to put your life on the line"

She shook her head slightly " I wasn't risking anything. You are stronger than him and I just knew you would win the struggle"

" How?"

Cynder shrugged with a smile " You only lose when you stop believing"

" Look on the bright side Dude" Sparx chimed in " You whacked all the golems"

Spyro didn't seem to feel even a bit happier about this.

The dragoness squeezed his paw more fiercely " Sparx' right. The way to the portal is clear"

The purple dragon gulped and aimed his gaze on the ground " First we're going to find you some gems" he muttered half-heartedly

" No, there's no time. The worst is over, the sight of you, the normal you, is invigorating, I couldn't ask for a better medicine. Go, I'll be alright"

Spyro's eyes darted towards the rubble at his left side, he acknowledged in horror that there is no way to stall this moment " I can't go in there" he mumbled, if his voice could bleed it would be dead by now

Cynder's eyes shimmered with worry, she knew, from experience, that no matter what she says he would still blame himself for this " Think about all those people you can save"

A worthless advice and he knew it.

He stared at the debris like into an unending, dark pit, knowing that his goal lies behind it, but first he will have to face the horrors which live within its black maw. And unfortunately there is no turning back from this.

He sighed and placed her paw gently on the rocks " Get better" he patted her foreleg lovingly and moved towards the rubble, slowly like a loving child who is moving out of his parent's home to push through life on his own.

Cynder observed her friend with tears of pity filling her eyes, if there was a way she could make this journey easier for him…her eyes shifted towards the dragonfly meaningfully.

Sparx jerked back and cleared his throat as if struck by bolt of enlightenment " Bro wait up!" he dashed to his brother's side " You thought you'll take all the fame for yourself, huh?"

Spyro nodded gratefully.

When the dragon proceeded with his eyes aimed on the floor he felt like the rubble ended and the moment he wanted to pass through it his body was forcefully pushed back as if the last rock was like a point of focus for an invisible force field.

However there was no outer, magical or any other force holding him back but his own fear which contracted his every muscle. His conscience boiled within him, sending warning signals that when he will make that one small step, which felt more like a stride, he won't be the same ever again.

The stench of blood and decomposing flesh was heavy in the air.

He couldn't raise his gaze.

Sparx appeared in front of his eyes, his sudden arrival didn't even make the drake flinch.

" Listen Dude, keep your nose to the ground and follow my glow. I'll lead you where you need to go, just like in the old times yeah?"

Spyro nodded quickly several times.

The natural sparks of a dragonfly bounced at the edge of his vision, the drake's eyes traveled across the floor until they caught a glimpse of the rock that acted like the edge of the invisible barrier. He swallowed and raised his paw, observing it moving slowly beyond the border inch by inch, it then hovered above the floor.

He wanted to place it on the floor, tried to act like this is only just a simple step, one of many he already made and will make in the future but it just wouldn't want to budge. His paw kept trembling in the air, just like the floor was magnetized and his paw was charged with the same electric charge as the cracked marble tiles. The force kept pushing his leg away but Spyro, sweating like a pig pressed it down, just like before it didn't want to move, or moved slightly just to be pushed back up again.

The dragon closed his eyes, took a deep breath, tensed his muscles and pushed his leg down with all his might. When his claws clicked on the floor and his scaly paw made a soft slap a cold shiver ran through his whole body, making his tail tense in the air like a board.

A horrendous stench of blood and rot invaded his nostrils, the smell was so strong, empowered by the images and taste of ripped flesh, it was nauseating. His legs began to wobble, his eyes automatically opened themselves not able to comprehend what was happening. The floor underneath was a blurry, whirling mess, he couldn't get his eyes off of it, but at the same time the longer he stared at it the worse he felt.

He felt sick and It didn't take long for him to reach his limit.

Spyro quickly spun to the side, exactly in the direction of the magical rock and threw up.

Sparx covered his mouth, quenching the gag that ravaged his stomach at the sight of the barf " Oh boy" he mumbled through his fingers " That SERIOUSLY didn't belong in you"

" Spyro?"

" I'm alright!" the purple dragon exclaimed raspingly after hearing Cynder's worried shout " Rest!" he spat on the ground and urged his brother to continue with some febrile waves of his paw before he aimed his gaze on the floor and quickly followed the yellowish sparks.

" I don't know man" Sparx whined from ahead " You sure you're up for this?"

" It was your idea to put me on a leash"

" This is not-"

" I know" Spyro cut his brother off and spat on the ground once more " Sorry. I just want this to be over as fast as possible"

" Don't have to tell me twice"

After this they sped up considerably, yet it didn't mean that they reached their goal faster. Spyro recalled, or more likely sensed, that the portal was some distance in front of them. They would reach it in a matter of seconds if they moved in a straight line.

But they didn't.

Sparx was leading him in a very circular fashion, practically through every part of the room. Trying as best as he could to spare him the sight of the gore.

Yet this tactic wasn't always so helpful.

Sometimes there was no other choice but to move close to the bodies. Whenever that happened Spyro squinted his eyes, yet even then he could see blood and sometimes bits of flesh at the edge of his vision.

To make things worse, he could SMELL it. The stench was overpowering, Spyro as best as he could held back another puke, with success, but each struggle always ended with him coughing and gagging abhorrently. Truthfully it wasn't the stench and the sight of blood that made him sick, but the overwhelming feelings of shame and guilt.

And he had a lot to answer for.

There were only two dragons here that fell by his paw, he remembered every detail of those massacres perfectly, in fact he could still feel their blood on his claws. However they were far back by now, as long as he doesn't turn around their cold eyes can't curse and accuse him.

What have I done?

It wasn't so simple with all the rest of the corpses.

He didn't kill them, the golems made sure that they won't get up ever again. However the things he did with their remains could easily compete with horrendous murder in cold blood.

After the ceiling went down Keepers poured into the room, there was just so many of them so to even the odds, or more precisely make the battle more interesting since the constructs were nothing more than rubble the moment their massive feet touched the floor, he abused the sprawled corpses.

The whole dead village was piled in this room on top of each other like trash. And for him they were just that- trash. The Keepers didn't rely only on their shockwaves, the closer ones, which couldn't catch him decided to crush him by hurling some rocks, both small and big.

This is where his levitate powers got into action.

He used the corpses as literal meat shields against the smaller rocks, now when he remembers the disgusting wet sounds as the stones pierced the flesh his stomach turns around and he can hear the agonizing and hateful wails of the deceased.

The bigger stones received a different kind of treatment.

Whenever he spotted one of those boulders flying he slammed a body into it. Huge bodies of the adult dragons empowered by the levitate power had no troubles breaking through the rock, yet the sounds that bounced off the walls after such each strike were just… indescribable. However every bone and flesh has its limits, after some time practically nothing remained from the bones and muscles but skin like a torn sheet of paper.

The bodies of the adult dragons weren't the only former inhabitants of Boven. As the barrage of stones continued he used every corpse his power could get their invisible hands on, children including. Their frail figures weren't capable of withstanding such an impact. The noise, it was even more horrible than the sight of exploding flesh, gushing blood and flying pieces of bones. There are no words that can truly describe this noise, it was like rotten meat splaying on the street after being thrown from a window.

And he heard in that moment many such disgusting smacks. Whenever he thought about it an image of a cheetah's child appeared before his eyes, half of his head was missing when the body accidently bumped into some flying stone. He especially remembered the bloody, meaty, cracked brain hanging from the hole in the child's head.

I'm going to throw up again.

The smacking sounds, the crushing of bodies went on and on until no more corpses were present at the previously huge pile. There was just no end to his cruelty.

Currently they were scattered all around the room like old toys and just like old toys many of their limbs were missing.

The worst thing was that Spyro remembered every single face and snout, their dead glares flashing before his eyes like a flickering light in a dying candle. Only a glimpse of a claw here or a finger there was enough for him to tell to whom it belonged to. He just couldn't shake off the images from his head.

" Here we are"

Sparx voice pushed the tormenting horrific flashes into the background.

" You've got any idea what to do with this?"

Spyro raised his eyes, for a moment he forgot about everything that happened, his attention was fully drawn by the portal. The Veil was different than the one in Munitions Forge, the first difference that really stood out was the lack of any itch or paralyzing tremors that were constantly ravaging his body when he got close enough to the portal in the Manwersmall's domain.

He could barely feel the thing in fact, instead of an irritating crawling sensation just like a bug would be running down and up your body. What he felt now had nothing to do with that, he would compare this sensation to a soft breeze in the field, obstructed constantly by someone walking back and forth in front of his nose.

Not only the Veil felt different, it also looked different. The portal in Munitions Forge resembled a hovering gas, if you got close enough to it you could see the swirling images of another world, like through a closed window which's glass was constantly flushed by water. This portal was nothing more than a bluish big slit in the air, looking almost like a zipper. Not very intimidating.

Spyro extended his paw towards the Veil " Only one way to find out"

He bit his lip anxiously, back in Munitions Forge he was under pressure, but here this portal was barely opened, probably, nothing from the other side will see him tinkering with it. If he concentrates long enough perhaps he will be able to expand the hole slightly to take a peek and then shut it for good. A perfect plan if not for this one little detail, he had no idea how to do this.

His paw was almost there.

Time to improvise.

The dragon thrust his paw into the slit…

…and it went straight through like there was nothing there.

Spyro's eyes widened as he watched his leg extended past the portal, it didn't disappear or anything, it was whole, normal, not even the bluish delicate light could be seen on his scales.

Sparx swallowed " Dude?"

The dragon moved his leg up and down, back and forth, withdrew and thrust it again several times.

" Dude?"

Spyro dropped his paw on the ground with a half-hearted sigh " Something's wrong"

" You lost your mojo?"

He tried to pierce the Veil again, but this time didn't let his paw go through, he focused with his leg stuck in the middle of the portal, the bluish light slightly illuminating his purple scales.

An itch!

Or perhaps he wanted something to happen that his mind just projected the feeling?

" I don't know" the drake sighed once more

Sparx pressed his palms together in front of his mouth " Ok, let's get some facts straight" he narrowed his eyes on the portal with his arms folded across his chest " We can already say that some holes are bigger than the others, right?"

Spyro shrugged " I guess"

The dragonfly nodded " You had no troubles sensing the smaller ones, like the one in the forest, even without any clue what was happening"

" Yeah"

" The Rat's hole in the ground. That thing which threw all those bugs was small too, and you sensed it too like all the rest"

" it wasn't exactly the same, but yeah I could feel it"

" And now what? We're standing in front of the biggest portal ever, just look at the size of this thing, if it opened it could…well it already spat like hundreds of those statues. And you don't feel a thing! Dick Spyro stole your powers or something?"

Spyro scratched the back of his head " I don't think so, he never did before. This is a portal from which Flare came through, maybe that gem of his is the only thing that can power it"

" Aren't you forgetting about something man? Those things somehow got through and Flare wasn't around"

The dragon winced, silently cursing his stupidity " Right. So either something triggered it accidently and it sucked every creature that was close to it on our side, or there is someone on the other side who knows how to manipulate those things"

Sparx' eyes widened in horror " So if those things can be controlled we got another problem…"

" Iris has the same crystal" Spyro added and narrowed his eyes on the portal " If those things can be controlled there has to be a reason why I can feel them. I could manipulate the smaller one, this one is big, I just might not be strong enough to do it"

" So what now?" the dragonfly whined

" I need practice, until I won't figure out how to close those things we might have more than the remnants of Dark Army on our hands. Warfang's gonna need its army"

Sparx' shoulders slumped down " We're so screwed"

Spyro nodded in silent agreement,

Given enough time maybe he will eventually learn how to affect those things. Given enough time Warfang will mobilize soldiers that would defend the Realms against incoming threats. Given enough time he will perhaps forget about the horrors he has wrought that still bang at the back of his mind no matter how he tries to focus on something else. Given enough time people will forget Cynder and realize that they all are fighting on the same side. Given enough time Brill and any other guy similar to him will put his grudges aside and focus on what's truly important. Given enough time…

Spyro looked at the bluish thin line, its delicate light creating gentle slits on his amethyst orbs " Hey Time, you're no friend of mine"

End of Book III


	57. Chapter 1 Book IV

The Legend of Spyro: Path of Delusions

Book IV: Into the night

Chapter 1

Delicate rustling sounds echoed in the cavern as the sound of scraping heavy letter could be heard, the yellowish glow caught into its light the limp flipping of pages. The golden letters sparkled whenever the yellow illumination reached them as the pages kept turning slowly, falling like leafs from autumn trees which then vanished into the dark embrace of the shadows. With one strong scraping sound the pages filled with the beautiful text appeared in the light in all its glory, glowing like sophisticated veins of gold. The pages began to flip quickly, turning to the point where they were last visible. The flipping ended when that happened, the curves of the writing shimmered invitingly.

* * *

_They were currently holed up in a fortress built from resources plundered during the war. It is an impressive structure with many secrets. Formidable, durable, intimidating and unconquerable by everything that lives beyond the walls of the fortress._

_Yet unprepared to face the evil within._

_His furry fingers danced on the handle of his sheathed scimitar, a tic he developed during his mercenary life, as a blade for hire you have to always be prepared for a fight, even for those you can't win._

_His other hand gripped the upper part of the window's frame in his quarters, his furry forehead was pressed too his extended forearm slightly above his head, his single brown eye was staring into the darkness outside._

_He spent many hours under the open sky and the scary thought never it never occurred to him back until now._

_Was the night always so grisly?_

_Only when you look into your enemy eyes you can understand how deadly your foe is, only then you understand how well you were prepared for battle. He spent the recent days observing his, THEIR enemy, and he learnt a one very important thing._

_This fight they cannot win._

_He was right, his friend was right, only he truly understood what they are up against, what true sacrifice means. During all those years he fought at his side, at first it was only a job for wealth, at least that's what he told himself, his mercenary lifestyle demanded compensation. Later it turned out to be something much more important. _

_He never would have guessed that he would be working for the one he called adversary when they were young, mortal enemies that later became co-workers. They were both different back then, future changed them even more, eventually they became friends, a relationship he didn't want to accept at first but later succumbed to the numerous promptings. Losing one of his eyes during one such suggestion had something to do with this._

_The one who he can with all honesty call friend trusted him despite everything, sacrificed so much to get him on his side, sacrificed even more to ally himself with him. Every such step was shrouded in a mist of mystery, that, he can admit it now, was more important than any shimmering gem in the whole world. Being a longer all his life surely develops strange cravings._

_Maybe this is what brought them together? Whatever it was it doesn't matter right now, it was time to repay for that trust, fulfill the last wish of his dead friend._

_He blinked._

_The darkness drew closer._

_The hope of this world is safe, the scouts were very optimistic while giving their last report upon their return. As a reward they were granted swift and painless deaths. A job well done._

_Many of them won't receive the same mercy, him included. He was running out of time, he can hear the sepulchral gurgles of his dying comrades, their screams bounced off the almost invisible clouds on the blackened sky._

_It once more reminded him just how little time he has, It was eating at him, he could feel it spreading inside. So much to do and so little time._

_The ornate door to his quarters opened._

" _The girl is ready my King"_

" _Excellent" he replied without any dose of emotion " I'll be right there"_

_There was a slight pause and the door closed._

_He straightened up indolently, as a mercenary it was hard to admit defeat, especially for a seasoned mercenary like him. He turned to his side and snatched the heavy object wrapped in a soft blanket like a child in a cradle from the small table and stormed out of the room with determined step._

_If he has to go down he will go down swinging._

_Hopefully he still has enough time._

* * *

When you learn the truth, truth that for the sake of mind should stay buried forever,  
you look at things differently. You see things for what they truly are, always trying to convince yourself that nothing has changed. But then you realize that you never before watched the sun disappearing behind the horizon with your breath held back. But hey! This isn't the reason to be scared, I've learnt myself that fear can be defeated. Do not let fear and despair dictate your life, I remember how my friend used to say:

"_I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night"_.

Anonymous the First

* * *

His whole paw was tense, including the claws that were gripping the quill so tightly like his whole life depended on it. The ink left thick smudges on the paper, almost piercing it through because of the amount of pressure put into the task.

The aspiring writer didn't see, or perhaps, what is more important, ignored this particular detail. A thick smudge appeared on the paper that tried to look like a perfect, vertical, straight line but ended up being a wavering daub. The shaking claws holding the quill were quaking in every direction, like a drunkard who swears that he will walk along this straight curb, but is unable to do so thanks to his tipsy state that he finds himself to be in.

The paw eventually reached the spot where it wanted to go, a tiny trop of saliva splattered on the sheet, just right next to the smudge, the same paw wiped it off instantly. Judging from the way it jerked back when it touched the wet spot, the paw realized that it is making the situation even worse by smearing it around.

The ink covered quill touched the paper fiercely at the top of the pitiful line, it landed on the sheet so powerfully that it dented and almost pierced right through it.

The paw moved, in a horizontal line this time, the noise of creasing paper bounced off the walls. The writer stubbornly continued, the quill sliced through the paper like a sword and tore a hole in it. When it thudded against the wooden table underneath it got stuck in it, it was forced to continue and then it snapped, just like match. Splattering the remains of the dark ink on its tip across the whole paper and onto the red paw.

" I'll never do this again!" there was a sudden flash

Flare roared furiously and swiped with his paw sharply, sending the remains of the quill spinning across the desk on which he was sitting, spitting dark stains of ink everywhere. The dragon then crushed the paper angrily within his paw and hurled it to the side, where many similar paper balls were scattered on the ground.

The dragon looked up, at one of the bookshelves, on one of its wooden stills there was a note attached by a single, small nail.

FLARE was written in a very crude way on the piece of paper. The letters were huge, ugly and the ink stained the corners of every letter. No matter how bad the scripture looked like, there was no denying that they were there, for everybody to read. Especially for him.

The flames that seemed to awaken in his fit of anger in every burning part of his body died down, dimming the light inside the library considerably. The wrath from inside his eyes disappeared, replaced by longing and despair.

He sighed audibly and slammed his forehead into the desk.

" We…need a pause…sometimes…in all our…endeavors…I mean…attempts" Volteer commented calmly as he stepped from behind one of the bookshelves

" I did it once, I do it again!" Flare yelled and momentarily unglued his head from the desk, dragged forcefully another piece of paper in front of him and snatched another feather from the opposite side of the stained desk

The Electric Guardian shook his head, the boy didn't let him get close since his, what seemed like unending failures, started to occur. He pitied the boy, he was making progress from the very beginning, a quick learner, so focused on learning to write and read his name.

Focused, but not desperate, he was making faults and struggled through the whole ordeal but eventually he reached his goal, faster than anyone would believe and wrote his name. He even pronounced it slowly. A huge success no doubt, and the boy's broad smile only confirmed this.

However then came the unpleasant assembly of Warfang's inhabitants, they gathered in front of the City Hall and demanded answers. Both of them participated only for a while but it was enough to learn that the Guardians convinced the people to wait until the strike force returns from Boven. A strike force to which Spyro, Sparx and Cynder belonged to.

After that Flare never behaved the same, the note that was pinned to the bookshelf was no longer a sight of triumph, but more like a mocking sign, something close but still out of grasp. The boy desperately wanted to grab that non-existing object, yet never did so again. It was like he forgot most of the lessons he tried to pass onto him, and the ones he remembered seemed to bounce chaotically inside his head. The mess around the desk speaks volumes, it clearly shows how successful the young drake was.

" Flare my..boy, you-"

" I don't want to hear this!" the red drake cut off the amber dragon and hastily dipped the quill in ink and began to scribble

Another sound of ripping paper resounded within Volteer's sensitive head, especially sensitive for those kinds of sounds.

" You are…trying too…hard"

The drake growled and hurled the recently torn sheet into the mess gathered below his desk. " Leave me alone"

He grabbed another piece of paper.

The Electric Guardian approached the desk and placed his paw firmly on the blank page just when Flare was about to start tearing through it.

The red dragon's eyes flared up angrily as he looked at the amber dragon reproachfully " Leave me alone!"

Volteer's eyes shimmered with sincere care and pity " I…gave you enough…space"

The magical flames that were a crucial part of Flare's build blazed up intensely, like embers in a recently started fire, adorning the surrounding furniture with a quick, sharp flash of yellow.

" This is not your decision to make!"

" We...agreed that I'll...teach you...how to write"

" Yes! But we didn't agree that you become my stalker!"

Volteer gently rubbed down the page he was pinning, when he was done the piece of paper looked almost as new.

" Your...temper is…fiery. Have you ever…wondered why is…that?"

Flare slammed his forehead into the wooden desk and began to pull at his horns as if trying to tear them off " Just no more riddles!" he whined

" It's a…simple…question"

The red dragon's head jerked up, menacing flames danced in his narrowed eyes as he looked at the Guardian " I'm too stupid to know the answer for it, alright?! Go away!"

" I'm here to…help you"

" I don't want your stupid help! I don't want to answer your stupid questions. I don't want to see you! Go away!"

Volteer's friendly expression remained unchanged.

" Tell me…why"

" No more questions!"

" This…isn't a…question"

Flare slammed his clenched paw into the desk, the whole wooden object rattled in silent agony.

" GO AWAY!"

" Tell me…and I'll…go"

His wings burst with literal flames as he roared furiously " I don't want to have anything to do with backstabbers anymore. Diazen, you, Cynder, you are all the same!"

One of the crunched pages on the floor caught on fire as one of the sparks landed directly on it.

Volteer observed the quickly blackening paper cognitively.

" You're...mistaken"

" Yeah? I've heard lies the moment I showed up in this world. You all are full of crap"

The Electric Guardian made a step towards the young drake " Flare..."

The fiery dragon pushed away from the desk " Stay where you are"

Volteer made another step, confidently pressing through the hysterical shield that the boy has woven around himself.

" Don't go-"

The angry growl of the young drake was abruptly ended by the sound of the Guardian's tail gently smacking his hind leg. The strike itself was barely noticeable, the same thing couldn't be said about the electrical arches jumping from the old dragon's tail onto the young, reddish scales.

Flare yelped, the sudden shock forced his body to jump, he twisted his rump fiercely, impulsively trying to avoid the invisible, sharp electrical pike. The unexpected pain, and overall numbness running through all his body quenched the boiling anger and the flames erupting from his fiery parts effectively.

The young drake looked at the Guardian with wide eyes " Why did you do that?"

Volteer smiled friendly " My…own…version of…shock…therapy.

The young male frowned inquiringly, he didn't know what the Guardian meant by that, he might have even asked if not for the familiar scent of something burning invading his nostrils. His head instantly moved in the correct direction, his nose perfectly trained in localizing the sources of fire. The frown vanished from his snout the moment he spotted the now practically black piece of rolled paper still burning.

With a stifled grunt of surprise Flare momentarily jumped towards the blazing page and began to stomp on it quickly. His naturally resistant scales against higher temperatures protected him from feeling any discomfort as he hastily quenched the fire in a display of wafting smoke and ash every time his paw bounced off the wooden floor.

He was glad that he didn't torch the whole library.

" I'm so sorry about this" Flare muttered embarrassed as he stared at his stomping paw " I don't know what came over me"

The friendly smile never disappeared from the amber dragon's snout " No…harm…done. You're a…Fire Dragon…such accidents…are expected…from…hotheads…like you"

Flare started to touch his head spontaneously " It's not that hot"

Volteer cleared his throat merrily.

The red dragon winced and his paw slowly dropped on the ground with a barely audible click of his claws " It's another one of those sayings, idioms or whatever" he mumbled bashfully " I'm such an idiot, this is a waste of time"

Volteer approached the stained desk, reached into the stash of feathers which were stuck in a small cup and picked one. Then he grabbed another blank piece of paper and placed the two at the edge of the desk. Lastly he pulled to the same place a fresh dose of ink.

The dragon nodded towards the freshly prepared equipment of any aspiring writer.

" Sit"

Flare threw a quick reluctant glance at the empty paper " This is a bad idea"

" Writing…isn't easy…and despite…common…sense…you won't…achieve…success if you…focus…on it…too much. Writing…is my hobby…I'm not an…expert but I can…tell you that…words fill…the pages…quicker and much…more…pleasantly when I don't…spend the whole…time thinking…just how…perfect the words…sentences or even…whole…letters should…look like"

" Practice…makes…perfect…true, but…practice is worthless without…pleasure. Fun is…essential, if…writing doesn't…make you…happy and just…thinking about it…turns your…stomach around…then there…is no point…in pursuing it. Even…hard digested…knowledge can…be remembered but…it will never…develop to its…full potential…if it…disgusts you"

Volteer nodded at the pinned piece of paper, with the young dragon's name written on it " How…did it…feel?"

Flare stared at his written name with longing eyes " Awesome"

" Was it…fun?"

" Yeah"

The Electric Guardian patted the desk " Then…come over…here"

The young drake swallowed and directed himself towards the desk, he didn't even feel the muscles in his legs, it was like they were moving on their own.

Volteer smiled, noticing the dragon's shrouded enthusiasm " Sit and…take a…quill"

He did as he was told, for a brief second he caressed the feather with his claws, only know noticing just how great it felt in his paw. So light and soft and completely under his command. He looked from the feather on the blank page, threw a quick glance up, noted his name on it and once more directed his gaze onto the empty paper.

Every portion of bliss faded instantly.

" What's the point?" Flare sighed " I'll only screw up again"

" No" Volteer sounded determined " I…swear to you that…until our…conversation will…end you will…write your…name at least…once"

" How?" the dragon didn't sound convinced

" First of all…you're going…to start from the…top, that way…you'll have more…room for…practice. Then you're…going to…clear your…head"

" How?"

The Electric Guardian nodded at the empty page " Begin"

Flare sighed, he didn't see any point in this, but if Volteer insists then he will do it, he owes him that much. He threw a quick glance up and narrowed his eyes on the letter F, he knew how it sounds to say it out loud.

" F" he mumbled under his breath and pressed his nose to the page " F" he muttered again and aimed his quill at the top left edge of the page " F" he lowered it down, a single, tiny droplet of ink splattered on the paper " F" he pressed the feather to the page

" Stop"

Flare's concentrated gaze widened instantly at the sound of Volteer's voice, he looked up at the dragon. The quill danced just inches above the page as he stared at the amber drake, bewilderment wrinkling his snout.

" Memorize your…whole name. Personalize it…single letters are…unimportant"

" _What the hell" _he heard his voice speaking inside his skull as he shrugged. There isn't much he can do to make the situation worse anyway. His yellow eyes landed on the pinned page, his slits traveled across the curves of every letter, his mouth moving slightly, his voice coming as a whisper as he almost silently mumbled, remembered, how to read each letter.

His eyes landed on the slightly stained page below.

" Flare" he mumbled and prepared the feather with a quick shake of his paw and then pressed it to the previously made dark dot.

" Who…is Diazen?

An almost numbing bolt shot through his whole body that quaked his every muscle. Flare cleared his throat and pressed the quill where it supposed to go once more, trying to ignore the images of his past flashing before his eyes.

" Nobody"

" I'm…like him?"

The feather began to form dark lines on the sheet.

" I don't know"

" You...think...that I'm... untrustworthy?"

Flare swallowed, his eyes never leaving the curves of the dark, thick lines.

" No"

" Is...Cynder...also...bad?"

The quill began to move faster.

" Of course not!" he sighed " Listen, I didn't mean any of this. I do lots of stupid things when I'm angry. Sorry"

" The...place you...come from, is it...really so...terrible?"

Flare clenched the feather tightly " I don't want to talk about this"

" You…need to…face your…inner…demons"

" Inner demons? I don't have any"

" Face…your…past"

The dragon shook his head, his eyes were still following the written lines closely " Cynder said I have a clean slate. I don't have to worry about my past"

" And…yet it still…haunts you"

" Not true"

" Whatever is…bothering you…you should…get it…off your chest.

For a brief moment Flare looked down on his orange scales just to return to observing his practically dancing paw.

" There's nothing on my chest"

Volteer smiled, no matter how many times he reminds himself that the boy is very literal in his understanding of many sayings and idioms he still keeps forgetting about that little detail.

" If…you forgot…about your…past then…tell me why…you are…so angry…especially after…your…friends left"

" Only one friend" the drake dipped the quill fiercely in ink, he removed it so quickly that droplets of the dark substance splattered in every direction.

" Spyro…is a…good boy and so…is Sparx"

" Sparx maybe but not Spyro"

" Wh-"

The quill snapped. The sudden snapping sound was lauder than any other sound Volteer heard before.

Flare's paw clenched, seconds later he looked at the pinned note above and like nothing ever happened reached for another feather and continued his practice.

" Yes, yes I know. Spyro is great, awesome, Spyro is this and that, there is no one better. You wanted to know who Diazen is? I tell you, he's Spyro"

" Please…elaborate"

" Purple dragons are all the same, I've met many of them, some were different than others, good you might say. In the end they all turned out to be manipulators and the reason for every bad thing that's happening around you and to you. Diazen made my life hell and I couldn't do anything to stop him"

His writing sped up.

" Now Spyro is doing the same thing with Cynder. I don't know how yet, but whatever will happen he will be the cause of this. Doesn't matter if he'll cause her harm deliberately or not, purple dragons are bad news and bad things happen to everyone that stick with them sooner or later. I warned her about him, but she didn't listen and went with him, if I knew what was going on I would go with her, I would make sure that nothing bad happens"

His paw began to move even faster, the fiery color of his burning wings intensified for one quick flash.

"And again I couldn't do anything, every time I stood up against purple dragons I ended up being powerless. Now my only friend is at risk and I'm stuck in this stupid library. So for once I will make something right, for once I will do as I please and write my stupid name again!"

Another quill snapped under the angry, uncaring, tight grip of a red draconic paw. A growl rumbled within the young dragon's throat as he reached for another feather. Writing didn't feel so divine any longer.

Volteer stepped in when he heard and seen the drake beginning abusing another page. The Guardian pinned the boy's paw, the feather flattened underneath it. The moment the amber dragon turned his gaze onto the reddish head he was greeted by a pair of literally burning eyes.

" If…you doesn't…matter for you…any longer…you'll have…no problems…facing it. At…least all this…anger will be…good for…something"

Flare's eyes widened, he began to jerk his trapped paw, there was no wrath shimmering inside his eyes this time, only sheer terror.

" I'll never go back there!"

The Guardian released the boy's paw, Flare yanked it back so forcefully that he almost toppled on the ground.

" Then…we must…find another…way for you…to…release…your…anger"

" What's the point? It's just me, a…hothead"

" You're…different than…any other Fire…dragon I've…met. You…share a…common trait…short temper…yours…manifests…differently, it…intrigues me. To…understand it…more observation…and tests…are needed"

Flare's paw automatically wrapped itself on the gem embedded in his chest.

" No experiments!"

Volteer shook his head " Tests...you will...be your...own...pupil and...mentor. Research...into your... physiognomy...will…progress only when…you'll…test…yourself"

" What for? You said yourself that this a natural thing for dragons like me"

" Because...only with a...clear...mind...you'll...succeed and...gain..." Volteer reached for the piece of paper lying on the desk and presented it to the dragon "...control and…satisfaction"

Flare's eyes widened and his mouth went agape when he laid his eyes on the, practically fully filled page with his writing. Those weren't just incomprehensible scribbles, in places he could easily recognize some letters. Starting from the top there was only F visible, but as he progressed down the F became more and more solid and better looking in general while at the same time more and more letters began to form themselves on the sheet.

Sometimes he failed, when he expected the word he co craved to learn develop even better it collapsed entirely. Yet even after those failed attempts that almost killed the hope in started to improve later on. Starting from one letter again, to two just to finally end of five.

FLARE was written on the bottom side of the paper, usually the name was pretty ugly, it was doubtful that anyone would be able to read it without him telling them which letter those shaky lines represent. However when the reader would go lower, he would have no trouble reading what was written there.

FLARE

That one single word filed the end of the page, not once but three, even four if the reader would be understanding and he would count the not fully completed words where the quill evidently broke.

" Holy crap!" the red dragon exclaimed and stanched the paper from the Guardian's paw. His shaking eyes traveled once more across the whole page, and then again and again.

" I did it!" Flare yelled happily once more " I wrote my name!" the page rustled in the air as he presented it to the amber dragon " Volteer look!"

The Guardian smiled " Congratulations"

The paper once more returned before his yellow eyes " I wrote my name!" the dragon roared joyfully and hurled the page into the air. It began to fall towards the ground in a swaying motion, like a leaf from a tree.

Flare grinned proudly " That's it, I'm going to write a book"

The Electric Guardian nodded "A…journey of a…thousand miles…begins with a…single…step"

The red dragon cocked his head " What has walking to do with anything?"

Volteer laughed.

* * *

_A beautiful light blue dragoness laid on the ground, her belly was cut open, blood was running down from the gaping wound like lava from a volcano._

" _MOTHER!" _she screamed at the top of her lungs

Iris' eyes snapped open.

Darkness.

" _It's your fault!" _ a one eyed white draconic maw emerged from the blackness of the cell and roared straight into her snout

Iris opened her eyes.

The rays of the waking sun were reaching through the barred window of her cell, illuminating her prison with an orange glow.

She pushed herself from the blanket and sat straight, pressing her curled tail and folded wings to the cold stone behind her. With her diamond gaze fixed on the slowly brightening floor she tightly clenched the medallion in her paw while catching a tiny portion of the tarnished gold chain in her mouth, twirling it in between her lips like the sweetest of candies.

It's taking too long.

One who has too much free time on his paws starts to think, intensely, about everything. What went wrong, how stupid one can be to trust someone else, why make this decision when you could make a completely different one and so on and so on. When you have too much time and silence you start reliving old memories, it makes you wonder why did you let your eyes close in the first place.

Iris ran her paw across her chest several times and looked at the corner of the room where a dirty bandage was splayed on the floor.

At least something good came out of it, even if it was as much pitiful in comparison to everything she went through. The wound has sealed itself, she was completely healed, on the outside at least, the invisible scars and bleeding cuts on her soul didn't count. She did it all by herself, without anybody's help, she will never ask for help again.

Never again.

The dragoness took a deep breath and her nose instantly curled itself in disgust. She aimed her piercing eyes at the ground near the bars that were now the door to her special room. Two bowls stood on the floor, one was filled with food, slowly rotting away, they brought it here to serve as her supper for her first night in the prison.

She didn't touch it, however that didn't prevent one of the guards from offering her some better meal for a quick thorough _probe_. She thanked the guard for the offer and politely declined it by smearing the food he brought into his stupid snout. It turned out that he was the huffish type since the remains of the food he spat out landed back in the bowl and remained here still, for three days, her stretch was supposed to end in two. People are so sensitive.

The other bowl contained water, the temperature and passing of time didn't serve it as well. However Iris assumed that shreds of the bloody bandage floating in the bowl she ripped from the patch on her chest sped the "going bad" process.

She released the chain from her mouth and aimed her gaze at the barred window above.

" You better be somewhere out there" she mumbled with a note of irritation in her voice

With the eye of her imagination she traveled far beyond this city, to a place surrounded by trees and rocks, she remembered the smell of leafs. The time they agreed upon is about to end, four days, you wait for three, you start searching on the next day, that is the first thing you do, everything begins at midnight. Judging from the still bright rays she has still like seventeen or maybe fifteen hours left.

It's taking too long.

She pressed her head to the stone and her eyes widened for a second. Commotion stirred in the guard room up above, the vibrations traveled across the whole foundations of the building, starting from the floor to end on walls, life taught her to be sensitive for those kind of things. Some were stronger, some weaker, but all of them were in that specific cadence she learnt to recognize so well.

Footsteps.

The door at the end of the hall opened, now the sounds of boots stomping and claws clicking down some stairs echoed loudly throughout the torch floodlit corridor.

" I don't think that's wise Miss" the hectic loud voice of the guard who so charmingly flirted with her bounced off the cold walls of the prison

" Don't worry about me dear, you see this greying fur? You don't get it if you're not cunning enough" a familiar feminine voice echoed throughout the hall, Iris didn't meet many healers since she got here, so she had no trouble pinpointing to whom the voice belonged to.

Quick steps echoed across the hall.

" But Miss!" sounded the terrified voice of the guard " She broke a guy's jaw! That's a serious crime, it isn't safe for a healer of your status to be taking care of her"

" I take care of all my patients, no matter if they are ruffians or priests. Besides you call breaking a jaw a serious crime? Especially among your kind? I personally sew wounds so deep that it would cut a cheetah in half and the dragon who I patched up said it was only a test of strength in a bar fight. He spent a single night in jail"

" She attacked a guard!"

" Attacked you say? I'm not saying that it surprises me"

" That's what I'm talking about ma'am! She just threw herself at him for no reason, she's dangerous I'm telling you!"

The sound of footsteps came to an abrupt end.

The healer narrowed her eyes cagily on her escort " No reason? That's serious"

The draconic guard nodded hectically several times and swiftly slid his body in front of the cheetah.

" Exactly!" he threw a quick, nervous glance behind his shoulder " She's irredeemable. This is why her stay here is prolonged"

" I see" she muttered half-heartedly and then lively clapped her hands together " All the reason to check up on her. Excuse me"

The dragon whined something incoherently as the paw of the cheetah gently pushed him aside.

After five or ten seconds the sound of the steps vibrated off the floor for the last time as they reached their destination. A surprised gasp replaced the noise, which in the empty hall sounded like a breath of a giant.

" What is this?" Amela growled, her fiery brown eyes never leaving the dirty bowls on the ground

The guard gulped " I…-"

She turned towards the dragon " She spent three days here without food and water?!"

" I-"

" She was wounded, what if an infection got through? You know how fast food spoils in this temperature? How bad it is for a weakened immunity system? We take care of our prisoners, do you take us for barbarians and sadists?!"

" She attacked me!" the drake cried out

" This is your excuse?!" Amela stomped her foot on the ground furiously " You are a guardian of law, it's embodiment. This is how you honor your duty? By staining the good name of Warfang's City Guard?"

" She is a prisoner, and forgive me Miss but what we do here is none of your concern"

The feline folded her arms " Is that so? Didn't the Guardians declare me as the head of the hospital and healers in this city? Didn't the Guardians appoint me as the keeper of the wounded and those in need of help?"

" Yes, but-"

" I don't recall them mentioning that some patients are deemed worse than others, I remember them saying that everyone has to be treated equally. This is my job, I know what my duties are. Every patient is under my care, there's nothing more to add"

" Bu-"

Amela raised her hand in the air, her palm was meaningfully opened presenting one of the most popular signals that no more protest will be tolerated.

" There's nothing more to add"

The guard snarled, his eyes traveled to the feathery dragoness in the cell, she wasn't paying them any attention and that angered him even more.

" This is wrong" he growled

The cheetah folded her arms behind her back " This is all. Carry on and leave me to my duties"

The guard narrowed his eyes on the healer " And what are you going to do here? She looks fine to me"

" Excuse me dear, but in this room there is only one person who specializes in medicine"

The male snorted " Fine, I'll be upstairs if you need me…ma'am" he bowed, turned around and made his way through the hall

The wrath that was boiling his blood was heard in every click his claws made.

Amela cleared her throat and turned her attention towards the sole prisoner.

" I see you're making friends quickly"

Iris didn't answer, she didn't pay the cheetah any attention in fact, her diamond eyes were aimed at the wall on the opposite side of her cell.

The cat's eyes went down, finding the bandage dipped in the bowl of water.

" I see you feel better, were there any complications? I'm sorry that I couldn't get here earlier, the boy you messed up had to go through a minor operation to properly set his jaw back without his natural healing process interfering too much. He suffered enough"

The dragonesses eyes remained stuck in the same spot.

" Talkative as ever"

Silence.

Amela started to pick at her earing.

" What do you want Puss?" the dragoness finally asked in that typical cold accent of hers, her gaze still frozen on that opposite wall

" Still with the nicknames" the feline touched her chest " I'm Amela" she bowed slightly

Silence.

Iris said nothing.

The cheetah eventually cleared her throat " What do I want? How about we begin with a fruitful conversation"

Silence.

The feline sighed " I came to check on you, three days is a long time after all" she looked towards the stairs " Or perhaps I came to check on them, had a feeling their teeth were in danger. As it turned out my intuition wasn't that far from the truth"

Silence.

Amela turned her head, so only the profile of her face was visible for anyone on the other side of the bars.

" You're female, I'm pretty sure you know why I came here"

" I don't want your help" Iris finally responded

The healer folded her arms " Who says anything about helping? I'm a healer, I'm only doing my job" she leaned closer towards the bars " I hate bringing bad news, but you are extremely pale"

The dragonesses intelligent and sharp white orbs shifted towards the cheetah.

" It has to be the food" the cat shook her head " Ignorance of some people is heartbreaking, there is no place for carelessness around the wounded. Even a bit of bacteria that previously was harmless can prove fatal, especially if not treated early"

Amela's brown eyes sparkled briefly with a youthful feistiness as she looked at the trapped female.

" Someone should examine you" she reached down her pocket and retrieved a bundle of keys, a tiny silvery key was already held in between her two fingers " Whatever it is, this sickness can't spread"

She unlocked the dragonesses cell and pushed the door open, they creaked annoyingly.

Iris watched the door swing open, battling with her thoughts. Part of her wanted to leave this stinky cell right now, yet there was that part of her that protested and didn't allow her to move.

She won't need anyone's help ever again.

Amela began spinning the bundle on her forefinger, the keys smacked against each other, ringing like tiny bells.

" I wouldn't wait if I were you, judging from your state the illness is taking control over your body very quickly"

Iris' eye looked into the bowl with the spoiling food, maybe in fact something with her regeneration and the overall stench hanging in the prison weakened her immunity system, if ignored it may have drastic consequences in the future.

Whatever.

A very far-fetched explanation but it'll do.

The dragoness pushed herself up and made her way towards the opened door of her cell, her piercing eyes aimed at the smiling face of the cheetah.

" We must hurry, there is no time to waste" Amela said when the dragoness moved to her side and then went after her through the rest of the prison and up the stairs.

" What are you doing?!" the guard sprang up from his desk where he played cards with himself, he smacked the table with his tail toppling it to the side and spraying the card on the floor

" The prisoner is ill. I'm taking her to more healthy environment so she can get better"

" ILL?!" the dragon growled

" It's serious" Amela threw a meaningful glance at the dragonesses

Iris coughed.

The brown eyes of the cheetah returned to the guard.

" See? I need to prevent it from spreading" they moved towards the exit

The draconic guard jumped in front of them.

" Are you taking me for an idiot Miss?!" he roared " She's a criminal, and a perfectly healthy one at that. Her place is here!"

Amela folded her arms " To properly treat her I need sterile conditions" she narrowed her eyes on the guard " Which can't be found in this toxic environment"

" This is outrageous! I'm taking this to my superiors!"

The healer nodded " Of course, don't forget to mention the pitiful conditions she was kept in, starvation included"

The confidence vanished from the guard's snout in a second, instead of it sheer fury and defeat could be recognized.

" Go" he grumbled through clenched teeth and threw Iris a murderous glance

She didn't even look at him.

Just when the door of the Guards Post were about to close both females heard a loud sound coming from the inside, just like somebody would be kicking a wooden object…very fiercely.

Amela took a deep breath and looked at the dragoness " Well would you look at that. It seems you feel better already, it's amazing how powerful healing properties has the sun"

Iris scanned the lively city.

" Why?" she asked when she began to circle through the many eyes of the many passers-by looking her way.

Amela stared ahead, her gaze was distant" Because I know how it is to be full of anger, some quiet time despite everything doesn't help. You start to think, and when you think the wrath is starting to eat you up. Better to use that boiling fury on your enemies, than these people. I care about them too much to let them be consumed by your hate"

" Don't pretend you know me so well"

" Am I wrong?"

" I didn't say that"

" I'm old, I see things that other don't" her brown eyes turned towards the dragoness " I have met my match"

" Whatever. I'll be better on my way"

" Good"

And the peculiar ice dragoness was gone, yet something at the back of Amela's mind told her that the destruction didn't follow her.


	58. Chapter 2 Book IV

Chapter 2

She arrived back at the construction site, or at least that's how she remembered it from her last visit. Currently it was an open district, like many in this crowded city, whatever reconstruction was going on here, it has ended during her imprisonment.

Iris clicked her claws on the marble road several times and decided to investigate the place anyway, ignoring the wide eyes of the people following her. Something told her that the cat wasn't here, he took off when they put her in that stinky cell.

Weaklings.

The dragoness made her way to the front of the recently renovated building. She didn't care what purpose it served, she eyed the structure up and down. Completely ignoring the curious gazes of the many passers-by.

It was so perfect, so important, a sign that everything is turning out for the better, a milestone you might say. One of the many steps that were made to completely restore this city. Important stuff, even more important than her.

Pitiful creatures I will not be mocked.

Iris thrust her claws into the wall, the sharp tips of her natural weapons dug into the stone, finding tiny slits between rocks. A gust of cold air wafted from the holes, momentarily ice filled the small openings. The ice eventually pushed onto the outside of the stone, it was then when Iris swung her paw in an arch, sliding it along the wall like a painter his brush on a canvas who wants to draw a rainbow, starting from the color blue.

She withdrew her paw and then seconds later slashed with her claws, a visible crack, like a cut from a sword appeared on the wall along the whole length of the freezing trail. The stone began to bleed, melted ice dripped from the slit, like azure blood.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

The dragoness pushed her leg from the wall with one last sharp grind of her claws after hearing the loud shout. She turned around calmly while placing the paw slowly on the ground, claws glittered slightly in the light of the day, reflecting the sun's rays from their recently sharpened tips like from a perfectly, clean, edged blade.

Ahead stood one of the ratty midgets, it's widened in horror and indignation black, practically milky eyes enlarged by the stupid golden goggles it was wearing. Its hands ended with sharp, long claws were clutching the brownish helmet on its head as if trying to rip whatever piece of coat they could find underneath it.

"Devastation in broad daylight!" the mole yelled at the top of his lungs while throwing his arms up in the air "What is going on with this world?!" he screamed into the sky as if trying to draw the attention of some unnamed, and most likely non-existing god

The mole scuttled towards the building, many people stopped in their tracks and curiously observed what is this commotion all about.

The rodent basically pressed his long snout into the wall while he began to slide his long claws along the scar. His claws twitched every now and then as if the rock somehow hissed in pain.

"Why would you do such a thing?" he muttered, almost at the brink of tears " Do you know how much time it took to repair this piece of art?"

"I was supposed to meet someone here" Iris responded coldly, not even caring about the rat's hurt feelings

"And you wounded the building because you didn't meet your date?" the mole whined as he began to spin around towards her "Girl, we all get stood up every now and then"

The mole's eyes grew even wider than before when he aimed his goggles on the dragoness.

"You!" the mole yelped and jumped back in horror "First you beat up a guy and now this!? What's wrong with you?!"

"I will not be ignored" Iris replied in her typical cold accent

"You're crazy! Where are the guards?" the mole shouted and shifted his gaze along every curious observer that was watching them.

"Guards!" one of the passers-by called out when the mole's goggles landed on him

"Guards!" someone else chimed in

"Guards!"

"What's going on here?" a dragon roared as he descended from above, the bluish cape of the City Guards fluttered in the air

The mole swallowed and took an impulsive step back, intimidated and in awe of the magnificent beast that landed on the street.

"Sir! Much obliged that you heard our call" the rodent exclaimed and quickly dashed towards the building. His goggles bounced on his long snout frantically.

He pressed one of his long claws to the crack "Look what she has done! She ruined the building, I've seen it with my own eyes!"

The guards frowned as he followed the mole's claw, a visible crack ran across a portion of the wall. Devastated, right here, in a crowded street and during the day.

"_What is going on with this world_" he heard his own voice mumbling with shock inside his head as he turned towards the culprit

His eyes shot wide open in surprise.

"You again?! Didn't you learn anything?"

"AGAIN?" the mole exclaimed in disbelief "To the pillory with her! Some humiliation will server her right if jail can't!"

Iris turned towards the rodent, the murderous glimmer that ran across her diamond eyes kicked the breath out of the mole's lungs.

He took a step back.

The guard admonished the mole with an commanding look, clearly showing who is in charge here.

"Jail time usually does the trick, but if it isn't enough for you to reconsider your actions we might try a different approach" he addressed the dragoness

"Touch me and I'll gut you" she snapped fiercely

A gasp of shock escaped the throats of the many curious inhabitants of the city that surrounded them.

The dragon narrowed his gaze on the female "Threating a guard isn't wise" he made a step forward towards the dragoness "You won't cause any more troubles, you're coming with me"

Iris faced the dragon, an ominous screech filled the street as her silver claws scratched the marble underneath threateningly.

The air suddenly turned really cold.

"One more step and it'll be just a theory of a deadman"

The guard growled, his massive tail started to sway from one side to the other, like some kind of a radar, measuring the invisible waves of aggression between two would-be fighters.

"You don't belong here" he hissed

"I'm not planning to stay in this hole"

"The gate is that way!" the mole exclaimed releasing all the boiling emotions within him in one squeaky shout. Insult the lead voice in this chorus.

He pointed to the south-east.

Iris looked at him.

Letting out a pitiful whine, the mole covered his mouth with both hands.

The dragonesses diamond eyes locked themselves on the guard. They shimmered with an unspoken urge and murderous intent covering in the background.

The dragon read her intentions perfectly. The girl deserved another jail time at least, but seeing that she would be more trouble than she's worth he decided to let her be. Especially when she is practically exiling herself.

"I don't want to see you here again"

Iris leapt into the air, her angelic wings lifted her up.

"Do you hear?" the male shouted after her

She directed herself south-east.

"Don't come back!"

She wasn't going to, there is nothing these creatures can offer her, none of the dragons recognize her for who she is. They have their own leaders, here she is just a dragoness like any other, with some distinct features, but still ONLY a dragoness. They don't recognize her authority, why would they if this is the future, so she won't seek it out.

This time jump bought her time, nothing more.

Whatever.

She doesn't need them, the two of them is enough, as always they will do everything themselves. Gods how she hated those people, if she could she would blow this city to pieces, destroying the sick, friendly atmosphere, the happy chats and laughs. They would taste how life truly feels when she would be finally done with them.

Damn ignorant fools.

This city stinks, the sooner she won't see their stupid faces the better, if just-

Iris groaned when something bumped into her flank and ruined her train of thought.

Her diamond eyes narrowed and a growl rumbled within her throat as she scanned the air for the fool who has definitely too much time on his hands. If this was one of the many witty brats that polluted this place she would make sure that it learns a rough lesson on manners, if it parents can't take care of that.

A shrill cry of a falcon cut through the air, as if riding on the invisible gusts of the wind that made the sound so much stronger.

Iris impulsively turned towards the direction from which the sound came and instantly had to jerk her head back with a gasp when the avian creature passed right in front of her eyes. The scent of its feathers still fresh in her nostrils.

Another cry.

Her draconic eyes have located the creature, it was flying straight at her. It was a powerfully built bird, its brown, sharp and elegant feathers perfectly matched with the intimidating, deep black color of its malar. All of its features would be awe inspiring if not for the sight of its beak parting and another shrill sound coming out of it that seemed to sizzle her sound sensors.

Iris winced, this impulse was enough to lose the bird from her sight, when she eventually found it again the creature was practically in front of her nose, ready to collide with her. It cried out again which forced the dragoness to impulsively jerk her body to the side, she felt the creature passing underneath her.

"What do you want you stupid bird?" the dragoness growled as her hateful gaze followed the avian being when she turned around

The falcon circled her around, opening and closing its avian maw, every time that happened its throat was letting out that annoying, fucking SOUND.

"Shut up already!" the dragoness shouted. Cold, icy mist wafted from her opened mouth

The falcon spread its wings wide, with them held still like that it controlled the wind, bending the force of nature to its will. Using this freshly acquired power it began to turn, directing its body in such an arc so a minute later it was facing the blue dragoness once more.

Iris snarled as she narrowed her gaze on the approaching bird, her claws on her right front leg glimmer menacingly in the sunlight. With four flaps of its powerful wings the brownish avian was on her once more. The ice dragoness roared and slashed with her claws fiercely, the falcon dodged the attack with ease and mockingly passed in between her horns, making sure she feels the slap of its feathers on her scales.

That wasn't the only thing she felt.

The dragoness extended her paw to her head, sensing that there was something on it, exactly in between her horns. She ran her paw across the top of her head, feeling something sticky and pretty moist on her leg. She moved the paw in front of her snout and her eyes widened to the size of saucers when she noticed what precisely got stuck to her paw and is still glued to the top of her head.

Guano.

Iris' usually cold eyes flared up in fury like the eyes of a bloodthirsty demon.

"YOU SHIT ON ME?!" she roared wrathfully at the top of her lungs

Many laughs burst all around her, coming from the young and slightly older airborne city dwellers.

Somewhere among this commotion the falcon cried out a different tune which didn't interest her in the slightest.

Her diamond eyes narrowed themselves, her gaze was moving from one laughing inhabitant to the other. Rage and uncontrollable hate, hate for everything that breaths…gods how she hated all of them. The last worm she hated so much lost his eye, and she wasn't even a really capable fighter back then. Not like today, today she has so much more experience, these laughing cunts will lose much more.

The aura emanating from her started to grow colder and colder with each second, every invisible and loose particle of the sky, every tiny and big gust of wind, everything was sucked into the freezing, transparent cyclone around the dragoness. Iris began to inhale the icy mist deeply, the magical freezing essence filled her nostrils, lungs, and every vein and canal in her body, making her even more cold, both literally and lyrically, than she already seemed from outside.

Another shrill sound cut through the air, yet at this moment the dragoness paid it no attention. She was entirely fixed on murdering those laughing killers and mockers.

Another cry and the bird collided with her again, then again and again and again.

"Get lost!" Iris growled furiously and as her mouth opened a magical mist of ice wafted from her mouth, turning to ice even the invisible gusts of wind with that peculiar and strongly familiar cracking sound.

The avian creature parted its beak once more and once more let out that annoying reedy sound. Portions of the icy mist covered its brown feathers, making the still and fragile, yet even then the bird didn't stop harassing her.

And it was driving her mad.

At first the dragoness pretended that the bird didn't exist, wincing and snarling she forced herself to forget about its existence. However the falcon kept on roughly reminding her of its presence and eventually came the moment when the dragoness directed all her aggression at the bird.

Iris roared rabidly and threw herself after the falcon, the bird no longer was interested in harassing the female, but instead focused on staying ahead of the dragoness as far as it could. The bird dived instantly, its powerful wings were spread wide and flapping quickly, moving like a fan of a very feverish lady.

The bird went down towards the main crowded streets, no matter how powerful the falcon's body was, it was still just a bird, people in Warfang were used to seeing stranger stuff than a bird flying overhead. What really caused the city dwellers to jump back and gasp in shock was an ice dragoness following the falcon's tail like a rabid dog with shit on her head.

Iris prepared an elemental attack, she could feel the cold, boiling, magical energy flowing through her veins. She didn't care that people were in front of her, she will get that damn bird no matter what. She opened her mouth, a ball of ice was almost fully formed within her draconic maw, the stupid bird won't know what's going to hit it.

Suddenly the falcon changed its course.

The dragonesses mouth shut itself automatically when she saw the bird dashing into one of the more narrow streets, the creature obviously knew the layout of the city since there was no chance she would know of the existence of the tight alley between this buildings if the bird wouldn't fly in there.

She passed the entrance to the alley.

Iris put all of her strength to force her body to a halt, she gained so much speed while chasing the bird that it was difficult to dispose of it. Eventually she succeeded but not before shoving a cheetah into a pile of hay and wrecking one of the nearby stalls that had all kind of different dyes on stock.

Ignoring the angry shouts and demands of compensation Iris returned the way she came and aimed her gaze into the tight alley.

The falcon was there, slowly progressing through the narrow passage, it's back was facing her. It was like the bird has lost its way, confused by the darkness within the alley, or perhaps it was simply waiting for her to catch up, as if trying to digest, with great appetite, its successes over her.

Not caring what its motives are, or in what trouble it is, Iris darted after the bird.

The falcon immediately sprang up to life, with a powerful cry it renewed its escape with the same vigor as before.

She never got another opportunity to channel her ice powers again, the bird was maneuvering in such a way that she had to use all of her concentration to stay on its track. It kept using all of the less visible alleyways, or any other more and less tight passages, passages where there were only handfuls of people, passages that required constant turns.

She had no idea how much time she wasted on chasing after the bird, she didn't care really, right now she was blinded by the image of its feathers sticking out of her mouth when she finally will snap her teeth on its brownish body. She didn't even realize when they were once again in the open and a huge gate appeared before her eyes, she didn't care that once more she found herself surrounded by people that jumped out of her way as she cut through the air just slightly above the marble street.

The bird cried out again.

This is all that mattered.

It didn't even bother her that she collided with one of the blind moles walking down the road who was too slow to avoid her. As the impact slowed her down and threw her into an uncontrollable roll with the rat on the ground, making them look like a pair lovers fiercely playing in the sheets, everything she cared about was the flashing image of the bird before her eyes.

Eventually the roll came to an end, the mole was still on the ground, flailing its arms wildly and screaming something that she didn't want to hear. She was up on her legs in seconds, her gaze was fixed on the falcon, the bird was making a wide arc in the air and then it dived swiftly and landed on a cheetah's shoulder.

Iris' eyes widened when she recognized the owner of the bird. She once more recognized the sounds of reality.

It was the scout.

He was leaning against the wall, near the gate, one of his legs was bent and propped against the stony surface while the other was firmly placed on the ground. He was wearing the professional attire of a scout, a hooded brown coat with a dark reddish cape pinned to it with a yin-yang symbol with a falcon feather below it. A bow and a filled quiver colored just like his cape was strapped on his back, a pair of reddish angle bands covered the bottom portion of his legs, similar bands protected his forearms.

His pointy ears were stretched to its limits, almost resembling those of a rabbit. One of his hands was placed on his bent thigh while the other was hanging close to his mouth, frozen in midair, holding an slightly gnawed apple. The bitten off piece was limply hanging from the feline's opened mouth, his blue eyes were wide as saucers and they were staring at her in unhidden shock. That stupid falcon was sitting on his left shoulder.

"Kit?" Iris asked surprised and irritated at the same time "That's your bird?"

Hunter didn't answer, his wide eyes were locked on her.

"Answer me!" she growled

He couldn't, the silence that has surrounded this particular spot of the city spoke volumes, it didn't escape Iris' attention. The dragoness began to look around, all of the nearby people were staring at her just like the feline was, and nobody said a word.

"What the hell are you staring at?" the dragoness hissed

Hunter just couldn't get his eyes off of her, the saying that someone ruffled your feathers takes quite a literal meaning in this situation. Her wings, once beautiful beyond imagination, were mussed up, they no longer resembled angelic wings but looked like a used mop, which was grated over stuff that even the most hardworking cleaner would have troubles digesting.

And this wasn't the end of it.

He didn't know if she didn't realize or maybe simply didn't care but she looked like, once again literally speaking, a clown. It was like she was thrown under the brushes of many blind and dense painters who wanted to just make a signature on her body without any sense.

Boy, she carried many autographs.

Her satin body was covered in colorful streaks and blotches , excluding her natural white lines, Hunter at least counted six other colorful streaks and two extra different blotches. The colorful mess covered practically all of her body, including her wings, feathers of which were already in a poor condition to begin with. It was like she took a bath in a pool of different dyes.

It was hard to decide if the stains on her body were more conspicuous or the birds excrement on the top of her head were. Hunter was certain of one thing however, if there would be ever a draconic bum on this world, this is how one would look like.

Hunter turned his shocked face on his avian companion, not believing that the falcon could go so far with his cockiness. The piece of the apple fell down from his still numb, parted lips as a clear proof of his dumbfoundedness.

The bird cocked its head while observing its feline companion, its golden eye shimmered with great satisfaction.

"I understand that rainbow is popular nowadays, but you sure girl took it to the next level"

Nobody knew who spoke this words, not that anyone cared in fact, people were too busy laughing their asses off.

Iris winced, her diamond eyes flashed and her claws left deep scratches on the marble street. The essence of a powerful, cold, magical energy could be felt in the air, the sensation bristled every tiny strand of Hunter's fur.

The scout wasn't finding anything funny regarding this situation.

The falcon on his shoulder let out a warning, shrill cry.

The cheetah swiftly pushed away from the wall, the gnawed apple dropped on the ground with a barely audible smack while the falcon on his shoulder leapt into the air with another alarming cry. With four quick strides he was already in front of the dragonesses snout, blocking her sight, his arms were spread wide open, just like a father would be preparing to embrace his child.

"If you want to reach them you'll have to go through me" Hunter spoke calmly

The falcon circling above didn't share his peace.

The increasing flow of magical energy and the dragonesses cold, diamond glare spoke volumes. She definitely wouldn't have any objections if his corpse would increase the body count.

"Without me you'll never find what you're looking for" the cheetah spoke again, feeling that he was losing the advantage of his surprise

"Do not manipulate me cat" Iris hissed aggressively

Hunter shook his head "I wouldn't dare My Lady, I'm offering a trade. My knowledge for their lives"

"You're testing my patience feline, and I have barely any left. You already tricked me once, you didn't show up, did you already forgot about our deal? Or perhaps you didn't care about it in the first place and decided to step up only because I'm about to turn your precious friends to pieces/ Nobody is going to toy with me"

The bird above cried again, Hunter knew perfectly that his avian companion had a different opinion on that matter.

The cheetah furrowed his brows, baffled by the female's words "Forgive my insolence, My Lady, but I don't think I did any such thing. You hired me that day and expected me to be ready when you will be released. I am ready as you see"

"I've been looking for you near that construction site where we last met. Where have you been?" she growled "Were you trying to avoid me?"

He threw a quick glance at the gate behind him and then his attention was once more fully directed at the dragoness. The feline dropped his arms to his sides and bowed apologetically.

"A misunderstanding has occurred, to meet your expectations I've packed my belongings and been waiting for you near the only gate out of Warfang, thinking that it would speed up our travel. I've been a tracker my whole life, I know that mere minutes might decide between life and death sometimes"

Iris eyed him carefully, the cat surely knew what respect is and how to behave among his betters. Yes, he may live for now, he will have his uses, yet errors demanded compensation, deliberate or not.

"Hunter stop your sweet taking and take your new friend for a parade or something. A troublemaker and a clown in one, people will pay big money to see her"

Another dose of laugher stirred itself.

The cheetah looked at the sun hanging among the clouds above the ice dragonesses rump.

"Time is short" he spoke quickly, and partially truthfully, effectively hiding the concern for the people around "If we want to get there before dusk we must be on our way" he aimed his opened palm at the massive gate "After you"

An icy puff wafted from Iris' nose, she knew what the cat is trying to do. He wants to rush her so the chaos that would brew after would force her to forget, or at least ignore, the hate and craving for blood. He won't get away that easily.

"No, this disgrace can only be paid in blood. I want your bird"

The falcon above cried out again, differently this time, only Hunter knew that it was laughing mockingly.

The cheetah looked sincerely hurt "You would take my eyes then. For a scout without his companion is as blind as a mole without his hat"

Iris snarled, how she hated to be played and especially to be put against a wall.

She snorted "Fine, but next time Kit you won't be able to protect everyone"

Hunter nodded, he passed over the fact that with the way how she looked the aura of authority she tried to command and the threats she voiced were as meaningful as that of a poor comedian. At least for everybody else, he knew, despite her appearance, that she was serious.

When the dragonesses passed by him the feline threw a meaningful look at the one guy who was prepared to throw another mocking comment. The warning glimmer of his blue eyes made the guy think over his actions, hesitate, even if for a bit. It was enough.

They reached the gate without any incident.

Both of them stopped on the road leading from Warfang, their eyes locked on the horizon.

"We must make haste" Hunter said "The sun won't be our guide for long and we have a long way ahead of us"

The falcon landed on the feline's shoulder.

Iris watched the bird cautiously, it was picking at its feathers arrogantly, her anger still freshly boiling in her veins and it was openly provoking her. If the cat suggests that to speed up their journey it's better if he would ride her then she will tear him to pieces right here, right now.

Hunter rearranged his quiver and pressed forward "Let's go"

The dragoness nodded satisfied and followed the cheetah.

They perhaps walked for maybe like two minutes before roaring filled the sky above. Hunter stopped in his tracks immediately, the falcon on his shoulder cried again. The feline's head jerked up, towards the sky, his ears flattened on his skull and his blue eyes glimmered with worry.

With nothing better to do Iris looked up also, letting out a resigned and bored sigh.

A formation of dragons was approaching the city, she didn't find anything fascinating about it, so her eyes landed on the cheetah once more. The grimace on his face showed clearly that he didn't share her indifference, one of his hands was clutching the yin-yang symbol tightly.

Iris growled quietly.

"_You better don't have seconds thoughts Kit and start moving again. Waste of time is just as deadly as mockery is_" she thought to herself

Hunter didn't hear, obviously, the dragonesses thoughts, but even if he did there was a slim chance that they would cause any reaction. The group of dragons above took all of his attention, especially the absence of his friends among the formation and the small number of drakes that returned in general. The group was much more numerous when it left Warfang.

He didn't like it, not even a bit.

The scout blinked and his focus was once more drawn towards the road ahead. There was no time to waste.

"We run" Hunter announced with determination and darted forward. The bird on his shoulder leapt in the air, adding its own shrill words to the cheetah's

Iris' eyes widened for a second, the cheetah sprang forward with such swiftness that it impressed her. Not to mention that she has never seen a creature running so fast.

She dashed after him.

This journey won't be a waste of time definitely.

* * *

The return of the draconic striking team stirred the whole city, they landed in the main street that lead out of the city. Nobody no longer remembered Iris, Hunter or the havoc the dragonesses wrought, the broad street filled with people immediately. The mob that gathered was practically the size of the one that greeted Spyro when he returned from the battle with Malefor.

People started to shed tears of happiness and despair, some were reunited with their friends and loved ones, some, and they were in the majority, learnt that the ones they care about won't be returning. During Malefor's age people grieved when Death swept its scythe across the land, but as awful as it sounds they were expecting that the blade might touch their bloodline, or the bloodline of the ones close to them. It was a time of war after all.

However Malefor's age was over, The Dark Master was gone and with him went the war, peace and happiness should be the main actors in this play which is called life. People were unhappy, to say the least, to find out that their dream of serene prosperity is nothing more than a fool's dream. The word of the dragons return spread like fire through a forest, the angry people demanded answers, they were in no position to be swayed by the Guardians sweet words no longer.

After minutes the whole city heard the news, starting from the temple to the tiniest dark alley. News that some more _creative_ ones leavened with pictures of their own desperate and scared imaginations. People were flowing through the streets like water in a flood.

A sole, unfortunate Ice Guardian walking down the streets was forced to stand against the reaper.

"CALM DOWN?!" a draconic female roared hysterically, tears were flowing down from her eyes in streams "I've lost my mate there and you ask me to CALM DOWN?!"

Cyril licked his lips, he understood the pain of these people, yet his pride and natural arrogance didn't allow him to feel despair. He's a dignified ice dragon, being like him face the truth and twists of fate with cold heart and calculation. For him it as simple, you grab sorrow by its flimsy throat and let you anger fuel the muscles in your paw, you don't let it control you.

If only people were like him, of his majestic bloodline, they would understand the hardships of life. They would understand that you have to be prepared for anything, perhaps this could be avoided if these people were strong enough to face the hard truth.

Peace is just two fingers now, peace is just a phase. So take those fingers, tape them up and shove them up your ass and carry on.

Oh how we like to ride but never walk.

But he couldn't tell them that, they were just too simple to understand.

"If you would all just cease all this shouting!" Cyril roared and the people went silent. His status as a Guardian has its perks. He took a calm, deep breath "I want only to hear the fighters who were in Boven. Step up and shed some light on this situation"

"Our friends are dead and you want to debate?!" Brill shouted from the crowd "You were always one cold son of a bitch Cyril you know that?"

The Ice Guardian's cold eyes flared up, for a brief second he just dreamed of succumbing to his feral side and while he did so reap the fucking mole to shreds.

"I wasn't aware that you actually did something else besides waggling your fatalistic tongue since you got here" the ice dragon snapped

Brill climbed on top of the nearby stairs "Why do you waste these people time Cyril?" he straightened up and spread his arms wide while eyeing the gathered inhabitants "We all know what is responsible for this! Why waste time on words while we can act?! We must prepare ourselves, we are facing a foe nobody of us ever dreamed of!"

The mole's words stirred the crowd, which angered the ice Guardian even further.

"Perhaps before you start spreading your nonsense you let our noble fighters tell their story? Remember Brill that Warfang chose us, Guardians, as rulers of our community. We follow a certain law here, if you keep disobeying we have means to help you understand what you did wrong. Now be quiet and let the ones who spilled blood for us speak, they deserve that right more than the two of us combined"

Murmurs of appreciation spread through the mob. Brill remained silent.

"We fought against nobody of us expected to meet" a dragon stepped out from the crowd, he was young, practically the same age Spyro was

"Huge walking statues, impervious to our every attack, with only a single weak spot. We lost many of our friends during the skirmishes until we eventually learned how to fight those things. Spyro and Cynder showed us how to fight those things, it was like…" his voice trailed off as he looked at the mob

Cyril spotted like some of the dragons, undoubtedly his companions in battle were nodding their heads, urging the drake to continue.

The young male swallowed and rubbed his right leg tentatively "…they've met those things earlier" his eyes turned at the Guardian during the many gasps that shook the crowd

"How is this possible Sir?"

The Ice Guardian tried to ignore the shocked people as best as he could, to not let them drag him into this mess. However no matter how he tried his eyes always found the mole, he just had to retaliate seeing Brill's cocky, tiny smile.

"Simple, they have already faced this foe before"

"SIMPLE?!" someone roared from the crowd "That simple slaughtered our people you had no right to-"

"WE" Cyril cut off the hysterical speaker, whoever he or she was "decided that it was best to keep this secret for the time being, until we learn more"

"If you would told us what we were up against, none of this would have happened!"

The Guardian chuckled "Really?"

"Don't you have any sympathy for these people?!" Brill protested "Do you know what they have gone through? How can you mock them in such an impudent way?"

The mole's words stirred crowd, the irritated voices that echoed from the commotion were clearly in the mole's favor.

"Secrets or not this would have happened anyway!" Cyril roared, tired of keeping pretenses of a humble Guardian

"This was kept away from you because you weren't ready, and you still aren't, to face the truth. The war with Malefor weakened instead of hardening you, basically all of you wanted to rest on their laurels, thinking that everything is over. Now, when it is obvious that something is happening you aren't strong enough to stand against the tide! Because I won't believe that Spyro wouldn't warn you of the danger! I think you ignored him, and now you come here crying that everyone is to blame but not you! This is the price for your stupidity"

"How dare you!" Brill exclaimed at the top of his lungs "Power corrupted your cold heart Cyril! You were always arrogant but now you crossed the line! To blame people, YOUR people, this is simply disgusting!"

The sorrow stricken inhabitants of Warfang were clearly supporting the mole.

Cyril no longer cared.

"Don't twist my words mole" he spat the last word out in abhorrence "If there were only more dragons like me, we would be unstoppable"

"You egocentric bastard!" the mob spoke again

"This is the truth! There is only a handful of dragons, true dragons left! Tell me, have you ever seen Spyro whining like you do now? He has suffered loss like we all did, and he pushed forward, he didn't gather people around himself to cause disorder and blame the ones who for all these years protected this Realm as best as they could. What he did? He bottled up the grief, let out all of his fury on the one who truly deserved it! He kept on going, never resting, always prepared for the inevitable, because like it or not, every champion will be challenged. The winners have to work as hard as the pretenders or they will become failures"

Puff of ice wafted from his nostrils as he eyed the crowd with fierce gaze "You are really so desperate to find your culprit? Look in the mirror. You…we became meek and if we won't change, it will be our downfall"

The loud crowd was stirred again, yet this time Cyril heard voices of determination pushing through the buzzing sounds of defeat and weakness. Maybe not everything is lost.

"How can we fight against something that is nothing more than a mystery? From where did the golems came from?"

The Ice Guardian sighed, he hated explanations, how he wished Volteer was here.

Cyril chuckled under his breath, this must be the end of the world if he wishes for the waggling fool to show up.

The dragon cleared his throat "Strange portals started appearing throughout the Realm after Spyro mended the world. We can only speculate what truly caused their appearance, what we know for certain, and this is what's truly important, is that they connect our world, or more likely our time with the past"

Some curious murmurs started to echo from the mob.

"Alright, portals, great" a cheetah chimed in, the indifference and disbelief in his tone was palpable "I live on this world for quite some time now, and I know such horrible stuff doesn't happen just like that, someone is always pulling the strings. We must ask who is responsible for this"

The words didn't even get the chance to properly sink in before Brill shouted.

"But we know who is responsible. Malefor's only protégé!"

It was enough to shake the pot of wrath, these people lost much, they craved for vengeance. Doesn't matter if justified or not.

Cyril growled "Cynder has nothing to do with this"

"Are you so certain of this Guardian?" a powerfully built malachite dragon spoke up "Because we have a witness that can testify against her innocence"

The ice dragon narrowed his gaze on the earth drake "Oh, I'm sure you do" he mumbled under his breath

Capro looked at the crowd, his grey eyes spotted the one they looked for. A young ice dragoness stepped up, her lips were tightened fiercely, forming a delicate thin line across her snout. At first her gaze was aimed at the ground, she was shifting her paw back and forth like a shy child, however after she received a gentle tap from the malachite dragon's powerful tail her head went up.

As her lips parted, it was obvious that she was missing quite a few teeth.

"She killed one of our fighters" the dragoness spat and averted her gaze from the Guardian.

Angry shouts could be heard from the crowd.

"I've seen it with my own two eyes"

Cyril snorted "You want to tell me that Cynder attacked one of our own, just like that, and killed him?"

The girl's neck went even lower, her nose almost touched the marble below her paws.

"Who cares how it happened?" Capro chimed in, his voice was filled with disgusting, fake concern and fury "She's the one responsible for the death of our friend, and not just. How many countless others she slaughtered? She hasn't paid for any of those deaths!"

"First of all, I care how it happened. Cynder for all her troubling past set some goals for herself, if you don't want to see them it's your problem. One of those goals is redemption, if you are just too stubborn to see how she tries to make things right…" he shrugged "it's your problem again"

The crowd began to protest.

The ice dragon stomped his paw ferociously "I demand that you show me some respect and don't throw bullish right in my nose while you look straight in my eyes! If she killed someone, perhaps she did I don't deny it, it all happened as a circumstance of self-defense. Maybe next time you'll think twice before attempting to murder your betters"

"You call a mass murderer our better?!" Capro roared shocked

People followed in his wake.

"No, not a mass murderer. I call young Cynder our better. Even I, the egocentric bastard, admit it"

"But she is responsible for all of this dear Cyril" Brill finally joined the conversation after silently observing the unfolding scene of disorder

"Perhaps not the Cynder as the dragoness we all know her, yet I still believe that people can't change completely" he shook his head " But I digress. What I want to tell you, venerable citizens of Warfang, is that we don't have to fear Cynder as a dragon, we have to fear Cynder as an embodiment of pure evil"

Murmurs and shouts of agreement bounced from one inhabitant to the other.

Cyril rolled his eyes "What nonsense is this?"

"There was something else hiding in Boven besides the creatures of stone" the mole pointed his claw at the Ice Guardian "I'm speaking of a creature black as night, with a pair of eyes white and cold as the freezing touch of Death"

Cyril cackled derisively "What vivid imagination! Whatever you smoke during reading I suggest you put it away"

"This is the truth Sir" the young male who spoke earlier addressed the ice dragon with a serious tone

The smile vanished from the Guardian's snout.

"We don't know what that creature was" the young drake continued "It was powerful, way too powerful for any of us to handle. It killed without any remorse, the images of my friends being turned to ash and ripped apart will haunt my dreams. Whatever that creature was, it was surely not of this world, nothing and no one from the Realms could breed such horror"

"If it was so powerful then how did you manage to escape?" Cyril inquired

"We followed Sparx' idea, since the thing had a taste for draconic blood it went after the nearest dragon, with us gone the creature could only focus on Spyro, who was preparing to ambush it…begs the question…how did Spyro knew how to fight that thing?"

"How could you not tell us of such a deadly enemy?" Capro asked devastated

The Guardian shook his head "I have absolutely no idea of what you are talking about"

"You do Cyril" Brill spoke, drawing the attention of the surprised ice dragon, the mole turned to the gathered people "We all do. Whatever evil you saw in Boven, it is in all of us"

The crowd gasped and protested.

"Yes! That evil has taken your friends and loved ones from you! If you won't be vigilant it will take you too! Slowly, you won't even feel it until it's too late, this is what we need to be prepared against" he tightly grasped the golden eye sewn into his white robes "I've became acquainted with the taint, felt in on my body and in my blood. I've met our foe!"

"Truly?" the Guardian commented wryly "From what I know Spyro, Sparx and Cynder are currently fighting a creature of darkness so where have you met this evil? It sneaked into the temple? Not much of a priest you are if your holy prayers can't hold it back"

Brill rubbed his hands together as if he was holding something in them, his gaze was distant "You wouldn't understand" he murmured and seconds later focused returned to his eyes "That three again, doesn't it seem convenient that they are fighting against every danger?"

"Spyro is a hero, it's his job to protect us!" someone from the crowd shouted

Cyril rolled his eyes, job of a hero my ass. This is why these people suffer, they got used to the feeling that somebody else is putting his life at risk so they wouldn't have to bother. Meekness, this is what is destroying them.

The mole nodded "A hero no doubt, not all can save the world after all, however this is all in the past now. He challenged The Dark Master himself, the Taint's puppet, and defeated him! But it had an escape plan and returned to the toy it has already prepared for itself years ago- young Cynder. I wouldn't be surprised if the dark creature would be an embodiment of the taint, that's how we all would look like if we let evil show its true face. Like the dragoness did in Boven or even perhaps Spyro"

People once more started protesting.

"Think about it!" Brill exclaimed excitedly, his voice rose above the many shouts "Our hero is spending practically every minute of his time with his female friend. We all know Spyro's past, tales were told of his backstory, we all know that Cynder is the first dragoness he met in his life. He was a young boy then, everything was new to him, no wonder he became curious of his new acquaintance. One glance was enough, one look of those shining emerald eyes was needed to charm his mind and heart. Natural instinctive reaction of every young boy, infatuation and wooing is in our nature.

The crowd chuckled and scorned at the same time.

"However, what if...how young people call it...crush is more than a simple attractiveness? What if this doesn't have anything to do fascination at all? I believe something else entirely pushes the two together, or more likely one is dragging the other. We all've seen how Spyro is confused, taint works in a very sophisticated way, Cynder wrapped him around her claw. He is her instrument even if he might now know it. Just like that black creature you spoke off is, or these portals, those are the horrors she created!"

"Don't forget that you also have arrived through one of these horrors" Cyril commented coldly "Are you Cynder's instrument also?

Brill straightened up proudly, there was no doubt that the dragon's words had offended him.

Good.

"I'm an exception, every evil has a challenger and I'm the champion of good"

"This is exactly what Cynder's instrument would say"

The crowd stirred once more, among them were those who silently supported the Guardian. There were also those who cursed him for everything he has said. Religious people were in majority, and they just couldn't listen someone insinuating against their head priest.

"I'm the instrument of the Ancestors" the mole responded reverently "Evil cannot triumph, I believe that is why I came back from the past, to teach you how treacherous and deadly the taint can be. Back then I was just like you, unable to see the truth, for which of course I don't blame you, I was also tricked"

"Today I'm more experienced, I've seen through the veil! And I tell you people that if we won't act, we will be gone. Apathy means death!"

The crowd cried out loudly, mostly supporting the mole.

Cyril growled, he was furious at the stupid mole. But he was more angry at the idiotic people. Meekness, the inability to come to own conclusions, the lack of sense for calculation and the constant reliance on somebody's else to guide their hand.

If they won't listen so be it, let them drown in their own bile, we will see who was right in the end.

"How do you propose to solve this problem?" the Guardian asked, if he can't convince them to open their eyes then at least he can rush this stupidity so it will be over quicker

Brill cleared his throat with determination "First we must have the support of the Ancestors! Without their divine assistance we stand no chance against the powers of the Dark Realms! We will show them that we can protect ourselves against the taint, not let it corruptive force take our minds! We can only do that by defending our sacred temple from evil!"

The mole's eyes narrowed, a shine of madness flickered in his eyes "Then we eradicate the taint for all eternity by spilling the blood of those that are beyond saving, those the taint already possesses!"

The mob cried out again, whatever voices of protest could be heard were silenced by the wrathful crowd. People suffered great loss, vengeance is the only thing that can add sense to their lives. The mole knew that, and used that, and there was no turning back.

Brill looked at Cyril, his eyes shone fiercely "Do you support your people Guardian?" he said challengingly

"_My people_" Cyril scoffed inwardly _"You sheep aren't worth this title. Earn it or be gone"_

"Fine" the dragon announced

The bloodthirsty and devastated crowd cried out again.

Capro not able to withstand the stench of those idiots rested on the roof on the nearby building with a broad grin on his malachite snout. The pieces of the chessboard started moving.

The game has begun.


	59. Chapter 3 Book IV

Chapter 3

He worked restlessly for the next many hours.

It wasn't like this at the beginning, at first this whole scenery, the pounding details in his head, the screams filling his skull…it was a horror. He was used to death, he was used to the feeling of stealing somebody else's life, it wasn't a joyful sensation, it was an unnecessary one, yet paradoxically unavoidable. However if a silver lining can be find in killing then it's self-defense, every victim of his draconic might was his enemy.

Until now.

Flashing details, taste of blood and flesh. Screams.

This is when Torment does publicity, smiling happily.

Unending flashes, stronger with each minute, the pounding in his head, like the sound of thudding hoofs of a powerfully built galloping horse. It just didn't want to stop.

It's a merry go round and around and around. A merry go round and around and around. Merry go round and around and around.

It's a merry go round.

Funny thing, he can't really clearly recall anything else besides the suffering of his conscience, whatever he was doing in the meantime was a blur, a practically faded dream from last night. He wanted to be alone from what he remembered, how he achieved that was a different story, he either lurched around or huddled somewhere in a corner, or one led to the other.

He had a very difficult time digesting everything that happened, his stubbornness forced him to challenge the consequences of his actions all by himself, and it wasn't a simple struggle. It involved a lot of mumbling, muffled screaming and crying.

It's not like they wanted to leave him, they were offering their help, even she was in her poor condition, but he shunned them both away. The memory of attacking his own brother and seeing his best friend bleeding all over the place only made him more depressed. He didn't want to see them, he didn't want to look in their eyes, guilt and shame just didn't allow it.

In that moment when he pushed everyone away, in that moment of complete terror and devastation surprisingly he remembered his parents. When was the last time he visited them? Do they know that he is still alive? The sole thought about disappointing his parents only intensified the feeling of complete depression.

He didn't feel like a total failure because he didn't visit them like every loving son should do, this only led to something much worse. They BELIEVED in him and today he ruined all that faith, he failed them. He can't show up there, not after today, they would not recognize him, besides he wouldn't even have the courage to show his stupid snout out there.

They kept telling him that they are proud of him, that someday he will do great things, meet a nice girl and have a family of his own. Why? Because, as they said, their son had something no one else did, something that when someone sees it for what it truly is, he or she won't be able to resist it's specific lure.

They always said "You have…

* * *

…_a heart of gold son" _

"_And an overweight" Sparx added after his father_

_The young purple dragonfly walked happily towards his family, an alchemical vial dangled on a tiny string from his neck. He held the wagon, the dragonflies were unable to keep it steady and hold back the big barrels on it. The wagon was swaying wildly in every direction, the wood was breaking, it was seconds before collapsing and sending the barrels rolling down the hill towards where the party was about to begin. Who knows what havoc would they cause, one thing was for certain, they obviously threatened the well-being of the party itself as well as its participants._

_So this is why he jumped towards the wagon, right in the spot where it was breaking, despite his parents shouting. It was an impulse, he just had to do it, he wasn't thinking about himself, the well-being of the people mattered the most. So he pressed his body to the creaking wagon, the boards were giving away but his scaly dragonfly body prevented them from breaking completely. The dragonflies above kept fighting with the barrels, more and more of them kept on appearing, almost like the whole Swamp gathered in a single place. Eventually the sheer numbers overpowered the wagons and the barrels. The day was saved._

_Then the screaming started._

_When he looked at his parents his smile only grew wider. His father, being a rather serious blue dragonfly who doesn't give to emotions lightly was beaming with pride, the two gold bracelets on his folded arms on his chest seemed to reflect every dose of joy from his golden eyes._

_It was totally different regarding his mother, her hands were pressed together in front of her mouth, as if she was kissing her fingers delicately. The aquamarine dress she was wearing only added more charm to her already beautiful image. What he really loved about her was the inability to conceal her feelings, whenever she was happy the glow she emitted from her pink figure and aquamarine wings was almost blinding._

"_Your boy is going to be a hero one day!" the merchant of the miraculously saved cart exclaimed from behind_

_A tremendously loud sound of an applause soared into the sky. People who gathered around started to clap in their hands fiercely, they began shouting, whistling and chanting Spyro's name._

_The young draconic dragonfly shivered at the sound of people shouting his name, his head went down towards the ground in embarrassment, a fierce blush filled his scaly cheeks. He quickly skidded towards his parents, who laughed when their son ran behind them as if trying to hide behind their backs and disappear._

_Flash who was currently the adoptive proud father turned towards his son and patted his purple head._

"_This is not the reason to be shy or ashamed Spyro. As your father I know that you are meant to do great things. Take pride from what you did, more situations like this will come, people will adore you in the future"_

_Nina who was currently the adoptive proud mother placed a wavering hand on her husband's blue shoulder "Don't put too much pressure on his shoulders husband. Spyro my boy just be yourself. It's all any of us can do"_

_Their son nodded several times, yet his nose was still pressed to the ground._

"_Dude please!" Sparx whined " Don't embarrass me! This isn't what I taught you!"_

"_Sparx" Flash admonished his son_

_The yellow dragonfly rolled his eyes "Yeah, yeah, he's the shy type. Fame, instead of taking it he sniffs dirt. I'm so proud of you bro" he shook his head_

"_Isn't he cute?" a different female voice joined the conversation, belonging to an old, green dragonfly, old friend of the family "He doesn't like to be in the center of attention, does he Nina?" she said warmly_

_The aquamarine dragonfly giggled "To put it mildly"_

_The older female smiled and lowered down, so she was just below the dragon's forehead "What do you have there sweetie?"_

_Spyro shifted his paws nervously "A vial"_

"_A vial?" she repeated surprised "What kind of vial?"_

_The dragon swallowed "Alchemical vial"_

"_Really? May I see it?"_

_Sparx covered his eyes behind his hand "We're not related, we're not related, we're-"_

"_Sparx" Flash admonished his son again_

_Spyro gulped again and reached towards his neck, he slid his claw underneath the brownish string and yanked it forward. The vial jerked forward, the bluish liquid within swirled mysteriously._

_The dragonfly gasped, emphasizing her polite shock "Impressive, do you know what it is?"_

_His purple eyes landed on the swirling liquid inside "That man said that it is whatever I desire" he said uncertainly_

_Sparx clapped his hands mockingly "Yeah bro! Imagine a pony and you'll get one!" his eyes widened " Or no! Imagine an UNICORN! In a moment the flask will grow legs, hoofs and a colorful tail! In seconds you'll get your own magical horse with rainbows shooting out of it's a-"_

"_SPARX!" both of his parents exclaimed_

"_This is it young boy" Flash said fiercely making his glowing son gulp "We're going home"_

"_Relax Flash" the old female said comfortingly "Rivalry and jealously is a natural thing among siblings"_

_Sparx snorted and turned around offended "Jealously" he quietly and mockingly mimicked the female's words _

_The senior dragonfly turned towards the purple dragon "So what do you want it to be honey?"_

_Spyro played with the vial for a while "I don't know"_

"_Do you want to be a hero son?" Flash spoken while clenching tightly Nina's hand_

_He shrugged._

"_Today you saved some people's property, maybe even some lives. How does it feel?"_

"_Nice I guess"_

"_Why did you do it?"_

_Spyro shrugged again "I don't know…it just happened"_

_Nina pushed away from her husband and cupped her son's snout in her hands "This is you Spyro, you're a born defender. You help because you know that's the right thing to do. Do you know why is that?"_

_He shook his head._

_His mother reached towards his chest, she pressed her hand on his golden chest. Spyro's eyes impulsively followed her every move._

"_Under there hides the reason. Your gold heart"_

_His eyes widened "Gold heart?" he mumbled excitedly "Like…like made from true gold? Shiny and valuable?"_

_Nina laughed "Not literal gold, no" her expression turned serious in a second "But undoubtedly valuable" she caressed his chest "This is your gift" she listened to its every beat blissfully as her palm bounced to the rhythm it created "Can you hear it?"_

_Spyro lowered his head, almost pressing his chin to his gold scales and listened with furrowed brows._

_Nothing._

"_Not really"_

_His mother laughed and planted a kiss on her son's forehead "If you ever hear that somebody likes to listen to the sound of your heart you will know that you are being deeply loved by that someone" she smiled longingly " I already envy the girl who hears it"_

_Spyro's eyes impulsively traveled towards the old female, she was eyeing him closely, her broad smile made him feel awkward to say the least._

"_Mom please…"he mumbled timidly and averted his gaze. Blush heated his cheeks once more "Stop it"_

"_By the Ancestors Nina, don't put all that romantic nonsense in his head. Leave some room for a father to make his son a bit of a man" Flash commented_

_The pink dragonfly giggled._

_The blue dragonfly folded his arms once more, seriousness replaced the earlier happy, proud, face "Remember Spyro that all gifts come with a price"_

_The dragon cocked his head, bewildered "Price? I have to pay for them?" he snorted, a puff of youthful arrogance wafted from his nostrils "Gifts suck"_

"_Yes bro, you have to pay for them with real gems! It's not like a gift can be received for free, it would ruin its whole definition" Sparx mumbled to himself with a roll of his eyes_

_Flash observed his angrily muttering son "Gifts aren't a bad thing, if you know how to use them, and you surely do. You could use those people, take advantage of their gratitude to fulfill your wishes and desires, but you won't do that. You just help them because you think that's the right thing to do. This is your gift, to help selflessly"_

"_The price for this?" the dragonfly spread his arms and began to turn as if he wanted to embrace the whole world "This, people will worship you as a hero"_

_Spyro took a step back, a grimace of sheer terror filled his snout "I don't want this! I don't want people chanting my name!"_

_Flash smiled caringly "Unfortunately nothing can be done about it. You need to well up the courage in you and face your fears" his expression suddenly shifted back to its natural, unreadable grimace "To make things worse, this isn't the only price you'll have to struggle with"_

"_I doubt there can be something worse than this!"_

_Nina placed her hand on her husband's shoulder once more "Maybe this is not the right time for this"_

_The blue dragonfly looked into the female's eyes and squeezed her hand gently "Better if we tell him this before he finds out on his own"_

_She kissed his hand and nodded silently._

_He returned the affection in the same way and turned towards his son " Spyro listen to me very carefully. You are a very special dra…" his voice suddenly trailed off_

_Spyro furrowed his brows at seeing his father's strange hesitation. _

"_Dragonfly"_

_His voice seemed to awaken the dragonfly from his moment of shock, he shivered and smiled reassuringly. There was something in that smile that Spyro didn't like very much._

"_Yes, a dragonfly" he cleared his throat "You won't stay with us forever, one day you'll want to explore the world. A world where there are many more people than here in the Swamp. A world where these people will need your help, remember to help them if you can but also remember that you can't be there for everyone"_

_The draconic purple dragonfly swallowed, there was something odd in his father's voice, he sounded like one of the hermits that sometimes pass through their village with words of prophecies and imagined futures. It was fun to listen to them because none of what they said was true, no matter how scary they wanted it to be._

_This was different, a child like him might not understand many things but the instinct of an intelligent, young mind is a fact. This instinct told him that his father is wrapping something horrible in those somewhat soothing words. Something he will have to stand against, something that was unavoidable._

_He didn't like this in the slightest. _

_He felt his heart being gripped by the cold hand of fear._

"_They might not like that you didn't put your attention towards them, they might curse you for helping someone else instead of them. This is unfortunately the fate for every hero"_

_He couldn't take this no longer, he didn't like what he was hearing, not a bit._

"_I don't want to be a hero!" Spyro cried out, making his father flinch "I don't want to explore the world!" tears of despair filled his eyes "Why I can't stay here with you?"_

'_it's okay darling" Nina kissed his son's nose and wrapped her hands around his snout protectively "Nobody is throwing you out, you can stay with us for as long as you want"_

"_Mom" he sobbed "I feel strange, like…like I'm out of place here. What father said…I'm scared Mom"_

"_Shh" she caressed his nose lovingly "Everything is ok" she pressed her forehead to his scales, her gaze went down. She blinked, the dancing flask on his chest seemed very important all of a sudden_

"_You know how we can deal with fear?" with that question hanging in the air she yanked the flask upwards "With this"_

_Spyro observed the vial with shimmering eyes._

"_It can be anything you want, correct?"_

_He nodded slowly._

"_Make it your weapon against fear" she snapped her fingers "Better yet, make it a weapon against your every doubt and moment of despair. Your heart might be golden, but even the most virtuous people have to face challenges. No matter what yours might be, you have the means to fight it"_

_She pushed the string several times with determination. Spyro's eyes instantly narrowed on the vial and the liquid inside. By some strange means it felt suddenly magical._

"_When you feel that you can no longer take it, drink up, to the last drop, no matter how bitter taste it will have. You keep on drinking until it's empty, if one didn't help find another, empty ten if need be, but make sure that after you're done you can press on without anything holding you back"_

_The purple dragonfly swallowed and took the vial in his paw, observing the elixir closely._

"_But what is it exactly?"_

_Nina smiled "You heard the merchant"_

_Flash placed his bluish hand on his son's shoulder._

"_Whatever you desire"_

* * *

Spyro gasped loudly as he pushed from the water and shot straight up in the air. Glimmering droplets of the river shot in every direction as his wings pushed down fiercely. Streams of water were flowing down from his body, reflecting the rays of the sun magnificently from his moist muscles and scales.

Water was bulging inside his maw, his sharp draconic teeth shimmered as the droplets of the river escaped his mouth with the invigorating gasp he was making. The dragon made a long spin in the air, his back went first, time slowed down for him as he was making his way along the wide arch.

His head eventually directed itself towards the river below, droplets of water were falling down his vertically stretched body, like droplets from a recently used shower head.

Time sped up after that.

He dropped into the river like some sort of a bomb, there was a rumbling splash when his body touched the delicately swirling azure surface. Waves of water shot in every direction like debris from an explosion.

The world turned blue for him.

Like the liquid in the alchemical vial.

He needed that magical elixir, needed it badly so why drink it vial by vial when you can just dip your whole body in it.

The world was different underwater, bluish and calm, peaceful even if not counting his diving draconic body rippling the serenity.

This is the second time he went for a swim, his body isn't just able to accumulate that much magical liquid to keep guilt at bay constantly. One run wasn't enough to bury the bodies, yet after this one, the death he caused will be in the past.

Not for him.

This water is what I desire. I want it to be my black scar.

I want it to scar my golden heart.

The thing that happened in this ruins will not be forgotten, it will be a warning signal that even altruism has its darker part. From this day forth I will relive this past few days constantly, every injury or notion to end someone's life will make me flinch.

I'm a killer.

This scar will burn forever and ever.

I will not forget.

This is me.

I'm the shinning and valuable golden heart.

And I'm the black scar.

I am darkness.

He pushed from the river, water was dripping from the corners of his filled to the brink maw.

He swallowed a mouthful of it.

* * *

"You should grow another pair of paws, I won't be here always to babysit you" Sparx asked as he was wrapping another self-made bandage around the still horribly looking and bleeding right black paw

Cynder observed him work, the patch that protected her wounded leg was nothing more than a set of leafs pulled pitifully together by the more elastic branches of bushes. It was uncomfortable to wear, but it did its job, and when the time came to change it you just pulled it off like a sock. It stung, but you just can't keep on wrapping more and more leafs on top of each other.

She looked back at her folded tail along her rump, a pair of stones were embraced close to her black scales "I'm seriously trying to incubate those rocks but they just don't want to hatch" she sighed longingly "I've always dreamt to be a six-legged spider dragon"

"You don't need six legs to be a spider. You're already ugly as one"

She giggled bashfully "You always knew how to complement a girl. No wonder they just can't have enough of you" her eyes widened "Hey I think I hear one already heading your way!"

She started to listen intently.

Sparx glowered at her.

"Nope!" she exclaimed innocently "That's just a fly"

He pushed the branches tighter, forcing a painful hiss from the dragoness.

He winced "Shit, my bad, I always forget how strong my hands are"

The dragonfly looked at her arrogantly and stretched the tiny branch he was holding to its limits.

The corners of her mouth twitched into a weak smile and with one powerful jerk of her neck she snapped the branch with her dagger like teeth. Way more aggressively than it was needed.

Sparx pushed away with a startled gasp.

The dragoness smirked.

He folded his arms on his chest "That was uncalled for"

She waggled her eyebrows "I have a different opinion on the matter"

The dragonfly snorted and began to look around, as if searching for something in the sky "Days flow quickly"

Cynder knew Sparx long enough to tell what he is trying to say through his very indirect way of speaking. He usually doesn't share what's on his mind, no different was right now, but she had no doubt that they were both thinking about the same thing.

Screw it, they waited long enough.

She pushed herself up and began limping towards the recently wrecked wall of the ruins, where the portal and the bodies were. And Spyro among them.

"Hey! What are you doing?" he shouted and began to circle around her bobbing head "He told us to stay away!"

"Spyro says a lot of things"

"Alright fine! But I'm not going in there first!"

"That's a shocker"

Moments before she eventually limped her way to the hole in the wall Cynder took a deep sniff of the air and was content with what her nostrils told her.

No heavy scent of death and blood hung in the air.

With three more uneven steps she pressed herself to the remains of the wall and peeked inside as if expecting to be shredded by arrows the moment she puts her nose in the open. The glowing head of the dragonfly quickly appeared above hers.

The room where all this started was neatly cleaned, as far as a ruined room can be cleaned that is. There were no corpses sprawled on the ground, not even blood or any other bone could be seen stuck to the marble floor or the columns. Everything was scrubbed to near perfection.

The two curious peepers looked at each other in confusion. When their gazes met they said only one thing, and they said it in unison.

This was unnerving.

Cynder frowned and looked into the room again. What idiocy is this? Would it be better if the room would be still filled with bodies and dripping with blood? Would it be better if Spyro didn't do a thing and just sat there among the corpses? Would it be better if he wouldn't go inside in the first place and stood at the edge of the, with only one step before entering the room, as if silently asking for help?

He didn't do any of those things.

Then why she has the feeling that something horrible has happened?

An unexplained cold shiver of terror quaked her whole body.

"Look"

Cynder blinked at the sound of Sparx' voice coming from above her horns, she threw a quick glance up and noticed his finger pointing somewhere. She followed its invisible trail, her mouth went slightly agape when she spotted Spyro in the distance, sitting in front of the magically created slit in the world.

Both of them looked at each other again.

With one last look at his purple friend Cynder entered the ruined structure, with Sparx closely following her feminine back.

"Spyro?"

He momentarily turned his head around, even from here she saw his amethyst eyes shimmering with concern as he looked at her roughly bandaged leg. In seconds he jumped on all fours and was making his way towards her.

"Cynder you should be resting"

"I'm going to be fine" she responded while watching being slightly glad and surprised just how quick he reached her 'How about you?"

He observed her bandaged leg closely "I'll manage" he pushed his head up, his eyes danced between her and Sparx "Listen guys I'm sorry that I've threw you out and shouted at you and…all that. I had to deal with this on my own"

"Hey Dude no problem, if you really want to pretend that you're the head of our crazy bunch I'll let it slide" the dragonfly narrowed his eyes in fake threat "Just this once"

The dragon smiled and looked at his black friend pleadingly.

Cynder shrugged "Every now and then you deserve some shouting time. I can't have all the honors all of the time"

"Thanks"

"So bro what you were doing?"

A confounded silence befallen on the room.

"Umm…"Sparx scratched the back of his head awkwardly "…besides the obvious I mean?"

"I wanted to clear my head, so I decided to tinker with that thing" he nodded at the thin slit "No luck so far"

"You're planning to keep on fighting?"

The dragon shook his head "No point in that. As I said, I need to see Volteer, he's the only one who can at least tell me how can I improve my time manipulation skills. If that's even possible in the first place"

Sparx clapped his hands "it's settled then. Next stop-Warfang"

Cynder cringed at the sound of that name "Speaking of which" she looked at her wounded paw sadly "I don't think that me showing up there is a good idea"

"Oh no" the dragonfly whined "What did you screw up again?"

She sat on the floor and sighed defeated "I've tried to stay away from those guys I really did. Our own guys kept throwing themselves at me, wanted to take advantage of the battle I guess"

Spyro's eyes flared up furiously "Who?"

"It's unimportant. What really matters is that four of them managed to surround me, I had nowhere to run"

Cynder shivered at the sound of her friend's claws scratching the ruined floor.

"…it got ugly really fast. I really tried not to fight them but something cracked in me and…and I threw myself at one of the them. To make this story short he received a blow that was intended for me and dropped dead"

"If you wouldn't have done anything you would be dead" Spyro commented icily

"I doubt anything of that matters to them"

"It matters to ME!" he roared, some loose stones fell down from the broken ceiling

Cynder's head went down even more.

"We're going back there, this is your home. I don't care if they don't like you as their neighbor"

"I know we had this conversation countless times Spyro already, but you can't put your neck on the line. It's different now, if you keep protecting me all the time you might snap again"

"So what?"

Cynder's head reared back in horror.

"if It'll help me to protect you all go dark even now. If they won't learn then I guess I'll end up killing all of them"

"You don't mean that" she muttered devastated

"I do!"

She bit her shaking lip and turned her head away.

Spyro darted in front of her snout, a painful sting struck his heart when he noticed tears in the corners of her tightly shut eyes.

"I know it sounds horrible Cynder" he said caringly "But this is me, that dark part is still me. it always shows when people I care about get hurt. A protective, black guardian angel"

He eyes snapped open, they were eyeing him reproachfully. The shimmer of her tears gave them an ominous glow.

"You can't be serious"

"Just think, it always shows on one condition and that power never hurt anyone who didn't deserve this"

"Power? Did you forgot already how you got it you fool?"

Sparx cleared his throat.

"I remember Sparx, but maybe it's different with siblings? That thing likes aggression, maybe brotherly rivalry confuses it"

"Do I understand what you're trying to say?" Cynder growled "Are you trying to find excuses for that murdering freak?"

"That murdering freak is me Cynder"

"No!"

"I had some time to think, I can feel it. it's a part of me"

"NO!" she roared and struck Spyro across the snout, the brothers didn't even notice when she got up.

Sparx gasped while the dragon touched his pulsing lip, completely shocked.

She felt the wounds on her right paw she used for the swing opening again.

"This isn't power, this is a curse. I've been corrupted by that thing so I know what I'm talking about. This isn't you evil side or some other shit! This is a parasite!"

"it was different with you" he muttered as he ran his tongue along his swollen lip

"How was it different? Just because my eyes weren't white doesn't mean I wasn't invaded by that thing!"

"If you were invaded then why do you feel guilty?"

Cynder stifled down a scream, her whole body shook, at first she hit him out of impulse but now she wanted to beat his ass up. Wrath and pain filled her in equal measure, she wanted to throw herself at him, claws first. Looking for reason for this mess…why? How can he do such a thing? How can he question her?

Sparx threw himself in between both dragons "Alright Dude listen, some things are better left unspoken. Seriously"

Spyro looked surprised "What? I just want to know why Cynder thinks that there is no chance that Dark Spyro is me, Because right now, everything seems to point that we are one and the same"

"You are not the same" she hissed, her voice was wavering

"How can you be so certain?"

She growled ferociously and shoved the dragonfly away as she moved towards the purple drake.

"Because if you two were the same I wouldn't have fallen in l-" her mouth snapped shut suddenly with a loud click of her closing teeth

Spyro stared at her confused, seconds ago she was yelling at him furiously and now it all ended in the middle of the sentence. Just like that. He waited for her to continue, not knowing how to proceed from here, but Cynder only turned her head and leapt into the air, leaving a splotch of blood where her wounded paw was risen above the ground.

He stared at the small crimson pool, like into some magical wishing well,the feeling of his stomach turning around and lungs squeezing told him that he didn't wound her leg only.

"Nice tact bro" Sparx commented admonishingly

He barely heard his brother's words, the dragon's amethyst eyes remained locked on the blood. The only sound he heard clearly was that of his weeping soul.

"How could you say such things in front of Cynder? You know what she's been through, you know how this whole corruption stuff riles her up. People blame her for that, she blames herself for that. Everything that happened while she was corrupted was evil, its simple as that"

Spyro swallowed, the saliva tasted bitter and hurt his throat, it was like he swallowed a small spiked ball.

"But it was different with her" he muttered, his voice as silent as the voice of a lunatic

Sparx threw his arms in the air "So what? Who gives a crap about logic? Not in this situation, you might be right, you might be wrong, it doesn't matter. For her its black and white, everything that's dark is evil, you don't support evil, you don't look for logic concerning evil. Especially you don't call Dark Spyro a guardian angel. Are you freaking insane?!"

"But I didn't mean-"

"Who cares what you meant!" he cut his brother off "Corruption disgusts her, she doesn't want anything to do with it. People can say everything they want, it'll hurt but she'll survive, but not you bro, it can't be you. You were openly looking for an explanation, when you should be devastated by this stuff"

Spyro winced, the scar on his heart burned fiercer than before, releasing all the bottled up sorrow and fury underneath the crack.

"Do you think I wasn't!?" he roared, his voice wavered as if he was at the brink of tears "You know what I've been doing here in the beginning!? I was CRYING! Crying like a little baby!"

"Maybe not long enough"

"You were the one who told me to start making hard choices! YOU! So I chose! I had the opportunity to keep crying and drown in regret, or remember about the regret and face the truth. I chose the latter!"

"What truth? How can you know that this is the truth? Sorry bro but I don't remember anyone saying that besides you" Sparx shook his head "You and your idiotic chase for sense"

"Then why I am such a good killer? Why didn't I have nightmares after my first kill, huh? Simple coincidence or perhaps I'm not as good as everyone seem to think"

"Would you kill your own family back then?"

The dragon snarled irritated "I told you that this power is wild"

"Power you got during zombie night! Bro seriously when you start thinking too much about stuff you mess things up and believe in them way too stubbornly"

Spyro snorted "I feel I'm right about this. It's hard to accept, but I believe I'm right"

Sparx folded his arms arrogantly 'I hate to ruin your day man, but I'm not the biggest fan of your _feelings_. Dude, you believed you were a dragonfly"

"What has that to do with anything? I was young and stupid back then"

"You're still young and stupid"

Spyro wanted to retaliate but only air came out from his opened mouth. those simple words sank surprisingly deeply, hitting the right spot. His eyes impulsively traveled to the pool of blood on the floor.

He is stupid. Very stupid indeed

"Gods what was I thinking?"

Without seconds thoughts he sniffed the air locating her scent in a second. Spyro instantly dashed in the direction where the smell was the strongest.

"Bro!" the dragon stopped in panic at the sound of his brother shouting and turned around to face him

"Take some leafs and twigs with you"

* * *

He lost her scent out here in the open, yet by some strange means he knew exactly where to go. He was drawn to her, just like they would be still shackled by the magical chain.

On his way to her he took Sparx' advice to heart. Using his ice element he prepared some pitifully looking bag which he filled with leafs and tiny branches. He worked fast, very, very fast and to tilt the situation in his favor even more he used his Time element to slow down the circling sun above.

He wasn't satisfied until the provisional bag was filled to the brink. With his equipment ready he renewed his slow chase after his friend. Constantly telling himself just how stupid he is.

It didn't take long for him to spot her, she was sitting on a small hill, with her gaze locked on the forest and her back facing him. Spyro swallowed, not only he felt guilty and idiotic but was also scared. He was afraid of her reaction, he didn't know what he will do if she won't talk with him.

"Please Ancestors, let her forgive me" Spyro muttered under his breath pleadingly and pressed forward.

As he uncertainly walked towards the dragoness he caught a glimpse of something with the corner of his eye. Up here the wind was stronger, its gusts howled through the trees and shook the grass fluidly. Something really interesting stood out from the grass and danced to the rhythm of the wind on its own.

It was a flower, it's perfectly white petals seemed to gleam under the sun. it wouldn't have really caught his attention if not for the fact that it was growing here all by itself. No similar flowers thrived nearby, in fact there were no flowers in close vicinity, even of different kind.

Spyro knew that this bloom is unique the moment he saw it, there was only one dragoness that he knew that he could call special. Just like with this flower, one glance was enough for him to say that she is exceptional. Just like her the flower stood solely against the idiocy of this world. It was blossoming among the angry waves of the grass, grass that surrounded it from every side, yet no matter how tall it grew, it just couldn't feed on the flower.

It stood proud against the greenish waves, the sun above fueling it with determination.

All changed when his shadow fell on the flower, in seconds he saw it decaying and shrinking when his dark shadow blocked the light. Spyro didn't know if this was his imagination playing tricks on him, or this was some weird joke of nature, but it filled him with unspeakable terror. His heart seemed to stop for a second when he saw the grass taking advantage of the flower's weakness, it was taking more and more fertile soil for its own, making the flower die in front of his eyes.

With his soul bleeding and panic pulsing in his mind the dragon plucked the flower from the earth.

"Cynder?" he called her name gently, seeing if the sound of his voice will stir her.

Nothing happened.

Spyro stood behind her abashed completely,, not knowing how to proceed from here. He wanted her forgiveness, craved for it, but it is her who has to be sure if he is worth forgiving in the first place.

They remained like this for a while. Raging a battle of awkward silence.

For Spyro it felt like he was standing behind her for all eternity.

"Will you talk to me?" he finally blurt out bluntly, desperation is the first and last step to lose any fight it seems.

"Depends with who I am speaking with"

The purple dragon jumped at the sound of her voice, a tiny spark of hope flickering within his soul

"If you are my stupid friend then we can talk for a while. If you're the other guy who nearly broke my heart...you know the way back"

Spyro's legs bent under his weight, as if all strength has left them and all muscles waned in a blink of an eye. Nothing remained but a pair of thin, purple twigs which were about to break in any moment.

Her voice rang inside his skull, repeatedly resounding with only three words.

_Broke my heart, broke my heart, broke my heart..._

"Cynder" he squealed like an injured dog and sprang in front of her momentarily "I'm an i-" his hectic voice trailed off when he spotted bloody strands and pieces of the provisional bandage she was wearing earlier sprawled in front of her legs.

He never before really focused on her wounds, but now he caught up on that omission. Her paw looked terrible, broken scales dotted her leg like cracks on an old pottery, pulsing, bloody flesh was protruding from cuts and lacerations on her black paw. It looked even more awfully from up close, to make things worse she was keeping in pressed to the ground, if the shaking of her injured leg was any clue she was doing it against the will of her mind.

The leg was bleeding, it hurt just to look at it, and as he raised his gaze another sting ran through his heart like a bolt from a crossbow. Her eyes were filled with glistening tears of pain, that was both physical and psychological.

Spyro driven by his protective impulse channeled his Ice element and directed his snout at the bleeding paw.

Her leg straightened up and shivered, as if ready to escape if need be.

"No" she snapped at him

He looked at her with wide and pleading eyes "Let me help"

"I've said no. We both have something to regret" her eyes landed on his lip for a second just to turn on her wounded leg after "This is my penance"

"That's not true" he dropped on the ground obediently and completely devastated, like a slave grovels at his queen's feet "I deserve far worse for betraying you. I don't know what's gotten into me but I won't do it ever again"

As she watched him lying on the ground in front of her paws, speaking to her with his begging voice she couldn't help but feel extreme disgust for herself.

Not like this.

"Spyro get up" she ordered sternly

He hurriedly picked himself from the ground "I'm an idiot Cynder, I don't deserve to be you friend, no friend should hurt you like this. I only beg you to stop being mad at me…and…and accept my sincere apology. I NEED you on my side"

More tears filled her eyes. If he only knew just how much she needs him, he would know that all this pleading is pointless.

I love you idiot.

"I can't be mad at you Stupid" she whispered lovingly under her breath

He craned his neck closer "What was that?"

Cynder blinked fiercely "On one condition" she announced with wavering voice that still carried the echo of her loud thinking and didn't sound as commanding as she wanted it to be.

He didn't seem to notice.

"You will never go dark for me, you will never cross that line for me, especially you will never kill innocent people in my name" she inhaled deeply, realizing that this doesn't sound like one condition "You will give up on Dark Spyro. I want you to be yourself"

Spyro nodded hastily "Done"

She swallowed bitterly, trying to quench the misgiving feeling that wrecked her instinct the moment she laid eyes on him this day.

With no luck but she ignored it.

"I also have a request"

The dragon perked up "Anything"

"Keep your distance from me, I don't want my crimes to be put on your shoulders, I don't want people equating you with me. Stop defending me"

His enthusiasm vanished instantly, replaced by sheer determination.

"Never"

Cynder sighed sadly "Then nothing changed"

"Listen, you can't ask me to do that. I don't know how about you but I'm actually sad that the chain that shackled us together lost its power"

She looked at him, uncontrollable warmth filling her heart.

"The idea of you being a part of me sustains me somehow" he scratched the back of his head "I know it sounds stupid but I keep imagining that the chain isn't gone, that your troubles are mine troubles and Ancestors I'm proud of it. I'm proud to be your friend Cynder, if people don't see this screw them, we're together in this. If it would be up to me I would chain us together again and throw away the key, but since we're bonded you need to make your mind also"

He looked at her nervously and impatiently "So what do you say? Want to lock this chain and throw away the key?"

She didn't respond, the second his question started to hang in the air she sprang forward and planted a soft kiss on his lips.

It was the feeling of his lips and startled breath on her scales that woken her up from her trance. For a moment her wide eyes locked on his, it was the obvious shock in his huge amethyst orbs that made her pull away.

Her cheeks were burning in embarrassment as she averted her gaze.

"Shit…sorry" she mumbled hectically and began to scratch at her choker frantically, yet it didn't prevent her shaking emerald eyes sift to the corners of her eyelids and observe him

The world swirled around like crazy, his legs felt numb, he had troubles keeping his balance and began to sway in place, making uneven steps in every direction as some kind of drunk ready to collapse. The powerful pulses of excitement tearing through his every vein threatened to wreck his pounding heart. Not even knowing when, his numb paw found its way to his mouth, it shook violently at the feeling of her soft lips still present there.

"That'sssss…." he slurred like some sort of an addict "…a yessss then?"

His reaction made her curl even more in shame but that didn't prevent her throat from letting out a stifled giggle.

"Yes"

"Whoa" he exhaled deeply, his heart was pounding so hard that it almost felt like a heart attack "I need to rest for a while" and he dropped on the ground with a hollow thud like a pile of purple rags

Cynder let out a confounded and amused snort "You okay?"

Spyro's paw slipped under his chest, it began to rub at the place where his lungs were as if trying to comfort them that the sudden inability to catch a breath is only temporarily.

"I…I don't know"

She giggled weakly again.

"A girl never kissed me before. Not counting my mother and excluding the one moment when Sparx made me believe that kissing a wet brush feels just the same"

Cynder laughed "Really?"

He shrugged with a smile "I thought I was a dragonfly"

The dragoness cried out happily once more.

Spyro looked up, when their eyes met her mouth closed forming a wide and nervous smile, the longer the gaze lasted the fiercer the flush on her cheeks began, together with the reddish line across her nose that really reminded him of that fire's illumination back in that hermit's cave all that time ago.

Was it truly the fire's light?

He desperately fought back the urge to throw himself at her and kiss her into oblivion.

_WHAT?! _he heard his own voice screaming inside his head _"WHAT ARE THINKING ABOUT!? SHE'S YOUR FRIEND! FOCUS ON SOMETHING ELSE!"_

His eyes nervously landed on her bleeding leg "Did…ummm I earn the right to take care of your paw?"

She blinked, if he wouldn't have mentioned it she was sure she would forget that she has legs at all. Her eyes impulsively traveled down and she winced feeling the pain and at the sight of her wounds awakening in her mind all over again. Her reckless move as blissful as it was didn't serve her bleeding paw very well.

As if sensing her anguish Spyro instantly sent a cold mist at her bleeding leg, making Cynder shiver both in surprise and relief.

He instantly got up and darted towards the bag he dropped some time ago, he didn't even knew when. As he spun around he noticed something wrapped in his tail and momentarily remembered what it was, he pushed his tip closer and uncurled his tail.

The flower that he held in his protective embrace was nothing more than crushed petals now, it seems that in his excitement he ruined the only thing that reminded him of her that would serve as a perfect apology gift.

Yet now it was destroyed.

The sight of the crushed flower falling on the grass filled him with some kind of unexplained dread. He scratched his chest, it felt like something was burning from within. He couldn't explain this but for a very brief moment he felt that he was his tail, embracing that flower, holding to it as strong as he could and yet in the end it still slipped from his grasp.

He shook his head and threw the stupid thoughts away.

"You thought you were a dragonfly" he mocked himself and darted for the bag filled with twigs and leafs.

She is all that matters.


	60. Chapter 4 Book IV

Chapter 4

"Why did you do this?!" Terrador roared as he slammed his powerful paw on the wooden table.

The walls of the City Hall echoed with the noise of scattering papers and creaking wood.

"I did what I was asked of" Cyril responded calmly, the rage of his earth friend didn't change his usual cold demeanor in the slightest

"You are a Guardian! It's your duty to protect your people!"

"I warned them, but they didn't want to listen. What else do you want me to do?"

"You openly agreed for a bloodshed! In our city!"

The Ice Guardian rolled his eyes irritated "Terrador please, these people are too weak to hurt a fly"

The Earth Guardian slammed his clenched paw on the table again.

"This changes nothing!" he roared at the top of his lungs, his voice reverberated in every crack of the building.

It was especially audible in the corridor that was reveled when the door to the Quarters were opened and Volteer with Flare appeared in the doorstep.

Both the Earth and ice Guardian looked at the amber dragon meaningfully. The quick gazes the dragons were throwing the little fire drake didn't escape Volteer's attention.

Flare observed both huge dragons curiously, one of them, the green one, sprang up from the table, his massive tail almost toppled it over and with a couple of strides began to stare through the window on the side of the building. The Ice dragon started to pick up the papers that were strewn around the room, he did it very, very slowly.

The dragons were pitiful actors, their little awkward play spoke volumes. Everyone would understand that this is not the time for interruptions and they are politely, even despite the anger, trying to show that you should be really somewhere else right now and leave them to their business. Everyone would understand that.

The young fire drake didn't.

"Flare"

The red dragon jerked his head up, aiming his yellowish eyes up at the head of the amber dragon from who's lips came his name.

Volteer looked down and smiled impulsively when he met the dragon's innocent gaze. For a moment he felt like a father staring in the eyes of his tiny, confused son.

"You…must be…hungry. Why…don't…you go…get some…food?"

Cyril snorted banteringly, inadvertently spitting on the papers he was holding.

"I'm starving!" Flare blurt out happily and licked his mouth, as if already tasting the meat on his lips "Your coming too?"

"Later…need…something to…do…first"

"Okay!" the fire drake exclaimed impatiently and quickly made his way to the corridor leading to the one place he could stay in forever

"What…is…this?" Cyril mimicked the amber dragon's strange way of speaking and burst out laughing later on

Volteer smiled, not even bothered by his friend's mockery.

"Your travesty Cyril is unobtrusive to faculty of my premeditated and subliminal adaptive mental activity undifferentiated to sensation of superciliousness" his voice was cheerful and full of held back relief

The dragon licked his lips, the words surged at the back of his mind and tongue for the past few days. Now he finally got the time to let them all out, his rusty tongue once more drinking from the deep well of erudition.

And it felt great.

Flare pressed himself to the wall of the corridor and covered his mouth so they wouldn't see and hear him laughing. Volteer's funny speech always made him laugh.

Cyril grinned "And the fancy words coming from your mouth right now prove that your pride is untouched. You won't fool me friend"

"This is a denigration by oral asseveration" the Electric Guardian smiled provokingly

"I hope you're enjoying yourselves!" Terrador growled furiously

Flare's laughter died somewhere within his throat, he gulped and straightened up like a board at the sound of the audible and commanding baritone voice echoing through the hall that almost sounded like the snarl of a monster crawling somewhere deep within some dark tunnel.

His eyes momentarily turned towards the torch lit corridor, with the eyes of his imagination he could see the walls turning more rough and stony, the fire from the torches dying as a black shape of a deadly monster scraped the rocks and groveled ominously towards him.

The young drake stifled down a pitiful whine. This was the last time he insisted that Volteer reads him some horror book.

No more books when your imagination is working at full speed. It makes a mess out of things.

"Terrador" Volteer addressed the Earth Guardian with his typical friendly and cheerful voice "You must propitiate yourself to a particularized mode requiring extrication through expatriation of distress"

"Don't tell me to calm down!" the green dragon blew up at the amber drake "This is not the time to be calm" he growled "I have no idea how Ignitus could stand you two and keep you in line!"

Cyril finally gave up on his pretense of a kindly caretaker and released the pages from his claws, not even caring where they land and turned towards the yelling dragon, throwing him a challenging and proud look.

"Perhaps you are the problem Terrador. Perhaps the task to be the head of Warfang is beyond you"

The Earth Guardian snarled and clenched his paw tightly, the claws piercing his scales were the only thing that prevented him from throwing himself at the ice drake in fit of anger.

"What? You think you would do better? You? Who so beautifully gave permission for open slaughter in our city? This is your idea of taking care of your people?"

"There are only few who I can truly call _my people_"

"Don't give me that bloodline bullshit again!"

Flare rubbed his right leg and wriggled his fiery wings nervously. He threw a quick glance at the end of the corridor, the delicate smell of food wasn't as appealing as moments ago. Nobody would consider him to be a eavesdropper, yours truly included, yet there was something peculiar about this whole thing.

His imagination awoken fully once more, pushing all the doubts away. He imagined the Guardians discussing some top secret stuff on which depends the fate of this city, or…or the whole world! The shouting, all the aggression and Volteer's incomprehensible words like some sort of a secret code. While he is an ingenious hungry dragon, who accidently hears about their problems and sets on an adventure to save the world.

The drake swallowed excitedly and pressed his head to the wall.

"Before this altercation marked by an ephemeral or indefinite span without regard for a subsidence in friendly relations magnifies" Volteer almost reverently and sorrowfully began picking up the strewn pages from across the room "We have to bestow esteem for the preeminence of our characters"

The other two Guardians closely observed their working friend, they might not see eye to eye in many matters but they have grown up together and after so many years still stick together, despite the differences. You find friends in most unusual people, people that make you think twice before you cross a line, a line that if you overstep it will block your way back.

Cyril sighed "Face the truth Terrador, we are ruling a city of weaklings and crybabies I would never stand as their leader, they are just not worth the attention"

The Earth Guardian rubbed his forehead, his fighter spirit was raging inside, yet he held it back, for the sake of friendship.

"I don't understand what you want to accomplish"

"Natural selection" Volteer announced and placed the gathered papers back on the table

"You want to kill off your own people?!" Terrador blurt out shocked "Are you out of your mind?!"

"Cheetahs and moles aren't our people!" the Ice Guardian snapped annoyed "This is a dragon city, OUR city and there isn't enough of us to fill all the houses! It's like we're guests in our own home. Look through the window Terrador and tell me how many dragons you see, not too many I guess"

"In every battle, in every war WE were on the front lines suffering great losses. Even now with Spyro around we still suffer those losses, if not greater. We need the War Dragons back"

"Ignitus led the War Dragons and they were still wiped out. I don't see your point"

"Yes but back then we were bested by our own! Malefor and Cynder showed us our place, proved what it's like to be a true dragon, corrupt or not"

Terrador shook his head in disbelief "I don't believe what I'm hearing"

"Survival of the fittest! This is the unfortunate truth, cheetahs and moles look up on us to stand against our enemies. Allies seek help among their betters, how can we meet these expectations when from a huge group that went to Boven only a handful returned? The last proud dragons, with true draconic spirit died under Cynder's claws, those that somehow survived are too old to make a difference"

Flare perked up at hearing his friend's name being mentioned.

"I want my people to live! Not die because they can't control their emotions, I want them to toughen their hearts!"

"In your pursuance for loftiness you repudiate to employ your mind rationally and objectively in evaluating an perceivable probability of making Spyro and Cynder unwelcome here. In a place in which their domestic affections are centered"

Cyril snorted "Spyro and Cynder can take care of themselves, those two carry a spark that no dragon has. They'll make it, especially in the place they call home, if not" he shrugged "then there's no hope for us"

"I'm against this!" Terrador protested "It's cruel, after everything they've done…" he shook his head "it's sick"

The Guardian let out an annoyed mist of ice from his nose "I don't like this either, but this is the only way to save our people. You heard that young girl…what was her name…Iris! You heard Iris, what she said about our kind, how they ended up being wiped out by those…humans or whatever. If we won't act the same fate awaits us"

"One-half of knowing what you want is knowing what you must give up before you get it" Volteer recited in his typical fast speaking manner one of the many quotes his literary mind so swiftly internalizes

The amber dragon shook his head sadly "Your act of adumbrating this for mutual espousal is in violation of substratal guiding sense of the requirements and obligations of judicature and evenness. Unsatisfactory"

"The time for justice ended the moment that damn mole crossed the portal to our world" Cyril hissed toxically

"Volteer has my support" Terrador commented "If we are considering carrying on with this horrible plan then we won't turn our backs on our allies. Law is in effect in Warfang, both written and unwritten, the latter was created by our friend Ignitus. We can't disappoint his memory by neglecting his pupil and his friend, they both live in our city, so they are under our protection. No matter what we'll stand behind them, we owe them that much"

The amber dragon nodded somewhat sadly "Procuring the power to actuate, arbitrate, or otherwise settle the prearrangement of which determines a matter or altercate of a person who has sovereignty over others is an unsparingly severe fate. I don't want to espouse between a friendly consanguinity and imperturbable necessity"

"None of us would want to make such a choice" Terrador comforted his friend pitifully as he turned towards the window and observed the city beyond it. He always based on the instinct of a seasoned warrior, instinct which taught him that hard decisions have to be made for the sake of others.

The most painful thing about this is using kids, especially one who he treats almost like a nephew, as bait. He comforted himself that at least they will be the ones to hold the rod to which the bait is attached to.

"But Cyril is right, if we won't respond we face extinction. However…" he narrowed his eyes on the Ice Guardian "…your act of recklessness won't be tolerated. From now on we are the ones in control, if you once again bait these poor people against our friends, you'll lose your position as Guardian and join the mundane folk. Are we clear on that?"

The ice dragon looked at Terrador challengingly "Don't threat me, I can-"

"Are. We. Clear?" the Earth Guardian cut off the ice drake commandingly

A puff of ice wafted from Cyril's nostrils, he was fully aware that his friend knew how to play on his strings to make him furious, yet this awareness didn't protect his pride from being hurt. He was holding back his fury with great effort.

In younger days he would throw himself at Terrador, like he did countless times when they were young. However today…today he will get away with this mockery.

"Fine" Cyril hissed, admitting his defeat with great difficulty "Your plan of spreading protective wings above Spyro's and Cynder's heads will slow things down, I still believe we should not interfere and focus on solely hardening our people" he sighed, calming the boiling fury within him "Since that's not an option anymore then I'll support you. I rather be on this side than the other. We'll show them what true draconic pride and strength looks like"

Volteer began to sort through the papers thoughtfully and without any goal, desperately reaching for the only straw that gave him some peace of mind.

"I would opt for concentering on an enemy conforming to actual reality"

"And what true enemy is that Volteer?" Cyril snapped, irritated by the constant doubts of heart that only prolong what is necessary "We only got portals showing up around the world, not knowing who is on the other side. There might be a million of options, for now we got those walking rocks, some wicked purple dragons if we're believing Flare, and mankind. Do any of them fall under the category of _real enemy_? Even if one of them does, good luck convincing people to fight an invisible foe"

He rubbed his forehead, this stupid argument is giving him a headache "Cynder will do for now, if they will have a point of aggression in front of them they will try to reach it. it will make them stronger and with Spyro around they will never cross the line, no matter how long Brill waggles his fucking tongue" a growl rumbled within his throat

Terrador observed the Ice Guardian closely "Sometimes I have the feeling that you are only looking for an excuse to tear Brill's heart out"

The ice drake's eyes glimmered murderously "Believe me, I would gladly tear him in half, he's the one behind all of this, but…" he shook his head longingly "…we need our people on our side"

Volteer shuffled through the papers, all this disgusting conspiracy, because this is a conspiracy, no matter what your intentions are if you put your friends on the line you are scheming. He hated this, he hated his role as a Guardian, some are meant to become leaders, he wasn't one of them.

Suddenly he felt extremely old, too old for any of this.

Yet it was quite different with the young fire dragon hiding behind the wall and listening to their conversation. He didn't understand everything but what he did understand was enough to make the blood in his veins boil. If the Guardians weren't busy with their dispute one of them would surely notice the intense fiery illumination his wings and every other burning part of his body were making.

There was only one thing he hated the most-manipulation, especially when his only friend is going to be abused, like he was for all of his life. He didn't care about their motives, the safety of his friend was everything that mattered to him, no one can protect her better than him.

I have all the burning power of the world at my disposal.

Those who lead such abuse will burn, all the slithering worms that that surround her will be eradicated, furry or scaly, purple or brown.

All will burn.

Like I almost burned.

I will not fail again.

If I find you, beware and be on your guard at all times.

Since I'll be coming for you.

When some time later a cheetah girl passed through the corridor she couldn't understand from where those deep scorch marks came from.

* * *

When they were running he pushed all the worrying thoughts away, as a scout he was quite sensitive to danger, he could smell and feel it from afar. That small group of dragons that returned to Warfang was nothing more than danger, he was sure that when he returns the city won't be the same again.

Hopefully they will be there back then.

He wished that they would be running again, the pace he set up for them allowed them to gain some time advantage. During their wild chase she insisted that they get there before midnight, so it was his duty to take her there in time.

And so he did.

When he announced that they will be there soon enough she demanded that they stop for a break. The break wasn't because of the fact that she was tired, they both were to some point, maybe the dragoness was in a worse condition, yet she put on a mask that didn't betray even the tiniest emotion or note of fatigue.

A mask that glued itself to her snout and didn't want to let go, or perhaps she got used to it that she takes it for her face.

A pity, his fascination craved to find what hides behind it.

She couldn't keep up with him, draconic legs were quick but not quick enough to catch up with the natural runners like cheetahs. Eventually she put her feathery wings to action, but they were unable to catch up with him either, maybe due to the fact that they were mostly covered in dirt and stuck together like wet tissues.

His modesty and humbleness didn't allow him to accept the fact that he got better during the recent years.

So they made a provisional camp, she wanted it to be close to a river. He immediately knew why, she wanted to clean herself which warned his instinct that she believes to meet someone out there where she was found. He wasn't sure if she expects to find an ally or an enemy, many people would say that there is no chance she's looking for a friend, nobody would care about such a toxic girl like her.

Perhaps it was the truth, whoever is out there might think just the same. Whoever that was it was important for her that she presents herself to that person in her prime. It has to be an ally.

Yet, strangely he had an irrefragable feeling that this wasn't quite the whole truth.

All of this was unimportant however for the time being, this break only forced him to think chaotically on the situation in Warfang. As he whittling a piece of the wood with his dagger while leaning against a tree trunk with his loyal falcon sitting above on a branch different scenarios were being played inside his mind.

The first one, and it was the strongest was the most selfish one. He just wanted to be moving again, focus on work entirely than to contemplate on the recent events. All of the others were strictly connected with his young friends.

"Kit"

All of them were bad ones.

The most troublesome was the sight of the whole city turning against them, her at first to be more exact. People getting more bold that they even ignore Spyro's presence and the protective cocoon he wrapped around his friend.

"Kit"

Some other was about the two of them leaving the city and its people forever. This one perhaps was another slight inclination towards his selflessness. He loved everything draconic, if those two would be gone, their kind would lose that special, magical touch.

"Kit"

Another one was about Spyro finally losing control, the world finally making that one unjust move against Cynder that forces Spyro's paw. In his sorrow he does some tragic things that nobody would believe he was capable of which lead to an unending bloodbath. The one responsible for the portals sees this and takes advantage of it, plunging the world into chaos.

"Kit"

One more was about-

"KIT!"

His ears perked up and he straightened like a board at the sound of the feminine shout. The falcon above cried out and dashed towards the direction from which the yell came from.

The grunting, screaming of his bird and hissing drew his still shaken attention towards the commotion. His eyes widened at the sight of the falcon flying around the ice dragoness, the bird was flapping with its wings hectically, as if in some sort of vengeful prank while the girl was snarling at it, almost at the brink of letting out her whole boiling fury at the avian creature.

Hunter whistled.

With one last cry the falcon pushed away from the young female and landed on the cheetah's shoulder.

The feline looked at the dragoness apologetically, taking a mental note that she was back to her cold, beautiful self once more. Water was dripping from her still gleaming moist body and wings, the water erotically emphasizing every curve of her sleek, feminine, draconic silhouette.

She almost looked like an angel hurled from heaven that just clambered out of the river she fell into.

Almost.

If not for the mask.

"Keep that bird away from me or you'll be picking its feathers from between my teeth" Iris snapped, her peculiar accent filling each word with threatening venom

The bird cried out again, as if laughing.

Hunter dropped the piece of wood he was unconsciously working on, sheathed his danger and reached into a nearby bag dancing on his belt. He grabbed a handful of his birds favorite treat and offered it to the falcon on his opened palm. It began to peck at the food hungrily.

"Forgive me my lady, my mind was elsewhere" Hunter replied apologetically

She narrowed her eyes on the cat, in one quick annoyed move "I expect the best of you Kit until this is over"

"I'm afraid that it won't be possible. I'm still not used to the name you gave me and sometimes have troubles understanding its meaning"

Iris eyes shifted to the eating bird to stop at the feline once more "How long till we get there?"

Hunter looked into the distance, towards the spreading rainforest of Tall Plains "Fifteen minutes of normal pace"

The dragonesses eyes went up, towards the darkening sky that was barely visible through the thick leafy veil of the trees.

"You have five minutes to get ready"

The cheetah threw a quick glance at his shoulder, the falcon had its eyes already set on him. The moment their gazes met the bird threw his head up, let out one of his characteristic shrill screams and leapt into the air.

Hunter clapped his hands together several times, tiny crumbs of the bird's treat were falling from between his moving hands like shavings from the recently whittled piece of wood.

"We're ready right now"

"Good" she nodded towards the rainforest "Then let's go Kitten"

The cheetah immediately pushed from the tree and took the lead, after some steps a delicate smile crept over his lips.

Everything was clear after that.

They arrived at their destination in exactly fifteen minutes, just like Hunter said they would. Moments before they peeked from their greenish cover he signaled Iris to stop, feeling her anxiousness and irritation the moment he raised his clenched fist in the air.

Her impatient disapproval didn't matter to him right now, he remembered clearly that when he got here with Kane and the rest of the lamas this place was filled with scavengers. This goblin like creatures are called Murils if he remembers correctly, they feed on corpses, at least that's what the lamas told him and seemed pretty harmless besides that.

Yet he didn't want to take any risk, if a fight can be avoided then he will do everything in his power to make that happen. He remembered clearly that the creatures were quite skittish, especially when facing a loud noise.

Kane used a horn to scare them off, Hunter was certain that also a draconic roar would do the trick but he didn't want to use Iris to the dirty work, already familiar with her prideful way of being. Luckily for him he had another screamer in his team, that not only could scare the creatures off but also remain a safe distance from them.

The falcon dived through the leafy veil and began to cry at the top of its avian lungs. Hunter's ears immediately perked up underneath his hood, listening for even the tiniest sign of movement. His sensitive hearing picked up nothing, besides Iris' irritated growling at hearing the falcon's crying.

Satisfied that they are safe, Hunter whistled another specific tune and the bird darted straight up, pushing through the curtain of leafs like a hyperactive actor walking on scene.

The cheetah lowered his risen fist and pushed forward, slowly moving on bent knees, ready to crunch and unstrap his bow with the hand that was pressed to his back.

If he wouldn't be here earlier he would never guess that this particular spot was once drenched with blood. His scout's senses weren't picking anything that would tell him that a massacre happened him some time ago. As he looked around the place he silently admired the nature's work, it perfectly cleaned the stain on its greenish cloth, most likely using both flora and fauna as the perfect maids.

Seeing the nature work is one of the perks of being a scout.

He quietly pressed forward, more boldly this time, towards the tree from which he found Iris hanging upside down, with a spear jutting from her chest and blood dripping from the wound. He looked up, not even the slightest trace remained of her presence there, just like the tree cast out the bad experience of a dragoness at the brink of death dangling from its branches.

"We're here" Hunter announced cautiously

In fact he didn't have to tell her that, even if her mind didn't remember her body surely did, one quick glance at the female was enough to draw such assumption. She surely did see him looking up, she surely did read the unintentional signal, but she never moved, never examined the spot where she almost lost her life.

He sensed her anxiousness as he turned to watch her, but she still retained her cold demeanor.

"What now my lady?"

His bluish eyes widened for a second when he noticed her reaching for the tarnished amulet on her neck. The moment she clenched her paw around it delicately something very strange happened, the mask leaned back slightly and for that very brief moment Hunter saw Iris for what she truly is.

He saw a sad, broken girl, completely lost in an unfamiliar world, not certain of what to do next, filled with overwhelming fear and pain. Desperately needing protection, strength and hope.

"My lady?" his lips moved, he was surprised to hear a glum tone in his voice

She gasped faintly and her paw dropped to the ground, the mask moved to is natural place once more. She glared at him in such a way that he blushed slightly, it was like she was blaming him for his presence here, almost as if he would catch her undress.

"We wait" she snapped at him

And waited they did, in complete silence. It didn't bother Hunter at all, his time as a scout taught him what loneliness is and the way to fight it. Just for his own piece of mind he was making small rounds around their position, luckily finding nothing that could be of any danger to them.

Every now and then he threw quick glances at the dragoness who was standing completely still in one spot. She was clearly waiting for something to happen. Her whole body was tense, frozen in quiescent vigil.

Hunter knew the posture, she was waiting for some kind of signal, some characteristic sound or smell. She couldn't match him when comparing the sense of hearing, feline ears are way more sensitive than draconic earholes.

However his nose was no match for her sense of smell, if there would be someone out there she'll locate that person faster than he ever could.

Something about her behavior struck him as weird however, he couldn't really put his claw on it, but out of nowhere the bow on his back began to feel more heavy than usual.

"You've been a good servant Kit"

Her words surprised him, not the actual meaning behind them, but the fact that she spoke at all, it was enough to gain his attention fully.

Hunter bowed respectfully "I'm honored to hear that I've met your expectations"

He raised his gaze, the quiver on his back began to itch his fur as he met her cold, piercing eyes. They were stripped of all emotions, even of anger and hate, two feelings that are as inseparable from her as rain from dark clouds.

"You deserve some kind of reward"

The cheetah pushed one of his arms forward defensively and shook his head "There's no need for that"

"Know my generosity!" Iris snarled "This is not some pitiful gift you can throw away!"

Hunter's ears flattened on his skull in a display of meek repentance as he pressed his extended hand to his chest and bowed apologetically, his eyes obediently aiming at the green ground below.

"Of course my lady. What is my reward?"

"Swift and painless death"

His right ear perked up in surprise, his head impulsively tiled slightly upwards, so he could aim his dumbfounded blue eyes on the female.

"Pardon?"

The dragoness ran her claws along the grass, as if sharpening them on its greenish strands.

"Whatever will happen here has to remain a secret. It's nothing personal"

One of his hands practically invisibly ran underneath his cape, reaching his belt where his claws delicately danced on the handle of the dagger that was sheathed there.

"I ask you to reconsider your offer my lady. I am not your enemy, your secrets are of no interest to me or anyone else. Let's part ways without bloodshed, whatever horrors haunt you remained on the other side of the portal. I assure you"

"I can't take any chances"

"My lady p-"

"Enough!" iris growled irritated "Do you accept the offer or not?"

Hunter blinked and shook his head sadly "I cannot do that"

A puff of ice wafted from the dragonesses nostrils, she was clearly offended by the fact that the cat had the nerve to decline her generous offer. She impulsively bent on her paws.

"Agony awaits you then"

The cheetah shrugged without a word.

This gesture made her furious, the female instantly channeled her Ice element and parted her mouth, icy mist swirled within her opened mouth. Yet before she could unleash this cold, devastating power she noticed something pointy and sharp glistening in the air. It was a dagger, the cheetah hurled the blade at her with one swift motion of his hand.

With a gasp Iris dodged the incoming blade, ending the accumulation of her freezing power. The cheetah taking advantage of her deconcentration sprang up and sprinted towards the trees. She didn't really have the time to wonder if he missed or just didn't want to hurt her.

Iris leapt into the air, straight up, pushed her feathered wings backwards as far as they would go and then with one sharp motion flapped them forward. A huge mist of ice, almost the size of a small blizzard was sent at the trees ahead.

The air suddenly got really cold, Hunter peeked behind his shoulder and his eyes widened in shock instantly. A big icy fog was quickly heading his way, even from here he could feel it's cold, invisible daggers piercing his flesh through his fur. Luckily he was fast enough to reach one of the nearby trees and press his back to its huge brownish trunk.

The moment the blizzard reached the forest his ears were invaded by the peculiar cracking sound of ice pushing everything that lives and thrives into its cold and deadly embrace. He began to shiver, his teeth began to rattle and the only thing he wished from was to grab his cloak and wrap himself with it as tightly as possible, but he remained still, he couldn't give away his position that easily.

He was freezing here.

He felt like somebody would throw him naked into a tub filled with ice and no matter how he thrashed they would keep him underwater.

Momentarily everything in front of him was covered in a thick layer of frost, the leafs and branches stopped swaying in the air, even the delicate sounds of animals went silent. If he wouldn't know better he would say that a very severe winter just attacked.

However the trees that were in the front line met a more drastic fate. The trunk that he was hiding behind turned into ice completely, it no longer resembled a tree but some wicked huge icicle. Part of his cloak turned to ice as well and became part of the frozen tree without him even realizing it, the rest of his garment and fur were covered by freezing layers of frost.

He reached for his bow, the fingers on his hand cracked and snapped like the fingers of an awakening skeleton. The moment he curled his numb fingers on his cold bow a painful shiver ran through him. He didn't even get the time to hiss when suddenly he felt another wave of magical energy being accumulated, his instinct kicked in instantly, warning him of the incoming deadly danger.

Hunter unstrapped the bow and a single arrow with two painful, quick motions and jumped to the side, tearing his cape in half, part of it remained glued to the tree. A tree that exploded when a bolt of ice ran through the stuck cape, that would pierce him through if he would remain standing there.

The part through which the bolt flew through exploded, sending sharp shard flying in every direction, he grunted in anguish when some of those shard cut and got impaled in his still flying feline body. The upper part of the frozen trunk lacking any fundament fell down, straight into the remaining bottom side of the frozen tree. The impact was enough to turn the frozen trunk into bits, the crown of the tree and its turned to ice branches were pushed to the side after the impact. The whole crown tilted and hit the ground, breaking like some kind of jar pushed accidently from a table.

During this chaotic flinging of icy shards Hunter nocked the single arrow he retrieved from his quiver and aimed his bow at the dragoness. Seconds before his body hit the ground he sent the projectile flying at the female, aiming at her right angelic, flapping wing.

It made contact the moment the wing was fully extended, displaying its beauty in all its deadly glory.

A feminine yelp of pain echoed in the air when the arrow ran right through the soft wing, blood splattered as it pierced the feathered wing like somebody would hurl and smash a tomato on a wall. The short scream of pain filled Hunter's heart with so much pain that it completely silenced the burning ache from the cuts on his own body.

For a brief second a thought of giving up and end this fight right now crossed his mind. Better to die than to main such magnificent creatures, creatures which numbers dwindle day by day.

When the side of his head accidently bumped into a small rock his survival instinct kicked in once more. His feline eyes narrowed on the wavering dragoness in the air, struggling to remain in the sky after the unexpected strike. He had time to get away from this vulnerable position and charge her, she was low enough.

He might be a distance fighter, but so is she to some degree and who knows what else she has in her arsenal of magical strikes. He will die either way so at least he will go down swinging and give her some challenge. Hopefully he will use his speed and somehow change her mind about this whole thing.

As he pushed from the grass and began his sprint towards the dragoness he rubbed the yin-yang symbol reverently.

"Stay with me"

Iris' eyes widened for a second when she spotted the cat running in her direction, during which he threw his bow on his back. She prepared another magical attack but then the cheetah jumped, a gasp of surprise escaped her throat when she felt a strong tug on her tail that pushed her down and onto the ground. Her wounded wing unable to keep her hanging in the air without its strength at least partially recovered.

Such disgrace made her furious, she pushed her elemental energy towards her tail tip, it began to glow with bluish light. The cheetah had to feel the power circling through her tail since he quickly let it go and jump back, just in time to avoid a freezing pulse of energy shooting from her tail tip resembling a sharp ice spike that would stop his heart in a second and turn him into a snowcat.

He withdrew a dagger out of nowhere and rapidly slashed at her extended tail, draconic blood splattered on the grass from the stinging cut. Iris growled and turned towards the cat, slashing with her claws, there was a shrill cling when one of her claws met with the dagger's steel, a claw that if it wouldn't have been reflected would slice one of the main veins on the feline's hand.

He slashed at her once more but she managed to jump back and the moment the blade swung out of her eyes the dragoness craned her neck forward, clamping her razor sharp teeth on the cheetah's arm. However they didn't go far, she tasted his blood on her tongue but the armband he was wearing was thick and solid, it held back her teeth from fully and properly sinking into his flesh.

With the arm holding the dagger trapped in the female's maw the cheetah used his natural claws on his other hand to retaliate. He slashed and punched at her nose, deliberately not aiming at her eye. She snarled at him and put more strength into her clamping jaws, a powerful bolt of pain shot through his arm that almost made him drop on his knees, but she still couldn't get a proper grip on his arm so he kept on attacking.

His claws momentarily got disgustingly bloody as he slashed at the same spot over and over again, while occasionally punching her nose with all the strength he could muster. The strikes made her eyes water and blood began to push through her nose, eventually she realized that the pain wasn't worth the effort and released his arm.

When that happened the female used her tail to topple him down, he read her intentions and rolled forward, the icy tail swung below his legs. He felt her leaping at him from behind and this time he couldn't hold back the instinct that demanded that he fight till his opponent lies dead. With his back turned towards her in his crouching position Hunter gripped the handle of his dagger more tightly and with a growl extended his arm in a wide arc as he spun around.

Iris pushed her head back just in time to avoid the tip of the sharp blade, she could feel the delicate gust of wind it created on her neck scales. The cheetah pushed forward once more, creating some distance between them as she recovered from the dodge.

She growled and wanted to pounce on him once more but the image her eyes sighted behind the feline stopped her in her tracks.

Hunter eyes her cautiously, in the heat of battle not seeing the surprise grimacing her bloody snout as he was slowly making some steps backwards. One of those steps changed everything.

He tripped over something big, that wasn't here when he looked here first, with a grunt he fell on his back, the impact uncurled his fingers and the dagger slipped from his paw. As he looked at it he noticed something big slithering away with the corner of his eyes. Feeling something watching him Hunter looked up, just in time to see a big reddish paw heading his way.

The gasp that was escaping his throat ended abruptly when the big paw dropped on his chest, kicking the breath out of his lungs and trapping his head between massive, silvery claws. When he finally opened his shocked eyes, a scarred draconic head greeted him.

It was a male, pair of slanted gemlike eyes of the color of a fiery ruby were narrowed on him. The dragon had a big blocky head and quite a long nose, rows of quills dotted both its sides. His scales were that of fiery red, once he had two enormous horns sprouting from the top of his head but now only a rough, round base remained of the first one while the second was chipped like somebody wanted to sever it off with an axe. Winglike bony plates project from the back of his head that resemble huge ears. A mane of similar quills sprout between his horns.

The digits on his paws were yellow, almost gold, sprouting three long, sharp, almost metallic claws. The dragon's short, yet massive and muscular legs were encircled by gold spirals, that began wrapping his limbs from the base of his legs and towards his shoulders.

He has two gigantic, ragged-looking wings running from his shoulders, in the color of deep, purple wine, with intimidating big, hooklike extensions on their thumbs.

The dragon was cladded in heavy battle armor, it was so tarnished and broken that Hunter never remembered how it looked like after this encounter. It seemed old just like the dragon who was maybe slightly younger than the Guardians.

"What are you?" the dragon's voice was deep and low like his throat was hoarse, his voice didn't share Iris' odd accent. His breath reeked of blood.

The dragon eased his grip on the cat, Hunter drew a deep breath and began to cough convulsively.

"Hunter…a cheetah…scout from…the Dragon…City"

"Just kill him already uncle!" Iris shouted from behind

The scout noticed the dragon's huge tail moving, which was protected by the same armor his body was, from the cracks in it he noticed that his tail was embraced by the same yellowish spiral his legs were. What really caught his attention was the tip of his tail, which resembled a burning sickle. He used that tail to block the satin dragonesses advance.

"Calm your spirit Iris" he responded calmly, yet sternly

The female slapped his tail away from her bleeding nose "You've said yourself that nobody can see us together!"

The dragon was unmoved by her impudent behavior "Yes, but something is out of place here" he turned towards the pinned cheetah "What Dragon City you're talking about creature?"

Hunter shifted underneath the massive leg, as if looking for a more comfortable position. The dragon ignored his efforts.

"Warfang" he said after giving up " The capitol city of the Dragon Realms…to the south west"

"Dragon Realms?"

"We're in the future!" iris shouted impatiently as if pointing out the obvious, pawing off the blood running from the side of her snout 'We're in some different shitty world!"

The dragon averted his gaze thoughtfully "Hardly believable but it explains why I couldn't recognize my surroundings. However I don't understand how we got here in the first place"

"Through some stupid portal that showed up from nowhere!" she growled seeing that her efforts to take care of her bleeding wound were pointless. She looked at the big fiery dragon, her diamond eyes were burning with blame.

"Where were you? Why did you left me hanging on that stupid tree?"

A glimmer of surprise ran through his fiery eyes as he tilted his head backwards to look at the girl "I didn't know where were you. This…portal you speak of must have threw me somewhere else. You're lucky that I can recognize your magic from afar, otherwise we would have never met. However I'm proud of you that you remembered my teachings"

"Whatever"

His eyes once more landed on the cat "Cheetah tell me, how many dragons are in that city of yours?"

Hunter looked at him suspiciously.

He recognized the gaze "That didn't come out right, forgive me. It's been mostly me and Iris, we rarely seen our own kind"

"You're a friend then? I don't recall friends pinning their allies to the ground"

The dragon smiled weakly "Well said" he removed his paw from the cheetah's chest.

Hunter gasped for air.

Iris threw herself forward "What the hell are you doing?!"

"And what does it look like?"

The cheetah scrambled from the ground.

"if you won't kill him then I will"

The drake blocked her advance with his paw and narrowed her gaze on her "Nobody is killing anybody here. We need allies Iris, and you after all this running need some peace"

The girl snarled "I can take care of myself"

The dragon looked at Hunter "My name is Ignus, it's a pleasure to meet you"

The cheetah bowed "Likewise"

"You already met my niece. You have to forgive her temper, she's been through much lately"

Iris snorted disdainfully.

Hunter nodded as he began to pick up his belongings "it's understandable"

"Perhaps Hunter we can help each other out. If you take us to Warfang and offer shelter we can share our knowledge about our world and the danger it carries"

"No!" the dragoness protested "We're not going to that shithole!"

Ignus glared at her "We're going where I say young lady"

Hunter observed the two closely, Iris' fury was understandable, she hated taking orders and being pushed around in front of some stranger really hurts her pride. However her discomfort wasn't the thing that troubled him, something about the male dragon's…he didn't know what it was exactly.

"I can always take you there, but it's not mine decision to make. You seek an audiance with the Guardians"

The dragon nodded thankfully "You won't regret this"


	61. Chapter 5 Book IV

Chapter 5

"And they accused me of that!" Sparx blurt out with an arrogant laugh "Me! Can you believe it man?"

"Mhm" his purple brother muttered feeling his glowing brother thrashing in between his horns, his draconic orbs set of in the distance, his eyes sparkling with unspeakable lustful hunger, bliss and longing

The dragonfly sprawled himself flat on top of Spyro's head, staring at the floating clouds above while wrapping his arms around the two golden horns on both his sides so he won't fall.

"Of course I protested, fought for my good name you know!"

"Mhm"

"You know me dude, I can be quite badass when I'm forced to throw punches"

"Mhm"

He elbowed the breathing, purple, scaly pillow underneath him playfully with a grin.

"You know something about that"

"Mhm"

Sparx' grin vanished as his face was grimaced by a frown. Something wasn't right here.

"Are you even listening to me bro?"

"Mhm"

"You sure about that?"

"Mhm"

"What did I just say?"

"Mhm"

Sparx rolled on his belly and knocked on the draconic head as if was some kind of a door.

"Mhm?" he uttered

"Mhm" Spyro replied him with the same kind of murmur he was using for the past few…for as long as he remembered

"Mhm, mhm?"

"Mhm"

"Mhm, mhm, mhm, mhm, mhm, mhm, mmm?"

"Mhm"

"You forgot your tongue somewhere or what?" Sparx mumbled under his breath and slid forward, using his arms that were clutching his brother's horns as leverage, like a swimmer pushes his arms backwards when swimming underwater.

He leaned from the top of Spyro's head and with his one hand free from the rough surface of the golden horn he extended it down and began to wave it from side to side in front of the dragon's right eye.

His head appeared from the top of the purple eyebrow, following his arm, just to see that the drake didn't even blink, as if he was seeing right through the arm.

Sparx huffed thoughtfully and practically pressed his palm to his nose, examining it closely, as if trying to judge if it's transparent or not. Deciding that everything is alright with it, he pulled his hand back. Then using all of his strength he pushed his head down.

"Bro!" he shouted the moment his glowing, yellow head dangled upside down in front of the amethyst eye.

He could see his own reflection glimmering in that special, purple, round mirror.

Sparx frowned " Bro, seriously, that's creepy. What are you looking at I wonder" he tiled his head up, when he spotted a black tail dancing in the air ahead everything became clear. Just to be entire certain he once more looked at his brother's snout.

Yes, his eyes were definitely aimed at her.

"Oh right…" he huffed, remembering suddenly that Spyro acted strangely when he returned with Cynder. He didn't pay much attention to it back then, his brother isn't the brightest and typically normal dragon to begin with, he was used to his naivety and the inability to see the obvious that he ignored the odd omens of his strange behavior, simple as that.

However something has changed, he could read it from the drake's charmed eyes, did finally his nudge managed to work and Spyro heard the craving of his heart?

That would be a shocker. A pretty nice one to tell the truth, even former murderers and chubby lizards deserve some happiness.

He just has to know the truth, the image of his family finally united was exciting.

Yet that doesn't mean he can't have some fun when searching for it, with Spyro getting older and more intelligent it was hard to pull his paws. This situation is new for him, like everything was when they were young. The dragonfly could see a huge gate opening, behind it was the open field of sweet, thriving annoyance.

It's a wide, wide world out there and he's a choice millionaire.

With a sly grin Sparx pushed himself back up, rolled on his back again and locked his eyes on the moving clouds above.

"We're going home finally" he sighed longingly "Between you and me I just can't wait till we get there"

"Mhm"

At hearing his brother's spellbound mutter the grin on his face only widened.

"it'll be nice to meet again our trio of grandpas, I wouldn't believe it but they seriously grow on you"

"Mhm"

"I even miss Crouton, that guy always makes me laugh"

"Mhm"

"if you would hear me right now you might be shocked. Flare really reminds me of you when we were young"

"Mhm"

"It's easy to make fun of him, with you becoming more smart as time flows it's not so easy anymore to annoy you. Sis tries to keep up, but it's not the same you know?"

"Mhm"

"it gets boring, I mean I know we got a world to save and all but I really miss the times when I taught my brother some new stuff. In my own special way"

"Mhm"

"I miss the times when we spend days only on fooling around. Flare is a nice distraction, not to mention that I have some work to do in the city"

"Mhm"

"I won't say anything since you might somehow overhear it and I want it to be a surprise"

"Mhm"

Sparx shifted anxiously, his mouth hurt from the wide grin his lips created. It was a sign that the moment of the final showdown is approaching.

"it'll be good to see our friends again, right bro?"

"Mhm"

"From what I see I'm not the only one who misses our friends. Just look how Cynder is speeding, she seems to need rest desperately"

"Mhm"

This is it. Sparx inhaled deeply, his breath wavered from excitement.

"Or maybe there is someone there who she REALLY wants to see"

"Mmmmm"

The dragonfly stifled down a chuckle, there is a way to wake up even the most charmed mind if you press the right buttons. The surprised notes and the obvious change of tone of his brother's muttering proved that.

"Remember how Cynder and Flare behaved in the lift in Munitions Forge?"

The shiver that ran through the draconic back, the overall shift and tensing of his muscles proved that Spyro did remember that moment.

Sparx narrowed the corners of his eyes meaningfully on the purple back.

"It looked like they were flirting. I think they are really into each other"

"WHAT?!" Spyro exclaimed at the top of his lungs, bucked and thrashed like a horse in a rodeo, forcing a startled gasp from the dragonfly who with all his might clenched the two golden horns so he won't fall down

Cynder ahead straightened up at the sound of the yell and instantly spun around.

"What happened?" she shouted from ahead, not really hearing what Spyro yelled since her mind was completely elsewhere as well.

Seeing his friend turning towards them Spyro momentarily ended his impulsive display of shock, worry and anger, replacing it with a forceful, calm and idiotic smile.

"Nothing, nothing" he replied hectically, not paying attention to the beads of sweat appearing on his forehead "Sparx is only fooling with me. It's a brothers thing"

She furrowed her brows "Oh?"

He waved his hand dismissively "Nothing to worry about, we'll sort it out. Just go, we will be right behind you"

His idiotic smile didn't escape her attention, he was lying, whatever happened was serious, but it might be really locked in the boundaries of brotherly relations.

Or not.

She wasn't sure about it but didn't want to dwell on it in this moment, there was no danger and her mind had other places to be right now.

With an indifferent shrug she turned around and continued her flight.

With his friend continuing on her way Spyro dropped the fake smile and frowned almost furiously. He started to thrash with his body, like a dog after a dive in the water and eventually shook off the dragonfly from his back. The moment he spotted his glowing body slipping from his back Spyro snatched him into his paw, ending Sparx' surprised yelp abruptly and moved his clenched fist with the dragonfly trapped inside in front of his nose.

"What did you say?" the dragon growled through clenched teeth

From all the things he expected, Sparx didn't expect THIS, his body was trapped in his brother's paw, only his arms and upper part of his body stood out from the purple cage. Out of impulse he pressed his hands to the scaly paw and tried to lift himself up, wanting to slip from the grasp.

To no avail.

Oh well, he at least got his attention.

"Bro ease the grip or my eyes will pop out" Sparx sighed as he slumped defeated, his arms dangling on both sides of the paw

Spyro ferociously shook his leg "What did you say?"

The world bounced in front of his eyes, he felt his head rocking back and forth like some kind of ball kicked by children, standing on opposite sides of the field. When the shaking finally stopped Sparx grabbed his head, forcing its wild bouncing to a stop.

"Nothing interesting" he mumbled with a shake off his head. The world stopped spinning "Only a loose observation"

The dragon pushed his closed paw closer to his mouth, the dragonfly could feel his breath "Why do you think they are into each other?"

"Did you ever bro thought about getting some mints?"

Spyro didn't answer, he was only glaring at him.

The dragonfly sighed "I only said that Flare and Cynder are leaning to be more than just friends. I'm the observant type, I see things"

"You don't know that!" the drake shouted, spitting drops of saliva everywhere

Some landed directly on Sparx' face, he wiped it off with his free arm.

"For one hundred percent? No, but Dude I can read the signs when I see them"

"it can't be true!"

"What is it to you anyway?" he smiled craftily and poked his purple nose "Someone has a soft spot for our black princess?"

Spyro shook the finger away "Of course not!"

If he could hear the tone in his voice, the drake would realize just how untrue that sounded.

Sparx decided to play along.

He spread his arms in confusion "Then why it bothers you?"

"Nothing bothers me!"

_Yeah right._

"So come on and speed up this flight, make those two love birds sing together"

Sparx' cheeks flushed purple, the air from his lungs was forcefully squeezed through his nose when the dragon tightened his paw, probably not even realizing it.

"Dude…the grip" he gasped for air

"She wasn't flirting with him" Spyro growled, pronouncing each word slowly

The dragonfly pressed his hands once more to the purple paw and began to push, trying to slip away.

"The…grip" he muttered again

The drake shook his leg "You hear me? They can't be together!"

"Wh…why?"

"Because she kissed ME!"

Sparx jerked his head back in surprise, the thin amount of air that he could gather in his lungs no longer bothered him. He was expecting something different to happen between the two, but not something like this. He just has to know more and his wide eyes which were fixed on the drake proved just that.

At first Spyro's eyes were burning with hateful jealously, like he didn't even realize what weight the shouted words carried. However the longer he stared into his brother's eyes the furious grimace was disappearing, making room for sheer terror and shame take its place and with it came a fierce red blush on his cheeks. He didn't even realize when his paw opened and released the dragonfly.

"She did WHAT?" Sparx exclaimed

"Nothing" the drake averted his gaze and rubbed at his cheeks, as if trying to wipe off the heat from them

The dragonfly dashed in front of his brother's eyes. He was in the offense now.

"What happened back there?"

Spyro turned his back to him with one swift spin "Nothing"

Once more the dragonfly appeared in front of Spyro's snout "Come on bro, tell me!"

"Nothing happened" the drake uttered with another turn

Sparx didn't give up, he kept on pestering the dragon "The why are you so red?"

Spyro jerked his head away again while pressing his paws to his cheeks "I don't know what are you talking about. Leave me alone"

The dragonfly spread his arms innocently as he once again appeared in front of the dragon. Clearly showing that he is powerless against his annoying inquisitiveness.

"I can't do that bro, you know me"

The drake bashfully protested again "Leave me alone"

The dragonfly shook his head disappointed "Bro, bro, bro" he clicked his tongue "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what happened"

Spyro looked at the blurry ground below, knowing that he won't get away from his brother if he won't cooperate.

"Nothing happened, she just gave me a friendly kiss that's all. Happy now?"

_Nope._

"A friendly kiss made you almost choke me?"

The dragonfly noticed his brother wincing, if the drake was a boxer he dropped on the ring the moment he blurt out those words that made him so uncomfortable. Reminding him of the aggression that Sparx triggered in him was like a kick in the guts when he was still lying on the mat.

"Sorry about that, I don't know what got into me"

_But I do._

"So you're saying that it was a friendly kiss and nothing else?"

Spyro nodded hectically like hundred times.

"Hmm, and your cheeks are still in one place?"

The drake threw the dragonfly a very brief glance, it lasted maybe a second, for a moment he spotted that triumphant glimmer within his amethyst eyes and it was enough to say that Spyro really wanted him to believe in what he just said.

The dragonfly wasn't fooled by this.

"Ha!" he shouted and pointed a finger at the drake "I knew it! You wouldn't be staring at her ass like that if she kissed you on the cheek!"

The drake threw his head up alarmed "I wasn't staring at her ass!" his cheeks were so red by now that everyone else would take him for a very strange fire dragon

"Dude, you were literally gaping at it"

"What?! No!"

"There's nothing wrong about this man. It means you're normal"

"I wasn't staring at anything! She's my friend!"

Sparx grinned "You won't fool me bro, I know what I saw"

"You're crazy! I'm telling you I wasn't doing any such thing! She's my friend!"

"Then why you are getting so defensive about it?"

"I'm not getting defensive about anything!"

The dragonfly folded his arms on his chest "if it weren't such a big deal you wouldn't be yelling at me right now"

"I'm not yelling!" Spyro blurt out and bit his lip "I'm just trying to put some sense into you"

Sparx poked his forehead "Bro this skull isn't here just for the kicks. I see what's going on"

"Nothing is going on! Stop being so damn annoying!"

"I'm being inquisitive, that's a difference"

"Leave me alone!"

The dragonfly shook his head "I thought we been through this already bro, I'm not going anywhere if you-"

"it was a friendly kiss!" Spyro growled, furiously, lustfully and longingly at the same time, cutting his brother off as a result "Nothing else! A friendly kiss on the lips as a thank you! Nothing ELSE!"

"Do I hear regret in your voice?"

"Wh…no…I…it i…." the drake muttered incoherently, he was suddenly lost for words. It wasn't regret, he had no idea what Sparx is talking about. He feels something, ok but that's not regret, what is there to regret? It was a simple kiss, a normal, simple, friendly kiss.

ONLY a friendly kiss.

What if it's regret?

It can't be, there's no ground for it. They are friends, old and best friends, always together. He scratched his neck, trying to feel the non-existing chain around his neck, it was there, she is there and won't go anywhere.

Then why does his heart hurt so much? It yearns and cries. It told him that without her its life ain't nothing but a carnival of rust.

His eyes went up, spotted her flying in the distance, her black silhouette seemed to glimmer under the sun like the most beautiful of gems.

Beautiful and angelic.

A sudden bolt of realization ran through him.

Without your love my life ain't nothing but this carnival of rust.

I love her, Ancestors I always loved her.

I love her.

I love my best friend.

"You're intending on drifting away again? That's your plan to get rid of me?"

Sparx' words pulled him back from his trance.

There was something really strange about his brother's draconic snout when he looked at him, it was filled with a mix of everything, starting from anger, disappointment to joy and shock, and that wasn't all, there was still so much more cooking in that pot of emotions that it was impossible to find a name for everything.

"You're not about to faint are you?" the dragonfly asked calmly, his brother looked ill, very, very ill

"Dude you're sick or something?"

Spyro's eyes went up once more where they instantly spotted Cynder again.

Yes I am.

I got a bad case of lovin' you,  
no pill's gonna cure my ill,  
I've got a bad case of lovin' you.

* * *

He spent the last hours walking across the cold streets of Warfang, peeking in every window he could find on his way. The interior of every house was so flammable, the only thing holding him back from setting this district in flames was the intention of finding the ones responsible.

_I can't regain control. I can't regain control._

People were gawking at him whenever he walked, they weren't used to his presence here, mistrusted him. He could see it in their eyes, their anger and blame, disgust even. Feelings that he was used to see, everyone looked at him this way, everyone.

_Not her, not her._

One flick of his paw, one click of his tongue and those eyes would pop like bloody balloons, white of their eyes would sizzle and drip from their scorched eyelids like the white of a broken egg. Such a delicious sight that would be.

_Do it for her, do it for her._

People shunned away from him, every interesting conversation he wanted to hear died in their throats the moment he approached. Worms all of them, slithering away, they feel their eradication, let them run, to their dens, to their holes. From there is no escape.

_I can't, I can't._

There was a rat, another vermin sitting on the lowest stair of some building, it wasn't its den, it didn't have the same stench the rat did, it didn't reek of it. He approached the disgusting creature, it was playing with some kind of a small device that looked like a cart and a figurine of some sorts. Goggles were lying on the step next to its hip. All this equipment was as disgusting as the rat was.

_I'm not strong enough, I'm not strong enough._

He stopped just inches away from the rat's ugly head, feeling the ugly scent emanating from its greyish coat. The creature dropped all of its devise on the marble street and let out a happy and startled yelp. A strong gust of air wafted from his nostrils, that bristled every strand of the creature's coat.

The small rat laughed happily and threw his arms up and using one of his tiny hands pinched his red nose happily. He jerked his head away and pushed it down, the mane dangling from the top of his head touched the rat's extended fingers. A pulse of heat jumped from his burning mane and onto the creature's small arm.

Momentarily its joyful expression turned to that of despair, hurt and agony when it pushed its hands back sharply and trapped them in between its legs. It began to rock back and forth and then erupted like a volcano, but instead of lava tears spilled from its eyes when a shrill cry burst from its throat.

You felt the pain didn't you? You felt the heat? Good.

Burn you little shit.

"Fodo?! What happened?!" a terrified female shout came from behind the building

I can't stop it, I can't stop it.

He raised his yellowish eyes and spotted one more of the rats running this way, it was bigger than the one crying on the stairs but stinks the same. It wasn't alone, two more of the rats appeared right behind it, all of them were running in the direction of the little shit.

"What did you do!" one of the male rats shouted his way, that worm demanded obedience, that worm demanded an answer from him

The little shit extended its arms in the air the moment the female rat reached it, it was crying at the top of its lungs as it wrapped its arms around the female's neck and pressed its sobbing, ugly nose to her chest. She cradled the little shit tightly as she turned towards him and fixed him with a cold, hateful stare.

The second female rat, older than the rest of the disgusting worms went towards the female with the little rat in her arms.

"He's afraid of you!" the male rat shouted angrily at him "What were you thinking pal?!"

He aimed his yellowish eyes at the shouting creature, he felt it shivering from here when he arrogantly met the rat's gaze. Being around females of your disgusting race makes you tough all of a sudden tiny worm? Show me your den, lead me to your leaders I'll show them a trick.

He shoved the dragon away, the moment he touched his red scales his hand was stung by invisible waves of heat.

The mole clenched his burnt hand with the other, not even for a bit dropping the mask of the strong, household protector.

"Get out of here!" he pointed at the street with his claw on his healthy hand "Stay away from our son!"

_Not again. Not again._

You are should burn where you stand worm, but it would ruin the chance to toast the main heads of this conspiracy. Don't fret worm, I'll be watching you, and if I find you in your den, you'll see that the burns on yours and the little shit's hand are nothing compared to what I have in store for you.

He turned away from the group of stinking rats and made his way down the street.

"Freak" the male mole hissed in relief when the burning dragon left them alone. He looked at his burnt hand, his coat was fried and boils started to appear on the reddish flesh.

_Not them, not them._

He ambled through the marble street, not even bothering to be inconspicuous, he feasted his mind on the thought that they were too afraid to approach him, too afraid to even speak loudly around him, too afraid to look into his eyes for more than three seconds. They hid in the shadows like the slithering worms they were, and when the moon above will cover the world in its silvery light the worms will hide in their holes, thinking the world is theirs since the shadows currently cover the planet.

They can't be more wrong.

The incoming night will be fiery and a bright one.

_I'm gone, I'm gone._

* * *

"Something about that guy…I don't know. I have all those troubling feelings as of late. First that bird girl causes trouble and now we have a walking torch in our city. If what the Guardian said, regarding those holes in the world is really that serious I fear we might have more troubles brewing on our paws than we can handle. If they really want to get through those portals and enter our world, let them be the good guys, we had enough of the bad ones already"

A dragon belonging to the city guard who was currently off duty shared his worries with his fellow worker as they were sipping wine, sitting on a huge balcony of one of the draconic houses. Having a good view on one of the Warfang's main streets.

"I'll drink to that" the other male dragon emptied his wine with a single tilt of the mug

"What's your opinion? You're with Brill and his little crusade?"

"I can't stand the sight of blood any longer. I had enough of it for a lifetime…"he reached for the bottle and began filling his mug again, watching the reddish liquid flowing with uneasy fascination  
"…but if I would get the chance to rip that black bitch's throat apart I don't know if I could let such opportunity slide"

The first dragon's eyes kept following Flare constantly "I feel, of course if I'm not becoming paranoid, that you might have the opportunity sooner than you might think"

"What about you? Got any thirst for vengeance yourself?"

"Cynder took a father and a younger sister from me, whenever I see her she brings back the painful memories back. Still…I don't know if it's fair to hold it against her after all this time, she stopped Malefor after all"

The other dragon shrugged and empties his mug "I wouldn't be spreading that opinion if I were you"

The first drake turned his own mug bottoms up and filled it anew "I doubt that anyone would pay me any attention, not with Brill around anyway. One thing is certain, whatever happens, it won't be good, for any of us"

"How my father used to say: in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years"

The observant guard raised his mug.

"I'll drink to that"

* * *

Night came quicker than he thought, spending time on stalking really takes a lot of hours of one's life. No matter. He didn't learn what he wanted to, the queen or king of the worms hasn't been found, the worms knew how to hide, yet the shadows had the power to shroud him as well.

He was the main treat of the many curious eyes in broad daylight already, during nighttime he was even more so. The burning parts of his body were emitting a light of the fiercest of lanterns, the reddish and yellow colors danced on the walls like they would make a keyhole through which the burning pits of hell could be seen, for anyone that dared to look.

However he was still convinced that the shadows work in his advantage.

He kept on ambling through the emptying streets, looking for something familiar, something out of place, SOMETHING that would push him in the right direction.

He heard laughter coming from one of the side alleyways.

He cocked his head and spun around swiftly towards the direction from which the sound came from, flaming droplets flown down from his burning mane like dandruff from an unwashed hair.

Another laughter.

His wings burst out scorching flames as he stretched them anxiously just to fold them on his back again. Worms are plotting, manipulating. Another conspiracy.

He made his way across the empty street and towards the wall on the opposite side, moving slowly alongside it he directed himself towards the opening which led to the alleyway.

Laughter.

He stepped from the wall and looked into the dark alleyway. It was filled with many doors, side entrances to the neighbouring houses or other establishments.

Another laugh.

It was coming from the throats of a pair of those furry worms, male and female. The male was pressing the female to the wall of a building, his face was on her shoulder, buried in the fur on her neck. The female had her head tilted upwards, laughing every time the male moved his head, even an inch, one of her hands was wrapped around the male's neck while the other was pulling one of his pointy ears playfully. One of the female's leg's was placed firmly on the ground while the other was draped over his waist.

He snorted, tendrils of fire wafted from his nose.

It was that intimidating sound or the fiery light that filled the alleyway the moment he stepped into it, almost like Satan himself would take a walk across the earth that ended their merry affair. The male pushed away from the female and they both gasped and began to scan their surroundings in horror, they were looking around the dancing fiery light on the walls, thinking most likely that a fire has started nearby.

When they laid their eyes on him the fear from their eyes was gone, replaced by a woozy joy.

"Oh man!" the male shouted a pair of slurry words and staggered on his feet drunkenly "You scared me so much that I almost shit myself!" he slurred and laughed, hiccupping practically every second "Now that would surely ruin the moment!"

Both of them exploded with deafening laughter, the male bend forward, clutching his belly like he would receive a kick in the gut and hiccupping every second while the laughing female dropped her hands on his back and pressed her forehead to his cloth.

It was too much for the furry worm, his intoxicated legs weren't strong enough to hold the weight and both of them toppled on the street. He bumped off from something metallic and dropped on his back with a thud, the female fell down right behind him, with her body sprawled across his lap, right behind his bent knees.

The fall only made them laugh even harder.

He moved forward, towards the toppled pair and stopped right in front of the male's bent knees, with his furry tail merrily slapping both his hind paws. He closely observed his crying, happy, hiccupping, furry, disgusting, wormy face. It reeked of alcohol.

And then he put his paw on the worm's face, his claws touching the top of the male's head, resting right between his ears.

"Dude!" the worm shouted, spitting on the bottom side of his paw that was pressed to his face during this muffled yell "Wait your turn! Be a gentlemen! Ladies COME first!"

He started to laugh hysterically again.

His claws heated to an immense temperature in seconds as he began to rake them down the worm's furry face. The buried deep within the flesh, the heat sizzled fur, bone and muscle in a moment's notice, leaving three deep, scorched gashes in their wake.

The moment the drunk cheetah realized what is happening his eyes shot wide open, the merry laugher was replaced by screams of anguish. In that moment the dragon's claws reached his eyes which exploded like eggs that collapsed on the floor. His screaming ended as soon as it started, seconds later as the drake's claws went past his eyeballs the cheetah was gone.

His female partner seeing his agony screamed in horror, the sight forced the alcohol out of her system momentarily. She tried to scramble up from her vulnerable position, thrashing with every limb and tail at her disposal. The image of her partner's limp knees dropping on the ground as she accidently punched them made her scream even harder.

She never got the chance to get up, the drake's claws reached her back sooner than her panicked mind expected. She started to scream in agony and cry at the same time as the claws raked across her back, turning her soft flesh into a burnt, furry rag.

They didn't move across her whole back, the drake withdrew them the moment he reached the middle, yet it was enough. By now her insides were devastated, organs that sustained every living organism were destroyed, her soul was clutching to the last strands of her fading life.

"W…w…wh…y?" she managed to rasp with the last ounces of strength

He didn't answer the worm, he moved past the mutilated bodies, and as his tail danced parallel to them he patted the now dead pair of furry worms with his burning tail tip. The corpses flared up with bright flames in seconds, the temperature was so high that the corpses melted even faster. In the end nothing remained of the furry worms but a pile of ash that was soon scattered by the wind.

He left the alleyway through the opening on its other end and inhaled deeply. Besides the sweet scent of flames his sensitive nostrils caught something else in their net. A very familiar scent, one he encountered today already.

Little shit.

And it wasn't alone.

Worms in their den.

He ambled through one of Warfang's main streets, driven by an invisible mist of a familiar scent that caressed his nose. He didn't run, he calmly walked forward, he knew that the worms feel safe, it was night after all, they feel safe and crawl out only when you are defenseless and terrified. Begging for help and they only torment you further.

Eventually he caught the sight of a light coming through one of the windows that belonged to a small house. He inhaled deeply once more.

He located the den.

Avoiding the light that shone through the window just next to the main door he moved behind the house, making sure early to press his body to its cold wall and move alongside it with his body squeezed to its limits as to make it as small as possible.

He moved to the back of the house, the joyful chatter and laughs were quieter here. Stopping right below the window he craned his neck upwards and peeked through the glass.

He was looking through the kitchen's window, his yellowish eyes caught the silhouettes of some other rats sitting around the table. Three of them to be exact, little shit and the other three rats that he met earlier were nowhere to be seen. He punched the window and the glass shattered, during the startled yelps that echoed within the house he inhaled deeply.

There was the familiar scent, all of them were there.

"What was that?" someone from the house shouted shocked

"Did a window just broke in the kitchen?" a male voice was heard

All of the inhabitants curiously made their way to the kitchen.

"What happened mom?" a child asked worryingly

A male mole entered the kitchen confidently and looked around the room, spotting nothing out of place. Then he made his way towards the window, pressed his claws to its frame and extended his head through the opening.

He looked right, he looked left, up and down.

Nothing.

"Could it be a bird?" one of the older moles asked

"I doubt a bird could-"

"Who are you?!" a feminine shocked scream came from the living room

All of the inhabitants of the house ran back from where they came from.

"What are you doing in this house?!"

"YOU!"

The female mole shouted when she spotted the familiar burning drake sitting at their table, the one that scared her son today.

Cold shiver of fear ran through her spine.

"Get out!"

The worms kept on screaming and shouting, but he didn't listen, didn't care what they had to say. He could smell their fear and deep down he believed that they knew what is coming. At least the female rat knew, he read that from the way she wrapped her arms defensively around the Little shit.

Someone shoved him.

Instantly that someone burst in flames.

It was then when the chaotic screaming started, however it didn't last long. His body was instantly wrapped in a sheer, fiery orb of flames which seconds later exploded and sent walls of fire through the whole house, melting everything in its path.

He left through the same way he came, through the main door which he opened by melting its lock. He walked casually through the street, leaving the burning building behind him.

The drake however didn't knew that the moles were enthusiastic engineers, like practically every one of their kind and had a basement tightly locked by immense, thick metallic doors which held all kinds of materials and devices inside them, like in some sort of a vault. Explosives included.

Eventually every wall of flame that wrecked the house met in front of the door, wanting desperately to get through it. The steel from which the door were made from were unable to hold back so much heat and melted just like anything else in the house. The flames entered the vault, devastating everything in their path, making short work of the protective trunk that held the more dangerous materials as well.

The house exploded.

The roar of the explosion was so loud that it seemed like some sort of a nuke hit the ground. The house was turned to bits in seconds, flinging bricks in every direction. The shockwave of the explosion threw the drake of his paws and forced him to slide directly into the alleyway from which he came from with his back turned towards the destruction.

Indifferently he began to push himself up, when he moved his head to its natural position something heavy hit the back of his head. It was the door he so ingeniously opened moments ago, the explosion broke them from their hinges and sent them flying through the air. The fling eventually stopped on a reddish draconic head.

Flare dropped on the ground with a grunt, blood trickled from the back of his head and the world swirled in front of his eyes. He felt pain, regret and disgust for himself.

It happened again.

He turned around, knowing what he will see there, but not able to ignore it.

People were screaming, gathered where the destruction happened, it was like all of Warfang was awaken from its slumber.

He couldn't shake off the feeling that he just sent some wicked play in motion.

"Oh no" he muttered devastated, pushed up on his paws and ran.

Ran as fast as his legs could carry him.


	62. Chapter 6 Book IV

Chapter 6

Their way back was happening in complete silence, even more profound than when she followed Kit around to that stupid place. The commanding tone of her uncle and now this, three people traveling together and nobody says a word. It was pissing her off, she wasn't certain what exactly, was it silence? Or the two idiots who treat her like air?

Lack of attention was infuriating.

Fuck them.

Let them worry about their own problems, If they don't want to see farther then the tips of their noses so be it. The cat didn't even look at her after their little confrontation, she didn't take him for the sensitive type. He has some nerves to defy her like that.

Can he really be blamed after what I've done?

Of course he can! It was him that declined her offer!

Fuck him.

What about my uncle? He is as indifferent as the rest of them! He didn't even leave a comment about the bloody hole in my wing, nor he cared about my ungraceful and painful flight! Not to mention that he seemed to not even notice the glimmering shitty rock stuck in my fucking chest!

Fuck him.

But...but I need him sooo badly.

Somewhere behind her uncle's burning tail Iris snorted with disgust that it almost made her throw up.

What the hell is wrong with me? What the hell are you thinking about? Iris come on! You're not like them, you're not like all those weaklings! You are not-

Desperate, I am desperate.

Her paw impulsively moved towards the medallion on her neck, her claws slid gently up and down its tarnished surface. The muscles on her paws tensing, contracting so fiercely that it hurt, moving towards the chain with the sole intention of wrapping themselves around it and hold it. Hold it and-

No!

Her paw jerked back away from the chain and dropped down, hanging and swaying limply in the air like a corpse of a hung person dangling on a tree branch.

They don't want to wait, their choice, it is their decision to resign of her glorious presence, she'll catch up with them soon enough. There's no rush, especially when she is returning back to that stinking hole the cats and other weaklings call Warfang or some shit.

For her it's just a hole.

Hunter was running faster than usual, faster even when he led Iris to the rainforest, he wasn't really certain what fueled his legs and lungs so much. The adrenaline from the recent skirmish faded away completely, he was sure of that. That happened faster than usually as well, but he could find explanation for this without a problem. He can forgive the dragon kind everything, even profound hostility, for him Iris was no different than Malefor. Perhaps it wasn't a fair comparison but he couldn't find any other, such magnificent creatures have the right to bend the rules of what is accepted and not.

He loved those creatures in his own special way and love can be blind as they say.

However he couldn't find any explanation for the constant nervous twitching of his ears. The first thought that crossed his mind was completely irrational, it was the wind that bothered his ears, but not the gusts created by his fluttering cape, those that bothered him were much stronger.

They were coming from above.

His bird felt it too, it was flying lower than usual, just above the tree lines, like it was shy or intimidated. The gusts that were irritating his ears were coming from even higher, and they were created by wings much bigger than those of a falcon.

Like draconic wings for example.

He wasn't sure whose wings were responsible for this, was it Iris or Ignus? Maybe both?

Hunter jumped over a fallen tree branch.

This is insane.

It was obvious that his instinct was playing on his nerves, especially after that fight with Iris. It was perfectly normal to expect a knife in the back, in this case a bolt of ice or a fireball, after that.

Yet something...wasn't really...something told him...something. Something was wrong, just didn't want to add up. He felt like...

…like…

…like…

…like a guy who said _yes_ to a beautiful vampire and invited her through the doorstep of his house. Corridors of which were soon flooded with thick, red blood.

As the massive walls of Warfang rose in the horizon as he was scaling a small him a cold shiver ran through his spine that paralyzed his every muscle. His ears dropped flat on his skull underneath his hood.

The bird let out a pitiful, sorrowful cry.

"Impressive"

Hunter almost jumped at the sound of the male voice, the noise of draconic paws touching the soil behind him made him realize that he was standing in place, completely still, staring at the horizon and the growing walls of the Dragon City.

For who knows how long.

"Huh?" Hunter muttered as he turned to face the red drake. For a brief second, his still sleepy mind could swear that in front of him stands no one else than Ignitus himself, cladded in a battle armor he seen him wearing in many paintings.

This quick trick of mind filled him with unexplained horror.

Ignus eyed the cheetah carefully from toes to ears.

"Those are some formidable walls, ,thick, constructed from solid stone, like the structures inside. Beautifully crafted indeed" he looked at the growing walls in the distance "All of this was made by dragons and belongs to my kind?"

The cheetah swallowed, for a tiny second a thought to remain silent crossed his mind, but it faded just as quick as it appeared. The dragon's voice was filled with awe and honest surprise. There is just no reasonable explanation for this misgiving.

Or maybe Iris…betrayal of sorts had such an impact on him? His object of fascination turned against him, does a fate more tragic exist for a besotted fan?

Everything is possible.

"The city was built by the honorable moles" Hunter replied stoically and in his typical gallant manner "when Warfang was finished the moles in a sign of good faith passed all the rights to the draconic Guardians, who to this day righteously rule the city "The Guardians opened the gates for any culture and race to live peacefully behind its safe walls, to somehow repay the debt I believe"

The scout pressed his hand to his chest humbly "My kind was among the few who received this avuncular invitation, it was accepted with great respect and joy"

The dragon's eyes were constantly locked on the walls ahead "I suspect that my annoying inquisitiveness might seem suspicious to you. I'm a stranger after all, from a different time if the stories are to be believed. If somebody like this would be asking questions about my home, I would be alarmed too"

Ignus looked down at the cat and smiled reassuringly "To see all of this again…" he looked at the city in the distance once more, his eyes shimmered with awe "…it's breathtaking. A Dragon City, a true Dragon City right in front of my eyes"

Worry wrinkled Hunter's face "Were there no dragon cities in your time?"

The fire dragon nodded "Once, yes, those were some glorious times" he sighed longingly "Sadly everything changed, houses and fields we called our own were taken from us, piece by piece. Until…" he chuckled melancholically "we were reduced to this" he clenched his fist and patted fiercely the dirty and broken armor he was wearing "To the role of hermits and scavengers"

He pushed his paw down, the earth thudded underneath the massive leg, while the dragon shook his head, his tail unconsciously moving in accordance with his head. Cinders jumped from the fiery tip on his tail with each sway it made. As if empathizing his irritation.

"My enthusiasm might seem suspicious I know, but I haven't seen a thriving draconic community for years. It is especially difficult to find friends with Iris around. She has...had a special status among the dragons in our time, it got in the way of making new friends, just as much as her lack of any social skills"

He eyed the cat with a sad smile "As you are aware of already I'm afraid"

The cheetah nodded, barely registering what the drake was saying.

The longer Hunter listened to the drake's speech the faster any notion of misgiving was leaving him. The dragon seemed alright, there are people who don't make good first impressions and the dragon seems to be one of those people.

Simple as that...

...simple as that...

...simpl-

"It's my fault" Ignus continued "I've taught her to mistrust people, probably even those who she can call close family. There is so too much hate in this girl, so I preferred to hold it back from exploding on innocent people"

He looked behind his shoulder at the approaching dragoness worryingly.

"It made things even more difficult"

His head swiftly turned away from the girl, his ruby eyes once more landed on the scout. Hunter couldn't decide if the quick turn of the drake's head was caused by the lack of courage to see the results of one's plans failing or profound abhorrence.

"We need a place to rest our bones. Or more likely I do, old age is merciless to muscles. Iris however would want… demand to continue on, but since I'm probably the last living creature that has some authority over her, she'll do as I say"

Ignus eyes glimmered pleadingly "I'll never miss an opportunity to offer my niece even a tiny portion of normality. Gods know she deserves it"

"I understand" Hunter acknowledged the drake's motives with a fierce nod of his head. Whatever idiotic second thoughts he had about the whole situation were long gone by now.

"Let's go then, I'm sure that the venerable Guardians will welcome you"

The fire dragon nodded, the winglike bony plates on the back of his head seemed to flutter like a pair of additional wings.

"We're much obliged, I understand that this decision wasn't easy for you. It is clear how much the city and its people matter to you"

"Warfang grows on you, in time this city will be constantly on your lips"

"I certainly hope so"

* * *

Warfang's gates were opened, as they arrived caravans were leaving the city through the main and only trade route. The merchants exchanged polite nods and fleeting glances with the group of three that crossed the invisible line and entered the Draconic City.

The two new, or perhaps one, arrivals that found their way to the city with Hunter's help didn't raise any alarm, in fact the people behaved like the two freshly arrived dragons were a part of their community for years now.

The scout didn't like what he was seeing.

Hunter swiftly reached to his side, grabbing the arm of one of his passing-by kinsmen.

"Has Spyro returned yet?"

The cheetah looked alarmed at the hand that was holding him, seconds later his gaze focused on Hunter's eyes and his face brightened up instantly.

"I haven't seen him. Sorry" the feline's eyes impulsively scanned the scout's features, taking mental notes of swaying in the wind strands of Hunter's clothes and bloody cuts hiding underneath.

"Rough day?"

The scout let go off the furry arm gently "Not even close" he retorted calmly

Hunter nodded thankfully and threw a quick glance behind his shoulder.

"This way" with that he darted forward, towards the nearby stairs

Ignus followed the cheetah unhesitatingly.

"I'm not going there"

The fire dragon straightened up and froze at the sound of the female whine from behind him. His lips wavered, as if forming a snarl, an opening for the quiet growl rumbling inside his throat. However it seemed that this was just an illusion since the only thing that came out of the drake's throat was a tired and sad sigh.

"Not now Iris"

"Yes, now!" the dragoness snarled

"You're coming with me. End of discussion"

"You want to chat with Brick and his gang of clowns, be my guest, but leave me out of it"

Ignus turned towards her, furiously narrowing his eyes on the young female "We're not going to have this conversation now, do you understand?"

"Don't act like you're my father"

The dragon stomped with his paw, if the floor of the city was made of poor marble cracks would surely appear on its surface after such ferocious thud.

"For once can you do something I ask you to do without whining? I'm not your father, but I'm your late mother's brother and I promised her to take care of you. For her sake, please, do as I say"

The female snorted, it was a peculiar, crude sound, like she wanted to sneer at the beginning but then quickly changed her mind. She said nothing, she was scratching her chin ungracefully, like her claws wanted to reach the dangling, tarnished golden chain on her neck but at the same time were pushed away from it, just like the medallion was blazing hot.

Ignus nodded indifferently, the cold relationship that developed between him and his niece accepted silence as the best way of agreement. He turned his attention forward, their feline guide was standing ahead, his back facing them. From his posture it was obvious that he wanted to stay out of the argument as best as he could but his pointy, sensitive ears just didn't allow it.

"Apologize" the drake muttered shamefully "When I was younger I could fight with my niece for the whole day, but my old age not only shortened my life but also my patience"

"No need to apologize" Hunter replied while renewing his walk "Your family matters are no business of mine"

Eventually they reached the first staircase, than the second and third until they found themselves in front of the characteristic fountain. From that spot the destination of their journey through the city came into view. The experienced adult dragon didn't know what they were looking for exactly, but the moment the City Hall appeared in front of his eyes all doubts were cleared.

The door ahead are their destination, a couple more steps and they will reach them and as soon as they cross through the doorstep everything will change.

When the characteristic door swung opened, pushed gently by Hunter's hands a familiar thudding sound echoed throughout the whole interior that always filled the scout with that exciting intimidation.

The light they let in when the door opened drew the attention of everyone that was currently inside towards them. Besides the usual three draconic residents the City Hall welcomed three more people. Amela the healer, a female mole who runs a library in the city and a draconic guard.

Hunter moved to the side and with a wave of his hand presented the two dragons behind him.

"Guardians" he announced with a slight bow "allow me to introduce-"

"Hunter!"

The familiar admonishing and worried female shout made him cringe with his ears resting on his skull like they wanted to be invisible and melt into his fur.

"Do you always have to get into trouble boy?!" Amela blurted out with caring fury as she strode towards the scout "What happened?"

Hunter flinched once more as he observed the approaching female, his hands impulsively traveled across his whole body, pulling the dangling strands of cloth together, trying to make the cuts and wounds as discreet as possible.

"Nothing serious" the cat replied bashfully "Hazard of my profession"

"I give you hazard!" she placed her hands firmly on his crossed arms "Show me this" with one fierce motion she pulled Hunter's arms to the sides, his pitiful defense was no match for the healer's determination.

Amela craned her neck forward and examined his chest closely "Those aren't scratches but cuts, small ones but those are still cuts. You scrambled out from a sack of needles?"

Hunter didn't really have the time to answer since momentarily the healer yanked his arms straight up and began examining them from top to bottom. She gasped faintly when her eyes landed on his wounded forearm.

"What is this?!" she exclaimed in horror "Those are teeth marks! By the size of them I would say that…" her face turned sour and unpleasant in a blink of an eye "Who did this to you?"

The female hissed and looked past the cheetah, her eyes located the big red dragon first, yet it wasn't him that she was looking for. She realized that the moment her pupils caught the glimpse of white feathers. Her focus shifted on the satin blue dragoness entering the building. Especially when her gaze located the reddish stain on her white feathered wing everything became clear. The experienced eye of a healer can tell many things about an injury just by looking at the wound, for Amela the way the blood sprayed on the dragonesses wing was enough to tell that the wound was made by an arrowhead.

The healer shoved Hunter out of her way gently.

"You" she muttered with obvious disgust "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to ask the same question" the guard added "Didn't you get the hint what would happen if you come back here?"

Iris narrowed her cold gaze on the dragon "Didn't you get the hint what would happen if you touch me?"

The guard growled "You might not respect me, but you'll show respect to the law. Criminals like you have to be taught a lesson" he moved towards the dragoness with determined step "You'll coming with me"

The sickle on Ignus' tail burst out flames, making the guard stop and others look his way.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you"

The drake eyed the fire dragon bitterly "Threats again. I see from where she got her attitude"

"This is not a threat but a warning. My niece doesn't take orders lightly"

"She'll have much time to reconsider that behavior while in a cell" the drake renewed his step

Iris bent on her paws and growled aggressively.

"That's ENOUGH!" a loud baritone roar rumbled within the hall.

All eyes of everyone that is not a Guardian settled on the old, yet muscular earth dragon. Either out of intimidation, curiosity or simple boredom.

"No fights will take place in this hall, we had enough of those for a while now. This is a place of dispute, but only of verbal ones. We'll settle matters peacefully and without bloodshed, just like the law demands it"

Terrador focused on the draconic guard "What the girl is accused of?"

The dragon straightened up and flexed his muscles, adopting a respectful pose when speaking to someone of higher authority than his.

"She devastated a building in the northern quadrant Sir. I have witnesses who can vouch for my words, since she committed the act of vandalism in a crowded street, during broad daylight"

The Guardian nodded "I see" he aimed his gaze at the entrance "Step forward girl"

Iris remained in place.

Awkward silence.

"I won't repeat myself" Terrador added with last ounces of patience

Ignus swallowed seeing the ancient drake's reaction, he turned his head towards his niece and narrowed his gaze on her meaningfully.

The young dragoness didn't bend under her uncle's glare and challenged it with her own.

Hunter wriggled his shoulders uneasily.

"Right. Now" the fire dragon's lips moved, pronouncing each word slowly and harshly. A whisper that only the girl could hear.

A growl rumbled within Iris' throat, for a second it seemed like she wanted to spit in his snout but then, unexpectedly she moved, advancing in front of him with proud and arrogant steps.

"Akru" Iris hissed as she gave the fire dragon one last proud glance before turning her head arrogantly towards the three old dragons ahead. Her voice was surprisingly rich and lacked the strange accent, this time it sounded like the typical language of the moles yet with a dose of peculiar melody to it

"Do you plead yourself guilty?" The Earth Guardian asked forthrightly

The dragoness rolled her eyes "What a farce"

The accent returned.

"I've asked you a question about the vandalism, not your opinion"

She licked her lips, calming her boiling nerves as best as she could.

"Yes" she finally replied, not even bothering to hide her annoyance

"Such an act cannot go unpunished, since you admitted committing the crime I sentence you for two days in prison"

A puff of ice wafted from her nostrils as she glared at the earth dragon "I'm not going back to that stinking hole"

"It's settled then" the guard announced "You heard the Guardian, the verdict is clear"

Click of draconic claws reverberated across the floor. It took Iris a second to locate the source and the direction from where the tremors were originating. She faced the approaching dragon with blunt, yet held back aggression.

"I AM NOT GOING BACK TO THAT CELL" she pronounced each word slowly, if her tongue was literally toxic, venom would be trickling down the corners of her mouth

"Criminals don't have any privileges" he kept advancing towards the female confidently

Iris snarled, her tail was swinging from side to side, almost as it wanted to rip itself from her body and throw itself at the dragon. The icy spike on her tail tip emitted a cold, icy light. The temperature in the room dropped considerably.

"if I may!..." a feminine, squeaky shout echoed throughout the hall

Everyone stopped at hearing the unexpected noise, impulsively the eyes of everyone present shifted towards the direction from which the sound came.

It was the mole librarian, he had one of her claws risen vertically in the air as if trying to make herself higher than she actually is. The moment she felt all of those eyes focusing on her, the arm that was risen in the air dropped down swiftly to the mole's side with an unwanted slap.

The female cringed when her hand sent burning pulses of pain across her right flank as it slapped into her body. Wanting to hide her embarrassment the female cringed and crossed her arms across her body in a display of complete shyness and submission. Taking advantage of the pose she put herself into, she began impulsively and gently massaging her sore flank.

"Might...ummm...I propose a different solution for this problem?"

Cyril snorted disdainfully "Yes let's make a librarian our head judge. What next? A cook commanding a whole squad of soldiers?"

The drake chuckled, the sound made the mole wince in shame.

"Cyril" Terrador admonished his friend strictly

"People, please" the Ice Guardian sighed irritated "We are the Guardians, dragons with thousand years of life behind them. Who else has bigger experience regarding rulership and law than us?"

"Cognizance Cyril with truth known by actual observation, adopted rules and rubrics from study, investigation, general erudition and effective wisdom annexed from what we had observed, encountered and withstood doesn't fabricate us as pansophical beings. Procured behavior sequences customarily followed until they had become almost unpremeditated make apprehending by means of the senses or of the mind bleary. Everything hankers refreshment"

Terrador nodded, clearly supporting Volteer's speech.

"Exactly, opinion from the outside might be invaluable" he turned towards the female mole "Please Mora, continue"

Cyril rolled his eyes, annoyed beyond imagination.

The librarian began to pick at her claws "Well…from what I gather our friend over there spent some time in prison already"

"And she hasn't learned anything from her stay there!" the dragon guard growled angrily "She devastated a building the same day she left her cell. Troublemakers like her should stay in a prison until they think over their actions"

"Yes I agree, but it didn't work the first time so I doubt it will work the second"

The drake shook his head in disbelief "Then what do you propose?"

"It's obvious that solitude doesn't work well for her…" she looked over the Guardians and with a shrug cleared her throat "My library is a mess, the explosion wrecked it, it requires some cleaning. She damaged something correct? Let her make amends by repairing something. There is already a nice boy there sorting things out. She'll have someone to talk to"

Iris snorted disdainfully.

The dragon guard chuckled wryly "You can't be serious, this-"

"I like the idea" Terrador chimed in

"By the Ancestors…" Cyril sighed depressed

Both the guard and the librarian looked at the Earth Guardian. The guard's mouth was hanging open and his eyes grew to an immense size, he just didn't seem to believe what he was hearing. The mole on the other paw was smiling from ear to ear and beaming with practically palpable joy.

"Mora has a point and I support it, there is nothing else to add" he turned towards the young dragoness narrowing her eyes on her "Mora will show you the way while our friend over there will escort you. If you cause trouble again the future won't look bright to you. Mark my words"

Iris seemed just as much surprised like the guard, her eyes were jumping from the mole to the Guardians, then the other way around.

"I want to get back in that cell" she announced finally

"Your wishes are of no interest to us" Terrador commented bluntly and nodded towards the door "Show her away and don't leave her out of your sight until she gets to the library"

The draconic guard nodded respectfully "Yes sir"

Mora approached the dragoness and aimed her open palm at the door "This way" she went first

The moment her back was turned towards the young female a cold shiver of terror ran through her spine. For a brief second she imagined sharp draconic claws plunging themselves in her back and ripping her apart.

Nothing like that happened however, to her and most likely everyone's surprise the dragoness followed her without a word. It was hard to decide if she accepted the decision or simply didn't care where she goes as long as she's not heading for the prison. But then again, she said…

Mora impulsively looked behind her shoulder and noticed the girl looking at the big fire dragon. She was glad that he stood there, the glare the dragoness was giving the drake could end lives if that was possible.

It was clear that the two spent much time together and could understand what the other is thinking by just looking at each other. She didn't understand any of this.

And she was glad for it.

The door to the City Hall closed.

A meaningful silence befallen on the room.

* * *

Amela having lived on this world for many years was sensitive to such invisible currents of mood and knew when her presence is welcome but bothersome at the same time.

She wrapped her arm around Hunter's shoulder and led him towards the entrance to the long corridor at the side of the room.

"Come, we need to take care of those wounds"

"There was an explosion?" Hunter whispered in her ear worryingly "What happened?"

The female's ears flattened on her skull "It's a tragedy, a whole mole family and their friends died, their house just exploded. Nobody knows for certain how this happened, the most likely explanation is that someone didn't secure the crates in which the explosives were kept. Someone lit up a torch and the catastrophic result is ready"

"Mole family? I can hardly believe that moles were satisfied with the verdict. We're talking about natural engineers here"

Amela picked at her earing anxiously "Accidents happen, unfortunately"

"Even you don't believe it"

"What's your opinion?"

Hunter rubbed the yin-yang symbol just below his neck "I hope this was an accident, but something tells me that this is not just an unfortunate turn of events. This city has changed, there's a different smell to it, too much is happening in a very short time. I have a feeling that one of Brill's people set it up, fear is a powerful force after all"

"No, he might be blind and zealous but he would never sacrifice his own people. He needs them on his side"

The scout sighed "I don't know"

The healer patted his shoulder "Let's leave it for now, there's just too many question marks. Time has a way of getting rid of them. Who is that dragon you brought here?"

"His name is Ignus, he's Iris' uncle"

Amela gasped faintly in sudden realization "That explains why she listens to him. Still her return doesn't bode well"

"She's alright"

The female giggled "She scratched you, bled you and wanted to kill you. What it would take to change your view on dragons?"

Hunter smiled "Nothing I suppose"

"Not even when one of them would mortally wound you?"

"If I would be dying I think I wouldn't care if it was my fascination that led me to Death's door"

She chuckled "True enough"

"They have the power to change things, if someone like me would stand in their way they have all the right to remove me. Creatures like them deserve some privileges"

"All of them have that kind of power?"

"Mostly. All I need is a glimpse"

"Does Ignus have the power to rule over lives?"

Hunter impulsively looked behind his shoulder, as he glanced at the old fire drake he saw the door to his home creaking open, a vampire was stepping through the doorstep, the life stealing fangs gleaming ominously under the light of the moon.

"Yes" he rasped

Both cheetahs disappeared around the corner.

* * *

"it's an honor to meet you" Ignus mumbled respectfully and raised his gaze from the floor and aimed it at the three dragons ahead. Introductions are over, that is usually a good start.

"Before we continue I would want with all painful honesty apologize for my niece. I try my best to control her, alas she's a strong character and resists my attempts however she can"

"You must understand that we have enough problems of our own, another one is not welcome" Cyril commented icily

The fire drake bowed with unchanging respect "Of course, for my defense I can say that she wasn't always like this. She was a lovely girl once" he snarled "humans changed that, their cities and petty wars for domination. Always finding a pretty name for their act of aggression" his snout twisted in abhorrence "Purge, Crystal Wyrm-"

"The vocable once more! This terminology tantalizes to my emotions and faculties by which I espy stimuli originating from outside or inside the body. Those locutions held my engrossment by their idiosyncratic in nature pulchritude"

Volteer chimed in with his typical friendly, excited and sound sizzling speech.

Ignus stared at the Electric Guardian with wide eyes.

Terrador smiled "What our friend is trying to say is that he's really curious what the titles you mentioned mean"

"Precisely!"

"I understood what he tried to say…more or less" the fire drake mumbled in shock, just to shake his head seconds later and free himself from the state of bewilderment "Anyway, the Purge is a pretty word for genocide of any nonhuman specie"

All three Guardians straightened up after hearing the dragon's words.

"I surmise that humans had the capacity for moral decisions and were therefore culpable?" Volteer asked with a tone of a well learned professor

"Yes"

"How could you let some lesser creatures overpower you? We are dragons! There is no one stronger than us!" Cyril growled furiously

All those holes appearing throughout the world with enemies deadlier than the last one hiding behind them and when they finally get a battle hardened dragon he turns out to be a weakling just like most of Warfang's people.

Ignus looked at the Ice Guardian calmly, not bother or offended by his outburst "I didn't make myself clear. The Purge touched every race, ours as well, but we weren't wiped like the rest. Fate worse than death befallen on us"

All three Guardians listened with great interest.

The fire drake sighed, it was a breath full of sadness and shame "We were reduced to the role of brainwashed mounts. Mankind captured our young, turned them into wild animals, bred and branded us like cattle"

"Dear Ancestors" Terrador gasped

Not because he felt terrible about the fate of dragons from whatever time the drake came from, but because the story triggered his military awareness, some kind of automatic scaling of survival chances if mankind would find a way through the Veil. In current circumstances the chance of victory for the Realms wavered somewhere between twenty and thirty percent in his opinion.

Not much, but also not depressingly low.

That is if they count the three portals they already know of.

But the world is huge.

Ignus nodded glumly "We still might consider ourselves lucky, some of us fled and avoided the horrible fate. The same thing cannot be said about the other races, those that survived are nothing more than pets for humans"

"Interesting" Volteer huffed with palpable awe "Our animalistic complexion isn't an explanation generally not apparent. Scientifically propounding we are just reptiles palpated by a more exuberant aggrandizement. This is an imminent autonomous portion of something that unavoidably supervenes on existence of every young hatchling. The act of utilizing natural order as a device for use in strife is thought provoking"

"INTERESTING?!" Cyril roared furiously "Dragons dominated by some fucking...fucking...whatever! How is that possible?! How could you let it happen?! With our strength at your disposal and magic and intelligence and cunning and-"

"Arrogance" Ignus cut Cyril off

The Ice Guardian jerked his head back and puffed a mist of freezing ice through his nostrils.

"Arrogance was our downfall. We believed to be unstoppable, we ignored all the lesser creatures as you called them, humans belonged to that group back then. We ignored their wars and other petty squabbles, why should we care? Such little beings are no threat to us after all"

He sighed "Time passed and they grew strong while we became more complacent and prideful. Before we knew it the world was filled with adventurers, bounty hunters, knights, alchemists, mages and dragon hunters. They began killing us not because we were a threat to their domination, they were killing us out of greed. All this bloodshed for a couple of gems, can you believe it?"

The Guardians were speechless, the three old friends were exchanging meaningful glances between each other. Perhaps that world is no different from theirs, with that slight difference hanging in the air however. The Dragon Realms, the current ones at least, were more lucky.

"Our leaders led us to many victories but it wasn't enough. Our arrogance blinded us and when we opened our eyes it was already too late. We were losing more and more of our most experienced fighters who had any charisma and royal blood in them. Only one managed to prevail long enough to give us any shred of hope"

Ignus unconsciously scratched the lump that was once his horn "The Crystal Wyrm" he announced with odd reverence in his voice "Iris' mother and my dear, dear sister. If we would all be like her, nobody would even dare to look into our eyes"

Cyril slapped Volteer's hind leg with his tail to gain his attention "You hear that? Ice dragon that was respected and brilliant. Consider updating your library" he grinned arrogantly

The fire drake swallowed bitterly "When she…fell everything changed. It…"his voice trailed off and he cleared his throat "It's a tragic story and I feel that I'm not the one who should be telling it"

He raised his gaze at the Guardians, a fierce glimmer crossed his fiery eyes. His look was stern and lacked any sign of defeat. It was like he was paying his respects with that glance, that was the least he could do.

"Enough of my whining we didn't come here to seek pity or mercy. I offer a trade, our knowledge about the enemy if it comes to that and trust me, it will. If we found a way through to this realm mankind will certainly do too. We also add ourselves under your service"

Terrador narrowed his gaze on the drake, his offer was tempting considering the circumstances, however there is always a _but_ when something seems to be too good to be true.

"We met your niece, somehow I doubt she will listen to orders"

"Iris is so much like her mother but I knew my sister and her temper. I can influence my niece, she'll freeze her foes without blinking, you just need to point her in the right direction"

"I don't thi-"

"Your niece's aid will be most welcome" Cyril chimed in sternly, cutting Volteer off

The two Guardians threw the drake surprised and somewhat irritated glances. Cyril met their stares confidently, it was either the conceitedness or pride gleaming in his eyes. Whatever it was his two friends looked away, silently acknowledging his plan of keeping some aces under their sleeve. Recognizing the unspoken prophecy or the sight of the future in the ice drake's orbs.

The exchange of glances lasted maybe a second or two.

"As for me" Ignus continued "I can offer much tactical insight and some other dirty tricks if necessary when the situation will demand it. What I learned from fighting with humans is that cunning sometimes triumphs over brute strength"

Terrador nodded approvingly "Judging from the look of your armor you know what battle means"

"And I have scars to prove that" the fire dragon announced somewhat proudly while tilting his head down, presenting his maimed head "Alas I can't offer you my crude warrior's fighting experience, age took that away from me. I'm no longer as capable as I used to be"

The Earth Guardian nodded once again, familiar with the sadness in the fire dragon's voice. Getting pushed away from the battlefield by age makes you feel so worthless.

"And what do you want in return?" Cyril asked

"A place where we could return to rest our bones in moderate peace"

"Mind that we are going currently through some rough times. This city is not as it used to be"

Ignus shrugged "A little thrill will keep us sharp"

"I cannot sojourn in the state of quietude for too long. From your narrative that particularizes the details of another race delineates mankind as a ruthless and prepossessing specie. Is there more to them I excogitate curiously"

The ice dragon smirked "One of the minuses of staying here is that you will have to bare Volteer's jabbering"

Cyril was surprised how fast his attitude towards the fire drake changed. He had a highborn blood in his veins, a true, not fictional one. This at least earns him the benefit of the doubt and maybe later they will find out that their new guest isn't as bad as first impression made him to be.

Ignus bowed respectfully "Gladly"

"Its settled then" Terrador announced with a smile "Welcome in our humble city. I hope you and your niece will bring new freshness into our midst. Play smart and avoid trouble"

"I intend on doing just that"


	63. Chapter 7 Book IV

Chapter 7

Cynder stopped in the air at the sight of the raising walls of the Dragon City. She wasn't really fond of it, people treated her there like an enemy, the more understanding ones as an unwelcome guest at best. Yet their hostility and mistrust didn't bother her that much, every return to Warfang she treated like another day of work in a job you don't like very much.

It sucks but you'll bare through it.

However things have changed after Boven, she could smell it from here, when you're surrounded basically daily by aggression and hate you learn to distinguish the barely noticeable, for everyone else, waves in the air.

It was no longer tiny tendrils of smoke, leaving misty trails in their wake like some kind of road along your nose can walk. Now it was a fully developed, blazing fire with heat emanating from it in pulsing, almost searing beats like from an extremely hot stove.

This oven was a huge one.

It was called Warfang.

The winged dots like small flies circling above the city's towers reminded the dragoness of her position in the people's eyes.

She's nothing more than shit to them.

Among those winged dots was the lord of the flies, a beast hidden deep within the walled, somewhat industrial land. His name was Capro.

For a brief second she heard Mole-Yair's words in her head, relived the struggles with the dragons in Boven and then remembered how Dark Spyro killed all of them. It happened all at once, flashes of snouts and incomprehensible sounds. All of it created a numbing havoc in her head.

For the sake of everyone she has to get out of here.

"Cynder? What's wrong?"

It was Spyro, it was his voice.

She was surprised that the sound didn't cause her to have a heart attack, or didn't force the air out of her lungs. She remembered all that happened between them, it was short, innocent and probably didn't mean a thing.

But...but she somehow knew, she just knew that something great happened, something clicked in the right place. The door to her fool's paradise she imagined so long ago in the Valley of Avalar had opened.

Her heart was stretched to its limits and it still kept on going, the sensation was agonizingly painful. But it was one hell of an agonizing glorious stretch.

And yet…

The sight of Warfang was a literal killjoy. A hole draining all the good that happened in her accursed life.

"Wrong?" Cynder replied, quite shocked that her voice was depraved of all emotion "Nothing's wrong"

Spyro appeared in front of her nose the moment the last word came out her throat. He examined her with his huge, worried and...somewhat crazy amethyst eyes of his.

"Are you sure?" "You look rather pale"

"I'm fine Spyro"

He vanished from her sight and started to circle her around.

"You didn't hurt yourself during the flight?"

He appeared in front of her again.

Cynder watched him quite dumbfounded by the idiotic question.

"No..."

"It's the leg, right? It has to be the leg"

"My leg is-"

Before she could finish what she tried to say Spyro dashed down, she felt his breath on her bandaged paw.

It tickled.

"Are you sure it didn't get infected? It might have"

Cynder jerked her wounded leg away, notably embarrassed by his creepily cute, intrusive attention.

"It's healing Doc. No need to worry"

He raised up again.

"What about the choker? You're wearing it around your neck all the time. Doesn't it bother you?"

Cynder furrowed her brows with a slight backward jerk of her head.

"No…it doesn't bother me"

She impulsively covered the bracelet with her paw.

"For the record, don't question a girl's jewelry. It might end badly for you"

She offered him a teasing smile.

Spyro stared at her white sharp teeth, like he wanted to drill through them and look inside her throat.

"Maybe you ate something?"

The smile was gone from her snout. She impulsively ran her tongue across her teeth.

"Your tongue!" he exclaimed right in her snout , the yell forced her to pull her head away from him.

"It changed color. Show it to me!"

Due to shock caused by his strange behavior she opened her mouth unconsciously, only when she felt her tongue sliding across the sharp daggers that were her teeth she woken up from the dazzle with a shake of her head.

The tongue returned back to her mouth with a quiet slurp.

"Listen Spyro, I appreciate the attention, it's flattering, really, but ease off the trigger there gunslinger, alright?"

He acted like he didn't listen, he started to circle around her again, his eyes sizing her up.

"I know you, something's wrong I can tell, you just don't want to tell me"

Cynder shifted nervously, feeling his gaze on her "Spyro…just…"

The open air suddenly became very tight, and irritatingly hot.

"I won't leave you like I did in Munitions Forge, I'll find whatever is bothering you and take care of it"

The dragoness wrapped her tail around her dangling hind legs and started to slide her paws along her body awkwardly as if trying to cover it with invisible sheets, just like somebody would barge in into her room and ogle her naked body.

"Stop it" she muttered bashfully "You're making me uncomfortable"

He returned in front of her snout, at first her weak protest didn't have any effect on him as he continued to look her over with addicting worry.

The longer he stared at here the lower her head went down with her body becoming smaller and smaller as she tried to curl herself into a draconic ball.

"Hey dude!" Sparx yelled "Move your butt to the city, being in the open, under the sun doesn't really help with your headache"

Cynder raised her eyes at him, not high enough to wrap the image of his whole snout but enough to get a glimpse of his eyes.

"You're ill?" she whispered shyly

"He's SICK!" the dragonfly chimed in before the dragon could answer, if he wanted to say anything at all that is. He pronounced the last word with an exaggerated seriousness in his voice. His glowing body appeared practically in between the two draconic noses.

He began to wave his hand between himself and his brother, gesturing at them both with calculated pulses of air "We're Swampers. We come from the Swamps, we're different than other people"

Cynder raised her eyebrows suspiciously, the embarrassment slowly being pushed to the side. Alertness for Sparx' lies waking up instead.

"Oh yeah?"

The dragonfly pressed his hand to his heart "Honest, did I ever lied to you?" he turned to his brother "To any of you?"

Their meaningful stares spoke volumes.

He raised his hand defensively "Don't answer that" he cleared his throat "Anyway as I was saying, as Swampers we inhaled some really disgusting fumes during our younger days. They had all sort of crap in them, that I don't even bother to name them. Let's just say that when you think about them, _healthy_ isn't the first thing that comes to your mind"

"What?" Spyro blurt out flabbergasted "There was no such thing"

Sparx noticed a shimmer of tiredness and monotony flying across Cynder's emerald eyes. She wasn't believing in this ruse the moment he started speaking, Spyro only made the situation worse.

"Are you sure bro?" the dragonfly turned to face his brother with a meaningful glance

"Yes I'm sure"

"Bro concentrate, remember what they were teaching us about the fumes"

"I do remember and I don't recall our teachers saying anything about the fumes being toxic or anything. They were a pain when we were kids, ok, but never more than that"

Sparx cleared his throat "Are you SURE?" he put as much allusion in his tone as possible

"Of course I'm sure! The-"

"They have some long term consequences! Don't you remember?" the dragonfly cut in "Especially dragons like you are vulnerable to this as we found out later. All the lessons were about the effect they have on dragonflies. You are a dragon, you deal with this stuff differently"

Spyro frowned, eyeing his brother "What the hell are you talking about?"

Sparx threw another glance at Cynder, she was observing the scene with slight bewilderment.

"I'm talking about the chemical reaction that makes you go all crazy and do stuff that you won't normally do. They called it…umm…" he pretended to remember the name, but in fact was trying to make one up "…semufhizing"

"What? That's not even a word!"

"Hey!" Sparx exclaimed with fake indignity "It's not like I made this just up! Blame the eggheads. Whatever, point is that it's an illness and you're sick with it"

"I'm not ill" the drake protested confidently

The dragonfly folded his arms on his chest "Yeah? Does the name LOVEptospirosis mean anything to you?" he made sure to put enough emphasis on the word _love_

It worked, his brother's eyes widened in horror and every notion of arguing his point died deep within his throat. He definitely got the hint this time.

"Or wait!" Sparx scratched his chin thoughtfully "I got it wrong, maybe it was called genLOVElleosis?

Spyro swallowed hard, his terrified eyes kept jumping from Cynder to Sparx and back.

The dragoness observed the scene with her head cocked to the side.

"Nothing? Damn, I got the name wrong again. How about diphLOVEria?"

"I-"

"No? Then maybe it was tuLOVEremia?"

The drake gulped again, beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

"PertuLOVEssis?"

Spyro backed away slowly, throwing a quick glance at the city far ahead.

"LOVEprosy?"

"I…I…need…to…" he rubbed his forehead hectically

"BruLOVElossis?"

"The SUN!" the dragon shouted loudly, releasing all the boiling horror in his voice and gaining the attention of the one dragoness he didn't want to attract at this time.

He chuckled nervously seeing her shocked stare. He pointed one of his claw's up, towards the clouds above, smiling idiotically.

"It's all because of it, when...when I work hard and spend too much time in the air...I...I...do all sorts of creepy stuff…and the like"

He cackled nervously once more and began to scratch his neck fervently "So..." his eyes shifted towards Warfang, its walls were suddenly extremely alluring

"I really need to get there" Spyro started to shift his body towards the direction of the Dragon City. I really, really need to get there...be...before this gets any worse"

He licked his lips, they were painfully dry. His amethyst orbs once more moved towards the city, for him it felt like he was flying towards its walls for ages and yet Warfang wasn't any closer than before.

Spyro wanted to buy more time, spit something, anything, it didn't have to make sense, he just had to start talking. However he was out of breath, it was like his voice forgot how to articulate words. Panic clouded the last bits of sane judgment that were left.

"See ya there!" the dragon yelled and darted towards the city, he was gone in seconds, he shot towards Warfang so fast that the two companions that stayed behind could see trail of smoke left by his wings as he sped towards the Dragon City. Like in some sort of cartoon.

Both of them stared at the shrinking form of the purple dragon with their mouths hanging open.

"Well…" Sparx huffed "…seems like my bro lost some pounds"

"What just happened?" Cynder uttered in confusion

"You don't want to go that way, believe me"

"I never seen him acting so weird"

The dragonfly shrugged indifferently "We all have our own crazy, and my bro...you've seen for yourself. He has problems dealing with new stuff"

The dragoness frowned "What do you mean by _new stuff_? And don't tell me about some strange illness because I don't believe he's sick"

Sparx smirked "Oh, but he is and so are you"

Cynder furrowed her brows "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know" he sung out endearingly

"No" she replied confidently and with all honesty "I do not"

Sparx grinned "Whatever you say"

She frowned "Between you and Spyro, at least I can find a name for your craziness. You're delusional"

The dragonfly shrugged "Maybe, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm the only one that can show Spyro around through his crazy state"

"Which is...?"

Sparx waved his hand dismissively "Don't you worry, he has his more intelligent brother to show him the ropes"

Cynder's eyes widened in a fake surprise "You have a third brother? How come I never met him?"

Sparx folded his arms indignantly "Very funny smartass"

"Seriously, I would really like to meet this intelligent brother. A change would be nice, you grew quite boring lately"

"Shut up" he blurt out sternly

Cynder snorted in amusement.

"Laugh all you want, it changes nothing. I'm still my bro's voice of reason when facing the unknown"

"The same voice of reason that told him that kissing a wet brush is just like kissing a girl?"

Sparx grinned "He told you about that? Oh man" his eyes clouded a fog of yearning "Those were the times. Regret that you didn't see it, he was so into it" he laughed at the memory "I should mention that this was a brush that our mother used to clean the house, when you live in the Swamps much dirt and the like gets inside, it's really hard to get rid of it. The brush managed somehow, but after some time it got so dirty that Mom just couldn't clean it, some muck always stayed on the bristles"

Cynder's smile started to grow wider, she has never seen Sparx acting like that, but it didn't matter right now. His joy was addicting, she didn't even knew when she started to giggle, listening to his merry narration.

Another dose of laughter escaped his throat "It all changed when Spyro sucked to it, he really believed that this was great practice before the real thing. And the sounds! You should have heard the sounds he was making! Wild animals don't smack and slurp so loud!"

By now the dragoness was laughing with him.

He laughed hysterically "When he was finally done, and it took quite a while, the brush was SPARKLING! It's been in our house for weeks and Spyro managed to make it shine! I swear you could take it to the market and sell it as a brand new product. After some one on one with my bro nobody would tell the difference"

Another dose of laughter filled the air, a mix of female and male tone like dancing partners of completely different styles and yet when joined together they make something special, something nobody would believe they were capable of. The dancing partners included.

But damn it felt right.

Cynder managed to regain some composure after a while of almost choking laughter that ravaged her lungs and vocal cords.

She directed her shimmering with tears emerald eyes at the glowing dragonfly who by some indescribable instinct met her gaze in the same bashful manner she did his. This was the true Sparx without the mask of wit and sarcasm he's constantly wearing.

Such an unusual sight.

It was obvious that he misses the naïve Spyro from their younger days when he believed everything the dragonfly told him, there's no surprise there, everyone misses something. That's how THE memory lane is created so you can take a trip down its non-existing tracks. For better or worse.

The strange thing was that he opened up to her, her, the evil chick. Of course she knew that time changed his opinion about her, she saw all that when they returned to Warfang after defeating Malefor, he didn't really bother to hide it anyway.

They became friends and they didn't deny it.

However that doesn't change that he, deliberately or not, let her in into his _personal space_ so to speak, a space where even his draconic brother is a rare, and most likely sole, visitor. When the door opened she walked right through their doorstep, not hesitating even for a bit and thinking about what she finds there, or the consequences of such action. Nothing of that mattered, because…because…

It felt damn right.

In any other situation she would try to exploit the gap Sparx left in his defense. The opportunity was perfect to throw an innocent tease here and there to rile him up a little. However such a thing didn't even cross her mind.

Partially because the story Sparx related concerned the only dragon she has any romantic feelings for and out of curiosity of a secret lover she just had to learn everything she could about Spyro. No matter how stupid it was.

The other reason had nothing to do with Spyro, it was strictly connected with this odd sensation of acceptance, just like someone would invite you to a circle where the most important gather and whisper, a circle you never expected to find yourself in, but couldn't just walk away when the opportunity to join presented itself.

The two brothers were a part of such circle, but they weren't the only ones forming it, their mother and father also belonged to it. Sparx deliberately or not opened the door for her, she knew that, she could feel that.

And so did he.

The broad merry grin vanished from Sparx' face when their gazes clashed with each other. The smile was replaced by an awkward grimace of sudden, unwelcome enlightenment. A sign that he carried himself away.

"What I'm trying to say…" the dragonfly cleared his throat "..you like my bro?" he asked with a defeated shrug

The question caught Cynder unaware "Happens sometimes" she announced with that hint of sarcastic mischief whenever she dealt with Sparx

"If you want it to stay that way you'll need to pretend that nothing happened. Ignore the crazy"

"I don't understand any of this"

Sparx shrugged "You don't have to, now let's get to the city. Using my brain cells on you feels like such a waste"

"Ok" Cynder replied with a smirk and instantly dashed forward towards Warfang's walls

From behind her Sparx cleared his throat audibly.

The dragoness turned towards him with an endearing smile "What's wrong? Aww, wasted too many brain cells to keep up with me?"

The dragonfly snorted "I still have plenty left"

She smirked "Good for you, let's see if they make you fly faster" with that she renewed her flight towards the city

"Crap" Sparx sighed tiredly

* * *

Spyro arrived in Warfang way before his brother and Cynder finished their little banter. He landed in front of the main and only gate, directly in the middle of the marble circle, the one with a pair of draconic wings carved on its stony surface. The green patches of grass growing on its edges were like borders of a stage and the circle that he was currently occupying the spotlight. The image was misgiving, but it wasn't that bad.

Much worse was the sensation that the stage was unending and the spotlight eternal.

The massive gate behind him was opened, split in half, two separate sides were pressed to opposite walls of the city. Yet even from there he felt two artificial eyes leering at him from the fabricated dragon's head that served as the main solution of reinforcing the gate during a siege.

Judging from the itchy scraping at the back of his head, Spyro sensed that the cold draconic snout reinforced something entirely different than the gate. As he looked around he saw people looking his way, their stares were empty and bleak like by some unexplained means the head reinforced their souls, making them solid as a rock. It was clear that they were prepared for a different kind of siege and it had nothing to do with the apes, golems or anything else banging at the city walls.

There was hostility hanging in the air, the smell of it was so thick that if he would extended his paw and clench it he would surely feel it pulsing against his scales.

No one approached him, no one wanted to know how it go, if he's alright or if the danger is gone. People were walking all around him, circling him, but keeping their distance, as if the ground where he was standing was radiating some kind of poison, which would affect them if they got to close.

Just like it affected him.

He was sick to them.

That realization made Spyro's heart bleed, they were looking at him like he was some kind of victim, a casualty of war. He impulsively began to scratch his neck, exactly in the place where the magical chain bonding him with Cynder was, exactly in the place where, not so long ago, they both agreed for it to become their invisible shackles.

He looked behind his shoulder, way past Warfang's walls, looked at the sky where in the distance he saw a black dot approaching the city. He realized that if people knew what happened they would say that he made a deal with the devil, maybe even some of them sensed the change, maybe they knew that for him there is no turning back now.

They sealed the deal with a kiss.

If she would be truly the devil he wouldn't care. If it was up to him, he would sell his soul all over again.

Minutes passed and some people started to look differently at him, there was a glimmer of hope in some of those eyes. For those couple inhabitants the imagined poisonous barrier that surrounded him was dispersing. They started to make their way towards him, in that moment he was once again the untainted hero that saved countless lives in their eyes.

"What's the hold up?"

It all changed when Cynder's cheerful voice echoed in the air and her feminine black paws touched the ground gracefully just next to him.

The approaching people jumped back with startled gasps. Spyro could swear that he heard hissing when they backed away from the two of them, just like monsters afraid of the ominous glow emanating from his friend's black scales

"Someone's happy to see us" Cynder commented sarcastically, already aware of the mood polluting the air

Between a couple of stalls with flowers on them the dragoness spotted a female cheetah observing her intently.

"Hi!" Cynder waved at the feline

The cheetah snarled rabidly.

"Whoa" the dragoness blurt out with a jerk of her head "I think that my bladder just gave away"

"I don't like this" Spyro muttered anxiously "Something changed"

The serious tone of his voice killed whatever notion of trying to deal with this situation with some dose of pitiful humor. Of course something changed, she knew that even before they left the village behind. It just had to change.

_"If you care about the people you are with, you will go your own way"_

She has to get out of here.

"Let's go" Spyro urged

"Aren't you forgetting about someone?"

The purple dragon frowned as he looked at his friend, at first not knowing what she is talking about but then realized that their little group lacks that specific yellow glow.

He began scanning the surrounding area. There was no sign of his brother.

"Where is Sparx?"

Cynder grinned "His ride ditched him"

Spyro looked in the direction from which they came, a glowing yellowish orb was quickly approaching them.

"He isn't a big fan of long trips without something he could rest on"

She pressed her paw to her chest with a fake worried and regretful gasp.

"That poor thing! I had no idea"

The dragon shook his head.

"You treacherous poor excuse of a dragon!"

Cynder giggled menacingly at the sound of the angry, almost choking yelling.

Sparx joined the two of them, panting heavily.

"So...how was the flight?" the dragoness asked playfully

"You're in...some big...trouble missy"

He rasped and unconsciously looked around, driven by that peculiar feeling that he is being watched. His gut was right, people were gaping at them. Of course they have to stare, they are looking at their heroes, destroyers of evil. Their return only meant one thing, they were victorious.

"Hello world!" Sparx exclaimed with renewed vigor while raising in the air so everyone could see him and from where he could see them.

The smile that rose on his face with the joyful shout vanished the moment he locked eyes with one of the inhabitants. He began to turn around, practically everyone was looking at him, at her, the same way. He was certain that the only thing holding them back from throwing themselves at Cynder with pitchforks and torches is Spyro.

"You're in...some big...trouble missy" he muttered to himself

"Alright guys, I don't how about you but I want to get out of the streets" Spyro chimed in "Let's go"

Cynder followed him without a word.

"You guys go. I have something to do, I'll catch up to you later"

Both dragons threw the dragonfly surprised glances.

"YOU have something else to do?" the dragoness asked in disbelief

Sparx folded his arms while narrowing her eyes on her "Yeah I do, but I'm beginning to have my doubts about this, it might not be worth the effort"

"What is it?"

"A secret" the dragonfly smirked

"Come on, you're making this up. Spyro is just over here, we all know that-"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever" the dragonfly cut the dragoness off with a bored mumble "You have your job, I have mine. End. See you later" and with that he flew away

Both drakes observed the shrinking glowing dot that was Spyro's brother.

"Did I just offended him?" Cynder muttered with palpable surprise and a bit of regret in her voice

"No" Spyro comforted her, yet his voice was filled with uncertainty "I mean…I don't think so. You know Sparx, he can be weird sometimes"

They renewed their walk, heading to the only place where they could find some understanding

"Any idea what this work of his is about?"

The purple dragon shrugged.

"No clue"

They made their way through the rest of the street and towards the stairs to the higher levels of the city in silence. Not because they didn't have anything to talk about, they didn't talk because their heads were wrapped in something else.

They didn't talk because impulsively their instincts kicked in, they were struck by the feeling of misgiving and itching nervousness, just like they would be passing through enemy territory.

In one of the alleys Spyro spotted a dragon and cheetah staring at them with four murderous eyes. In truth they were gawking at only one of them, but for the purple drake it didn't matter, if they have something against Cynder they have something against him.

By the look of it, they had more than one issue.

On closer inspection Spyro spotted tiny tendrils of flame wafting from the dragon's nostrils. The feline's body language so to speak showed the same signs of hostility. He was turning a stone between his fingers, every now and then he clenched his claws around it as if wanting to hurl it at them, but never made the move. The stone always renewed its dance between the cat's fingers.

Unknowingly Spyro sped up their walk almost to the point of a small scamper. Cynder followed in his wake, not caring that her leg is wounded, not caring that she limped the whole time. She just wanted to get out of here.

As they climbed the stairs instinctively they feared that soon everything will go to hell, the enemy will gather at the top and greet them on the next level with spears and magic ready to throw in their snouts.

They reached the top and were greeted only by the sound of splashing water coming from the fountain in the shape of a coiled dragon. Even the peculiar serenity of the flowing water wasn't enough, they were still on edge. They exhaled the nervousness when they noticed that there is someone familiar sitting by the fountain. Two cheetahs, one older and one much younger and yet they knew both of them

Amela's ears perked up at the sight of the two young dragons. Her trained eye and nose momentarily located the poorly bandaged leg of the dragoness.

"Sweetheart, you too!?" the feline exclaimed and instantly sprang on her legs from the cold surface of the fountain. The sound of her joints cracking pierced the air like little thunder. She didn't seem to be care since she instantly dashed towards the dragoness, as fast as her old legs could carry her.

Cynder observed the cheetah dropping on her knees in front of her with wide eyes.

"Amela it's good, you don't have to-"

The cheetah jerked the injured leg up forcing a painful hiss from the young female.

"If it would be good I doubt I would hear that hiss" the feline started unwrapping the pitiful bandage carefully

"How are you darling?" Amela asked without interrupting her work

Even if she didn't look at him Spyro knew that the question was addressed to him.

"Only tired"

"Words fail to describe how glad I am to see you both alive"

Hunter stood up from his sitting spot that was the stony hind leg of the artificial dragon and bowed to them respectfully when they set their eyes on him.

Spyro who recently inspected injuries and played a doctor instantly noticed that one of the feline's arms was covered in dressing.

"What happened?"

The cheetah followed the young dragon's gaze and looked at his bandaged arm. He winced at the sight of it as if it was the most embarrassing thing in the world and instantly hid it behind his back. He scratched his chest nervously with his other hand.

"Nothing of much importance, delicate injuries are the fate of every scout"

He smiled.

"Those are bite marks!" Amela exclaimed in horror when the last twig holding the bloody leaves dropped on the ground

"Made by draconic teeth no less!" she gently turned the wounded leg around

Cynder smiled precariously "It's nothing"

"Oh no" the cheetah blurt out and swiftly pressed her forefinger to the girl's mouth, making Cynder's eyes go wide inspection surprise

"I don't want to hear any of this! I can recognize a dragon's work when I see one. Whatever golems you were fighting can't make such a wound so don't say that it's nothing"

Spyro frowned "How do you know about this?"

Amela pointed an accusing finger at Hunter "First he comes back with his arm ruined by your new feathery friend and now this!"

Cynder raised her gaze at Hunter, she immediately knew who this new feathery friend is. Anger heated her blood when she remembered that stupid snout.

"Iris did this to you? I'm going to kill that..." she swallowed, not really sure why she held back the only word that perfectly described that feathery slut. It just felt inappropriate.

"She acts like attacking people is a normal thing. Who the hell she think she is?"

The healer rubbed her forehead.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have say anything, its just that so much has happened lately, too much for old me to handle calmly"

She sighed sadly.

"Your leg Sweetheart is a perfect example how this world is wrong. Whoever bit you almost torn your paw off"

"It's not that bad. I'll pop a gem and I'll be as new"

After that both females began politely arguing what is bad and what is not, what is good for Cynder's health and what is not. Spyro lost interest, not because he had better things to do but because he knew that the worst is over and the care for Cynder's health fell on more experienced shoulders.

"How much do the people know?" Spyro asked straightforwardly and sat next to the feline scout

Hunter rested his bones once more on the cold surface of the artificial dragon. The cooling aura of the splashing water quenched the burning and itching of his flesh underneath the dressing.

"More than any of us would wish for"

"I felt something wasn't right, I usually had crowd of people on me whenever I got back to Warfang"

He sighed sadly, remembering the massacre in Boven and the bunch of dragons that escaped from his dark claws

"Should have expected it"

"There's only so much you can do my friend"

"That's the whole point, I didn't do anything, that portal is still open. I only got people killed"

He aimed his radiating with depression eyes on Cynder.

"And risked the life of my loved ones"

One of the cheetah's ears perked up, with calculating gaze of a scout he examined the dragon's eyes. There was hurt and depression shimmering from them, yet at the same time they had that specific dreamy touch that sometimes occur when you drift off into your own imagined world.

Hunter smiled, everything was clear to him, same thing couldn't be said about his purple friend, he was unaware that perhaps he jus betrayed his most valuable secret. The cheetah didn't even think about mentioning that to him. He just smiled.

At least something is going as it should be. He still has to find someone more deserving happiness than those two.

"How bad is it?"

His blue eyes fixed themselves on Cynder at the sound of the dragon's voice. She was smiling, a remnant from an earlier laugh. He was enthralled by the picture, it reminded him how unjust the world can be.

"The words I heard are far from being optimistic. Golems and portals are one thing, they're troubling, but in my modest opinion stories about a dark powerful dragon creature are far more concerning"

Spyro fidgeted uneasily.

It didn't escape Hunter's attention.

"You cannot allow your emotions take hold of you my friend. You let truth slip through the cracks, an experienced eye will have no troubles discerning the signs"

Spyro looked at the cheetah with scared and alarmed eyes, he was intelligent enough to know when to read between the lines.

"Cynder has nothing to do with this. All the consequences are on me"

Hunter raised his palm defensively.

"Creatures like me are below you, I'm in no place to judge you and give advice. My sincere apologies"

" What? You're a scout and a good friend. We're equals. No, not equals, your better than me, I'm a stupid dragon who betrays secrets and can't see the obvious. I need your advice, help me please"

Hunter nodded with a smile, politeness demanded to acknowledge the drake's modesty. The truth about who is more important to this world he decided to keep for himself.

"I've grown up in a village full of traditionalists, following the path tread by our Ancestors. In a life like this a certain pattern has to be followed, if you step out of it, you will get lost. Perhaps it's the order of things, some are meant to see behind the curtain, others aren't"

"A similar pattern of life was forced upon Warfang's people. The city was born in times of war, people learned that the world isn't safe, that there is always someone out there that wants to ruin everything. They were taught that there is always an enemy responsible for their misfortunes"

"This is their tradition"

Hunter looked at Cynder, remorse glimmered in his eyes.

"Sadly the road from enemy to scapegoat is a short one"

Spyro shook his head.

"This is so stupid"

"From our point of view maybe, others might see this differently. For some this might be a window, desperation and sorrow are easily bend underneath the right touch"

The dragon's eyes flared up with raw fury.

"Brill. I swear if he tries anything I will-"

Hunter put his hand on the dragon's tensed shoulder.

Spyro understood, he let go off his anger with a loud sigh.

"A well placed word from the shadow is just as dangerous as open accusation"

"Perfect, more trouble, that's what we need right now"

Spyro rubbed his forehead wearily.

"Ok, keep cool and we get through this. Don't do anything rash and extremely stupid and you'll be alright. Did I get that right?"

Hunter nodded.

"Is there anything else that I should know of?"

"There was an explosion recently"

Spyro frowned "Explosion?"

"An entire house was turned to rubble, two mole families dead in total. Badly secured explosive materials most likely were the cause of this disaster"

"By the Ancestors" the drake shook his head in disbelief "Moles and unsecured explosive materials. I can't simply believe it"

The scout nodded gloomily.

"I share the same doubts"

Spyro scratched the ground with his claw anxiously "I just hope that this was some terrible accident and not some disgusting way to infuriate people even more. If this is some kind of game for someone we're in so much trouble"

_Game._

Hunter rubbed the side of his neck, feeling a pair of imagined holes beneath his fingers.

"We all are my friend. We all are"


	64. Chapter 8 Book IV

Chapter 8

Mora picked at her claws the whole way to the library, the building wasn't far, some steps down the nearby staircase, two corners and they are there. She felt extremely uncomfortable around the satin blue dragoness, she didn't know exactly why, either it was because of the freezing aura surrounding the girl or simply because of the fact that she felt the dragonesses cold gaze piercing her back every now and then. It those moments the female mole knew that her life clings to the whim of the dragoness, if she only wanted to she would exhaust her spark without blinking.

Luckily for her Iris didn't seem to care about her presence. Or perhaps didn't acknowledge it at all.

Unpredictability, it's thrilling in books, makes you tense and anxious for the next page. However when it comes to people, unpredictability is the only trait Mora wasn't very fond of. Nervousness in life is unwelcome, especially in these troubling times. Living on edge all the time is exhausting.

And the dragoness was definitely unpredictable.

"I don't want to hear again that you are causing trouble. Do you understand?" the harsh voice of the draconic guard echoed in the air as he directed his snout at the female drake the moment the door of the library greeted them

Iris aimed her diamond piercing gaze at the dragon, his threats, him in general meant nothing to her. She cut him dead long ago, she wouldn't even notice his presence if she wouldn't feel his stinking breath on her.

The guard growled "I warn you _princess, _if you insist on staying a troublemaker, our conversation will look much different in the future"

"A dog that barks doesn't bite"

The dragon poked the female's chest angrily with his claw.

"Who are you calling a dog?"

Iris traced the paw with disgust in her eyes, luckily for the imbecile he didn't touch the medallion with his rotting claw.

"I don't remember ordering you to shake hands"

With another growl the dragon clenched his shaking paw, only the brink of his patience and the honor of duty were holding him back from throwing himself at the dragoness.

"Please" the squeaky pleading voice of Mora cut through the vibrating air of hate and aggression like nails on a chalkboard "There's no need for violence, let's do what we came here to do and part ways peacefully"

The male drake threw a sidelong glance at the mole, her begging eyes reminded him why he enlisted for the city guard in the first place.

"Down boy"

The drake winced, the bitch was infuriating with those mocking comments of hers, yet no matter how hard his blood boiled he dropped his paw on the ground.

"Good dog"

The mole quickly opened the door, they creaked with a somewhat pleasant, rumbling grind of metallic frame. She stepped away from the entrance.

Mora cleared her throat bashfully.

"As I said, there is already a nice boy working inside, he knows what to do, he'll fill you in"

The guard nodded towards the door "Get inside, destroy something and you'll regret it"

"You better get back, I've heard your masters whistling"

The dragon ignored her.

Iris swaggered forward with her head held up high, like she would be entering a palace rather than a book filled library. The smell of vellum invaded her nostrils the moment she crossed the doorstep.

She looked around the room without interest.

"You can go back to your kennel now"

The door slammed themselves shut behind her, the gust of wind they created swung her tail fiercely to one side. They closed them swiftly, like bars of a cage after a rabid animal entered its cage, with the sole intention of trapping it inside, with all the poison emanating from it included.

She remained oblivious to the fact, the cold tone of her voice was just as natural as sun on the sky to her.

Iris looked around the room, it seemed like a tornado just passed through it recently. Some windows were cracked, others definitely shattered at some point, shards of glass were still glistening on the carpet even if the windows in the frames were brand new. Makes sense, after all nothing is more dangerous to books than wild gusts of wind.

From the looks of it however nothing could possibly worsen the state of this particular volumes.

The tomes were scattered everywhere, some bookshelves were completely toppled over, whatever books they were holding most likely were ruined by now, if not all of them, then surely the bigger part. The books here were old, the smell told her that.

Whatever tornado passed through here it had to be a fiery one, some of the book-cases had scorch marks on them. Black dots dotted some of them, like a lit match would bounce off of them, others were in a worse state. Black dashes ran along their wooden surfaces, like somebody would play decorator with a burning brush.

Whatever was hurled across this room was definitely on fire.

Nothing remained of the older books except some torn covers and yellowish, cracked pages. The newer tomes were the only thing that survived, at least from the bookshelves. The room was also filled with desks, those were filled with empty white pages, quills and other opened different volumes. The library was also a study it seems, whoever was working on translating or perhaps transcribing the texts surely couldn't find a better time for it. Whatever remained on the ground floor so to speak was mostly untouched by the destruction that wrecked the library.

Pure luck.

She doesn't care about many things regarding this city and its people, but she can appreciate architectural and décor craft whenever she sees one. This library was a state of art in its own special way.

The painted bookshelves, the beautiful carpets, curtains and walls, all of them in many different shades of red and black. Pretty paintings on the walls with gold, thick frames and red canvases with meticulously smudges depicting horses, vases and the like on them. So much passion and work was put into those images that it seemed like the pictures wanted to climb out of the paintings.

This place had no torches on the walls, which was good, its walls were fitted with round braziers in the shape of a gold bird's talons, delicately lit magical fire was burning inside. She would switch those special, small lanterns the humans have in their buildings, yet a quick scan of the ceiling showed it was empty, seems like people here don't use chandeliers or have no knowledge of such means of lighting the room like humans do.

A pity, but nevertheless it was still lovely.

Minus the mess of course.

Yet the longer she observed the interior the more she became certain that the lanterns she thought about would ruin the atmosphere of this place. The delicate magical fires, together with the reddish décor created that beautiful, reddish gloom which was dispersed by the many candles sitting on the desks, like tiny lighthouses on a dark sea.

That was before.

Now the lights were out, especially the candle flames, the braziers still held some flames, more brighter than she imagined. There is no sense for artistry in this particular moment after all. The main source of light wasn't coming from the golden talons however. The combination of yellow and red illuminated the room and strangely it wasn't a constant source of light, it was moving, running across the room, behind the bookshelves just to disappear somewhere farther where her eyes couldn't reach.

It appeared seconds later, it was hectic, disappearing and arising like the light from a dying candle's flame. She remembered that fiery light from somewhere, couldn't really place where she saw it. It was familiar though, she was certain however that she seen it quite recently, when-

"SHIIIIIIIT!

The whiny, terrified male scream interrupted her train of thought.

The rumbling sound of a bookshelf crashing on the ground seconds later even more so. Some books rolled into her line of sight.

"GODDAMIT!"

A burst of fiery light and tiny flames flickered ahead after the angry roar, just like somebody would add wood to the still ember spitting furnace. One of the books caught on fire.

"Crap!" a shocked yelp echoed throughout the room and soon after a reddish tail with a burning tip on its end wrapped itself around the burning book and pushed it away from her sight.

"Oh" Iris muttered, remembering now from where she remembers that light…and that fiery tail

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no" Flare mumbled under his breath with his eyes closed as he kept stomping the book, killing the flames that wanted to ruin it "You need to keep calm, you need to keep calm, and everything will be alright, everything…will…be…alright"

He opened his eyes, the book underneath his paw was saved. Flare jerked his head back with wide eyes and victorious grin plastered on his face.

"See?!" he blurt out to himself triumphantly and picked the book from the ground "it's okay" he pressed the book practically to his nose examining it from up close from top to bottom "Everything will be alright, as long as you-"

He pushed the book down from his sight, something bluish was standing ahead.

"AAAAH!' Flare screamed startled and jumped back, flames burst from his body, his extended paw was still clenched but it wasn't holding a book any longer.

Only ash.

"F-f-f-from wh-h-ere-d-d-did-yo-u-u come f-f-f-from?!" he stammered hectically

Iris turned her head towards the drake and opened fully her squinted eyes, the heat that wafted from the drake was unbearable, it was impossible to look at him. Impulsively she ran her paw along her right cheek, it was surprisingly warm, yet no scales melted away.

She's an ice dragoness, cold is her domain and it was defeated, her natural aura cringed underneath that wave of heat.

So much power.

She ran her paw along her cheek a couple more times as if making sure she isn't dreaming.

When was the last time she felt warmth?

"Hey!" Flare blurt out, the wavering tone of his voice was gone "I recognize you! You're that yelling girl from the city hall! The one with her head up her ass!"

Iris frowned.

The fire dragon's eyes widened in sudden realization.

"No, no! What I mean is-" his voice trailed off, he began to sniff at the air like a werewolf catching the scent of blood of its prey

Something was burning.

His experienced nose immediately located the source of the smell, one of the curtains was burning behind him.

"Shit!" he yelled and instantly jumped towards it with both of his forelegs extended

Instead of catching the material in his paws as they clenched, his claws sliced through the thin curtain like a katana slicing a thread. In his shock and excitement he forgot just how sharp his claws are and accidently tore through the material.

The unfortunate outcome however instead of putting some sense in his head only made him more nervous and panicked.

Flare started to swing his paws at the curtain in quick succession, like a cat clawing at the window when wanting to get inside the house. Strands of the burning material were flying everywhere as the dragon turned the incarnated curtain into threads. He kept on slicing until he couldn't reach any farther, only a tiny portion of the material was beyond his reach, luckily it burn out on its own causing no more harm.

At least that's what he thought.

Some of the fiery strands landed on the carpet, the edges of the reddish material ignited, flames began to dance at the borders.

With a whiny yelp Flare jumped towards the fire and started stomping the flames in panic. His moves were so uncoordinated that instead of quenching the flames he ended up spitting more of the sparks everywhere..

He began to stretch to his limits, placing his paws in every possible direction just to reach the awakening flames. During this unfair struggle he adopted poses nobody believed a dragon is capable of reaching. From the side it looked like he wanted to tie himself into a knot, he acted like the carpet was a huge white mat, while the flames were round colorful circles

Twister in all its glory.

One of those stretches made him turn in the direction where Iris stood, Flare didn't see her, all he cared about was the growing flame. He jumped towards it aggressively and pushed his leg down angrily, yet this time he wasn't met solely by the numb thud of the reddish carpet reacting to his blow, but also by the characteristic slap of scales.

He jerked his head back slightly and raised his leg, below it, instead of carpet there were also three white toes with three sharp claws protruding from them. Both the claws and toes were a part of a light blue soft paw, which didn't even bother to react to the flame that recently burned in front of it.

It made him furious, the feeling was empowered by the fact that the paw was blue, meaning that it had all the power to quench flames only if it wanted to.

"Why the hell are you standing like this?!" Flare snapped as he threw his head up

Iris narrowed her eyes coldly at him.

"You might want to try that again"

The drake growled "You're an ice dragoness! Do something!"

"No"

The sound of wood snapping cut through the air.

"What?! Why?!"

"I don't have to explain myself to you trash"

_Trash?_

_Ash!_

_The bitch will be ash!_

The temperature in the room rose significantly.

"Get lost!" Flare blurt out with wavering voice, his eyes nervously scanned the ground for more flames

Freezing trail of ice wafted from her nose. Nobody is going to boss her around

"Don't you dare giving me orders"

"Get lost!" he yelled, his voice suddenly became hoarse with oddly mixed callousness and agitation, like the sound of rattling gears against each other, stuck but still persistent on continuing their work

The dragon started to jump around the place, killing every flame on which he got his paws on. He looked like an overgrown bee jumping from flower to flower.

Iris opened her mouth but her bark was silenced by a droplet of something moist dripping from her nose. She rubbed her snout and then her forehead.

Sweat.

"GET LOST!" Flare roared, the sound of his voice was almost otherworldly

She wanted to hold her ground, that insolent fucker believes that he can do whatever he wants. He couldn't be more wrong, time to show the idiot who is the alpha dragon in this room.

Iris raised her paw with the sole intention to place it in front of her and make her advance. However just when her claws were about to touch the carpet they stopped in the air, dangling above the material like spikes of a trap went wrong.

A thought crossed her mind, a trait she hated but undoubtedly inherited from her mother, telling her that she is pushing too hard. A thought telling her that this isn't the situation to protect pride and respect, it's the time to swallow them and make room for opportunity.

She hated when it happened.

There is so much power drifting in the air right now, the magical energy sent shivers across her whole body despite the heat. In that flash she realized that there is so much to gain if she plays this right, if she gives the dragon some room.

She despised the idea of backing down, but if she wants to turn this situation in her favor she has to do it.

It isn't that bad however, if you have power you better learn against who it might be used as to not waste it in case your way will be blocked.

Flare exhaled a breath of relief when he no longer couldn't smell the girl's scent. His blood was still boiling, the taste of sulfur lingered in his mouth and every burning part of his body lashed at his scales. Despite all those things, with remains of his concentration he focused on his work.

The flames are the most important right now, nothing else matters. He kept on killing flame after flame, but this time he did everything correctly, when he stomped he ended fire completely. It was working, with every new flame extinguished he felt more calmer. He felt like his true self once more, the aggression was gone, replaced by...

...regret.

Flare turned around after he dealt with the last flame on the nearby bookshelf. Sadly his apologetic gaze met only books in its sight, the dragoness was nowhere to be seen. He wanted to be alone after...after that night, but now when she was here, all has changed.

She WAS here.

He once more started to feel that hollow void inside. Loneliness. Suddenly he missed the dragoness, missed her presence here and especially missed the sensation of companionship.

And for the love of everything that's holy he desperately needed that right now.

But she wasn't here any longer, he offended her and scared her off with that hostility and temperament of his. If he could turn back time he would tell her that this wasn't him, he would beg her to stay if it would come to that.

It's too late now.

NO!

If there was something he learnt during his imprisonment it was acrimony. The urge to fight for something despite the circumstances.

With fast beating heart he made his way through the wooden labyrinth of bookshelves, turning his head in every direction. She had to be here somewhere, he didn't hear the door opening, or perhaps he was too angry to hear anything.

That thought forced him to work even faster, his eyes went into every nook and cranny, in many of those a dragon wouldn't fit. He didn't care. When he finished with the middle of the room he started to search the corners. It was then when he craned his neck through one of the bookshelf he spotted her.

She was sitting in a corner, where the light of the braziers barely scratched surface of the shadows. An opened book was sprawled in front of her paws, she was busy reading it, occasionally flipping the pages with a delicate motion of her claw.

Flare cleared his throat "Listen...ummm" he shuffled his paw along the carpet timidly "I didn't want to...yell at you. I just...Sorry"

Iris casually flipped another page.

Flare rubbed his paw nervously.

The noise of another page turning was almost deafening to him.

"Wh...why are you here?"

Silence.

The dragon's head dropped down, her attitude poked his conscience with sharp daggers. He turned around with depressed grimace on his snout.

Another page turned, the sound it made was in perfect accordance with the muffled tune of a red draconic paw stepping on a carpet.

"They put me here against my will"

Flare froze, there was something alluring about her voice, how she accented each word, or perhaps her accent had nothing to do with this charming spell. The sole fact that she decided to talk might be just as enthralling.

"Why?"

"Because they are ignorant fools that humor me. They don't know however that I get impatient very quickly"

"Oh...ok" he muttered, pretending that he understood what she is talking about. While in truth he had absolutely no idea what she meant by that

Iris eyed the drake with hidden interest.

"If you're hold up here then I guess that your fuse went off rather quickly, huh Dynamite?"

Flare blinked cluelessly.

Her emotionless eyes seemed to drill through him.

"For all those burning parts you're not very bright"

He averted his gaze, her piercing diamond eyes forced a blush onto his cheeks.

"I-I don't g-get it. I h-have pr-r-roblems-s-s-"

"I can see that"

Her bluntness made him blush even fiercer.

Iris rolled her eyes in disgust. How she hated the role she put herself into.

"Don't explode on me Dynamite"

_Explode._

All the shyness and innocent nervousness was gone in second, flush vanished from his cheeks. Flare's eyes glowed with alertness and that suspicion of a runaway criminal.

She knew that look, secrets, Ignus' eyes sometimes sparkled in the same manner. In this dragon's case it was kinda exciting to see that fire in his odd eyes, same thing couldn't be said about uncle. Whenever she saw that glimmer it made her suspicious, she had a strange feeling that she is a toy of that cunning son of a bitch.

But then mother would never ask him to watch over her if blood meant nothing to him.

_Mother._

Her paw unconsciously moved towards the amulet on her neck while her eyes drifted somewhere far away.

"I'll never do it again"

Iris' paw dropped down, she raised her head, blurry eyes aimed at the one responsible for this sound. Whatever it was.

"What?" she slurred

"No more explosions"

Focus slowly returned to her diamond orbs, understanding was still somewhat lost on the lane of memory.

"What are you talking about?"

Flare's head jerked back in pleasant surprise and hope. He might get away from this in one piece.

"I don't know. What are YOU talking about?"

His question woken her up completely, irritation, she hated whenever someone answered question with a question, treating her like a halfwit

"Are you mimicking me?" she hissed

Flare shrugged.

"Maybe you're mimicking me?"

"I'm not mimicking you"

"I'm not mimicking you too"

Iris snarled "Stop it"

"You stop it"

A puff of ice wafted from her nose "Shut up right now"

"You shut up"

She pouted her lips "How old are you again?"

"How old ARE you?"

"You're so stupid"

"You're stupid"

Iris slammed the book shut, the thud of the cover echoed in the room like small thunder.

"Hey!" Flare blurt out fearfully and bounced off the ground like a startled cat "Careful! I've been asked to take care of those!"

The dragoness forcefully poked the cover of the tome with her claw. Flare whined at the sound.

"Then stop acting like a moron!"

How she hated her role.

Hated,

hated,

hated.

"Alright! S-sorry!" he cringed like a chastened dog

She eyed him sternly for a moment, showing exactly who is in charge here and withdrew her claw.

The dragon sprang forward snatching the book like it was his baby and cradled it to his chest.

He rubbed the thick black cover fondly, it was leathery to the touch with palpable engraved letters. He looked at the book, it's cover was beautifully painted. In the background a village was burning, the sun on the fiery sky was being shrouded by thick, impenetrable darkness. In the foreground was the image of a feminine black snout of an adult dragoness. Her emerald eyes sparkled with charming, murderous intent, she was grinning, blood was trickling down from the corners of her mouth, perfectly visible on the surface of her magnificently sharp, white smile.

"_Terror of the skies"_ was written at the top of the cover in shadowy letters.

"What is it about?" Flare asked, turning the book around in sincere awe

Iris shrugged "Read it"

"I-I can't read"

She furrowed her brows "They asked an illiterate dumbass to take care of a library?"

Flare shook his head "I don't know who they asked, I volunteered"

She stared at him for few short moments, hoping that he is again trying some childish games with her, but no, he was serious. By the gods, He. Was. Serious.

_I HATE MY ROLE!_

_HATE!_

_HATE!_

He looked around the room with a stupid smile on his snout.

"I'm not doing a very good job as you see"

Flare turned towards her, smiling like an innocent and shy child, even his eyes, normally shrunk to slits, seemed to grow to the size of round orbs of a pleading cat.

Iris rubbed her chest, something scratched annoyingly at her scales from the inside.

His smile vanished slowly, seeing that she is not reacting to his joke.

"Do you even smile?"

She froze, the paw that that was caressing her chest dropped down swiftly, her diamond eyes shone with callous coldness.

"No"

"Oh...ummm" the drake mumbled in bewilderment, his eyes dropped on the book in his paw by impulse.

"Are you here to help me?"

"No"

"No? Then why did they put you in here?"

Iris wiggled her shoulders, adopting a straight pose of authority.

"I'm here to check on your progress"

Flare's mouth grinned in delight.

"They sent you to check on me? Did you bring some snacks or something to drink? I'm kinda thirsty"

Iris' satin blue scales adopted a reddish hue, if somebody would see her now they could easily take her for a fire dragoness.

"I'M NO SERVANT!" she roared ireful, tendrils of frost encased the carpet underneath her paws

"Whoa!" the dragon threw his head back, even from here he felt the stinging cold from her freezing breath

"I never said such a thing!"

She narrowed her eyes on him like a drill commander on his recruits.

"What do you need to do here?"

Confusion painted the drake's snout as he looked around the mess of a library.

"Something about taking care of the most important things, like sorting books by titles, putting up the bookshelves, that sort of thing" he swallowed "I think"

"How are you planning to sort the books by titles if you can't read?"

"I can read!" Flare protested "A...little. Look" he moved the book he was holding in front of his nose and focused on the title. His mouth began to move, uttering some incomprehensible sounds like a muffled prayer.

"T...T...T...T! It starts with 'T'!"

Iris couldn't believe her own eyes.

"There are many books that start with 'T'"

Flare scratched his head nervously "I don't recognize the second one. I have problems with little letters"

"Small"

"What?"

"You have problems with small letters"

Flare nodded in understanding as to not make a fool of himself, yet in truth he had no idea what she meant by that.

"Yeah, those too"

Iris shook her head in disbelief "Moron" she mumbled under her breath

She sighed, already regretting the question lingering on her tongue.

"How were you sorting these books if you can't recognize small letters?"

He chuckled nervously. "By color"

Her feathery wings slumped down in defeat "Someone kill me"

"They asked me to do important stuff first. Some books have to be more valuable than the others" he blurt out hectically after noticing her expression "You tell me which of them are important and I put them...somewhere. I'll figure it out"

Not waiting for her response he raised the black book he was holding in front of him.

"How about this one? Is it important?"

Iris examined the cover, she hated surprises, there was enough of them in her life already. Better to be prepared for everything if the original plan fails or somebody decides to interrupt it. No one is going to surprise her ever again.

No black.

She raised her eyes at one of the bookshelves, focusing her gaze on one particular tome with a golden 'S_'_ engraved on its cover.

And no purple.

"Vital" she replied pensively

* * *

Terrador sipped the water from his mug that was practically the size of a pitcher with a silent, thoughtful slurp.

"This are dire news indeed"

The two young dragons who were relating their discoveries in Boven nodded grimly. Hunter who was leaning against a column in the back turned a dagger in his hand while quietly whistling a tune from his childhood to occupy his sensitive ears somehow.

"There's no time to waste then" Cyril chimed in, silencing the sound of his claw tapping in irritation on the wooden table "We need the War Dragons back and we need them fast"

"It's a delicate matter, you can't make it happen with a snap of the fingers. We're talking about living people here, not toy soldiers"

"Oh but they are toys, we're their leaders, they have to follow us. We have all that is needed to focus their mind on the fight , if we play our cards right"

The Ice Guardian aimed his eyes at his old friend meaningfully. Terrador met his gaze, but not before throwing the two young dragons an apologetic brief glance.

"Hey, fill us in" Spyro interjected "How are you going to convince people to fight an invisible enemy so soon after Malefor?"

Cyril presented them a very forced smile, it was radiating with falseness that it was almost blinding.

"Leave that to us young dragon, you have enough to worry about as it is"

"Sadly I must announce that there is a long road ahead for you, for all of us in fact, until we will see the end of it and can finally say that our troubles are over" the Earth Guardian commented "That is why you need to begin preparations as soon as possible" the drake's voice vibrated with an odd tune of almost fatherly worry

Spyro nodded, this was to be expected. It was tiring and somewhat depressing to hear this, but people need help, someone has to stand up to the danger and Fate, for better or worse, chose him to be the Realm's beacon of hope and prosperity.

"I understand"

Cyril turned his attention to the entrance on the far side of the room "It seems like we're going to have to dust off the old training grounds"

Terrador took another sip, trying to keep as solid as possible his typical demeanor of living rock, but the purple dragon noticed the drake's paw shaking slightly. The delicate cracks on the greenish scales, the unfortunate sign of old age were practically invisible, now however they were very noticeable, almost constantly growing. As if the dragon would be crumbling in front of him like some sort of a statue.

What was causing this Spyro could only guess, either leadership was taking a toll on him, especially in this times where you have to make decisions that not always agree with your conscience, uneasily lies the head that wears a crown after all. Or perhaps his fighter's spirit couldn't accept that his warriors days are expiring, that has to be a blow for every fighter when you are being benched not by sustained injuries but age.

Struggling with age is always a losing battle, yet some still fight, scream that they are more powerful than time itself.

Only later they find out that this is only a sound of madness.

"Luckily for you Spyro our training days are over," Terrador continued, his usually strong baritone voice sounded like the groaning of an old man who is getting up from bed and his every bone creaks agonizingly

"we may carry the powers of single elemental dragons, but I'm afraid that we no longer possess the energy to teach someone so young and bright as you. It would be strenuous for all of us, you need progress, we cannot slow you down"

"Come on Terrador, you guys aren't that old" Spyro comforted the two dragons

Cyril shrugged "I keep telling him that but he doesn't listen, happens when you become senile" the dragon straightened up proudly "I could teach you many things but unfortunately my time is limited, yours too for that matter. That is why there is no room for patience and long lessons, we need temperament to replace wisdom. We need fresh blood"

Cynder cleared her throat "I don't want to sound arrogant or anything, this is your city and you can do what you want with it, but and I hate to say it, currently there is no Warfanger skilled enough and in good age who can teach Spyro anything useful"

The Ice Guardian's eyes glimmered with an odd dictatorial determination "Exactly. This is our city and we can do whatever we want with it" he seemed to address his words to no one in particular and everyone at the same time. Like he wanted the city itself hear him with its stony ears

He blinked, his blue eyes lowered themselves at the black dragoness, scrutinizing her with combination of cold hate and, what Cyril would never admit, respect.

"A very accurate observation young Cynder"

She felt the pressure of his gaze on her, whether he did it intentional or not, he managed to rekindle the guilt in her.

Who would ever believe that her corrupted reign would have so far-reaching consequences.

"Yeah…" she muttered and licked her lips "…I should have known, I made sure that everyone noteworthy was slaughtered after all"

Spyro impulsively ran his tail across her left hind leg affectionately, rubbing her scales gently, offering his friend as much silent comfort as he could manage. He smiled caringly when he noticed her green eye turning towards him.

She returned a smile of her own. Grateful but sad at the same time.

Cyril deliberately remained oblivious to the two dragons fondness.

"This difficult times brought as nothing but death and troubles. I agree, there is no Warfanger that isn't a Guardian from who you could learn a thing a two. However where we lack mentors we possess unchecked potential"

Both dragons eyed the Guardian with confused interest.

"Spyro, you are a purple dragon, the capability of your power knows no bounds if believe the stories. Our race needs an icon to which they can aspire to. They need an idol"

The young dragon impulsively backed away, his eyes grew wider with each step he made, just like would be staring in the face of the most terrifying monster.

"This is a bad idea"

"Our kind needs a strong, brilliant leader"

_A leader? Me? After I murdered my own people?_

He ran his tongue across the back side of his teeth, he could swear that he feels remnants of the dark energy still lingering in between them, stuck like chunks of undigested meat.

A dragon leader doesn't have draconic blood of his soldiers on his claws. Blood that he himself spilled.

Spyro shook his head fiercely "I don't want to be anyone's leader"

Cyril narrowed his eyes on the dragon, annoyed "This is not a matter of discussion or listeners' choice. You are a purple dragon, the…" he swallowed with a growl "…best of us. Raise to your role and show the world what means to be a true dragon!"

"No!" the young dragon blurt out with fierce determination "I can't be a leader! Do you understand? I CAN'T!"

A puff of ice wafted from the Guardian's nostrils "Why? Out of fear for responsibility? It's time to grow up!"

Enough.

Everyone paints him as some kind of pure godlike figure, returning unscathed from every fight. He's the purple dragon, the color of your scales makes who you are after all! You're purple, so you are good, loving, caring, friendly and all that other bullshit, a true hero of light. While in truth you are nothing else than an overgrown baby in a cradle of thousand arms of people for who you will always be cute and innocent.

Pfff!

"_Who's a good dragon? Who's a good dragon? You are! Yes, you are! You're a good dragon! You're a good dragon!"_

The imagined sound of many voices baby talking him made his stomach turn with a bile of disgust thrashing inside.

Nothing is your fault! Absolutely nothing! Every choice that you make and has some serious consequences is the fault of someone else! You're pure, you couldn't do such things intentionally!

The trail of corpses you leave in your wake?

Self-defense.

The Convexity breath similar to the portal Malefor used to enter the world?

Power of the creature of light to smite evil.

Portals hiding deadly creatures appearing around the world after you used every shred of your power to mend the world?

A trap set by an evil mastermind.

Emotional attachment to the girl who did Malefor's bidding?

Under the influence of a charming spell.

Possessed by Malefor's evil and the power of the Lunar Alignment without the strength to free yourself if not for Cynder?

She has some evil plan prepared for you.

Facing Malefor and then saving the world with only her by your side, because you don't have the power to pull it off yourself?

Not true, she was only there to see her Master's defeat so she could take his place.

Blind fools.

What would you say if you knew that your precious purple dragon turned dark and slaughtered every fighter stupid enough to stand against him?

What would you say then?

Would you also put blame on someone else?

Let's find out.

Spyro snarled, staring at his claws that were slightly impaled in the floor, he exhaled deeply, a puff of white smoke wafted from his nose, like from the nose of an angry bull.

"It has nothing to do with responsibility" he growled quietly and raked his claws across the ground. He threw his head up, his eyes were burning with determination "I can't be their leader because-"

Hunter started coughing fiercely from behind him as if he was choking.

The dragon's eyes shot wide open, every part of his muscles tensed at the sound, the cough sent a shrill bolt across his skull, as if a rooster would cry out while sitting right next to his head.

Don't betray yourself, the effect of such reckless action might be completely different than the one you wanted to achieve.

He swallowed "Because…" he continued bashfully "…I feel like I'm not ready yet. I can't control the portals, I can't protect my people and fight so many unknown enemies. I can't lead them if I'm not strong enough to save their lives"

That was part truth and part lie, especially the last sentence. He might not be strong enough to fight against such numerous and powerful foes, yet arrogantly as it may sound, he wield power potent enough to save lives. It was enough for The Dark Master, it would be enough for Boven.

If people would only let him.

A thought crossed his mind telling him that he is a terrible liar, someone constantly reminded him of that and she was always right. His eyes ruled by unconscious panic sought the one who could render his excuse dimmable with a single word.

Wave of unimaginable relief and tender sadness washed over him when he met Cynder's emerald gaze. There was no impatience, no hint that he will be called a liar, his natural defensive reaction was wrong. Her eyes were shimmering with something else entirely. Understanding, pity, worry and strong expressive concern.

"This is why we need potential, only then you will benefit from your lessons in the short time we have at our disposal" Terrador concluded

Spyro sighed, there was no turning back from this, he can make the best out of it at least

"Alright, where can we find this potential?"

"We accepted it in our midst already"

Both young dragons quirked their brows.

"Flare" Cyril added

The young drakes jerked their heads in surprise.

"Flare?" Spyro muttered in disbelief

"This won't work" Cynder warned

"We're…not in the best of terms. Purple dragons like me imprisoned him, he's mistrustful towards me" the purple drake looked to the side "Putting it mildly"

Cyril rolled his eyes "Yes, we all heard the story about cruel purple dragons, that doesn't mean it's real"

"Why would he lie?" the dragoness blurt out accusingly, everyone deserves the benefit of the doubt, no matter how strange they are and what is their past. It was unfair to jump to conclusions, a thing she harshly learnt on her own scales. One scapegoat is enough.

The ice dragon definitely noticed her tone and wasn't pleased by it in the slightest. A cold, wrathful shimmer crossed his bluish eyes.

"Even if he's telling the truth it doesn't change anything. He's the last and most likely only hope of advancing Spyro in the range of fire element. The two of us agreed that there is something peculiar about Flare, it's like his own element consumed him and made manifestation beyond the boundaries of his draconic essence. Volteer however still believes that this is a matter of heritage. Wherever the truth may be one thing is certain, that's raw power right there, most likely escalating beyond the common understanding of the fire element. Imagine how strong you would become if you could inherit at least a portion of that energy. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, you've been with him in Munitions Forge, you must have seen what he is capable of"

The two young friends looked at each other, it was obvious that they thought about the same thing. Flare's eyes, his literally burning eyes and his voice, low, distant and ominous.

"_Help me?" the dragon snorted in disgust "Who do you think I am to believe in such lies?" tiny red flames wafted through his nostrils "You don't know what that word means, you are a purple dragon, a deceiver, a worthless bug who's dependable on others. A weak incapable of progress lizard_"

"_I c-c-c-can't r-r-really e-e-e-explain t-this. S-s-s-sometimes d-d-during a f-f-fight I g-g-g-get e-excited a-a-and l-lose c-c-c-control"_

Somehow they didn't think about the display of potential of Flare's fire energy during the fight with the bugs. It was impressive, yet It felt oddly unimportant.

"He's powerful, yes" Cynder commented as the silent understanding with her friend came to a conclusion and she turned towards the Guardians "but also wild and uncontrollable, pitting him against Spyro is a bad idea"

Cyril snorted irritated, why people are blind to the obvious he had no idea "Of course he's uncontrollable. He's a fire dragon! They are known from their fiery temperament"

"It's not that, he-"

"Unfortunately I must agree with Cyril" Terrador added sadly, he seemed to age quicker in the past few minutes than in twenty years "This is vital in our current situation and cannot be overlooked" he smiled, it was a pitiful display of assurance "besides nobody here is talking about pitting someone against each other, we're talking about training sessions here, non-violent training sessions during which Spyro can learn something from Flare while our fiery friend can learn something from Spyro. You know how it is to feel the fiery boil in your blood Spyro, you can use that to teach Flare to control his own temperament. Allow Ignitus' lessons to pay off"

"Of course this is not your priority" the Ice Guardian chimed in with his typical, cold manner "You can't waste time on babysitting. If he's a quick learner by all means teach him, but remember that he is nothing more than a tool. Use him to achieve your goal as quickly as possible, everything else is obsolete"

Spyro looked at the Guardian, clearly disgusted by the suggestion "I'm not going to treat people like fruits from which I can suck out all the juice and throw them away when I'm done"

Cyril sighed "Altruism makes me want to throw up. It's place is in religion not on the battlefield" he narrowed his gaze on the purple dragon "Understand one thing Spyro, the prophecy said that you will become the leader of dragonkind, bring peace and all that nonsense. Sweet, but unfortunately life isn't that simple"

"A leader cares for his people true, but also remembers that duty comes first. You are the arm and they are your sword, tools and pawns in the grand scheme. You must learn that if you want to be successful on the battlefield. Tools, nothing else. You can't be bothered by altruistic thoughts, you can't keep your best fighter in the back row because he has two kids to feed, or your best archer because he has to take care of his ill mother. They are soldiers, they know what they signed up for, you must know that too. Death is a common occurrence on the battlefield, like getting stung by bees while taking care of their hives. Job hazard, nothing else"

An awkward silence befallen on the room.

"We knew each other for a long time Cyril" Terrador eventually broke the deadlock "but the coldness of your heart sometimes surprises even me"

The Ice Guardian smiled "Am I wrong?" he said amused "You were a warrior Terrador, you know how battlefield is like"

"True, but I would never compare death to a bee sting"

Cyril waved his paw dismissively, not dropping his smile even for a second "Phonetics" he aimed his gaze on the two young drakes again and once more adopted his typical cold demeanor

"Now with that thing out of the way let's move on. Besides fire we have another element we can take advantage of at our disposal"

Cynder's mouth went agape, she knew where this is going "You can't be serious"

The Ice Guardian grinned "Iris"

"She attacked our own people! Attacked Amela, attacked Hunter! She should be rotting in jail, or preferably on the tree she was found on. Not walk around the city like she owns it!"

"She doesn't make a good first impression, true, but we have means of controlling her"

"If you mean a poker and a leash I'm all game"

"Her uncle"

"Uncle?" both young dragons blurt out surprised

Cyril nodded "He's conversing with Volteer as we speak. Or rather Volteer is talking while he listens. I already feel sorry for the guy"

"She has family?" Cynder continued in her surprised tone "I could swear that she ate all of them by now. If it was possible our princess would grow a second head out of her ass so she could admire herself fully"

Spyro winced "Mental image, mental image"

Cyril smiled seeing the dragonesses bitterness. Highborn are rarely understood.

"What she has to offer anyway?" the black dragoness continued annoyed "She is nowhere as special as Flare, without the wings she would be a normal ice dragoness"

"Her uncle told us a bit about her. He assured us of her unique potential"

"Ohhh her own blood praised her" she uttered with toxic, sarcastic awe "That changes everything! Next time she comes we have to make sure to bow or we're gonna offend the O-Mighty One" she snorted, fighting off the urge to spit on the ground

"Whatever you might think about Iris doesn't change the fact that she beat our expectations"

"Do you have any proof to support that, or is it just pride speaking through you?"

The smile that Cyril carried for the past few minutes vanished completely, replaced by sheer, cold wrath.

"Watch your tongue"

Cynder shrugged innocently "What? I want to make sure that we considered every angle here before we elevate her to the position of a goddess on the sole fact that someone desperately wants to create an illusion of all the powerful ice dragon"

Cyril stomped his paw fiercely, the ceiling above seemed to rattle in agony in accordance with the floor. He understood the allusion all too perfectly.

Spyro jumped towards his friend, spread his wings and gently started to push her towards the door. She seemed to obey but not acknowledge his presence.

"Alright Cynder, calm down and let's grab something to eat. What do you think?" he pretended to keep the manner of friendliness despite the atmosphere in the room

"Remember your place!" The ice dragon roared

"Cyril!" Terrador admonished his friend

"And what place is that?!" she blurt out bitterly and pushed fiercely through Spyro's wings like they were nothing more than a curtain "Trash?! Enemy?! Pawn?! What?! Do you think I don't see how people look at me? Do you think I don't see how you look at me? Behind that shell you are just like the rest of them, thinking that when I would be finally dangling from a tree all your troubles would be over. Guess what! They wouldn't!"

"Enough!"

"Who do you think you are to speak like that little girl?!" Cyril snapped back, ignorant to the attempts of the Earth Guardian to calm the situation down

Spyro looked at Hunter pleadingly, the cheetah understood the signal and helped Spyro to drag the yelling black dragoness away. Gently.

"Please Cynder, let's get out of here" the dragon muttered pleadingly

She pushed once more through the barrier her friends created.

"I'm the one who slaughtered all of you like cattle because you were too WEAK TO KILL ME! Nothing would have happened if you just tore my head off in the right moment. But no! You weaklings let yourself be captured and killed like sheep!"

Cyril advanced forward, the air suddenly became really cold "Watch who you're calling weak!"

Terrador blocked his path "Cyril that's ENOUGH!"

Both Spyro and Hunter once more began dragging Cynder out of the confrontation.

"This mess?! Whose fault is it truly?! Mine or yours?! You had a simple task of breaking my spine in half and you FAILED! Now you're just as weak, unable to face your failure! Don't you think I don't see the stones in people hands?! The daggers shining under the moonlight?! Bring it on if it makes you feel better! I'm not going anywhere, I'll wait till you become bold enough to finally slice my throat! Maybe then there will hope for you to survive this thing!"

"I'll grant you your wish right here and now!"

Hunter opened the door, both yelling dragons were oblivious to the fact.

Light started shinning on her head.

"You're too weak! You hear me?! You're too WEAK to make things right!"

The door slammed shut.

The engravings on the door that appeared in front of her nose made Cynder's aggressive energy fade away. She began panting heavily.

They let her go, not knowing how to proceed from here.

"Thanks Hunter for the help" Spyro muttered while eyeing Cynder's heaving body and glassy eyes

The cheetah bowed "My pleasure" he started to descend the stairs "I'll better leave you two alone, I still need to get back in there so I'm going to grab Amela just in case"

The purple dragon smiled weakly at the joke.

"With you two focusing on training I am to become the Guardians eyes in the field. Take care" he waved and went his own way

"Thanks again for the help" Spyro waved at the cheetah and dropped his paw soon after at the ground, eyeing his friend with worried eyes

"Cynder how are you-"

He never got the chance to finish what he was saying since suddenly she threw herself at him like a cobra attacking its prey and pressed him to the door with a hollow thud. Hugging him tightly, squeezing the air out of his lungs.

"I promise" she mumbled with a wavering voice, he felt a tear splashing on his back

He began caressing her scales fondly "Promise?" he muttered tentatively

"I promise not to go anywhere"

"_We are here!" a male shout came from ahead of them_

_Spyro threw a brief glance in that direction before looking at his friend again "Promise me you won't go anywhere"_

He planted a soft kiss on her forehead, the words meant a world to him.

She slipped her paw behind his back and wiped her snout before pulling back and offering his friend a smile through watery eyes.

"Does that mean you still like me?"

He smiled back "I never stopped"

The smile on her snout broadened, seconds later she pressed her head to his chest.

"I don't know what I would do without you"

Spyro grinned mischievously "Probably ruin the one place where we can still find beds to sleep on"

She punched his chest, making him gasp in surprise and pushed away from the hug. Ancestors she needed humor right now.

The dragon chuckled "Seriously though, that tongue of yours is really poisonous"

"Duh" she stuck her tongue out and pointed at it with her claw "Reill deill" she hid it back inside her mouth and shrugged "Poison baby" she grinned

Spyro smiled "I hope I'll never be the one on the receiving end of it"

"Hey!" Cynder blurt out with fake offence and directed her claw at her mouth "This thing can spread other things than just poison"

"Yeah? Like what?"

She looked at him saucily "You'll know if I ever decide to use it on you"

His heart jumped to his throat, he could drown in those eyes.

Cynder giggled and looked around the bluish sky "So, fearless leader, what can your pawn do for you?"

Spyro shoved her playfully "Don't call me that"

She straightened up, like an obedient soldier "Yes sir!"

He shook his head "Stop it"

"Already done sir!"

"I mean it"

"Yes sir!"

"I'm leaving" he jumped from the staircase

"Where are you going sir?" she ran after him

"Leave me alone!" he started to sprint, chuckling occasionally

"Pawn awaits her orders sir!" she chased after him

"I'm not listening!" he took to the air

She laughed and followed him, pestering him playfully.

Spyro laughed as they both soared through the sky, playing this stupid game. His eyes dropped down seconds later and the smile from his snout vanished. The people below were like tiny dots, he impulsively extended his paw. The optical illusion made his leg extremely large, capable of grabbing the dots in his claws and move them like…like…

Pawns.

On the huge chessboard that was the world.


	65. Chapter 9 Book IV

Chapter 9

"Where is he?" Spyro paced about worryingly "It's almost dusk, he has never been gone for so long"

"You say like it is a bad thing" Cynder commented sarcastically from her position on the ground, the grass softly caressed her belly as she laid on top of it, staring into one of the smaller ponds on the edges of the Grand Plaza. The tip of her tail lazily slid from one side to the other.

Tiny colorful fish danced below the gleaming, smooth surface of the pond.

"Of course it is a bad thing! He's my brother!" the dragon blurt out hysterically

The dragonesses head shot upwards with a shocked jolt of her neck "Whoa, relax, that was a joke. Guess Meadow was wrong about my special skill to disperse tension"

Spyro raised his paw defensively and dropped his butt on the ground "No, sorry, it's me, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that" he rubbed his forehead "It's Munitions Forge for me all over again"

"Warfang isn't crawled with murderous bugs wanting to make a dinner from a dragonfly you know. He's way too unimportant for the people, I mean what can a babbling, glowing, small mosquito do that's noteworthy? I'm sure they didn't even bother to talk to him" she winced, just now hearing the echo of her words in her head "Don't tell him I said that"

"What if Brill took him hostage?" the drake blurt out and jumped on all fours instantly, grimace of desperation and aggression filling his snout "Trying to show me what that darkness and all that crap he is constantly talking about can do. Manipulate me to believe you're evil, staging the kidnapping like he staged that explosion"

"A rather far-fetched conspiracy theory don't you think? The mole might be insane but I doubt he would do such a drastic thing like killing his own people just to blame it all on me. Doesn't really fit with his doctrine of a caring pastor. Besides he has enough _proof_ against the Taint" she mockingly pointed a claw at her while grinning with a fake pride just to drop the act seconds later "that he doesn't have to bother finding more. Not in such a lurid way at least"

Spyro renewed his nervous pacing, the grass parted underneath his paws tiredly, like it wanted to whine if it only could, at the overgrown lizard to leave it in peace. It's getting dark, someone wants to sleep here.

"He's a zealot, religion makes people go nuts, it can brainwash some, I've seen the characteristic sparks of insanity, similar to the ones I've seen in Brill's eyes. I can already imagine the future, people waging wars just because somebody said that your god sucks. You have to maintain a healthy distance from everything"

Cynder dropped her head sadly and dipped her claw into the pond, the fish scattered away. She sighed.

"You're in more danger here with me than Sparx will ever be when alone. Remember those drunks that we met in the alley today? They wanted to skin us both alive"

Spyro shook his head in abhorrence "Those guys were idiots"

"Maybe or maybe not" she started to make circles with her claw, rippling the smooth surface of the water "Sparx is like my claw here, he makes noise but people keep distance from him, they are far more interested in whatever is on the other side of the pond, but if I would take my claw away…" she removed the natural silvery blade from the water, the fish once more danced throughout the whole pond

"People become interested in everything. See?"

Spyro stared at the water and the swimming colorful fish below, his friend's words hit the spot, they were both comforting and scary.

The drake smirked teasingly "You were busy pursuing a shrink career when I wasn't looking?"

Cynder poked the side of her head with her claw "Wit" she flashed her pearl whites "A thing on my very scarce list of assets"

"I can name at least a hundred more" he cooed, automatically, not even realizing it

She threw him another brief smile and then dropped her head between her forelegs "I'd like to hear about them some other day" if her voice would be under personification one feeling would emanate from it.

Suffering.

Spyro's heart was gripped by a stern, cold metallic fist of fear and worry "Hey, hey, what's wrong?"

The dragoness took a wavering breath and aimed her gaze once more at the colorful fish, observing them with practiced indifference.

"Nothing"

He swiftly rested on the ground, at the right side of the pond and craned his neck forward, above the water to catch the glimpse of her eyes "You can talk to me Cynder" he whispered charmingly

She blinked, slowly.

She acted like all her life force was drained away, it made his heart ache.

"It's stupid" she finally muttered

Spro kept turning his head around, never losing her eyes from his sight, making sure that she sees him.

"Let me the judge of that"

The dragoness dipped her claw into the water once more. The fish scattered away.

Silence.

"You know how it upsets me when I hear people mentioning my past actions or when they are saying that I'm still evil and under Malefor's influence"

Spyro nodded delicately "Yes"

Cynder slid her claw forward, making the fish split in two groups and swim at both sides of her silvery blade.

"Over time I started to bottle up that aggression, trying to understand it from their point of view. It worked, with better or worse result, but at least it made me determined to make things right. To show them that I'm not the girl they take me for, you know?"

"Yes" he whispered

"I even tolerated Sparx' stupid remarks, which was hard but eventually even he stopped. You two are brothers, making him to like me, or at least tolerate enough so he doesn't condemn me every step I make and I mean seriously condemn me, not the usual teases he throws my way, created an illusion of…I don't know…family? After a very long time I finally felt accepted"

Cynder sighed longingly, her breath created small ripples on the surface of the water.

"It was great"

She fell silent, Spyro didn't say anything, he just kept on listening, even if everything he heard for the next couple of minutes was only her breathing.

She started making circles in the water, the little twister she made followed the running fish constantly.

"I realized that whatever good came out of it is worth jack squat in the end. The fight with Cyril opened my eyes, I saw in his eyes the same thing I see in the eyes of all people, not so obvious but it was there. I found a stupid excuse and acted on it, why I have no idea, maybe the anger I held back so long had enough of waiting and wanted to get out. Something broke in me after that argument, silly I know, there are many people that think like Cyril after all. I…I just don't know"

Cynder smiled weakly, withdrew her claw and watched her distorted image on the water.

"I already hear Amela making a diagnosis. She would call me _deeply traumatized _I think. Yes, that is the egghead term for my state. Guess hanging out with a lectured healer starts to grow on me"

She sighed "Told you it's stupid"

"Not at all" Spyro assured his friend gently "You know what I think? I think that you were right when you said that you felt like in a family when Sparx accepted you. Your childhood was stolen from you, you didn't have the things me and Sparx had and I think that a part of you wants to fill that hole. That is why it also made you feel that Warfang is your home, if not whole than at least the City Hall"

She pondered his words silently.

"You unconsciously started connecting the Guardians with your home, even with your family, they always treated you fairly after all. I think that after the confrontation with Cyril you felt betrayed, the thing that broke, I believe it was trust. The image of a family that you created betrayed you, made you feel uncomfortable in your own home. It think that your part that sought to fill that childhood emptiness received a blow it never expected, that's why you feel so depressed right now"

She frowned, offering him a forced, amused glance "Who's the shrink again?"

With a chuckle Spyro reached for her moist leg and embraced it in his paws "It doesn't matter and you know why?" he looked straight into her eyes

Cynder gulped and shook her head shyly.

"Because home is where your heart is"

She stared at his caring amethyst orbs, every portion of air from her lungs she trapped behind her closed mouth and locked nostrils, her heart began to race, beating with a frantic pace, they were hanging above the pond like a pair of jerks and she didn't care.

_Because home is where your heart is_

His paws became hot, trapping her leg and melting it like heated steel, forming it however he desires. The rumbling within her throat told her by some unexplained means that his desire is hers as well. The connection between them was never more powerful than it this particular moment.

Her lips began to waver, eyebrows flutter and eyes itch.

_Because home is where your heart is_

This is it, she can't hold it much longer, she has to say it, the rumbling within her throat became insufferable.

She opened her mouth.

Yet instead of words that hung on her heart something else came out of her throat.

A powerful, wet, emotional snort.

"Oh crap!" Cynder yelped at momentarily pressed her paw to her saliva-covered mouth, through tear filled eyes she observed the purple snout ahead.

The spit covered snout ahead.

Covered in her spit.

Spyro let go off her paw, it numbly slapped at the corner of the pond. He reached towards his snout with constantly broadening smile, the moment he touched his covered in saliva closed eyes he let out a shy chuckle.

She began to giggle, with tears flowing down the corners of her eyes she reached towards his snout.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" she sobbed, through barely contained giggles, her voice nothing more than a whine

He felt her paw on his nose, it made him laugh even harder.

"Well…" Spyro mumbled with joyful effort "…that's new"

Cynder started to laugh, the extended paw dropped into the pond with a splash, every bit of air her lungs created was used on the laughter that she didn't even had the strength to keep her paw aloft.

"Sorry…"another bolt of hysterical laughter wrecked her body "…s-sorry"

Her whiny voice made him laugh just as strong, he eventually opened his eyes and the blurry glimpse on his paw forced another torrent of merry joy out of his throat.

"Ssssoorrryyy" Cynder mumbled in between laughs, her lungs ached from the effort.

No other words have been said for another minute or two, they just remained there, hanging from their own edges of the pond, laughing with all the strength they had in them.

Spyro wiped one of his tear moistened eyes, still chuckling a little and still smiling.

"Who needs a bath when you are around"

"Shut up!" she giggled with amused indignation and splashed some water from the pond at him

Another rumbling laughter escaped his throat when his snout was drenched by the unexpected liquid wave. He ran his paw along his wet, smiling snout.

"That's how you want to play it then? Fine!" he blurt out with playful mischievousness and swiped with his paw, offering his friend the same treat he she received from her

Another torrent of feminine laughter echoed in the air when the water splashed into her black snout. She didn't say anything, she couldn't even if she wanted to anyway, the dragoness just tilted her head to the side and counter attacked in the same manner.

Another watery hit, another hysterical chuckle and another playful revenge.

Purple paw,

black paw,

purple paw,

black paw,

and so on and so on…

…with unending torrents of choking laughter.

"Stop!" Cynder blurt out with a whiny, joyful and wavering voice. She giggled when another wave of water splashed into her snout "Ssstop!"

Spyro compelled, with a dying chuckle his paws that were hanging in the air smacked into the surface of the pond, making him lean from the edge of it and stare into the water with his chest bouncing slightly up and down, as if he was fighting off a joyful hiccup.

Cynder's paws also slammed gently into the surface of the pond, just like his friends she was also leaning from the edge and observing the fish below.

"Water" she frizzled in between dying giggles and labored breaths "Water…we're going to use all the water…those poor guys won't be able to swim if we keep going"

Panting merrily, he focused on the fish below, she was right, the level of the water surely went lower as they fooled around. There was still plenty of it of course, nevertheless it was a good excuse to end this game without anyone admitting defeat. It was fun, but he was glad that it ended, he was running out of breath.

Spyro pushed up from the edge and rested his head on his wet front paws, eyeing Cynder with a triumphant and caring smile.

"Guess you're feeling better now"

She raised her head, her eyes shimmered gratefully, the light front the fading sun and her glistening black scales as droplets of water cascaded down her beautiful body gave her that wondrous shine. Her eyes seemed to channel onto that empowered feminine grace, glowing like a pair of the most brilliant gems. They were lovingly enthralling, with the power to melt his heart if it wouldn't belong to her already.

Cynder offered him a sardonic smirk.

"Always could been better"

He grinned, sarcasm, that's a good sign.

"You're welcome"

She winked and impulsively looked at the sky above as she pushed herself from the edge of the pond It was getting dark, shadows started to extend beyond their normal size.

"How long we've been here? It's almost dark and you still have to speak to Volteer"

Spyro examined the orange sky above "I'll talk with him tomorrow"

He pushed himself from the ground and turned around, people were walking in the distance but there was no glowing dragonfly among them.

"He didn't come back yet"

"I'm sure that he's fine"

The dragon scanned the moving passers-by "You're probably right, still I wouldn't forgive myself if I wouldn't go search for him"

Cynder nodded "I understand"

He looked behind his shoulder "You coming?"

She bit her lip "Nah, you have better chances on your own. You don't need distractions. I would just slow you down"

"That's not true"

"Besides I still have some crying ahead of me. No spitting this time I swear"

Spyro chuckled "You sure?"

"Yeah, one _S_ brother for now is enough"

She smiled charmingly.

"What are you waiting for?" she waved him off "Off you go"

He looked up at the sky "I'll be back when the moon settles" he smiled pleadingly "Wait for me?"

Cynder returned a pleased smile "Wouldn't have it any other way"

Spyro beamed happily and momentarily took to the air and went looking for his brother.

"Back in a flash!" he shouted from above, reassuring her once more of his intentions as any good friend would do

She smiled as she watched him flying away, just when he was about to disappear from her sight she noticed him waving at her. She returned the gesture, giggling under her breath. Maybe not everything is as she would like it to be, but at least she has that one thing she can boast about.

Friendship.

True, honest and sincere, not many people can say that they have such a thing, more respected and liked people than her don't understand what friendship truly means. Yet she does, the evil murderous dragoness of all people. Priests, guards or merchants, they can only envy her.

Sometimes she couldn't believe, couldn't appreciate just how lucky she is.

He was gone, revealing in full form the image of the slowly vanishing sun behind the horizon. It was waving at the world in its own special way, splaying weak orange rays in every direction. Both pretty and sedative.

Cynder yawned, her white teeth shone brilliantly, she rested her head on her forepaws, watching as the image of the fading orange light swirled and danced on the surface of the water. It was hypnotizing in its own way.

She gasped when a loud splash that came out of the pond stirred her forcefully from her rest. Water dropped on her from above sending chills down her spine. She ran her paw across her wet snout and looked at the pond, startled.

The colorful fish continued their unending dance beneath the moon lit water, the image of the Sun's brother was getting bigger with each second, in perfect accordance with its rise on the horizon. The image of the moon on the water was distorted, swaying chaotically, it was just like something heavy fell into the pond. The flying streams of water, the unclear image of the moon were the consequence of it.

Wait.

Moon?

Cynder directed her eyes at the sky, it was dark, the orange glow of dusk was gone, replaced by the intensifying silvery light when the world's second watcher was about to begin its vigil.

Did I fell asleep?

Perhaps, it was a tiring day after all. Why care about it anyway? Spyro said he'll be back when the moon settles on the sky, all the better, she'll see him sooner.

Everything is good.

Good.

Everything is...

...good...

...goo...

Then why I am so scared?

A sudden breeze washed over the Grand Plaza, a very cold one. Cynder shivered, the droplets of water that still covered her felt like unbearable freezing ice shards. She jumped on all fours, bouncing in place, flapping with her wings and swaying her tail, anything to get warmer while making sounds similar to that of a snorting horse.

I'm so cold because of this damn water.

Water.

Something definitely big fell into that pond, most likely a rock thrown by some kid who thinks he's cool because he woke her up.

Cynder narrowed her eyes in irritation and scanned the Grand Plaza , searching for the culprit. However there was no one there, the plaza was empty except for some old caretaker in the distance, leaning against a lantern. Whoever did this was either gone or hidden, watching her now and laughing mockingly at her stupidity.

What did you throw in there?

She had no idea why she wanted to know that, but she simply couldn't resist the urge.

Another shiver tormented her body when a second cold breeze washed over her the moment she made a step towards the pond.

Cynder craned her neck and looked at the water, it was dark, whatever fish were in there, they were barely visible, only rarely she caught the glimpse of a mucous, colorful scaly body.

There was absolutely nothing there, it was impossible to pierce through the thick blackness of the pond and check out its depth. The whip of fear that was constantly lashing at her heart the moment she was stirred from her rest urged her to avert her gaze. She just doesn't want to know what is hiding there.

And yet she couldn't turn her eyes away, something from beneath was calling her, she felt the elemental energy in her blood boiling. It was whispering a specific tune, one she was familiar with, the delicate shrill sound of tearing, the sound she hears whenever she crosses the world in shadow.

Her neck was automatically moving, her head being closer and closer to the water with each passing second, drawn by the odd song.

Closer and closer...

...closer…

…closer…

Then it was gone.

Cynder blinked, she was inches from plunging her head into the pond, she felt water smoothing its way across the tip of her nose. She smelled the peculiar scent of fish...and...something else.

She blinked again, but when she opened her eyes the pond wasn't empty no longer.

A pair of perfectly white eyes glowered at her.

She pounced back with a startled yelp and landed on completely stiff legs like a scared cat.

Her head began to pound. She rubbed her forehead with a painful wince.

A headache, a strong one.

The dark water began to bulge and boil like an erupting lava from a volcano. It started to raise, swirling chaotically.

Cynder groaned and cringed when a powerful bolt of pain shot across her skull, almost making her head explode.

"Not...this...again" she stammered, trying to maintain balance on three legs while the last one was frantically massaging her forehead.

The growing bulging water blew, sending dark streams flying everywhere.

Some black, liquid lashes splashed on her, the dragoness instantly began to cough, her head pulsed with a blinding pain and now her lungs started to ache. She kept on coughing, it was so rough that it made her throat sore, every tiny breath sent stinging ache along her whole neck, just like somebody would be slicing her throat with a dagger from the inside.

She was suffocating, but it wasn't the ordinary life sucking choke, numb and blissful. This was agony, it felt like somebody would shove a spiked arm down her throat, clenched her lungs tightly and started to pull, wanting to tear them off from their natural place. The lungs didn't want to give up, they held tight while the arm kept on pulling. Every yank forced the sharp ridges to slide across tissue and muscle, ripping them apart as if they were torn by small hooks.

Cynder eventually opened her watery eyes and through her blurry vision she saw puffs of shadowy smoke bursting from her mouth with every new rasping cough.

"_What the hell?_" her own panicked thoughts rattled inside her

Someone or something was watching her, she felt it in every creepy tingle on her body.

Her glimmering eyes went up, a pair of ominously white eyes stared at her through the swirling tendrils of darkness that covered its body. On closer inspection it turned out to be nothing else than the water from the pond, blackened and strangely alive, slithering around the otherworldly being like slimy worms.

"Stay...back!" Cynder rasped and started to cough fiercely, there was still dark smoke wafting from her mouth but the pain somewhat subsided

The shrill tearing tune again.

She groaned agonizingly when a sharp bolt of pain pierced her mind like an arrow, her legs bent under her, only thanks to sheer will she managed to keep standing.

Or perhaps it was just fear.

"Stop it!" she growled, her voice hurt and desperate, as if she was about to start crying. She pointed at the creature, threatening it with gesture rather than with grimace

"I've said sto-" the painful roar died somewhere deep inside her throat when she noticed her extended claw

It no longer resembled the shinning silvery blade that perfectly fits with her special charm. It was rotten beyond any recognition. Something green and hissing dripped from the hole on the tip of her claw. The same disgusting liquid was sipping through the many cracks dotting her brownish, rotten blade.

With a terrified yelp she started to swing and twist her leg around like she tried to extinguish a burning cloth.

The slimy tendrils of water cascaded down the creature's otherworldly figure like sheets from a naked body. There was a loud splashing sound when it hit the ground, the black mess that covered the creature splayed on the ground below it. Momentarily it began to boil and become thicker until it resembled nothing more than tar.

Her eyes widened, she recognized the creature the moment it dropped its slimy husk. It was the same kind of being that she saw in that hermit's cave right after her first creepy nightmare all that time ago. It was taller than the last one, but all in all looked exactly the same, a pitch-dark unsubstantial body covered in dust.

A living shadow.

The creature made silent step towards her, the black much bulged with every step it made, the white orbs watched her hungrily like a pair of wolf's eyes.

"Get away!" she roared, her teeth hurt unbelievably, her terrified and hurt voice cut sharply through the air like a bolt of a crossbow. Her legs wavered once more, the sound of her roar seemed to jump inside her skull and rattle inside, intensifying the headache tenfold.

The caretaker in the distance snapped from his little nap, he could see the old mole jumping as he looked at her. She could smell his terror from here, even through her blurry vision she saw every strand of his coat standing on end. He could see her, he could see what is happening.

Even despite the agony a single thought of horrid clarity managed to find its way to her mind.

This isn't a dream.

Ancestors…

This isn't a dream.

The light of every lantern died out with a puff, on every lantern except the one under which the mole stood. The darkness that embraced the plaza was unnatural and thick, it was just impossible to pierce through its veil, as if the rest of the world was consumed by it.

Only the single yellowish lantern remained, like a disgusting pimple on a teenager's face, a face that was completely dark. She could hear the darkness hissing at the light, see it snapping at it.

And it wasn't her imagination.

Something was slithering behind the thick, black veil.

The darkness was alive.

The old mole heard and saw it too, he pressed his arms to his chest and chaotically began to turn around, his wild eyes almost out of their orbits.

She could hear his heartbeat, its frantic pace pounded inside her skull. He was terrified and at the brink of a heart attack. He was losing it, every clear thoughts were deprived by sheer fright.

Cynder wanted to scream, warn him of the danger, tell him to remain in the light where he is safe but no words came out of her throat. The shadowy creature began to sing again, so fiercely that she used every last ounce of breath to cry in pain. She dropped on the ground, clenching her head with all her might, it was going to explode.

Then suddenly there was a pause in the frantic thudding of the mole's heart. Every bolt of pain and sound seemed to fade for this very brief moment. Time stopped for a second.

He came to a decision.

Cynder's eyes shot wide open.

"No" she whispered in horror

The dragoness threw herself up, driven by selfish powerful determination to save lives. She froze when she laid her eyes on the shinning lantern, it was already too late for her to interfere.

The mole was running.

"Don't move!" she blurt out at the top of her lungs

The caretaker set his foot outside the circle of light and froze, his head tilted upwards slowly, examining with terrified eyes something only he could see. Then he let out a dreadful scream of a unconsciously aware person that knows he was going to die. He spun around swiftly, turned himself towards the lantern once more, extended his arms to their limit, trying to wrap them around the lantern. Screaming at it to be closer.

A black thick tentacle shot from the darkness, no longer afraid of the light. It swiftly swung towards the mole and wrapped itself around his chest. The caretaker's eyes widened, the scream coming out of his throat made room for a silent realization.

This is my end.

The tentacle jerked back sharply towards the black veil, the mole let out a final abruptly ended yelp before he was swallowed by darkness.

The light on the lantern was snuffed out.

"NOOOO!" Cynder cried out, her already weakened by regret heart received another blow. That is another body added to the already big pile of corpses that she has on her conscience

Tears of pain and despair were flowing from the corners of her eyes as she aimed her vengeful emerald gaze at the shadowy creature ahead.

"Bring it on you fucker!"

A shadowy sword materialized in the creature's hands.

She roared and threw herself at the shadow, using all of her feral wrath.

The creature remained still, something else acted instead of it.

The tar that was recently a blackened water shot from behind the shadow like a dark slime. Cynder didn't even have the time to acknowledge what is happening, the slime splashed onto her.

The impact sent her toppling onto the ground with a grunt, yet she had enough of vengeful energy within her to push herself up. Taking the collision with the disgusting, slimy thing for a strange attack of some elemental power she renewed her charge.

Only to realize that she can't move.

The aggression, hurt, regret, absolutely everything vanished suddenly, raw fright taking their place. She could feel it taking hold of her, it was flowing in her veins, pulsing in her head and darkening her soul. It was slithering all over her, both from the inside and outside.

Cynder' eyes dropped down, she saw the slime slithering around her paws, making its way up quickly like worms crawling on top of a rotten fruit. These black slithery, cold tendrils were raising from the bottom, now touching her belly, encasing her body in a pulsing black shell, like some latex black suit.

Momentarily, the slimy tendrils reached her shoulders.

She screamed in horror and impulsively bit at the slime, her teeth sunk into it numbly, like into a gum. She threw her head back, bits of the dark muck got stuck to her teeth, in horror she realized that they started to grow and cover her maw in the same shell like the rest of the body.

Terror crept into every nook and cranny of her body and soul.

She wanted to scream again, but only a choking grunt escaped her throat, the slime swiftly shot down her gullet. A cold fist of terror gripped her heart, in a second she saw people turning from her, the home that was the City Hall burning, desecrated and destroyed.

The it was like it is today, except the Guardians were gone, people of Warfang occupied it, screaming at her and threating her with steel and magic.

The door slammed shut, the City Hall vanished.

She turned around, Warfang was gone, wherever she turned people were shouting at her, demanding her blood. Capro was grinning in the distance.

Valley of Avalar, cheetahs everywhere, taunting her, every possible clan rallied on this single cause. Hunter, Meadow and Prowlus leading them.

Munitions Forge, manwersmalls and moles all around her, blind Mole-Yair pointing an accusing claw at her.

Dante's Freezer, apes spitting at her.

Everyone was against her.

Nobody came to help.

She was in the hospital, in Amela's room, her draconic heart was shattered. The old cheetah paced about the room, cursing, taunting and mocking her. Slowly vanishing into the door that led to her private quarters, shrouded by darkness she never will never be able to break.

Don't go Mother.

Sparx was pointing at her, the glow he naturally emanates empowered by fierce aggression. He was calling her names, relating how evil she is without the usual sarcasm and harsh humor. He was serious, and the two listeners took his words with just as much seriousness. It was Spyro and Flare, they had their eyes narrowed at her in disgust while they were nodding their heads in total agreement with the yelling dragonfly.

She saw Spyro, he stood in place, battered and bloody, barely able to keep his balance. Bodies surrounded him, thousands of apes and orcs laid dead before his paws, yet want of them was alive, a tall hero orc was making his way towards her friend. Spyro didn't see him, she was looking at her smiling lovingly at her, and then blood shot from his mouth when a huge axe impaled itself deep within his back.

My love.

She felt Malefor's paw gently stroking her head, both of them sat on a tall outcropping, watching the burning world below and especially admiring the five heads being impaled on spears. Four of them belonged to the Guardians and one to some dragon people called their young purple hero, whose name she didn't even bothered to remember.

It was Spyro again, they were in his room in the City Hall, he was listening to her intently as she finally gathered enough courage to expose her romantic feelings towards him. When she was done he smiled and then burst out with a mocking laughter.

Her heart shattered to pieces.

Yes, shattered.

But it wasn't her heart.

Cynder opened her eyes, one of her paws was free from the thick, slimy and cold shell. She watched it with wide eyes, she could see her scales all right, her paw was normal except for one minor detail. Tendrils of shadow were swirling all around her extended leg like chains around a slave's neck, very similar to the dusty and pitch-dark unsubstantial body of the white eyed creature.

Her paw was cracking, shifting and blinking from her sight. She blinked, she couldn't focus on its features, they were so blurry. There were moments her leg no longer resembled a draconic paw but extremely sharp bird's talons, sometimes it was a huge slithering worm, a pirate hook, horn, some evil imp or other strange monster. It was everything and nothing at all.

Every form of her leg filled her with overwhelming terror.

The song again, yet this time it didn't hurt.

It felt almost natural.

Cynder turned her head, the slimy armor she was wearing no longer constrained her movements.

"What do you want?" she asked casually, stripped of every emotion but fear

However the creature didn't scare her.

White eyes stared at her callously.

The shrill melody ringing inside her head, like wind howling through trees.

"Answer me be-" her voice was cut off by a gasp from her throat the moment the creature buried the tip of its shadowy sword in her chest

She felt no pain.

With her mouth hanging agape she looked at the protruding pitch-dark unsubstantial blade sticking out from her body, just to look at the creature moments later.

It began to dissolve in front of her eyes, quickly until it turned into a shadowy smoke, then it swiftly pushed out of her sight to the side. Her shocked eyes followed the trail it left, she saw it being sucked by the tendrils swirling around her leg, until it became one with them.

The shrill song, stronger than ever echoed all around her.

Cynder started to look around, the thick shadow that shrouded the Grand Plaza began to boil, the thing that was hiding in there was slithering towards her, she could see a huge, long bulge sliding across the black veil like a passionate arm moving beneath the sheets.

The shadowy creature was like an appetizer, the darkness was the main treat.

And she was terrified of it.

Cynder began to scream, the darkness seemed to wait for that, tendril of black smoke shot from the black veil and attached itself to the shadows circling around her leg. In horror and strange fascination she realized that the darkness was being sucked by the dust surrounding her paw.

Fear was slowly being pushed out of her system, every other emotion was wakening up inside her, together with the Grand Plaza. She could see all the familiar landscapes appearing again, everything was returning to normal, the lanterns woken up again, the moon's silvery light once more illuminated the ground.

The darkness was gone, pulled by whatever surrounded her paw, only when the last trail of black smoke vanished Cynder let out a breath of relief.

She swallowed, her saliva tasted bitterly. Curiously she raised her leg towards her snout, observing the swirling shadows from up close.

"What the hell?" she whispered in awe and horror

Everything was gone, except the unsubstantial dust surrounding her leg, the slimy armor on her body and…

She turned around with her eyes low, trailing the shadowy sword sticking out from her body from blade to hilt. Her eyes widened in shock, it wasn't the sword that caused this but the cracked and bleeding purple paws.

She threw her head up, a surprised gasp wafted from her throat when the sword was pushed deeper into her chest. The slimy armor broke into pieces and turned into smoke and met the same fate like everything else that happened today.

Cynder found herself staring into the brown eyes of a broken draconic purple snout.

"I am here" the creature spoke and buried the hilt of the sword into her body

The dragoness let out another gasp.

Everything went dark after that.

* * *

He looked absolutely everywhere, there was no sign of Sparx, he even asked people if they saw him, but it was just like Cynder expected, nobody noticed him. He had a hard time deciding if it was a good thing or a bad one, those are some really bumpy times for Warfang.

Parents always told them that siblings share a special bond, one always knows when something bad happens to the other. He didn't feel any such thing, it was a pitiful straw of hope, but a straw nonetheless.

Besides Sparx said he had some business to take care of, he had no idea what business it could be, they were always doing everything together. Maybe he just wanted to take a break from them, nobody would blame him for that.

Yet there was one place, important enough, where he didn't look and Sparx was behaving strangely when he decided to pay his respects to Ignitus.

It was the temple.

His brother didn't want to go inside, back then he didn't understand why but today he had the same objections. The place was bustling with activity, lights were shining everywhere and people were walking back and forth, sermon was taking place most likely.

At least he hoped that was a sermon, a peaceful one to be exact and not some meeting to plan how to cleanse the world of the taint.

He didn't have the courage to go inside, somehow he just knew he would stir the hornet's nest if he would show up there. It just wasn't worth the risk, his brother wherever he was, is most likely safe, it was Warfang after all. That and Sparx always had a talent from hiding from trouble.

He'll be fine.

There is someone else who needs his attention more than anything else.

Spyro looked at the sky, the moon was hanging high on the sky. It was time to come back. He cut through the air swiftly, with a smile on his face, whenever he thought about seeing Cynder again it made him the most happy dragon in the world.

Last turn and he will see his friend, he pushed towards it hungrily. He took a deep breath, preparing to announce his arrival in a loud, spectacular way.

Yet when he laid his eyes on her the breath he accumulated slipped through his lips with a whizz.

She was swaying in place, with her head hanging low.

Something wasn't right.

"Cynder?" Spyro shouted, fear crept into every note in his voice as he dashed towards her

He landed on the ground with a forceful splash, only now realizing that the grass is wet, the pond dry and emptied of water. The small colorful fish scattered all around the place, dead.

He swallowed and ran towards his friend.

"Cynder, what happened?"

She said nothing, still silently swaying on her legs.

"What happened?" he asked again worryingly, examining her from paw to horn, thinking that someone attacked her while he was gone and wounded her. He was desperately looking for any injury but found none

She looked normally.

"Tell me what's going on" he pleaded

Nothing.

"Cynder" he whispered her name lovingly, slid his paw beneath her chain and raised her head

He gasped when he looked into her eyes.

They were exactly the same like when he caught her while she was running through the forest so long ago. Unfocused, blurry, dull and lacking the beautiful shimmer.

He shook her gently "Hey Cynder do you hear me? it's me Spyro"

She blinked, her emerald orbs delicately gained on color.

"S-Spyro?" she slurred weakly

Her legs gave away after she used the last ounces of her energy on that single word.

The world went dark once more.

The dragoness fainted.


	66. Chapter 10 Book IV

Chapter 10

The two freshly acquainted dragons worked tirelessly in the library...or one of them did. Yet a certain blue dragoness would disagree rather roughly. Iris perhaps didn't rise a claw to help the young fire dragon by lifting even the tiniest scrap of paper, but the goal she set for herself meant the hardest work in her life. A work she willingly condemned herself to.

The longer she stayed here, the stronger she suspected that she is wasting her time.

The dragon was an idiot and a clumsy one at that.

Yet...

There was something odd about him, besides the obvious of course. His looks didn't really impress her, even in her time...

Her time.

How stupid it sounds.

...even in her time there were dragons who showed traits of superficial elemental energy. From the part of her life, a short one, that didn't involve running and hiding like a stinking rat she remembered that it had something to do with acquiring too much power in a seriously short amount of time. Or it had something to do with an adaptation to the increasing potential of magic flowing through the world.

Fuck if I know.

Fuck if I care.

Her dick of an uncle has a fiery tail himself and there's nothing special about the prick.

This guy over here is covered in flames, like he fell into a cauldron of elemental fire when he was a hatchling.

Big deal.

However her feminine intuition told her that it wasn't the whole truth, if it would be that simple she would already scratched her brains out at the first sight of his dullness. There was something really attractive about him, something that could sate the parasitic hate feeding on her.

She sat in the middle of the library watching him running around the room, following her every order like an obedient puppet. The interior finally started to resemble a library, an effect achieved in mere hours, no doubt thanks to her.

From what she gathered he was here practically the whole day and basically did nothing. He was illiterate, yeah, but as far as she knows inability to read doesn't prevent from putting up bookshelves. It was like he spent most of his time here on daydreaming, the toppling bookshelf was the first he tried to move.

Her feminine intuition kicked in again, she has seen the same behavior before.

You know what it means Iris don't you?

You've been through the same thing, didn't you Iris?

He was hiding, running from something, trying to occupy his mind with whatever he could get his paws on. It was plain as day, but still not the whole truth. He motivated his actions also with something else, as if trying to...

Make amends?

What did you do Dynamite?

Give me something to work on.

"Are you listening to me Iris?"

Her senses returned to her sharply as she jerked her head back in surprise.

"What?"

Flare waggled a book he was holding in front of her eyes.

"What about this one? It's different than the others"

I don't give a fuck.

She threw the tome a fleeting, uninterested glance. The book was thin, very thin, she didn't bother to check out the title. It was a guide of sorts maybe, or a recipe. She had enough, the role of a librarian started to irritate her long time ago, enough is enough.

"Put it with all the rest of the crap"

Flare winced, his eyes quickly darted from side to side, aimlessly seeking something and not finding it.. Only then he turned towards her with a devastated wince.

"Meaning?" he whined

Iris rubbed her forehead, idiocy was giving her a headache, having to deal with it out of her own free will squeezed her brain.

"Miscellaneous"

"Right!" he beamed and swiftly spun around, making hasty steps forward, putting into his walk confidence of a person who knows what he wants

Then, suddenly, he stopped.

Whole confidence evaporated like water in the hot desert.

Iris groaned like a picky brat, her wings slumped down onto the carpet. Impulsively she started to pluck at her feathers, something she hasn't done since she was just a child.

"To your left, second row, third shelf"

Flare furrowed his brows at the sound of her voice, he didn't meet many kids in his life but the ones he saw spoke with the same emotionless and devastated whine whenever they lost a fight with their parents over something they really didn't want to do.

He looked behind his shoulder, his eyes widened slightly as they absorbed the image of his unwilling companion fully. The austerity and roughness disappeared from her features, she looked like a little girl with wide round eyes, lovingly broken and trapped in whatever world of consolation she placed herself into.

The way she looked and the manner with which she played with her feathers was immensely cute.

"To your left, second row, third shelf" she repeated, her voice devoid of any coldness. It was surprisingly sweet and melodic, the accent adding a peculiar charm to the innocent voice of a little girl.

Like the alluring song of a mermaid.

His legs carried him on his own, his yellow eyes perpetually stuck on the dragoness. Innocence is not what he was used to see, the years he spent as a test mouse stole from him so much grace the world has to offer. Found even in places where you would never believe to see it, like on the expression of his female companion.

It was awkwardly blinding.

He could-

His train of thought sped somewhere far away the moment a grunt escaped his throat as he bumped into the frame of a nearby bookshelf, nose first. His panicked eyes momentarily were filled by tears, the whole pitiful construction started to shake, books rattled like turbulent hatchlings and to make things worse his nose started to itch with a numb pain.

With a whine Flare pounced towards the quaking bookshelf and forcefully grabbed its wooden surface. To his surprise it stopped moving, the only thing in this damn room that wasn't against him. Only some hollow thuds vibrated across the library as some of the books fell down like domino.

The dragon exhaled a very long breath of relief, he looked behind his shoulder and smiled sheepishly.

Iris kept playing with her feathers, her head shaking slightly in complete and utter disbelief.

Flare's mind focused on the task at hand, he might be dull sometimes, but there are signals even he can understand. He bounced to the side, swiftly sprang into the desired row of bookshelves, quickly set the book he was holding in its rightful place and even in a blink of an eye rearranged the tomes that toppled over.

"Done!" he blurt out triumphantly and pounced into the middle of the room, grinning proudly.

Iris was still sitting in the same manner as before.

"You look really pretty when you play with your wings like that"

The dragoness balked suddenly, as if struck by a bolt of lightning. Her angelic wings aggressively flared open, her eyes sparkled, icily, as if a little rough and freezing winter just started inside her diamond orbs.

The temperature in the library dropped considerably.

"You think I'm pretty?" she hissed, her voice cold and ringing with the sound of breaking ice.

Flare gulped, there was no sign of his smile no longer.

"T-that w-was a c-c-compliment"

"If you call me pretty ever again I'll slice your throat and pull your tongue right through the hole"

The dragon impulsively rubbed his neck. Obviously having the ability to take the hint when it's put plainly before him.

She looked around the room, her eyes seemed to leave an icy trail behind them.

"Is it done?"

Flare stared at her blankly.

"The library. Everything's on the right place?"

He swallowed once more, feeling a little bulge beneath his paw as it slid down his throat.

"Y-yes"

Iris gave the room another look, she did a good job with this place, maybe not everything is on its usual spot, maybe not every book is where it should be, but it should be enough for those assholes to stop harassing her. A lesson in humility would do them good, however it won't happen today, she done enough for those idiots.

If they won't like it then they are even bigger morons than she originally thought. They have to understand who is the bigger fish here, giving her scraps to work with, together with a dumb puppet and still she done miracles with this place.

It's even better than it was before, dragons like her know what's good. Taste and style, those are the things they don't understand and never will. No matter how hard they try, the library was good previously, now it's magnificent.

This is class.

Bow to your queen.

Iris stood up and made her way towards the door.

"Hey wait!" Flare dashed after her "After we were done with putting everything on its place we were supposed to clean this place up"

She ignored the protesting dragon, her job here is done. She has to see if there is anyone stupid enough outside that thinks otherwise.

He closely followed her swinging in irritation tail.

"I'm serious, I've made a deal with the nice mole lady. We can't just leave"

His voice became more hectic by the minute, not because he felt that he breaks the agreement and feels guilty about it, it was something else.

He was scared.

I don't care.

Whatever troubles he has are of no concern to her, she dealt with him long enough.

"Iris wait" Flare begged "Let's stay here just for a little while longer"

A veil of complete agony shrouded his already saddened eyes when she continued walking, as if not hearing what he just said.

"Please, only a little lon-"

His weak pleading voice died among the sound of opening door, both dragons looked up following the growing silvery arms of the moon which grew in accordance with the sound of the opening door to eventually reveal a mole and a draconic guard at its doorstep.

Mora's eyes grew to unspeakable size behind her goggles as she took into notice the arranged interior of the most important place in her world.

"Look at this!" she clapped her hands excitedly and pounced inside the room.

She opened her arms fully and spun around in place.

"You did a wonderful job my friend" she breathed in awe

Flare scratched the back of his head bashfully "I had help"

Mora threw the dragoness a quick dubious glance "I'm sure you had"

Iris ignored the irony.

The mole clapped her hands "You did a wonderful job with this place, I can see that there are some changes here and there, but we'll manage. Life is about a little excitement after all is it not?"

"Life is also about justice" the draconic guard added, fiercely narrowing his eyes on the ice dragoness.

She stared back at him, no one of the two lowered their eyes.

Mora nodded, pretending that she didn't understand the hint "It seems like we are done here"

"No" Flare protested gently "There is still so much to do, we didn't clean this place yet" he jumped towards the nearby desk and ran his claw along its wooden surface. He then presented it to the librarian it was covered in dust.

"See?"

The mole smiled fondly "Your determination is admirable but I think we can handle it from here"

The fire dragon looked devastated "Are you sure?"

"Yes, don't waste your young life on working when it's not needed. Go out into the world and make sure you announce yourself with a blast"

Colors faded from the dragon's snout. He swallowed, the bulge of saliva that went down his throat felt like a rough rock.

The librarian titled her "Are you alright? You turned rather pale all of a sudden"

Flare put up a forced smile "I'm fine, it's just that sometimes I feel very small compared to the vast world that just waits to swallow me down"

Mora laughed heartily "So true, I occasionally feel the same way, but unfortunately I don't have the chance to show the world who's boss here"

She shrugged happily "A midget stays a midget"

The drake chuckled falsely.

"However there are times when I can feel that I can do whatever I want with the world. You want to know the cure?"

Flare nodded out of politeness and not interest.

She grinned "It's called shopping"

"Shopping?"

The mole laughed "Yes!" she rummaged through her pockets, something clank inside "Speaking of which...there!" she presented some small green gems on her palm "For your trouble"

The dragon shook his head "You don't have to"

"Stop joking" she removed a small pouch hanging from her belt and poured the crystals inside "A well-deserved compensation for a job well done" she offered the pouch to the drake "Take it, I won't take no for an answer"

Flare reluctantly reached for the small bag "Thanks" he threw the ice dragoness a brief glance "Iris deserves a reward more than I do"

The librarian looked at the ground awkwardly, nervously picking at her claws

"She already got a reward" the draconic guard added fiercely his eyes never leaving the dragoness

She didn't back down from the ongoing silent battle.

"Really? What was it?"

"Unfairness. Keep away from her kid, only jail is an appropriate place for the likes of her"

Mora clapped her hands and giggled nervously "So how about we call it a day? Go enjoy the evening, some stalls should be open, buy some nice things" she pointed at the door with her open palm "Have fun"

He wanted to protest, but the longer he observed the librarian's wavering smile the more he realized that this situation is very uncomfortable for her. It was time to get his fiery tail out of here, the moment had to come eventually, sadly it came too quickly.

Flare advanced forward, his steps were heavy, as if invisible chains would be locked around his legs. A strong shiver shook his body as he approached Iris. It was like she was emanating a freezing aura.

Only when he passed her he felt her moving behind him, the cold air from her breath biting sharply at his back scales. He might not be a warrior per se, but that doesn't change the fact that he is sensitive in noticing when someone is practically ready to claw your eyes out.

His unfortunate life experience taught him that.

He knew that Iris is ready.

If he wouldn't move when he did it wouldn't be long before the guard would throw another provocation making her snap. However that doesn't mean that it can't still happen, the guard was in their way, if he won't move things might go drastic.

Who to protect?

Involve myself into this?

Who will die?

Luckily Flare never received answers for those questions. As soon as they approached the doorstep the guard moved to the side with an annoyed snort.

"The guy that came with must have a talent for licking asses"

Flare winced, the breath wafting from above as the big dragon watched them arrogantly, or most likely her, seemed to burn his scales. It reeked of provocative intent and anticipation for what is to come.

However Iris did not react, the taunt was aimed at somebody who she cares about it seems and yet she remained untouched by the fact, at least from the outside. She never smiled during the time they spent here together, she is incapable of smiling. She said it herself.

The aura around her was the gate to her emotions.

The moment the guard mentioned that guy he no longer felt the sharp stinging on his scales. The cold aura no longer was so fierce, now instead of focusing on a single place on his body it spread across the width of his silhouette.

Just like the aura would be forming a grin.

The guard growled in annoyance, realizing that his provocation didn't work.

"You are to be expected in the City Hall at midnight" the dragon's claws drummed on a nearby tree trunk meaningfully "I hope you will be late"

Iris barked two times.

A low rumbling growl blurt out from the guard's mouth, the drumming claws dug into the trunk forcefully and tore a piece of the wood as he furiously jerked his paw back.

Cortex shot everywhere.

"Watch your step" the dragon rumbled and took to the air, purposely creating as much wind as possible

She watched the big mouthed fucker take off and disappear into the black sky as she moved forward. The dog was very close to losing his head.

Iris' eyes remained locked on the sky, on the blackness above, the dragon was gone by now, yet she couldn't shake off the feeling that she is being watched by something really…evil. She shook her head, trying to discard the sensation.

It didn't work.

She narrowed her eyes, her mind pulsed with feral instinct, she sensed danger, she sensed that she is being hunted. A cold finger of fear poked her heart, making her realize just how insignificant she truly is. Like a defenseless deer, surrounded by hungry predators.

She had a strange feeling that the hunter, whatever it was, is closer than ever and she can do nothing about it. Strangely it filled her with an odd kind of relief, she never backed down from a fight before, in fact she was the one that spearheaded most of them. She just knew that she is better than anyone else, yet this…this isn't her kind of caliber.

Fuck pride.

Suddenly, a quick shadow shrouded the stars above for a brief second and disappeared soon after to reveal them in their full glory once more. Just like…

…something moved out there.

Iris yelped when she tripped over something long and scaly, whatever things she imagined to see and feel faded away, replaced only by the sound of her clicking claws as she struggled to regain balance. With a growl of annoyance she looked behind her shoulder as she eventually managed to get a good foothold on the ground. Even without checking she knew who was behind this.

A fiery tail nervously slid across the ground back and forth.

Another growl rumbled within her throat as she aimed her hateful eyes on the dragon's snout.

"What now?"

Flare didn't answer, his head was turning from side to side, slowly, allowing his eyes to perceive every little detail. His fiery body pulsed, the light emanating from him was brighter and dimmer alternately. He was afraid, that one thing was obvious, but it wasn't the common fear that forces you run as far as possible. It was quite the opposite in his case, the fright that overwhelmed him prevented him from making a step forward.

As if the world would fall apart the moment his paw touches the ground.

Iris roiled her eyes, there was something interesting about him, she knew that, but she didn't have the strength anymore to deal with him. She scanned the city herself, out of boredom really than with some deliberate plan, not hoping to find anything worthwhile and yet the search proved to be fruitful.

She spotted a mole packing up his things from a nearby stall, even from here she heard the delicate clinking of jewelry. The idiot might still be of some use today.

The dragoness stopped right behind the mole, the rodent had his back turned to her, busy locking some beautifully crafted medallions back into their caskets. He spun around with a startled whine as he suddenly felt a cold blow of air on his back.

"By the Ancestors!" he screamed and pressed his hands to his chest, calming his scared, pounding heart

He rearranged the goggles on his long snout and gave the figure in front of him a quick once-over. Only when his eyes formed the image of a pretty dragoness in front of him he let out a relieved nervous chuckle.

"You scared me to death miss" he laughed

Iris ignored the rodent and approached the now basically empty stall, yet there were some things that caught her attention.

A greedy smile spread across the mole's lips, he was closed but nothing makes the day better than an unexpected potential customer. With trained and experienced grace he moved behind the stall and put up a smile so wide that it would make anyone feel like they just met the owner of the gingerbread house they have just entered.

"Is there anything I can do for you in this beautiful evening?"

He examined the girl once more, and knew instantly that he will make some gems at the end of this day. She had a weakness for jewelry, the three gold bracelets and the chain, even if ugly, told him that. Not to mention that she seemed to take all this for some kind of fetish, he has never seen someone inserting jewelry in their bodies and she had a single, truly magnificent gem embedded into her chest.

Kids these days.

His eyes remained stuck on the crystal, it was brilliant, more beautiful than the stuff he usually makes, and he is a skilled craftsman. He wondered how much he would get for it if he could get his hands on the gem. His greedy soul wished that the dragoness would faint all of a sudden, right here, in front of his stall. He has tools stashed here somewhere, perfectly suitable for delicate jobs like that, like every mole he is a miner by blood, flesh is no different than stone. You just have to know where to swing your pick for the gem to come out unharmed.

"What are you looking at?"

The merchant looked up when some unexpected source of fiery light approached his stall. It was another dragon, the burning one he heard so much about. He also had a gem embedded inside his chest, freaks will be freaks.

He impulsively patted the back of his shoulder, a habit he developed during his mining days whenever he found some great gem. There was always his pick waiting impatiently for his touch.

Sadly today this was not the case.

Flare's eyes rested on the same place where Iris' gaze was aimed. There were some bracelets and rings displayed on the stall, all in the same color.

"You like gold?" he asked, connecting the obvious wasn't his strongest trait

She reached for one of the bracelets and turned it around under the light of Flare's wings.

The mole grinned "Everything's coming from a reliable source I assure you"

The dragoness straightened up on her hind legs, slid the bracelet on her left forepaw, to the exact same spot where the bracelet on her right leg laid and locked the jewelry around her paw with a practiced move.

The merchant let out a well-trained breath of awe "It looks like I made it just for you"

Iris turned her leg around, examining the bracelet with true admiration and then as by a magic touch her expression adopted the same cold grimace. She wrathfully removed the bracelet from her leg and placed it rather roughly on the stall.

"I can't afford it"

She angrily turned away from the stall and continued on her way.

Flare watched her go with saddened eyes, his paw impulsively touched the pouch hanging from his neck. He can make this right.

He turned to the stall and pointed at the bracelet Iris was recently checking.

"How much?"

Before the mole could answer the dragon tore the bag from his neck and emptied the contents on the stall.

"Will this be enough?"

The mole's eyes glimmered with greed, the gems he spilled exceeded the value of the bracelet practically tenfold. He didn't have to know that.

"Y-yes" the merchant stammered

Flare snatched the bracelet from the display and dashed after his female companion.

As a trader he knew what a bargainer's risk is, as he raised his gaze to observe the two young dragons while he gathered the gems from his stand he felt somewhat sad for the burning drake.

The poor fool was played.

Iris walked through the city with her head down, watching the shimmering, new gold bracelet on her left leg.

There's a chance everything might work after all.

* * *

"Is she sick?" Spyro asked, his voice wavering with emotion as he sat next to the bed where he brought Cynder to recover after she fainted right in front of his eyes.

His friend was sprawled practically across the whole length of the bed, jaw propped on two soft pillows, left paw resting slightly below the cheek, right one tightly secured in his gentle, purple embrace. Wings neatly folded and lying on the soft sheets, tail coiled with the tip dangling from the edge of the bed.

"From a medical point of view she's perfectly healthy" Amela commented thoughtfully as she leaned from the chair she was sitting on, her intelligent eyes focused on the calm snout of the poor girl

Spyro shook his head fiercely "People don't faint just like that. What if she had some kind of seizure ? Or something similarly horrible?"

The cheetah gently caressed Cynder's head "Calm your nerves darling, I understand your nervousness but I beg you, don't torture yourself with such ideas"

Spyro pressed his forehead to his friend's leg that he was holding "She isn't waking up Amela" he whined pitifully, his gentle cry muffled by Cynder's black scales pressed to his lips

Amela looked at the dragon with watery eyes, the pain in his voice was strongly palpable, you could touch it if you wanted to.

"I'm so sorry darling"

He sobbed weakly "I have all these crazy thoughts swirling inside my head. Brain damage being one of them"

"The body needs time to recover from such a sudden shock. Loss of consciousness is serious, everything has to happen in the right order. Imagine the body as one of the machine's the moles made, when it stops abruptly it has to restart its work from the beginning, slowly at first but with each passing faster and faster"

She directed her fondly gaze at the dragoness "She is resting, of that I am certain. That's good, it means that her body is charging. We just have to wait till her batteries will be full"

Spyro's head jerked up sharply as his grieving mind connected, in his opinion, very important facts "They had to poison her food! We were eating in our usual spot in the mess hall, I can swear that people were staring at us, laughing about something! I bet it had something to do with Cynder's food!"

Amela placed her hand on the dragon's shoulder compassionately "The border between grief and paranoia is a thin one. Beware Spyro, a paranoid mind can take you to unimaginable places"

"Every possibility must be considered!"

She caressed his shoulder gently "I know how you feel"

His head once more landed on his friend's paw as he sobbed delicately "I'm never there for her, I already failed one dragon that I loved and I keep doing the same with her"

Amela straightened up in her chair, she felt sorry for the poor drake, but at the same time beamed with loving joy, even if for a moment. Her eyes shrouded a dreamy veil.

Ahhh to be young again.

"I shouldn't have leave her alone"

"You know well darling that our Cynder here is a free spirit. She's an independent girl, you demonstrated great care for your brother and her soul"

Spyro snickered mockingly "And look what it got me. My friend is lying there" he nodded at the bed devastated "and I can't do nothing to help her"

"You cannot control everything. No matter how hard you might try"

He nodded sadly "That's why I need your help"

Amela pressed her hand to her chest in shock "Mine? There isn't much these old bones can do nowadays"

"Cynder adores you, I hear how she talks about you. You may be the only one who can convince her to come clean with me. When she wakes up she's going to try to avoid the topic, that's her style and she won't let me get close until I won't insist, and I mean REALLY insist. I can't risk to have that argument again, not in her current condition"

The cheetah smiled "You two are meant for each other"

Spyro threw a quick glance at the pretty, sleeping snout, in any other situation he wouldn't be able to turn his eyes away from the image that he loves seeing so much. This was not the time nor the place for it, yet the healer's words awakened that mind numbing, in a positive way, tug towards Cynder, that forced a blush to creep onto his cheeks.

Spyro scratched the back of his head skittishly "Will...you help me?"

The healer smiled kindly "I'll do my best"

The dragon returned a grateful smile "Remember to tell her that she can count on me"

"Of course"

"And..." he looked at his friend affectionately "..ask her if she seen something strange lately"

Amela leaned back in her chair, folding her arms on her chest "Then she told you about her hallucinations?"

The dragon's eyes flared up painfully "You know about that?"

The cheetah smiled lovingly "Don't be upset darling, you know your friend and why she keeps some things from you. Not that I approve of that mind you, but I'm just a healer, it's my job to listen to my patients if they are willing to share their troubles with me and not spread them around like stupid rumors. Trust is essential in this line of work"

The dragon aimed his gaze at his sleeping friend, he wanted to sound agitated, but he just couldn't be angry at her.

"She's so stubborn sometimes"

Patting her paw gently Spyro turned towards the healer, determination flashing in his eyes "I suppose you know about the dragon she keeps seeing?"

Amela nodded "Some of it, yes"

"Any thoughts?"

She took a deep thoughtful breath "Cynder had sleeping problems so she came to me for some medicine. Pretty understandable with all the burden she carries, it would give anyone nightmares. It was a subtle concoction, there was absolutely no possibility that it could have any side effects and worsen the state she was in back then"

"In fact it seemed to help her, the last time I saw her she was well rested, I even asked about her problems and she said that they disappeared, just like that. Cynder convinced me that it had to be some consequence of being exposed to tremendous amount of magic, mending the world surely counts as one. Not sure if she believed it herself, nevertheless it was a rational explanation. She said it's over, she didn't want to talk about it further so I didn't pry"

Amela looked at the sleeping dragoness, her yes full of sadness and guilt "Seems it's not"

Spyro licked his lips, thy shivered underneath his tongue like prey that is being tasted by its predator.

"She relives her past, don't know why but I'm sure that dragon has something to do with it. If it would be as simple as guilt she would have nightmares in the very beginning and not now. I think that whatever hold Malefor had over her, his influence didn't disappear with his death, I wouldn't be surprised if he prepared himself for something like this. He was clever, someone like him had to have a plan B, Cynder almost busted him out after all"

"Even if that would be the truth, would the Dark Master risk like that? Put his resurrection in the paws of a girl who you defeated once already?"

The dragon directed his eyes at the sleeping poor thing, his amethyst orbs were shimmering with tears. Amela rubbed her aching heart, she could smell the love emanating from the young drake. The scent was intoxicating and painful.

"I wouldn't be able to do that again" his voice came out from his throat like a lifeless whisper

She tried to say something but the words got stuck somewhere deep within her throat. She didn't envy him, if it would ever come to this he would hold the life of the love of his life in one paw while the fate of the world in the other.

She just hoped that this is only his fatalistic theory.

She just hoped t-

Cynder groaned suddenly, the sheets rustled underneath her delicately as she stirred.

Both Spyro an Amela looked at each other, their eyes twice their normal size.

"Cynder!' Spyro exclaimed and jumped in front of his friend's snout

Amela raised up sharply, the chair swayed and fell on the floor.

She groaned again, trying to pull herself up.

The cheetah placed her hand gently on the dragonesses back.

"Don't move"

"Where….am…I?" Cynder rasped, her voice rough like a shriveled leaf

"You're in the hospital" Spyro answered hectically "In Amela's office, I brought you here after-"

He jumped back when she opened her eyes, he could swear he saw a dark shade running across her eyes, like a shadow over the wall of some hideous monster.

Cynder offered him a weak, sarcastic smile "Well…aren't you…happy to…see…me"

He returned a nervous smile as he cocked his head, her eyes were green once more, or perhaps they were like that from the start. They lacked the sharp green shimmer, understandable in this circumstances, maybe that confused him.

It had to be his imagination.

Ancestors I beg you.

Let it be my imagination.

"Here" Amela placed a bowl of water in front of the dragonesses nose

Cynder threw the cheetah a grateful glance and began to awkwardly lap at the liquid.

"How are you feeling?" Spyro asked worryingly after she sated her thirst

"Like a cart would ran me over a thousand times" she moved her limbs with a groan "Every bone hurts like hell"

"What happened?"

"Spyro, maybe let's give Cynder some rest before-"

"No" the dragoness cut the cheetah off "You deserve to know"

The dragon jerked his head in surprise "Me too?"

"You especially"

Spyro looked at the cheetah with shocked eyes.

Amela winked.

"Don't ever pretend that you understand women"

Cynder smiled, her sharp mind already connecting the dots "You thought I wouldn't tell you anything?"

He scratched the back of his head nervously "Something like that"

The dragoness giggled "Anyway, I had another one of those crazy dreams…I think. I won't go into details because I would have a hard time explaining this and I don't want to confuse you even further. The most important thing is that it felt really vivid, like I wouldn't be dreaming at all, and…"

"The dragon you spoke about was there" Amela finished for the dragoness

Cynder nodded.

"When I found you Cynder you looked like you weren't sleeping for ages. Water was everywhere and all the fish dead, like a dynamite would blow in the pond"

"No dream is capable of making you do such a thing Sweetheart"

"Then I guess I was hallucinating…"

Spyro frowned "You don't sound convinced"

"Amela is it possible from a medical point of view for people to have such vivid hallucinations that make you see such crazy stuff that you think you are going to die from fear?"

The healer nodded "Yes Sweetheart, if by some means your mind gets confused and will no longer recognize what is real and what is imagined it sets your whole body into motion to respond to the situation it sees. Strong hallucinations exhaust organisms, true, but you would have to be under the influence of a very potent drug. Such things don't happen without reason"

Cynder nodded and began to pull herself up.

"Hey!" Spyro admonished his friend "Where do you think you are going?"

"To the Plaza and where do you think? I need to check if I'm crazy" she straightened up, her legs wavered slightly "Now you have a choice, either you help me get there or you're going to see how I constantly bump off everything, ground included, like a drunk. Your call, but I'm still going there"

The dragon looked at the healer meaningfully.

"At least I was right about that stubborn stuff"

* * *

Both the cheetah and the purple dragon observed the black dragoness curiously as she examined one of the lanterns from top to bottom for like a hundred time.

"if you would tell us what are we looking for we might help you" Spyro reminded his friend of the obvious truth another time

"How long was I out?" Cynder asked as she turned away from the lantern

"Twenty minutes" Amela replied

The dragoness moved forward awkwardly, still trying to remember how to use her legs "Spyro I need some light here"

Spyro sighed and channeled his elemental energy, they've been walking around the Plaza for a while now, using his breath to serve as a torch was a tiring thing. He spat out a cone of flame, the ground was illuminated by a fiery light in an instant, he repeated the same thing over and over again until Cynder signaled him to stop.

"You found something?" Amela inquired

She shook her head.

"Hey you over there!"

All three of them turned in the direction of the sound, an old mole was speeding their way. Strangely not bothered by Cynder's presence or perhaps his blindness was more advanced in this age.

The cheetah smiled "How can we help you?"

"Have you seen my brother? He looks like me, we're twins you know"

Colors faded from Cynder's snout.

"I'm sorry, we didn't see anyone"

"Are you sure?" the mole pointed at the lantern "He usually takes a nap under that lantern. I found our family ring but I can't seem to find him. He's a funny old coot and sometimes likes to hide from me because he knows I won't find him. Night isn't good for my eyes you know"

"May…"Cynder swallowed, the glum tone of her voice a beacon for the attention of her companions "…may I see the ring?"

"By all means have it!" the mole put the ring on the dragonesses opened paw "I hate that ugly thing anyway. Sentiments pfft!"

She raised the ring under the light of the lantern, as she turned it around shadows seemed to dance over its surface. She lowered her paw and started to look around the black sky, one thought bouncing inside her skull that she remembered someone repeating constantly.

Was the night always so grisly?


	67. Chapter 11 Book IV

Chapter 11

Spyro rubbed his forehead despondently.

"Damn"

"I killed a guy without even touching him" Cynder muttered devastated

"It wasn't you Sweetheart" Amela comfortingly massaged the dragonesses shoulder, the bench she was sitting on felt extremely uncomfortable

"It was me, all that crap I've told you about, it went inside me and I don't feel any different. Like it was a part of me all along, maybe I accidently set is loose? I don't know"

The dragon sprang on all fours aggressively "Stop it! I know you, you would never kill an innocent guy!"

"I'm a black dragon Spyro, Dark is my element. For the likes of me innocence doesn't exist"

"What are you talking about?!" he yelled furiously "What has your element to do with anything?"

"Are you kidding? The element we wield reflects our nature, it's a proven fact, Volteer said so himself"

"Bullshit!" he growled "I spit magical bolts in every color of the rainbow, I have purple scales and somehow I like girls!"

Cynder snickered "What?"

"Spyro is correct to some degree" Amela interjected "I'm no expert but from my observations of draconic kind I can certainly say that there is some pattern visible when it comes to dragons and their elements. You inherit some traits of the element you wield, I believe that this is a lesson every young dragon is taught?"

He wanted to protest…

_Ignitus remained at the doorstep, blocking the exit "Elemental energy defines us as beings…"_

…but had no solid ground for his argument.

"However that doesn't make you what you are, it might build the fundaments for your behavior but it's entirely up to you what you are going to raise on them. Individuality, free will, the ability to make choices, conscience, your parents teachings, if nothing of this mattered all dragons would be the same. Take late Ignitus for this matter, you both knew him, now compare him to Flare. They are both fire dragons, but are they the same?"

"Of course not" the cheetah continued, figuring there was no point in waiting for an answer since the truth was obvious "This is why you can't put blame on yourself Sweetheart, if this…accident was somehow related with your element as you think then your paws are clean"

"Clean?" Cynder muttered dubiously "I appreciate the effort Amela, I really do, but a guy is missing, most likely dead, killed by some dark monster. His death is on me, if that thing was somehow related to my element it's my damn duty to control it"

"If you really want to feel responsible for something then blame your ignorance. We all know so little about Dark, even you, a natural wielder, this lack of solid knowledge makes it difficult to state any reasonable thesis. Everything we talk about is just speculation"

The dragoness shook her head "I'm not buying this, element is nothing more than an arrow, we are the ones who draw the bow"

"I don't understand you Cynder" Spyro snarled frustrated "Why are you so wind-up on putting fault on yourself?" he growled

She narrowed her eyes on him angrily "Don't talk to me like that"

"Like what? Everything bad that happens, you always think it's because of you. Why you insist on torturing yourself like this? The taunts of the people aren't enough for you anymore?"

"Where am I torturing myself? Just because I think that this once they might be right about me?"

"You seem to be only focused on that matter! Consider every angle, elements are raw magic, they empower our feelings and sometimes slip out of control if we're not careful. Ignitus told me that! It might have been an accident as Amela said, magic is crazy, you can't put shackles on it and believe it will obey you all the time"

Cynder opened her mouth.

"I know!" Spyro cut her off before she could speak, already knowing what she is going to say "I know crazy ass monsters, shadowy creatures and other strange stuff. Maybe that is what Dark does, Fire is temperamental, it burns stuff, Ice is cold, it freezes things. Maybe Dark is…"

His voice trailed off.

"Yeah genius, tell us, what Dark is"

The cogs inside his head began to spin hectically, looking desperately for a solid explanation to back up his train of thought.

Unfortunately found none.

Spyro kicked the grass with an annoyed snarl.

"Just as I thought" Cynder commented casually

"Whatever!" he growled "I don't need to explain myself. It's not you and that's it!"

"What happened to _consider every angle_?"

"Screw it! It's not you!"

She smiled arrogantly "Well…aren't we a hypocrite"

"Spyro, Cynder, please, this is getting us nowhere…"

The purple dragon roared "Why do you have to be so stubborn?! Why can't you accept the fact that whatever happened was the doing of your element going wild?!"

"Because I feel that's not the whole truth"

"So what?! Just say that this was an accident and you make sure it'll never happen again!"

"I should ignore the death of someone and lie to myself?"

"Yeah!"

"Why?"

"So I could stop worrying that Malefor's influence is corrupting you again! I'm so afraid of it that it drives me CRAZY!"

Amela looked at the purple drake sadly, Cynder wanted to continue the argument at first, but the moment his words struck her with their full power the letters that were boiling inside her throat left her mouth with a whizz and she dropped her eyes on the ground.

Spyro panted heavily, he could feel his heart pounding inside his chest in agony.

"To run from something we fear and lock ourselves in a world of delusion. It's an understandable, natural act" the cheetah broke the silence kindly "But it is selfish darling. Cute oblivion doesn't solve any troubles"

His purple rump dropped on the ground with a devastated thud "I want things to work out, just this once. Is this too much to ask?"

"I don't want to hurt more people Spyro" Cynder whispered sadly

He sighed "I know"

"I'm scared too, I know how hard it is for you. We can pretend that nothing happened if you truly want it. I would run away from all of this with pleasure, say the word and I'll forget about it"

Amela decided not to interfere, this is something they had to do on their own. She watched the young purple dragon carefully, there was definitely a moment when he considered to ignore all of this and continue living their lives, facing problems that they can at least partially understand.

She heard stories about the purple dragon when she was still young and beautiful, all of them praised him beyond rational understanding. Almost nothing changed years later when she became the healer of Warfang and listened to her patients conversations, in some she even participated herself.

People were idealizing Spyro, the young wanted to be like him, the old respected him as their own blood. Everyone believes that their hero always knows what to do, unhesitatingly smites evil on every occasion. Confidently moves forward, nothing powerful enough to stop him. The smallest step a stride, trampling down a path that leads nowhere else but to greater good.

The truth about stories is a harsh one, they are just stories, no matter how hard we would like them to be real nothing will change the fact that there are a work of fiction. There are many people in this world, many minds and imaginations that by idealizing a character try to cover their own flaws.

Blind to the obvious truth.

This is only fiction.

The dragon she was looking at right now was the perfect example of that, people want him to be who knows what, while in truth he is a young boy with overwhelming responsibility placed onto his shoulders.

Despite the stories he has weaknesses too, like everyone else. Fright dictates his life, as a fighter he might not notice it, but it's there. What she sees now is just a different example of it, powerful enough to pierce through the learnt custom of not paying fear any mind.

He loves as anyone else, and not everyone like all people want to believe, but his family and the girl in front of him. The rest are sorted on the _I care for you_ platform, a pedestal where everyone is placed in the eyes of any good hearted person, as it should be.

He doesn't confidently stride forward, he has doubts just like anyone else. Hesitates when it comes to making a hard decision, unconsciously thinking to throw all this problems away and run without looking back.

People fail to see one obvious truth, life isn't about shortcuts, you cannot hope for one boy to solve all your troubles, you have to take matters in your own hands. They have to realize the danger when choosing someone other than themselves as their hero. They are putting all their hope and all their dreams and all their ideas about things into one young boy. Spyro is a young boy, he's going to let them down.

Hopefully before this happens people will open their eyes.

She felt sorry for the young dragon.

"No" Spyro mumbled painfully "Ignoring this will make things only worse"

Cynder nodded glumly, partially relieved and partially terrified, fully aware that even if they wanted to the problem would not simply go away.

She snickered half-heartedly "It's our funeral"

Spyro put up a caricature of a smile.

"Hey cheer up, we're shackled remember? If I will ever want to go downhill again and burn a village or two, I count on you to drag me back up"

The drake shook his head "Cynder..." he muttered endearingly

"What? Almost like old times, minus the thirst for murder of course. A catch you might say for befriending a black dragon"

"I don't know how can you joke in a situation like this"

Cynder jerked her head back in fake surprise "Joke? I'm serious, I have expectations to meet. Ask whoever you want"

"It's adorable Sweetheart how you hide your feelings behind humor" Amela chimed in "Unfortunately I'm too old to stop myself from reading in between the lines. Comes with age I suppose, brain works harder, because the body is simply too weak to stand its ground"

The dragoness looked up at the cheetah with loving gratefulness "Nothing slips by you huh?"

"Let people talk, that's their right, but don't allow their words to torment you. We all have morality, we know what's good and bad, if you follow your heart in your actions then the answer is obvious. One of the greatest regrets in life is being what others would want you to be, rather than being yourself"

Both dragons dropped their heads, focus grimacing their snouts.

Amela nodded appraisingly "I believe you both can relate to the last sentence"

Cynder's heart started to beat faster, she felt it pumping blood to places that she didn't believe existed, as if forcefully cut out from her. She instantly connected the experience with the sensation of emptiness she felt all her life. Her heart was regenerating part of the void sucking at her guts every time she looked at children, seen Spyro fooling around with Sparx, or when she heard someone mentioning family.

The most important part in every creature's life was stripped from her like a useless bandage. She found a piece of that part in the presence of the old cheetah, in her words and sincere kindness and care whenever the healer talked with her.

Moments like those made her believe that perhaps the world has more to offer her than just pain and suffering.

The dragoness raised her gaze, gentle tears of affection gleamed faintly at the corners of her emerald eyes.

"Where have you been all my life?"

Amela rubbed the girl's cheek fondly.

"I have no doubts that the road you decided to walk will be a difficult one, always remember this on your journeys, wherever they take you...The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing"

Spyro cocked his head curiously, his heart also remembering loss, a very recent one.

"You remind me of someone, just like you he had practically unending words of counsel for every situation"

Amela laughed "You don't say? He is just as young as me perhaps? If so then there's no surprise there, unending words of counsel are a fetish of the old" she smiled "Who is the lucky fellow? Maybe I know him, that way we could exchange some tips at a cup of tea"

The drake swallowed bitterly "His name was Ignitus, he...he's gone now"

The healer cringed at the sound of the familiar name and her stupidity "Here are some more words of wisdom for you...Even old people lack tact" she bowed apologetically "Forgive me"

"It's okay"

She dropped her hands on her knees with a smack "Well..." she got up "I think that's my cue to go"

Cynder got up hurriedly "So soon?"

Amela smiled kindly "I 've took too much of your time already Sweetheart. Besides, the night is getting cold and you need your rest. I've heard there are some busy days ahead of you"

"We'll manage"

The cheetah chuckled "I don't want you to _manage, _I want you to be ready" she pinched the dragonesses cheek tenderly "Do it for me"

Cynder swallowed, her lower lip wavered, deeply moved by the cheetah's gesture.

"O...okay"

"If we're lucky we'll see each other tonight yet, I still have some papers to deliver to the Guardians. However if we miss each other..."

Amela offered her usual smile to the both young dragons.

"Goodnight"

"Goodnight" both drakes replied in unison

"Wow" Spyro muttered as he observed the healer slowly disappearing within the embrace of the night "You really like her"

Cynder observed the vanishing feline's tail longingly.

"Yeah..."

"How do you feel about following Amela's advice?"

She sighed tiredly "Since a bumpy road is destined for us we might just as well start walking it today from the City Hall" she looked at her friend pleadingly "Stay close to me"

As if charmed by her voice he swiftly jumped towards her.

"Of course" Spyro replied

After he received a thankful smile from his friend they started to walk side by side towards the door to the City Hall. Their scales delicately brushing against each other as their bodies swayed to the rhythm of their steps.

When the door to the room they both know so well opened they both froze in the doorstep, greeted by an unexpected sight. There were three old dragons inside, but only two of them were Guardians. The stranger was undoubtedly a fire dragon, not even his scared head, hooklike extension on his wings or winglike bony plates in the form of huge ears didn't shock them as the sole fact that his scales were red.

Which was quite odd since he had many other original characteristics, like the fiery tip of his tail anxiously swaying back and forth along the floor for example, that stood out from his rather common coloration. Not to mention that he is a fire dragon, they've seen many like him...yet...there was...something...

"A purple dragon?" the fire drake's low, full of awe hoarse voice echoed throughout the room

Spyro stared at the stranger in complete, shocked silence

The red dragon craned his neck forward.

"By the gods, I've heard stories about purple dragons, but I've never believed I'll ever meet one in person" he tilted his head, his red eyes burned with focus "Or is it that my old eyes fool me once more?" his head moved to the opposite side "Are you real boy?"

The purple drake remained speechless.

Terrador cleared his throat, breaking the awkward silence.

"No, your eyes aren't fooling you. Spyro stands in front of us, flesh and bone"

The fire dragon's eyes widened in sudden embarrassment.

"Where are my manners" he bowed deeply "My name is Ignus, it's an honor"

Eventually everything that is happening managed to be registered by his startled mind.

"A...pleasure...to...How...Why..." however Spyro's tongue still didn't regain the power to form sensible sentences

The dragon's head went even lower "Of course you need more than that. Allow me to start from the beginning" Ignus met the purple dragon's gaze "I am Ignus, with my niece Iris I arrived, from what Volteer told me, in your time through a portal of some kind that connects our realms somehow or something like that. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around this"

"As for my shock when I laid my eyes on you, you must understand that from where I come from purple dragons like yourself are just a myth, a fairytale. Seeing you standing here wakes up all the hopes and admiration I had for your kind when I was young and read the prophecy. I even hoped for my scales to turn purple in the next morning"

"Sadly I've never seen any of you being born, the birth of a purple dragon might have changed the outcome of the war with the humans. Everything might have happened differently..." his eyes shifted to the side, as if ashamed of the sudden regret in his voice, just to return to their normal, burning state seconds later

"...alas that was not the case. There is no point in crying over spilt milk, what's done is done" Ignus straightened up proudly "This is my story, I hope it answers most of the questions you had for me"

"I have one" Cynder chimed in, the fire dragon's attention shifted towards her. He blinked, as if adjusting his sight to her silhouette, just like he laid his eyes on her for the very first time. The fact that she was standing in the doorstep next to Spyro when they arrived didn't seem to leave an impact on him.

Just like he didn't see her.

Just like he didn't care.

"How is it possible that Iris has an uncle?"

Ignus chuckled bitterly "I see that my niece's attitude left a mark on possibly every inhabitant of this city, I'm sorry for that. To answer your question, I sometimes ask myself the same thing, the only reasonable explanation I find is that I grew up with Iris' mother. It had to harden me"

The dragoness nodded silently.

"I am pleased that you found my answer satisfactory..." he meaningfully prolonged the last word

"Cynder"

The fire dragon bowed royally.

"A pleasure"

He turned towards the two Guardians " May I ask for the privilege to ask some questions?"

Terrador furrowed his brows "There's no need to ask for our permission Ignus, we are all equals here"

"Forgive me, I keep forgetting that there are different customs here. In our time a guest had to receive the blessing of the elite that invited him to his lands"

"As it should be" Cyril grumbled under his breath

The Earth Guardian smiled "You can speak freely here"

Ignus nodded respectfully and shifted his attention towards the purple dragon.

"Spyro if I may ask you, what element does a dragon like you breathe?"

"All of them" the drake replied awkwardly

By some unknown reason he felt extremely uncomfortable answering that question, being in the center of attention while having so much on his mind right now doesn't work for him it seems.

Ignus threw his head back, intimidated by the revelation.

"Five elements in a single draconic body? Remarkable!"

"Four. I don't wield Wind"

The dragon frowned surprised "You don't count Wind as an element?"

"For the past years, no" Terrador interjected "The magic of Wind faded with the death of the last natural wielder of the element. With the wind dragons extinct Cynder here is the only one capable of breathing wind. Which is quite odd considering her scales"

"Still, four elements, this is a magnificent number"

Spyro shrugged "It's nothing special"

Ignus cackled wryly "Nothing special? In your veins boy , flows the energy of all elements the world itself is made out from, elements that still carry that magical spark. Every single one of them is a reaper, capable of devastating everything in its path. You have the power to repel all of them! Better yet! You have the power to counter them! You are a reaper Spyro and THAT. IS. SPECIAL"

"I have no intention in reaping anything"

"You don't have a choice in that matter I'm afraid. From what I see and heard from Volteer the prophecy fulfilled itself fully in this world, or perhaps it's still in progress. Whether you like it or not you already reaped in your life. You defeated some evil master and saved the world, destruction is a double bladed sword, good may come out of it too"

He didn't say anything, the awkwardness that crept inside his mind was still there, confusing his tongue and messing his thoughts.

Ignus laughed "But look at me, I'm lecturing you like I would be your father. Sorry, it's just that my fascination with your kind still seems to be alive, even after so many years. I guess I always wanted to speak to a purple dragon and now when I finally got the chance I'm making a fool of myself. Apologies"

"It's okay, I've been through worse"

"Figures. You are a great prize for anyone who can get his hands on you"

Cynder shuffled her paws uneasily, this place became too tight all of a sudden.

The door behind them opened, Amela stepped through, clutching piles of papers close to her chest.

The dragoness shivered when a cold gust of wind barged inside the room through the freshly created opening. She fought back the impulse to grab Spyro's paw and hold it tightly. As if wanting to demonstrate to the world and everyone interested that he is her prize, she earned it and she will sooner drop dead than let him go.

Amela acknowledged the presence of the two young dragons with a kind smile and made her way towards the Guardians.

"Your papers" she dropped the pile on the table "Are you expecting any trouble? There are two really anxious guards at the front door"

Terrador exchanged meaningful glances with Ignus.

"Hopefully not"

The cheetah started to play with her earring.

"I see...is there something you need of me?"

The Earth Guardian smiled "You've done enough Amela, allow us to repay you" he reached down just to seconds later place a bluish tome on the table "The book you asked for, Volteer sends his regards"

The healer snatched the tome with a grin "Thank you. One last home visit and I'll dive into the lecture" she bowed gratefully and made her way towards the exit

Before the healer could grab the handle the door opened on their own, revealing a satin blue dragoness, she had her back turned towards the interior of the room. Her tail was swaying back and forth, the tip leaving a cold mist in its wake. One of her back paws was raised, she deliberately kept it hanging above the doorstep.

Annoyed and angry growls were coming from the outside.

"Midnight" she said and began clicking her tongue, mimicking the sound of a ticking clock.

The growls outside grew stronger.

"You're not allowed in the house?"

The growls turned into roaring.

"IRIS!"

She balked at the sound of the familiar admonishing shout. Seconds flew by and the surprise from her expression faded with the passing time. Making room for the one and only feeling she became well acquainted with.

Hate.

It flooded her whole body in an instant, every limb responding to the specific trigger. Her rump swayed fiercely, the tail protruding from it swiped sharply, the icy tip burst out freezing shards.

A startled gasp and a thud followed soon after.

She spun around, aiming her hateful gaze on her uncle, her eyes barely registered a collapsed old cheetah on the floor and a black dragoness jumping towards the feline.

"Are you alright?" Cynder blurt out worryingly as she looked over the fallen cheetah and lowered her head to grant the healer some support.

Amela propped herself on her elbows.

" I'm fine Sweetheart, you don't have to w-" unexpectedly she let out a yelp pain

The dragoness turned her head sharply, looking for the source of pain. Her emerald eyes flared up with raw fury when she noticed a draconic paw with three white toes standing on Amela's tail.

"Get off her!" Cynder growled and threw herself at the female, head first, slamming her forehead into the ice dragoness side . Ramming into her like a goat.

Iris grunted, the force of the impact lifted her from the floor and sent her toppling on the ground, a bolt of pain shot through her ribs as she landed roughly on the ground.

"Cynder wait!" Spyro yelled alarmed

The guards hearing the sounds of fighting inside grinned and blocked the door, accidentally preventing entry for one peculiar fire dragon. However the moment they looked inside their whole determination and jaundice in nervous anticipation for a criminal's leg to slip faded away the moment they laid their eyes on the fighters.

The blue bitch was on the ground, clearly struck by Lightbane, the tension was palpable. This was a crime, a fight broke inside the City Hall, it's their duty to prevent the situation from getting out of control. It's the duty of every guard.

Yet they didn't act.

Both dragons looked at each other, exchanging meaningful glances. A fight broke between the two most hated dragonesses, from the looks of it, the fight was a serious one. That was exactly the reason why they didn't interfere, deep down they wished for them to kill themselves, that would solve all their problems.

They hoped for the situation to get out of control.

Iris pushed herself from the ground, the temperature in the room dropped considerably.

"Now you're going to die slut"

Many people yelled something at the same time, creating a noise similar to a small thunder.

She didn't care.

Iris channeled her element and momentarily opened her mouth, spitting a dozen of small ice shards in the direction of the black dragoness. However she didn't aim at her, but at the fallen old feline.

Let's see if the stupid cunt will lower her defense by protecting the cat.

Spyro instinctively used his fire breath but unfortunately managed to catch only a couple of the shards and melt them. The rest flew past him.

"You dishonorable bitch" Cynder muttered in disgust and quickly moved backwards, trapping the screaming cheetah in between her paws as she stood over her. She bent her legs, tilted her body forward and spread her wings, forming a protective cocoon of membrane and scale around the cheetah.

Cynder gritted her teeth, the shards cut her like cold daggers but she held her ground. Her warrior's instinct knew exactly what Iris' play was all about. The ice dragoness knew she would try defending her friend, hence making herself vulnerable.

She didn't care, the pain is worth it and she has Spyro in front of her that will make sure that the bitch won't try something like this again.

She was right whatever the girl was throwing at her was stopped by her friend, a perfect opportunity to counter attack. The delicate tearing song filled her skull as the shadows swallowed her, effectively numbing the motherly touch of the feline on her leg as she sank into the ground.

Iris' eyes widened, not because of the idiot in front of her that prevented her from seeing her plan to the end, that was a calculated risk. Her eyes widened because her adversary disappeared. There was a slight possibility that she missed her moving while trying to force her way through the purple cretin but then she remembered a fragment from the book she recently read.

_Shadow was her domain, she had the power to become one with it. The blackness was as welcoming for her as water is for an otter. _

_Mistress of Darkness._

She took it for a load of crap, but strangely she found herself staring at the floor, observing the shadows cast by the braziers.

She could swear one of them moved underneath her.

Iris jumped back, instinctively, as if the spot of the floor she was standing on would be filled with hot coal. As it turned out she did it just in time.

"Stupid books" she muttered to herself as she saw the black dragoness jumping out of the ground right in front of her eyes

Surprisingly though the bitch acted like she expected the attack to fail, she wasn't doing any sudden moves to regain the edge of surprise she lost. In fact she acted like she expected it to happen exactly like this and when she took a glimpse of the dragonesses paws she instantly understood everything.

Her claws were coated in a black smoke, shadow.

Mistress of Darkness.

Iris impulsively filled her being with elemental energy, it was time to drop the sword and raise the shield as some of the human knights used to say.

Cynder slashed her claws at the ice dragoness, her shadow claws leaving a black trail behind them. To her surprise the dragoness formed a barricade from her soft feathery wings. What she tried to accomplish with that was beyond her understanding. Maybe she just panicked.

As it turned out, she didn't.

The moment her claws touched the feathery wings they began to slide downward, sending cold shards everywhere as her claws went down, accompanied by the sound and trail of breaking ice that suddenly covered the dragonesses soft wings.

Some kind of magical armor.

However it wasn't strong enough to withstand the power of her shadow claws, she could see trails of red blood after three more slashes. It won't be long before it breaks and she slices her wings into pieces.

Spyro shook his head, regaining concentration from the barrage of magical power Iris threw his way. This is too much, the situation is getting more serious by the minute, he was worried for his friend, even the sight of Cynder being in the offense now didn't change that.

He smelled blood, it was enough to make up his mind about all of this.

With some relative peace on his paws he channeled his Time power, Sparx warned him about getting in between fighting females, but he had no other choice. It's not like they are going to see him anyway.

There was that low hum, everything began to slow down, every note coming from the yelling throats stretched to unimaginable, incomprehensible length. His eyes began to scan the surroundings quickly, his brain proficiently processing the seen data, looking for the perfect scenario to alter the ongoing play. As an experienced director he knew that time is of the essence.

He decided for a simple solution, everyone takes care of their loved ones.

Spyro jumped towards Iris, ducking underneath the black trail of Cynder's claws and avoiding the slowly flying droplets of blood. He snatched the ice dragoness and pushed her forward, placing her like some sort of statue right in front her running uncle.

The shock of teleportation should be enough to make them both stop and think of another approach. Hopefully the fire dragon is a quick thinker and is strong enough to keep his niece in check.

He returned for Cynder, he felt time returning to its normal pace. With his paws tied he decided not to push her away, he instead moved behind her, got up on his hind paws, spread his wings for aerodynamic control and pressed himself to her back. He used his front legs to get a hold of Cynder's swinging paws and pushed them down. Arranging them in such a way so she would be adequately comfortable on the floor. His weight and the pressure he was putting made her body tilt forward, she would hit the ground nose first if he wouldn't prepare her legs as leverage and not used his wings to make the fall controllable enough.

They landed on the ground, he had her pressed to the floor, her shadowy legs tightly gripped in his paws, her body pinned to the floor with his belly tightly pressed against her back so she won't throw him off.

Probably just appearing in front of her snout would do the trick, but he opted for a more certain solution.

Safety comes first.

At least that's what he kept telling himself.

Because that's a reasonable explanation, a reasonable precaution.

It had nothing to do with the intention of wanting her close, or the desire to smell her scent, or feel her soft body pressed to his chest, or feel her writhing underneath him as he holds her tightly.

Lust had nothing to do with this.

It's just a precaution.

Ancestors I'm a pervert.

"What the-" Ignus blurt out surprised as he skidded to a stop, almost trampling his niece.

On the other side of the room Cynder growled and bucked attacking an invisible enemy without the ability to actually move her body or legs.

"Cynder calm down" Spyro whispered fondly "It's me"

Iris looked over her wings, startled by the loud screaming and the obvious absence of her assailant.

Cynder's eyes widened "Spyro?"

Her emerald orbs swung up as far as her eyeballs permitted, she could see the blurry image of his nose above. She tried to move but was unable to, his tail was wrapped around hers, legs and body held in place by his strength.

"What..."

"I used Time to separate you"

All the aggression slowly faded away, together with the black smoke coating her claws.

It was quite the opposite with Iris, when she saw the dragoness trapped and unable to fight back she instantly got up on all fours. Her natural cold power already circulating in her veins.

"Oh no you don't" Ignus snarled while wrapping his paw around one of Iris' horns

"The fuck?!" she squeaked when a strong tug yanked her backwards, almost making her fall on the ground

He lowered his head, meeting the murderous gaze of his niece "You're going to stop right now"

The cold aura surrounding her gained on strength.

"You fu-" the rest of the letters were turned into a gasp when suddenly a thick reddish tail wrapped itself around her, pressed her to a red muscular leg and squeezed.

Iris wanted to roar but her maw was closed by a big paw clenching her snout. She emitted muffled screams of fury as she trashed with her head.

The grip on her mouth intensified.

"Don't you even dare freeze my tail" Ignus hissed, his ruby eyes locked on the angrily shifting diamond orbs

"Behave" he grumbled

Spyro observed the scene with saucer eyes.

"Whoa, are they really family?"

Cynder smirked, their relation didn't interest her, her mind was completely preoccupied with the fact that the bitch learned some humility.

"Serves her right"

"What are you staring at?!" Terrador blared, his baritone voice rumbling loudly, almost like the sound created by a rocky avalanche sliding down a mountain

The guards at the door cringed.

"If you're not willing to do your job then GET OUT!"

The dragons vanished in a blink of an eye.

"Hey!" someone shouted from the outside, a fiery illumination was steadily growing at the doorstep

"What's with all the noise?" a red young snout with a burning mane appeared in the doorstep

"It sounded likeeeee..." his voice trailed off as he laid his eyes on the interior of the room. At one side there was Cynder, trapped underneath the purple dragon. On the other was Iris, held like a disobedient slave by some red dragon

Every fiery part of his body started to burn brighter.

"I'm letting her go!" Spyro blurt out and to his great displeasure jumped off of Cynder. How the dragon irritated him sometimes, especially his lack of proper timing.

"See?" he smiled nervously "She's ok, we were just playing"

Flare sniffed the air, his eyes narrowed on the purple dragon.

"I-I can smell h-her blood on y-you" he stammered, his voice wavered both with fear and determination

Cynder pulled herself up "This is not-"

"Spyro was protecting her" Amela interjected as she placed her hand on the purple drake's tense shoulder. Her other hand was extended to the side, claw pointing at something.

"From her"

Cynder turned towards the cheetah sharply.

"What are you doing?"

Amela winked "Trust me"

Flare's eyes followed the invisible trail the cheetah's claw created. His hard expression softened when he realized that the cheetah isn't lying. The scent of blood hit his nostrils ferociously, definitely Cynder's, Iris' bloody scent was also there.

The intense fiery light he was emanating became dimmer.

He was never in a situation like this before, he can't possibly choose between two friends. This has to be an accident, or some wicked plan, or another test. It wasn't the purple dragon that played the main role in this situation, the healer didn't lie earlier and had no reason to do so now.

Someone else played the role of a pawn, someone had to take advantage of his friends. He finally has something and even now, far away from his prison, are people who want to destroy this.

He won't let that happen.

"Leave her alone!" Flare growled at the dragon holding Iris

Ignus' head remained in the same position, only his ruby eyes moved, fixing the odd boy with a derisory glance.

"A protector?" he hissed quietly so only his niece could hear him "Haven't you learnt anything?"

Iris muttered something aggressively.

"We need to talk you and I"

Terrador slammed his tail into the floor, the tip in the form of a spiked ball sent tremors along the floor.

"ENOUGH!"

"Don't do anything stupid" Ignus mumbled and released the dragoness

Ignus stared at her uncle quietly.

"This has gone far enough!"

"I agree" the old fire dragon announced "This is why I...we decline your kind offer Terrador"

"I want to remind you that we don't have any free houses that we can offer you currently"

"This isn't a problem, we are used to sleeping outdoors. We'll find a place where we can rest beyond these walls. We overstayed our welcome anyway" he delicately pushed Iris

She snorted and began to walk.

"And caused enough trouble for a lifetime, my sincere apologies for everything and thank you for your hospitality. We are in your debt"

The dragoness grunted something incomprehensibly.

"A calm night to all of you" Ignus bowed and disappeared with his niece into the darkness

Iris felt the black dragonesses gaze burning a hole in her head, but she ignored her and walked out of this kennel with her head up high. She swam in this bile long enough.

But this isn't over yet.

Such disgrace won't go unpunished.

Terrador rubbed his forehead wearily.

"This didn't go well, thank the Ancestors you interfered when you did Spyro. I doubt it would be as effective if we tried to calm the situation"

He looked through the window "Now if you excuse us, it was a long night and our bones just scream for some rest"

Except for Flare everyone understood the allusion behind the dragon's words.

"What is happening?" the fire drake asked ignorantly, surprised that everyone started to move suddenly, all at the same time

"Cynder wait for a while, Spyro you can stay too if you want" Terrador added

Amela wrapped her arm around Flare with a kind smile "Come, I've heard you have a new bed in your room" she nudged him with her knee gently

"But-" the dragon mumbled, unconsciously succumbing to the cheetah's suggestion

"I understand that you missed your friend, but she had some very tough days. You're going to see her tomorrow darling, let her rest for now"

Flare reluctantly followed the cheetah, his head was turned the whole time, his eyes aimed at Cynder, who was smiling back at him. She indeed looked tired, even despite the wide smile.

The moment they were gone Cynder turned towards Terrador.

"What's up?"

"Cyril has something to tell you"

Terrador announced, without looking behind, expecting his friend to approach as they agreed before the two young drakes arrived. Nothing like that happened however, unexpected silence has befallen on the room.

Which was broken by a more unexpected snore.

The Guardian frowned at hearing the peculiar sound, his eyes widened in shock as he looked behind his shoulder.

"Cyril!" he yelled in disbelief

The shout forced him out of his sleep, the dragon stirred and opened his eyes with a yawn escaping his mouth, he pushed himself lazily from the corner he huddled into.

"What?" he yawned once more

"You fell asleep?!"

Cyril frowned "What's with the surprise in your voice? You told me to stay away, you'll handle everything you said so I stayed away"

"Are you serious?! Didn't you see what was happening?!"

He shrugged "Not really, I lost interest rather quickly. I think during one of your speeches about equality"

"Fairness is a very important matter, you-"

Cyril rolled his eyes with a yawn "Yada yada yada"

Terrador snorted "Forget it. Get over here"

The Ice Guardian sighed in annoyance and pushed himself from his napping corner to take position next to his old friend.

He cleared his throat "Cynder..." he licked his lips and leaned towards Terrador "How went the rest?"

The other Guardian growled "You're impossible"

"Right!" he cleared his throat "Cynder, you're fully aware that for someone like me saying _sorry _is impossible, but knowing how important you are for us, as a friend, I decided to break the rules of my kind and deeply apologies for my words. The bond that was created between us is a cherished possession"

"I'm old and..." he craned his neck towards Terrador once again "Do I really have to say this part?"

"This is the part you have to ESPECIALLY say"

Cyril rolled his eyes with a sigh.

"I'm old and getting senile. As the oldest of the three and the least interesting I look up to my much younger friends and try to be like them. Sometimes my tongue starts to waggle, but unfortunately I lack Volteer's intelligence and always sound like a fool"

"I also envy Terrador's leadership skills and overall propriety. Being the least educated of the three I don't understand the meaning behind those two things and just like some oblivious boy I spit out words that fit a brat than a Guardian. Knowing this I sincerely hope you accept my apology and forgive me any further outbreaks. Stupidity has no bounds after all"

Cyril took a deep breath "Done"

Terrador looked at the young female hopefully.

Cynder scratched the back of her head with a giggle.

"Well...this is the worst recited apology I've ever heard. However the sole fact that you decided to go with it means a lot. I accept the apology and I'm also sorry for my behavior"

Cyril punched Terrador's shoulder "See? I've told you she would understand"

The Earth Guardian grinned "I have to make a confession. I didn't do it entirely for Cynder"

"I knew it!"

Every dragon in the room started to laugh sincerely. The two young drakes kept on chuckling even when the Guardians stopped laughing completely. For the two of them it felt like they haven't laughed for ages, they just wanted to hungrily hold to that explosion of joy because, for everything that's holy, they deserved it. Especially after this bumpy evening.

As they made their way towards their quarters they wondered what else this night has in store for them, because both of them felt that this isn't over yet.

For better or worse.


	68. Chapter 12 Book IV

Chapter 12

The moon illuminated the Realms with its strong, silvery light, whatever wildlife woke up during this mysterious time of every day bathed in the light. The sounds of nature accompanying every nightfall couldn't be compared to anything else. The sounds of wind, trees and creatures where both interesting and frightening at the same time for anyone willing to listen. However night doesn't only bring that specific distress with it but also a peculiar harmony.

During nightfall every creature knows its role, knows who is a predator and who is prey. Stalking and hiding in the silver grass or on the branches of the trees. Predator and prey, playing a deadly game of hide and seek, in perfect harmony.

Mostly.

Whatever owls were judging the pitiful morsels below with their intelligent eyes, deciding what is worth their attention and what is not, scattered chaotically in every direction. Snapping branches with their talons as they jumped, spreading their mighty wings and beating with them so fiercely that even the wind itself seemed to bend to their avian will, creating a gust whenever the birds needed it the most.

Some owls sped parallel to the ground, some shot through the crown like brown, feathery cannonballs. All of them sending twigs and leaves swaying and falling onto the silvery ground. All of the owls ran, spooked by flying magical icy projectiles that seemed like tiny comets, but instead of falling from the sky they were shooting from the ground, trying to strike down the birds.

All managed to avoid the gruesome fate.

"This is exactly what I'm talking about" Ignus commented frigidly as he watched the flying icy bolts, shimmering towards the sky with eyes of a bored spectator who got invited to a play he seen countless times already

"You never learn"

Iris clamped her mouth shut with an audible click of her teeth as she turned to face the drake, her expression disgruntled as if she would be munching a lemon.

"Skam dakte ame zifaete at?"

The words coming out of her mouth lacked the typical accent he was used to hear. There was no trace of Common in her tone, only that infuriating language. It was maddening to hear her speak like this.

And she knew that.

Ignus growled, his burning tail tip spat out flames.

"Quit it Iris"

"Der aktet besziam"

Ignus stomped his paw fiercely.

"Stop it!"

Iris fixed him with a full of disgust gaze.

"What's the matter uncle? Having troubles understanding royal language?"

Her accent was back, but unfortunately it didn't make him any bit calmer.

"Spare me this idiocy. You think this is a game?"

"You never learn" she remarked him tauntingly

A vein of fury pulsed on the dragon's neck like a heart.

"I don't know what Athron was thinking, this farce was fun in the beginning, but now she's dead. This stupidity died with her"

A puff of icy mist wafted from the dragonesses nose.

"Don't question my mother's ideas, she knew what she was doing. As dragons we shouldn't be speaking the tongue of filth on a daily basis. We're elite." she examined the dragon from horn to claw with a mocking gaze "At least some of us"

She turned away from him and sauntered forward towards the clearing where a patch of flowers grew, swaying her tail and hips in such a provocative and mocking way that suits only those of royal blood, those born into the sophisticated environment.

In the way she moved there was a sign for all the others who never got a taste of grandeur, those could only stare and drool. The oblivious ones at least, the more intelligent would see letters forming on the dragonesses rump that would make their eyes roll.

_You're below it. Fuck off._

Ignus watched his niece with a fiery gaze "To be an elite you need more than royal blood in your veins, you also need respect"

She indifferently walked through the patch of flowers, amused by the way they bent as she walked, like little people bowing to their majesty.

"And you'll never have respect, because you don't appreciate what you have girl"

The dragoness pressed her nose to one of the flowers, sniffing at its pleasant scent "And what is that uncle?"

"Me"

Iris snorted.

Ignus relaxed, this was her typical response, something he got used to acknowledge during the years.

Nothing has changed.

"Hide behind contempt if you will, but the truth is that I'm your harbor. You keep sending waves after waves but I'm still standing"

The dragoness growled quietly, tightly wrapping her claws around the stalk of one of the flowers, right below the head.

"What are you rambling about?"

"You need me"

She jerked her paw up, separating the head from the stern with a delicate snapping sound.

"Bullshit. I don't need you or anyone else. Get lost and stop wasting my time"

"And leave you to drown in sorrow? How long do you think that medallion would keep reminding you how it is to live? It's a thing, things break"

Iris slashed with her claws as she roared ferociously, heads of many flowers flew up and down in the wake of her swiping paw.

"Don't pretend that you know me!"

The dragon observed her calmly, again like a spectator, familiar with every scene of the play.

"But I do know you Iris, think what you want, but we're family. Our relationship is difficult, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm still your uncle"

She stomped her paw, ice shot from underneath it, freezing the soil and turning the flowers into dead, small icicles.

"What the hell do you want from me?!"

"I'm here to keep you safe, to fulfill my promise to your late mother"

She snorted once more "Touching"

"I only ask that you don't repeat the same mistakes"

"You think I'm an idiot? You ask for respect while you show me none?"

Ignus shook his head.

"I don't want you to respect me as a person, I want you to respect what I symbolize. You can still find some good in life Iris. You can remember how it is to smile. If you won't realize this, you're going to ruin everything around you"

"I know what I'm doing"

"Do you really?"

Iris rolled her eyes, annoyed "Speak up your mind already. I have enough of dealing with your senile deviations"

"I'm talking about the boy"

She balked with a surprised snort "What? What boy?"

"The one that stood up in your defense"

Her eyes sparkled with amusement "Dynamite? You can't be serious"

He didn't say anything, only watched her meaningfully.

"He's a nobody!"

The fire drake nodded painstakingly "Exactly"

She growled in fury "I have enough of your riddles! Start making sense or this conversation is over!"

"You have a weakness Iris, do I really have to lead you by the hand? Start using your brain, doesn't this situation remind you of anything? Doesn't the boy seem familiar?"

"Familiar? How? He's a walking fire for crying out loud! For all I know he can fart flames, did you see anyone like him before? I'm sure I haven't"

"I'm not talking about outside appearances"

"Then what-" her eyes suddenly widened, hate and aggression that was clouding her judgment lowered their defenses long enough for realization to pierce through

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Iris blurt out incredulously

Ignus nodded sagely "You are a female Iris, no matter how seriously your heart might be shattered, you will long for the feeling that made you so happy. You will try to reminisce old memories"

"You're insane!"

"You're a pretty girl, how long do you think it takes for a young boy to develop feelings for you? Especially if you show interest"

"I don't care, he can drool all he wants. It's strictly business for me"

"I have no doubt about that, but remember what I said. Spare the boy the pain and watch your step, we don't want the same thing to happen again"

"Stop talking to me like I'm some kind of oblivious brat! I learn from my mistakes!" she snapped at him "I felt that idiot's power, it's extraordinary, I can use it. If he starts following me like a sick puppy all the better, it'll be easier to play him"

Ignus sighed "You can't use people like that"

"You were the one that told me to mistrust people and keep them at a distance!"

"Yes, but I don't recall saying that you should treat them like toys"

"Whatever, I know what I'm doing. Dynamite is a moron but a powerful one. Far more reliable than that childish fascination of yours"

"How can you say such a thing? Do you have any idea what Spyro has done? He froze time itself! I've heard legends about it, never believed it was true until now"

"Good luck controlling an overrated time jumper"

Ignus balked at the words "Control? I don't want to manipulate him, I want to have him as an ally"

Iris frowned "Those aren't even our people! Why bother?"

"Because to see our revenge complete we need all the help we can get and we won't get that if you start playing with people"

"You're crazy if you think I'll start kissing Goldie's ass"

The dragon shook his head sadly "By the gods Iris, have you forgotten how valuable simple sympathy is?"

Her cold gaze remained unmoved "Time taught me that things like sympathy, trust and all the rest of the crap is worthless, there's no value to be found there. Waste your time if you want on Goldie, he's overrated. Besides I doubt he will like me when I'll shove his girlfriend's claws down her throat"

"Iris!" the dragon admonished his niece fiercely

"That bitch dared to touch me! I won't be humiliated!"

"I forbid you from doing such a thing!"

Iris looked at him disdainfully "Forbid me? Who do you think you are to tell me what to do?"

Ignus growled "Will you stop with this royal nonsense? Open your eyes, you are nothing here!"

"For them, maybe, but it is you who needs to remember your place uncle"

He licked his lips, once, twice and then swallowed, his expression twisted like he would just swallow a ball of extremely bitter herbs

"Watch your tongue Iris, I might be your uncle, but even I have limited patience for impudence"

She turned from him and sauntered away in the same manner as before, her swinging tail tip leaving behind an icy mist that seemed to form a mocking smirk.

At first Ignus dug his claws deep into the soil, as if sinking them into flesh while eyeing his niece with his fiery ruby orbs. His claws kept clenching farther and farther until they got a hold off of something round and solid.

A rock.

He narrowed his eyes on the tauntingly swaying body of his niece and started to press his claws against the rock. His muscles flexed, as his claws tried to pierce through the thick rough surface. Grimace of pain and effort wrinkled his snout.

And then his eyes sparkled with the same feeling that is strictly connected with his niece. His well-formed muscles bulged underneath his scales as if a bolt of lightning shot through his body.

The stone cracked.

His eyes widened in hope, desperately wanting to see something happening, almost craving for it.

Nothing has changed.

Suddenly the dragon blinked, straightened up and removed his claws from the earth. He was observing his niece in a perfectly relaxed pose. All was good once more.

Nothing has changed.

* * *

She knew this staircase like the back of her paw , she didn't perhaps walk down them for like million times, but the experience she gained from those couple of times when she actually beat the stairs made her familiar with each step. She balanced her weight perfectly on them, applying enough weight here and less pressure there, making sure that her toes and claws touch the wood first before the rest of her paw does.

Tactic such as that was not only healthy but also adequately comfortable. The pressure was perfect, allowed stability, body doesn't sway, spine is happy. We can't forget about the legs, they also took advantage of this sophisticated plan. The perfectly calculated steps didn't force her well- formed feminine muscles to flex and stretch her scales, unnecessarily displaying their form in the roughest manner, suitable for a warrior on a battlefield not a normal girl.

She has great legs if she can say so herself, and the mathematical pattern she developed allowed to emphasize their beauty. The way she placed her paws allowed a perfect view on her legs for anyone behind her, he undoubtedly seen their alluring feminine figure, the delicate tone of muscles. A sight to admire, a sight that wakes up hunger for touch.

Cynder, what the hell are you thinking about?

She shook her head, her mind raced back to reality, whatever stupid thoughts circled inside her skull evaporated. She unconsciously sought comfort, distraction from the feeling of anxiety and confusing excitement. This stairs were never so slippery before, her steps were never THIS heavy, as if her legs would be made of lead instead of bone.

Despite the misgiving she carried onward, thudding like a statue, up the unfortunately quickly ending staircase. Her breath wavered when her paws landed on the entresol, with her gaze aimed at the ground she began to turn around, slowly, as if feeling the hungry glare of some monster on her. From which she ran and had the unfortunate bad luck to make the wrong turn and bump into it. Instinctively knowing that this is the end of her.

However her eyes found no monster, but the form of a wooden step. She began to trace its features by directing her emerald eyes up. The form of a second step appeared.

Her heart skipped a beat.

She continued to raise her gaze. Third step came into view.

She felt air being sucked from her lungs.

She kept on going, not really knowing why but just couldn't help herself.

Fourth step.

The temperature shot drastically higher all of a sudden, she began to sweat and the world danced in front of her eyes as if she was having a heat stroke.

Her blurry vision kept on raising.

The last fifth step.

Her heart popped like a balloon.

"Are you okay Cynder?"

She squeaked in horror at the sound of the voice, the shock forced her to prance against the wall. A painting started to sway above, put into motion by tremors running along the wall.

"Are you alright?" Spyro jumped towards his friend with a worried shout

Cynder threw the painting above a fleeting glance, just to present an idiotic smile soon after.

"Do you like my legs?

He furrowed his brows "What?"

She rubbed her forehead with a wince "Never mind"

"What's going on? Did you..." his eyes widened in alarm, he turned around swiftly, aiming his eyes on the corridor above, tail frozen in place, in the typical fighting posture

"Did you see anything?" he whispered anxiously, his eyes never leaving the staircase

"No"

"Do you SEE anything?"

Her eyes impulsively shifted in the direction of the corridor. She gulped.

It was empty.

"No..."

He looked behind his shoulder with a surprised frown, his body still tensed.

"Then what is it?"

"It's stupid"

"Oh no! Not this again! The last time I heard you say that you fainted in my paws, so you'll excuse me if I don't believe in stupid anymore"

Cynder craned her neck forward, her eyes locked on the corridor. She swallowed audibly.

"I think it's up there"

Spyro shivered when the cold finger of fright touched his spine, no different than the shudders he experienced already as a fighter.

"In your room?"

"Everywhere. My room, corridor, walls, even the freaking staircase"

The dragon's eyes dropped on the first wooden step.

"Perfect. I'll never look at stairs the same way again"

"Maybe I'm just-"

A thump echoed from above.

Both dragons looked at each other, their eyes big as saucers.

The sound of stamping increased, adopting a steady rhythm.

The young drakes immediately adopted defensive postures, magical energy started to circulate in their veins.

The thumping sounds gained on strength even further, there was no place for assumptions now. Something or someone was coming their way.

A steadily growing shadow appeared on the illuminated by torches wall ahead.

Both young dragons swallowed hard at the sight, their minds still didn't recover from recent events, everything related to darkness made their hearts race, no matter how ordinary it was. Like shadows cast by torches for example.

The shadow stopped growing.

The drakes shuffled nervously.

It meant that whatever is out there is just around the corner.

They held their breaths.

As if sensing something the shadow stopped not only growing but also increasing in length. It froze, just like them. The seconds seemed to stretch to unimaginable lengths ,the confrontation so close at hand and yet so annoyingly far. Both friends believed that this is a very perfected plan, it could feel their fear, their nervousness, it knew that every second of hanging on that thread of uncertainty makes room for recklessness. It leaves you to face your own rattling thoughts that second by second lead you more and more towards panic.

The shadow moved again.

Both dragons almost jumped at the sight, yet they still maintained the learnt cold calculation of seasoned warriors.

It was near.

Magic vibrated in the air.

Wanting to tear through their bodies.

And then Amela appeared at the top of the staircase, fondling her left ear.

The drakes below let out deep breaths of relief, the ability to inhale air again left them dizzy and swaying on their legs.

Amela looked at them surprised "You two look like you've seen a ghost" her arms impulsively started to drop, when her hands moved away from her left ear something flickered under the torch light

She yelped and ungracefully threw her hands forward as if during a death spasm. She clapped her hands together and unclenched her fists soon after.

"There you are" the cheetah pressed her forefinger and thumb together, lifted her arm and presented a dangling earring

"Serves me right for playing with it so much" she looked at the jewelry fondly "Yet I'm attached to it, to think I almost lost it on the stairs, one quick turn and it would be gone forever"

Spyro and Cynder looked at each other, their eyes glimmered with amusement and embarrassment.

"So..." the healer pocketed the earring "...what's going on with you two?"

The first wooden step of the staircase creaked gently under the cheetah's weight.

Four draconic eyes darted in the direction of the sound, eyeing the wooden step like expecting it to swallow the healer's legs.

"In the modern world..." her feet landed on another step

The drakes winced.

"...people answer questions"

Third step.

The dragons swallowed.

"Because that's how..."

Fourth step.

The young friends made a step back.

"...conversations work"

Fifth step.

They closed their eyes.

Amela stopped in front of them with her head cocked to the side, she looked behind her shoulder and examined the stairs from top to bottom.

"You expected me to step on a trap?"

The dragons exchanged meaningful looks once more.

The cheetah put her hands on her hips "Well?"

"Of...of course not!" Cynder protested

"So what is it?"

"Nothing serious" Spyro chimed in "All that talking about Dark and stuff really got over our heads"

"You're afraid to go upstairs Sweetheart?" the cheetah looked the girl over kindly

Cynder smiled reassuringly "Not anymore"

"If it helps you through it I can tell you that the road to Flare's room is safe. I can assure you that the whole hall is safe, not even Dark Master himself would be able to withstand Flare's loud snoring"

The healer smiled lovingly "The poor thing protested, was practically angry at me that I suggested him some fresh look on the matters after some rest. Eventually he crashed onto the bed and went out like a candle, it's like his body is trying to make up for who knows how many sleepless nights"

She clapped her hands "But I digress. Seriously now, you two going to be fine?"

"Yes, don't worry" Cynder comforted the healer

Amela nodded "No matter how scary your next foe might be, remember that you two have each other. The bond you share is stronger than anything" she moved forward with a kind smile, gently patting the two dragons heads as she moved past them

"You know where to find me. Goodnight" she lifted her arm and waved, while being concentrated on the steps she was descending

"Goodnight" the drakes replied in unison

The moment the cheetah vanished Cynder's gaze returned towards the staircase and its five magical steps.

"You heard the boss, it's safe"

"No surprise there, that dragon isn't after her"

"Thanks" she snapped indignantly "Just when I started to see my existence in brighter colors you had to ruin it"

Spyro cringed "Sorry"

"Relax, I'm screwing with you. I still feel it up there"

He threw his head up in alarm "But you said-"

"That I'm not afraid anymore, I know" she cut him off "I lied because I either have an unnatural intuition or I'm going paranoid. Both options don't look good from a medical point of view. Amela has enough problems as it is"

Spyro shook his head sadly "You should stop trying to solve problems on your own. You have friends now Cynder, willing to help you"

"Don't you get it?!" she snapped back at him with a muffled angry voice "I'm doing this to protect her! I've seen that thing probably eating a guy, I don't want more people on my conscience! She would insisted on coming with us and if that thing would...would..."

He nuzzled her affectionately, caressing her cheek with his nose "You did the right thing I'm sorry to question you. I see how much you care about her"

Cynder purred quietly while sliding her cheek gently across his own until she rested her jaw delicately on the top of his neck. Her eyes were closed the moment he touched her, she needed comfort, desperately, comfort that closeness of his body provided.

"I can't lose her" she whispered blissfully "She's important to me"

Spyro moved his head back, following the invisible trail of her warmth, until his mouth stopped inches from the mix of black and magenta scales on her neck.

"I know" he cooed

Cynder arched her head up with a moan, feeling his warm breath and the brush of his lips on her tender scales. The air he exhaled touched the most sensitive part, the scales underneath the choker were brushed by invisible tendrils of his breath. Sending a delicate pulse of ecstasy through her whole body.

Whatever was happening between the two didn't no longer matter to their minds, their brains were blocked by their hearts. And they didn't seek reason, or rational explanation, this flame between the hearts was just as natural to them as air is for lungs.

He pushed back, opening his eyes as he turned his head at the staircase again.

"If we go up, there will be no turning back"

Her eyelids rose up, revealing a pair of meticulously shimmering eyes.

"Yes"

"We can still turn around"

She smiled sardonically "And miss all those near death experiences? Where's the fun in that" she turned her attention towards the stairs, nothing remained of her smile

"Will you go first?"

Spyro took the lead without hesitation.

"Don't go too fast, stay close to me"

If there was really something up there, and he had no doubts that there was, it had enough satisfaction from their uncertainty. There are two of them, no matter how powerful and evil this thing is, it's time to show it that it provoked the wrong dragons.

He put his paw on the first step confidently, it creaked under his weight. Even if he was determined to continue, he still shivered. Cynder's misgiving and her story about Dark sat at the back of his mind, no matter how hard he tried to pretend that this isn't the case.

Second, third, fourth and fifth.

He wanted to shout victoriously, but whatever scream he was preparing got stuck within his throat when he heard a low rumble echoing through the hall. Cynder heard it too, she swiftly appeared next to her friend, just when another peculiar roar was heard.

And then another one bounced off the walls.

Cynder giggled unexpectedly "By the Ancestors, you can hear him from here!"

Spyro frowned, at first not understanding from where came Cynder's enthusiasm, but then he heard the noise again and instantly connected it with Amela's words.

It was the sound of snoring.

"Maybe it won't be so bad" Spyro hinted

"Hope so" she took the lead, confidently walking down the hall, whatever danger she sensed was gone for now

Another snore.

She stifled an explosion of laughter.

"It's sounds like a bear's roar!"

He followed her with a smile, happy that Flare managed, even if unconsciously, take her mind away from troubles. Maybe he isn't so bad after all.

Another snore, she had to stop and cover her mouth to quench the sound of the powerful laugh that burst from her throat, otherwise she would wake up every sleeping guest.

Spyro's smile widened, there was something about the way she laughed, it was addictive. The sight of her beaming with joy was one of the most beautiful pictures he seen in his life. He didn't want it to end, for his and hers sake, he can worry for both of them. She deserves her moment of respite.

She pranced towards Flare's room, giggling all the way and pressed her head to the door.

Another snore.

She snorted in amusement "Like an earthquake! The whole door shook"

She examined the wooden structure from top to bottom "We gotta tell someone to install some soundproofing door here"

Snore.

She giggled "Seriously"

Spyro nodded, enjoying the picture of his happy friend, a sight that made all words pale in comparison.

Cynder pushed from the door and approached the entrance to her own room. She touched the wooden surface of the door.

"You'll think we'll hear Flare from the inside?"

"I don't know, maybe. Even if we wouldn't it's not a big loss. I hear his snoring rumbling inside my skull as we speak" he smiled ironically

"Oh but it is! Who will hear our screams when that monster will try to eat us?"

Spyro shook his head indolently.

"I know you're kidding, but nevertheless you shouldn't be saying things like that"

She offered him a weak knowing smile and focused on the door anew, running her paw up and down its wooden surface almost reverently.

"The lion's den"

Cynder narrowed her gaze, clenching the handle painfully and pushed the door open, obviously deciding if something will happen it might be on her terms. The door flung open fiercely, its frame bouncing off the opposite wall with rumbling smacking sound of screaming wood.

They began to fly back, but were stopped by a purple paw.

"What are you doing?" Spyro hissed through clenched teeth "You're going to wake up everyone around!"

Her eyes remained locked on the blackness of her room.

"Listen"

He frowned and did as he was told.

Snore...

...and nothing else.

It was eerie quiet.

"It won't allow anyone to interrupt its plan" Cynder continued after she was certain that the awkward, unchanged atmosphere crept behind his scales

Spyro swallowed "How can you be so sure of that?

Her tail swung back and forth, making tiny infinite loop in the air, like a cat ready to pounce at its prey.

"Because it's here"

His heart skipped a beat, no matter how experienced you might be, fright of the unknown remains the same. Staring into the blackness of the room sent shivers along his spine, not even the moon was brave enough to peek through the balcony window somewhere ahead.

He looked around, also the light from the corridor didn't reach inside the room, the torches were placed in suc a way that they only managed to illuminate the doorstep. For a moment he wondered if they always been like that.

"If you know it's there than why we are willingly walking into a trap?"

"I never said it's a trap. I mentioned a plan, there's a difference"

"What if its plan is to lure you inside and eat you?!" he snapped back irritated

Cynder smirked "I see what you did there" seeing that her little tease only intensified the angry wrinkles on his snout she quickly dropped the playful and poorly timed attitude.

"Just think. If it wanted me for a snack then why bother with visions, nightmares, hallucinations...or whatever you want to call it. I mean if it likes its prey a little sweaty it had many occasions to grab a bite"

"You can't be sure of that! I've seen your eyes Cynder when you fainted, you had the same lifeless stare back then like you had when I chased you through the forest! I swear, you were so terrified that I thought you'll drop dead from a heart attack"

She impulsively rubbed her chest, wave of uncertainty washed over her, with whatever resolve she approached this situation was sucked by the thick darkness of her room.

"Maybe it was too early...maybe I wasn't prepared...maybe..."

"Exactly!" he cut her off fiercely "Maybe!" he spat out the word with a combination of fear and disgust.

"I say we wake up Flare and everyone around, if it thinks it can manipulate us then it's wrong. Let's see if it's as scary as it makes itself to be when we are going to play on our rules"

"Tempting, but I'm afraid we can't do that"

She heard him inhaling air for another shout of protest, she swiftly spun around and placed her paw on his cheek. His eyes sparkled, every angry grimace on his snout softened instantly. She started to rub his cheek warmly.

"By revolting we might piss it off, it was preparing foundation for something" she muttered charmingly, watching his amethyst eyes shimmer as she caressed his scales "This is the final countdown, if we fight back who knows what it would do. We can't endanger more people Spyro do you understand? It's important"

He sighed both with understanding and exasperation and turned his head, burying his nose into the bottom side of her paw.

"Ok"

She smiled feeling his warm breath on her scales, she withdrew her paw along his nose, making sure to scratch his jaw playfully.

"Now we only need just to find out if this place was cleaned, with all the stuff on its right place"

"I can illuminate this room with a tiny flame"

"And what if they forgot to move something? You might accidentally set something on fire" she shook her head "There should be a candle to your right"

Spyro swallowed, feeling that something was staring at him from the depth of the darkness, licking its mouth hungrily. With his breath held back he extended his paw, it wavered in the air just at the border of the last ray of light. He wriggled his shoulders nervously and plunged his foreleg into the darkness with one swift motion.

A wavering breath of disgust escaped his throat, he had a feeling he was sliding his paw across something fleshy and wet...like the palate of a maw.

He winced, putting all the blame on his scared imagination. It helped a bit, at least gave him enough courage to continue his search.

Such candles are in every room, small and close enough to the doorstep, so you could grab it without entering a pitch black room, sparing your toes the agony as a result. It should be close and yet he couldn't find it.

Biting his lip almost to blood he reached farther to the right, he jerked his head back slightly when his claw brushed against something that couldn't be anything else than wax. Determined he extended his leg even farther.

Then suddenly his paw touched something.

It was meaty to the touch and covered with something sticky.

Saliva.

Ancestors that's...

...that's...

...a...

...TONGUE!

He withdrew his paw back with a squeaky spooked scream.

"What happened?!" Cynder shouted, startled

With a racing heart he pushed his paw back into the darkness, exactly where he felt the candle. His every move was full of aghast swiftness. Not feeling anything strange anymore, or perhaps somehow unconsciously turning off his sense of touch for this particular moment, he wrapped his claws around the candle firmly, almost ruining it. He jerked his paw back, only instinctively knowing that the candle is in his grasp. He pulled the mangled wax into the light and immediately lit it up. With the burning candle in paw he pushed his paw into the veil, the fiery light dispersing darkness in its wake, only to reveal the only possible thing that could touch his paw.

Spyro's eyes widened "A wardrobe?!" he blurt out, turning his fear into irritation "What a wardrobe is doing in a dragon's room?! We don't wear clothes!"

Cynder leaned closer "Are you alright?" she asked softly

He let out a deep breath "Yeah"

She didn't buy it, but didn't want to pry, she knows exactly what images a scared mind can create.

"There should be a lamp there , come on"

They both entered the room.

"There!" she pointed at the gently revealed silhouette of the lamp.

Seconds later the room was filled with light, every black spot driven out. They both started to immediately look around.

Besides the two of them, there was no one here.

Cynder rubbed her forehead, confounded "Well I shouldn't be surprised. Either that thing bailed or I'm paranoid"

"Do you feel anything?"

She gave the room another look- over, there was absolutely nothing strange about it.

"Nope"

She opened her wings and made a spin in place, as if trying to wrap the interior in her membranes. Wanting to change the topic as soon and as bluntly as possible.

"What do you think? Cozy, isn't it?"

"It's nice" he replied, out of politeness really, since this room looked almost like the one he was staying in. And it was just a room"

Cynder shudder "Uh-oh , such enthusiasm! I have to watch out, I turn my tail around and you'll snatch it from me"

Spyro smiled with a shrug "You got me, the room doesn't interest me"

She gasped in fake shock "Really? So what does interest you?"

"Not what but who" he looked her straight into the eyes "You"

She coughed nervously, only now her mind registering the literal meaning of his words, blocking out all the rest. It was confusing, usually her heart danced to a completely different song than the mind. It was different this time, his words could be understood in many ways and yet only one was accepted. He meant her like a person, not like a friend, no, this was different. She could feel it now, it was intuition, she felt some magical knot tying two ropes that represented their lives into one.

Ancestors.

Does he love me?

Cynder scratched her choker fervently "You should try to find a different hobby" she cackled apprehensively

Maybe this is only simple wishful thinking.

I beg you.

Let it be true.

He smiled and gave the room another brief glance "I guess we'll be keeping the lights on"

"Do I hear disappointment? A hero woke up in you when you saw an empty room?" she teased with a smirk

"Shhhhh don't spread it around" Spyro whispered "I want to keep my free drinks"

Cynder giggled and hopped on the bed, the force of the jump made her bounce slightly on the sheets and then she dropped onto the bed. Belly first.

She moaned blissfully, feeling the comfortable sheets below her scales.

"Whenever we spend nights in Warfang, this here is the best part of every day"

"I hope today won't be any different"

"You and me both"

They kept staring at each other.

Awkward silence befallen on the room.

Spyro averted his gaze and scratched the back of his head "So...we're staying in the same room today?

Cynder smiled seductively "Do you really have to ask?"

He chuckled nervously "I shouldn't have...I mean It was my idea after all"

"Bingo"

The dragon started to look around the room.

Cynder frowned "What are you looking for?"

"For anything that would turn my night into the best part of the day"

She patted the bed several times "Come here"

His heart started to race, he could barely breath thanks to the sudden wave of heat washing over him.

"Up...there?"

"Mhm"

"In your...bed?"

"Yes"

"With y-you?"

"Stay close means stay close. I know I'm not the best nose treat, but I believe you'll manage, you have it in you" she patted the bed once more "Come on, don't leave me hanging"

He swallowed, it all came back at him, they haven't been acting like friends lately, there are some boundaries even between friends, even the best ones. Or perhaps they are acting like long term friends, in such relationships lines of personal space fade away.

Before it was simple, he wasn't thinking, didn't have control of his actions. It just happened, like the most natural thing in the world. Now it's different, he controls everything.

Curse my obliviousness and naivety.

He wasn't so nervous in his whole life, even the fright he felt earlier was nowhere as strong as this. He moved like he would gain on weight, not a couple of kilograms but a whole tone. His legs were extremely heavy, he had to sweat like a mining mole to actually manage to lift them.

As he moved forward he desperately tried to look elsewhere, but no matter how hard he tried he always ended up looking at her emerald orbs, or hungrily eying her beautiful figure. She didn't drop on the bed flatly, she laid her body in such a way that only a dragon could admire.

Her tail was seductively flung on the opposite side of her figure, the part he couldn't see. The half of her body that he could see was fully presented to him.

First was her thigh, exposed in such a way that an alluring trail of muscles was visible underneath her ebony scales. Her thigh was firm, round and slender, she was graceful to begin with, the months spent on traveling and fighting shaped her body to this beautiful form he sees now. Her thigh was slightly sliding back and forth, as if flying on the sheets. Every such move reveled once more then less of her body, the thigh moved in one steady rhythm, that together with the sight of her heaving chest almost made his nose bleed.

Then his eyes landed on her chest. Her back was straight, her belly flat, beautifully shaped like the rest. The stretch she was maintaining exposed every delicate tension on her body, combination of this image with her puffing chest, made his imagination run wild.

Finally his eyes landed on the base of her neck, he began to trail its slender form. She had her head arched slightly up, making her neck more visible. His eyes landed on the choker, he had to fight back a strong impulse that demanded that he rips it off and reveals the most enthralling secret below.

However how he found out soon, her figure was only a foretaste to what's truly enticing.

It were her snout.

A pair of glimmering emerald eyes were watching him alluringly from the top of the bed. Her head was slightly turned to the side, a delicate line of red shone above her nose. A smile, presenting rows of white sharp teeth was sending the same signal as the eyes were. They were bewitching, innocent, shy but also arrogant at the same time. If they could talk they would be saying only one thing.

_I bet you like what you see._

She was luring him, he wasn't sure if she was aware of what she is doing, or fallen under the influence of some kind of feminine instinct. There was also a chance that she always looked like that and he is the one that sees her in different colors. Whatever the case may be, it was working.

He got up on the bed, momentarily he began to sense her closeness, feel her warmth and smelled her scent, yet as intoxicating as all those things were, this wasn't what caused his heart to speed up its already fast pounding, this wasn't what caused his stomach to make a flip, this wasn't what caused that itching energy flow through his heart. The admiration of her figure, the desire for her was secondary to this.

It was love.

It pushed everything else into the background, how she looked was no longer important.

He started to remember the smallest and stupidest things from their friendship, starting from the very beginning till now.

He remembered her indignation when it was him who took the reins of leadership after they were chained together.

He remembered the teases she constantly bombarded Sparx with and occasionally him also. He remembered how she smiled after when she thought nobody is looking.

He remembered her joyful jumps.

He remembered her laughter, the sarcastic, the honest, the sad. Every tone of her voice as it changed during those explosions of joy, be it sad or happy.

He remembered her sarcasm.

He remembered trust, both on the battlefield where he knew she won't abandon him, or outside it. Especially the moments he was jealous about Flare, how short those moments were because he knew she won't betray him.

He remembered the arguments about the smallest of things, how they never lasted long and never ended with one of them being mad on the other. They just couldn't be angry on each other.

He remembered the secrets, how she hid things from him to protect him.

He remembered hurt whenever she got injured, just like it would be his own flesh.

He remembered fear every time they got into a fight or she found herself in some other dangerous situation.

All those things, and many more were only pieces of a puzzle, that puzzle was the core for his feelings for her.

He remembered friendship.

He awkwardly approached her, comically bouncing on the sheets. His eyes were constantly locked onto hers, her orbs were shaking, it was difficult to tell what they were showing. Only one thing he recognized, it was hope. Her eyes were like that of a dreamy child that just met its hero, unsure how to proceed from here, unsure if what it sees is real.

He moved past her, their eyes constantly following one another, he stepped over her tail, the tip of which was tapping at the sheets like the tail of a happy dog.

Spyro dropped on the bed next to her, threw her tail up with his nose so he could slide a little bit closer to her flank. Her tail was sprawled on his back while he himself draped his paw across her back, his claws gently touching the membranes of her farther wing. He didn't forget about his own, using one of his wings he covered his paw and her body underneath the scaly, brown draconic sheet.

She had her head turned, observing him over her shoulder. He never lowered his gaze, he had his eyes fixed on her emerald gems all the time he was cuddling her, unconsciously begging for permission and hoping she won't throw him away.

She never did.

Her eyes sparkled with affection from the moment he jumped onto the bed. The moment he wrapped his paw around her they seemed to flare up emotionally. As if trapped between utter joy and fear of it being just a delusion. She smiled lovingly when his wing covered her with its warmth.

"Roll on your back" she whispered cravingly, her eyes burning with a passion of an artist who received a flow of inspiration and want to make the best of it

Spyro raised his head surprised.

"Come on" she nudged his flank with her nose pleadingly "Do it"

He wouldn't be able to say no even if he wanted to.

Cynder smiled gratefully when he listened to her plea. She got up, turned around in place and dropped on the bed again, this time her head was directly aimed in his direction. She wrapped her tail around Spyro's and crawled forward, eventually placing both her front paws and her cheek onto his golden chest.

He smiled playfully "You should have told me that you wanted to make a pillow out of me"

"It's not that" he felt her cheek putting more pressure on his scales, as if she wanted to bury it into his chest

"I just..." she paused

He watched her head moving up and down with his breathing chest, seconds passed in complete silence. Each of those quickly fleeting seconds made her eyelids lower inch by inch, until her emerald eyes were covered by the black curtain

"...love the sound of your heart" she whispered moonily

His eyes widened.

_His mother caressed his chest "This is your gift" she listened to its every beat blissfully as her palm bounced to the rhythm it created "Can you hear it?"_

_"Not really"_

_His mother laughed and planted a kiss on his forehead "If you ever hear that somebody likes to listen to the sound of your heart, you will know that you are deeply loved by that someone"_

Maybe she was wrong, maybe this all is just a stupid joke. What if...

_"My parents always told me to fight for the things you are interested in, even if you might get burned in the end" with that Hope reached for something on his right side, as she did so, she brushed his snout with her arm and gave him a saucy look_

_"Seize the day"_

Spyro slid his claw under her jaw and delicately urged her to raise her head.

"Cynder...?"

"Mhm?" she uttered as she slowly started to open her eyes

They stared at each other for a while.

And then Spyro pressed his lips to hers.


	69. Chapter 13 Book IV

**Change of plans, originally this chapter supposed to be longer but as I kept going I've felt like I'm doing something wrong. So I went over the whole thing and ended up deleting most of it. I just felt that there are some moments that you just don't destroy, even for the sake of the plot.**

**So here it is, a short chapter entirely focused on Spyro's and Cynder's moment of intimacy. Buckle up fluff fans:P**

**Those of you who aren't interested in the romance plot will also find something here:P A hint of what is to come next.**

**Enjoy**

* * *

Chapter 13

The world exploded.

That would be the best way to describe what happened.

The world exploded.

Just like that.

It exploded.

He was everything that remained. However her own body was cast out like the rest, worthless, and unimportant. Every part of her body was numb, starting from tail tip to lips of her hanging open mouth.

The only thing she felt was the kiss, not the physical contact, the warmth or the taste. It was that surge...of...of emotion...of passion, of...love.

Love.

It was love.

Sincere, respectful, honest. And it was all for her.

Ancestors...

All for me...

...for me...

...me...

...me...

She felt blood stopping circulating in her veins, with the eye of her imagination she could see her heart turned into a cartoon one, with legs and all that. It was making a spin on one of its legs, its arm sprawled across its head. Then, suddenly, it dropped on the ground, fainted blissfully. But instead of stars, tiny arrow pierced hearts were circling above its head.

Spyro placed a gentle kiss on her lower lip and then teasingly brushed it with his own, awaiting for her lips to respond. His eyes shut themselves instinctively, he never done this before, never kissed a girl before and yet , despite all the nervousness and the almost nauseating sound of his thudding heart it felt so naturally

Just like it was meant to be, no matter the technique. The mere fact that he acted on the impulse was an accomplishment, it just couldn't go wrong.

He never felt like this before, the feeling that overwhelmed his senses was the best feeling in the world.

Completeness.

By kissing her for the very first time a void that was sucking on him for what seemed like an unending part of his life was healed.

_"Good" the Fire Guardian smiled "Obstacles aren't the only things that you will meet on your path. Fate can be also generous, it will present you an opportunity to help you fill that void which you will feel after a loss. It's up to you to notice it and grab it. Remember that"_

_He kept staring at the statue of his late draconic father figure and after a while lowered his head and sobbed "I didn't mean to...I'm sorry. It's just that...Ignitus I need help" he sighed "I can't do it" he looked at the statue "Where is that opportunity you spoke off? How am I going to find it? What can possibly replace you?"_

_"There you are" a familiar female voice came from behind him_

_He looked behind his shoulder and winced "Cynder? What are you...why aren't you outside?"_

In this moment he realized how stupid, blind and oblivious he was. She was always here, he shivered, only now realizing that he wanted to kiss her for a very long time. He was just too much of a fool to see this.

Completeness.

He did it now, they are ment for each other as Amela said, nothing can go wrong, no matter how long he remained an idiot. He could feel all the love for her running through his lips and yet...

She didn't return the kiss.

Spyro's eyes opened as he pushed back from her lips. Her eyes were wide and impossible to read, mouth was hanging open, she looked like she had a stroke.

Terror clouded his vision.

What if he read all the signals incorrectly?

What if there weren't any signals at all?

What if he ruined their friendship?

Dear Ancestors...

"Cynder..." Spyro rasped, he was surprised how unnatural his voice sounded " I'm sorry..." he muttered agonizingly "I'm really-"

Cynder blinked, his words waking her up from a trance like the loudest of alarms. He was apologizing, no wonder, she could only imagine how she looked like, her expression would probably make anyone freak out.

Think what you will, but I'm not letting you go.

Not after this.

Cynder crawled forward across his chest, her motions uncoordinated, like she would be crawling across slippery ice, desperately trying to reach the prize ahead before anyone manages to snatch it from before her eyes. She only made two clumsy moves before she sprang forward, like a snake, touching his lips and muffling whatever sound he was making.

Her move was aggressive, but the kiss wasn't, it was more of a reassuring kiss than an affectionate one. She had her eyes squinted, observing him while playing with his lips shyly, coaxing them into action, as if trying to tell them that everything is ok.

His eyelids eventually fell down, his lips began to move bashfully. As he returned the kiss, caressing the still untouched upper lip for the first time, her tail bounced up and down excitedly, every slam into the sheets seemed to kick the breath out of her lungs.

She started to pull out, while he kept pressing forward, delicately yet hungrily savoring the softness of her withdrawing lips. The moment she freed herself she licked his nose and pressed her forehead to his. They both panted from excitement and trepidation.

"It's okay" Cynder whispered devotedly in between breaths

They both remained like that for a while, listening only to their breaths of their heaving underbellies and the sound of their pounding hearts as they lured one another through the scales of their pressed together chests.

He could feel the velvety scales of her body rubbing against his chest which reminded him of the soft surface of her lips as they brushed against his. He especially remembered the taste, both the sweet physical one of her body and the emotional one that warmed his very soul.

Spyro started to caress the back of her neck, feeling her shudder under his touch, he arched his head forward, placing a kiss on the corner of her mouth. Her head turned, her lips parting seductively, trying to catch his into that blissful embrace.

He escaped by kissing her cheek, he felt the softness of her kiss on his neck. He continued by placing another lover's touch a little farther, by now he felt her mouth parting, her lips wavered, sending tender shudders across his neck.

Another kiss, this one lower, right at the edge of her cheek, where the features of her snout ended. Cynder's head unconsciously tilted to the side, allowing more space for her partner to caress her.

He kissed her right in the spot where her neckline began.

She inhaled deeply, intoxicating herself on the scent of passion and love he was emanating. He shivered slightly when she let out a drunk on ecstasy, hot, wavering breath.

His lips went even lower.

To quench the excited squeak that vibrated in her throat she nibbled on his scales, sending a chill down his neck.

Then finally his lips touched the most sensitive part on her neck, the spot right above the choker.

Not able to hold it back any longer Cynder let out a heavenly whimper, not only intensified by the kiss but also the tendrils of his breath brushing against the scales underneath the choker.

He planted another kiss right below it, making her whole body shudder as she pressed her chest even stronger to his body and started to delicately rake her claws across his chest. He began to retrace his steps, but right before he started he bit on the silvery surface of the choker and tugged it gently.

Cynder's claws dug into his chest shallowly as she let out a soft, delighted moan.

His whole body shook with an ecstatic thrill at the felling of her claws stretching his scales. It forced his tail into action, it wrapped itself around hers and clenched it tightly. There was something feral and dominant about the delicate pain that rubbed his male ego in the right way.

He continued making his way up, magically finding the same spots he kissed earlier until he finally pushed away. Their eyes blissfully opening at the same time as if communing telepathically.

Her eyes were glimmering like a pair of the most valuable and pristine emeralds. Glowing with unmistakable love, passion and silent begging for it to be all true. He could sense the emotion wafting from her eyes, the gusts were so powerful that he felt his heart melting within the green ocean of her eyes.

And he allowed that to happen.

Spyro gently caressed her left cheek with his claw. She leaned her head, pressing her soft scales to his paw, making sure it won't miss a spot. She started to purr and rub her cheek against his delicate touch.

She was so beautiful.

"I love you" he mumbled entranced

Cynder's eyes flared up brightly as her whole body stiffened.

The moment he kissed her she felt the non-existing chain tighten around her neck, bonding the two of them together. The kiss told her just as much he loves her, however hearing him say that out loud triggered another torrent of feelings that words just fail to describe them.

Those were the words her entire being craved for, along with the heart and soul. Her life was nothing else than a dark sea on a stormy night, with her being the wildly tossed ship. The roars of thunder like the taunts and cries of her enemies and every creature that was scarred by her evil deeds. The deadly waves like hands of people that shoved her like she was trash. The creaking of her thick, solid hull, seemingly impenetrable from the outside, but bleeding streams of water from the inside. The surrounding darkness resembling the hopelessness of her life, ready to swallow her at the first sight of crack.

The pulsing bright yellow light of a lighthouse in the distance, looking like the beats of a golden heart was the only thing that kept her going. A light that just exploded like a sun, sending fiery gold rays everywhere, evaporating the darkness with a hiss like a disease.

It did it all for her.

My life isn't worthless.

He loves me

No one else.

But me.

All for me.

ME!

She lifted herself on her forelegs and sprang forward, throwing herself at him like a lioness on her prey. She muffled any sound of surprise from his throat by pressing her lips to his. She cupped his snout into her paws and began to bestowing him with kisses. Not gentle and unsure like in the beginning, but fiery, needy and wanting, full of passion and love.

One of his paws landed on her wing while the other started to caress her back, the moment he returned the kiss her stomach made a flip and burst open. It was like thousands upon thousands of butterflies started to bounce off the walls of her belly.

One of his paws found its way to the back of her neck, both his paws started to push her closer. Their chests pressed against each other, with him holding her not even her rapid breathing was enough to unglue her scales from his.

And then she felt it.

The excited beats of his heart.

They were loud like a bell's rumble and vibrated within her like an echo from an explosion in a tunnel. Every blissful beat made the butterflies inside her belly to twirl around, sending magically numbing pulses throughout her entire being, making her suck on his lower lip and moan softly.

The sweet taste of his lips combined with the twirling butterflies in her stomach made her dizzy, lost in the world of delight.

The paw from her back slid down, massaging her right flank as he tilted his head, to passionately trap her lips into a loving kiss. They were completely lost in the moment, doing everything for the first time, with lack of any technique and yet everything was perfect.

Lips knew how to respond, paws knew where to touch and caress, hearts knew how to excite. They were a perfect match.

With the last hungry suck on his upper lip Cynder withdrew her head and opened her dreamily locked eyes while taking a deep wavering breath, still worrying that this is just another cruel dream. His eyes opened soon after and as she looked into those beautiful amethyst orbs realization struck her like the deadliest of spears.

He was here.

It was real.

My lighthouse.

Her eyes burst with loving tears, a full of emotion and joy sob wrecked her throat. She cupped his snout into her paws again and once more pressed her lips to his. Kissing him with fiery happiness not really giving him a chance to return the affection since momentarily she broke away, directing her attention elsewhere..

Her head went lower, right below his jaw it stopped and pressed forward, kissing the part of his neckline that she could reach. Excited and surprised Spyro instinctively arched his jaw up. She took advantage of it immediately, placing a kiss one after the other in quick succession, constantly lowering her head.

A shiver ran through his body when Cynder began to slide down the thin surface of his golden scales, her body sensuously rubbing against his she planted kiss after kiss during her descent.

She stopped on his chest, exactly were his heart pulsed and pressed his lips to his scales. This kiss was different from the rest, it was beaming with loving passions and gratitude. She pushed her head up slightly and offered his heart another kiss, right in the same place. Her head went up again and a third kiss landed on his chest.

His heart was so overjoyed by the loving attention that it started to race beyond any reasonable pace. It was thudding so fast that it almost hurt.

After the third kiss her head didn't went up but instead tilted to the side, her cheek once more pressed to his chest.

"Thank you" she sobbed quietly

Spyro craned his neck up sharply in alarm.

"Cynder? A-are you crying?"

Tears splashed onto his scales when a crying-cackle blurt out from her throat.

"A little"

He caressed her head affectionately.

"Did I do something wrong?" he muttered painfully

"No silly" Cynder sprang forward once more and kissed him passionately again before she pressed her forehead to his

"You did nothing wrong" she sniveled

Spyro brushed his lips against hers and nuzzled her "Then what's going on?"

She let another crying laugh and hugged him tightly.

"Nothing" she still wept "I'm just happy"

Spyro lovingly pushed her closer, listening to her sobbing and caressing her back comfortingly

"You could have any girl you wanted, all you had to do was to wink"

"That's not true"

"But you chose me" she ignored his expected, modest protest "From among all those pretty girls you chose me"

She touched his cheek with her lips "I've waited very long for this" her warm breath wavered with emotion

Spyro's eyes widened "Long? How long?"

She nuzzled his cheek with her nose "Doesn't matter"

"It does for me. Cynder please, tell me"

She hesitated, not really wanting to remember the painful days that she just knew would trigger guilt in him. But at the same time realizing that they are more than friends now, not mates, but just as important. She just didn't want to start this new road of their relationship from a lie. It wouldn't be right.

She pushed back from his cheek, aiming her tear-moist eyes at him.

"I've made a confession, after we defeated Malefor, when you were busy saving the world everything started to shake and I've thought we won't make it so I-"

"THAT long?" Spyro mumbled, his voice was filled with suffering. He rested his head on top of hers in a caring, apologetic hug

"I'm so sorry"

"Don't be" she whispered, enjoying his loving embrace "It's not your fault that you didn't love me"

"But I did! This night with you made me see that. I always loved you, I was just too stupid to realize that"

Cynder smiled, hearing him say that forced more tears of happiness out of her "Ancestors I can't believe this"

"What?"

She lifted her head, licking his nose affectionately on the way up.

He beamed happily.

As she looked at his smiling snout she felt like she fell in love all over again.

"This. Us. My life was nothing more than a range of disasters" she snorted mockingly "Was. IS a range of disasters. Everything was forced upon me, all the bad and evil, whatever good was in my life was stolen away from me. Then you showed up, the only guy that showed me any kindness, but you were only a friend. I know it sounds stupid, especially that _only _since I clung to you like to a straw, that kindness you bestowed on me, it was your decision, that good, the very first good thing in my life was also forced upon me"

Spyro nodded, her words leaving painful cuts on his heart, they are partners now. Every pain she feels, he does too.

"I think I understand. You feel like you've been living a lie, living other people's lives. No destiny, no own choice"

"One hell of an independent girl, huh?" she smiled sadly "Yes, I've been living a lie. But it changed now, because I was the one that developed romantic feelings towards you, it was my heart, it was me. To make you feel what I felt for you, it was my battle, and I won you over. The victory is mine, MINE alone"

She touched his cheek, caressing it with all the love a girl can give to a boy. Tears were flowing from the corners of her eyes as she smiled beautifully at him.

"I love you Spyro, so that makes you the most screwed dragon in the whole world, past or present. I won, and I'm not going to let go of my spoils. You're mine. I'm going to love you till the day I die"

He leaned in, catching her lips into a gentle, passionate kiss. She whimpered emotionally as she tasted and smelled the reassuring affection.

Their eyes remained closed as he broke the kiss, pressing his forehead to hers afterwards he softly wiped tears from the corner of one of her eyes.

"I don't mind" he cooed

"I'm in deep debt" Cynder whispered "without you I wouldn't survive"

"Hey, don't say such things. You're strong, stronger than me, how many could withstand your fate? I'm sure I wouldn't"

"Strong?" she giggled "I'm the one that's crying"

"You're happy, you have all the right to cry" he pulled her into a close hug "I'm glad that I'm the one that made you happy"

His closeness woke up another torrent of emotion, she sobbed while massaging his chest, convincing her every sense that this is truly happening.

Spyro stroked her head fondly "You're not alone Cynder, you'll never be again"

She lifted her head to kiss him again, delicately, touching every sensitive spot that sent tingles across the whole surface of her own velvety lips. Feeling the deep connection that shackled their hearts. Unbreakable and everlasting bond. Affinity that connects only two hearts and no more.

Soul mates.

She broke the kiss and nuzzled him, sliding her cheek against his, breathing warmly.

"How do you feel about some cuddle time?" she mumbled hungrily "I need you to hold me"

He didn't need more encouragement, Spyro opened his paws and she immediately took advantage of the space and slithered up his body. She moved her head underneath his jaw and slightly tilted it to the side, giving him enough room to rest his head on top of hers without her horns getting in the way. She curled her body to the best of her ability, making her hind legs dangle from both sides of his thighs. One of her front paws rested on his shoulder while the other was wrapped around the back of his neck. She felt extremely secure when he wrapped his own paws around her back.

She let out a blissful moan, feeling his warmth pulsing below her.

"Tell me when it'll become uncomfortable for you"

Spyro smiled as he caressed her back "You could start jumping on me and I wouldn't complain"

She giggled, the feeling of her soft belly slightly bouncing on top of his chest forced his nose to gently rub against her neck, feeling her scent and warmth almost with the craving of an addict.

"Don't tempt me"

Spyro chuckled and once more rested his chin on top of her head tenderly.

"I love you so much" she purred

"I love you too"

"Should we tell people about...us?"

Spyro sensed the fear in her voice, mixed with the urge to scream out the news to the whole world. Whatever he would say, he knew she won't like the answer.

"I think we should try to keep this a secret for now"

Cynder shifted uneasily.

"People had no trouble making up stories so far, all of them included you seducing me…" his eyes widened in embarrassment "But they were right! Ancestors they were right! You seduced me! People felt something, complete strangers saw that I feel something for you. While I...I..."

She rubbed his chest comfortingly as she looked into his eyes "Don't be too hard on yourself. Your occasional obliviousness is kinda cute"

"That cute made you suffer"

"Nah, it wasn't that bad".

He didn't believe her but there was no sense to dwell on the subject.

"At least that solves our problem, they will find out eventually. We should let them sweat for a while"

"What about Sparx?"

Spyro's eyes widened in sudden amusement "Oh boy!" he laughed "He's going to freak out!"

Cynder smiled "Judging from your reaction I guess you want to tell him"

"Hell yeah! All our childhood I was the one with the stupid look on my snout. For once I want him to feel awkward and dumbfounded"

"I'm glad I could be of help. Nothing warms up my heart more than seeing two brothers taunting each other because of me"

She felt Spyro's muscles tensing uncomfortably.

She patted his chest playfully "Relax, I was joking"

He narrowed his eyes mischievously "You think you're so funny?" he hissed endearingly

Spyro pushed his paws closer, tightening the already strong grip on her even further. Before she managed to react he swayed his body sharply to the right. Cynder yelped in surprise, feeling that he was about to throw her off of him. She slid down his swaying body, his strong grip held her in the air, making her dangle slightly above the sheets.

Instinctively she extended her paws, trying to reach solid ground, but the moment her claws brushed the sheets Spyro sharply swayed to the opposite side. She cried out happily, her wings impulsively flared open, her paws shot forward, and latched onto his shoulders. They didn't remain there long, one of his paws swiftly broke free from the clench he had on her and then unexpectedly, with one strong move pushed her paws from his shoulder and pressed them to her chest.

Cynder cried out happily once more when she dangled above the sheets on the opposite side of his body this time. Just as before she didn't remain there long since almost instantly Spyro jerked his body to the other side, dragging her with him.

For the next seconds she felt like she was a hatchling in some sort of a scaly cradle that was rocking wildly from side to side. And just like a child, that was given some extreme, shaking treatment, she was laughing all the way.

"Point taken! Point taken!" she squealed in between happy screams

He immediately stopped moving, making her lay flat on his chest, panting from the merry extortion. Her head limply hung from his shoulder, squeaky laugher filling the room.

Spyro grinned proudly, selflessly admiring his ability to make her laugh and especially happy that he sated his addictive hunger for that sound.

When she finally managed to take control of her body Cynder inhaled the air deeply with a squealing, joyful whizz and smiled at him lovingly.

"You're unbelievable"

He shrugged with a smile "You like the sound of my heart, only fair for me to love something of yours. Laughter is one of those things"

"You like to hear me laugh? she raised her head, aiming her eyes at him saucily

"What else do you love about me?"

Spyro chuckled "Not so fast"

"Please" she whined, seductively caressing his chest "Tell me"

"You need to fall asleep first"

"How will that help me?"

"You'll know when you wake up"

Cynder growled and punched his chest playfully "You tease, but alright, I'll bite"

She huddled tighter to him, allowing herself to be wrapped into his safe, loving embrace, before giving him a full of affection kiss that he tenderly returned.

"Goodnight" she cooed and closed her eyes, resting her head in the same position as if during their first hug

"Goodnight" he kissed her head before placing his chin on top of it. He held her tightly as his eyes were starting to be shrouded by the itching veil of sleep. Before his consciousness drifted into blissful oblivion, only one thought bounced inside his skull.

She is all that matters.

* * *

She yawned loudly at some point, smacking her lips a couple of times, her sleeping consciousness still blissfully lost within the embrace of her partner. Yet she felt everything around her, part of her instinct has awakened, it was sharp enough to sense some odd things.

Like the delicate gust of cold wind.

Or the creaking sound of glassy door swinging open.

"So sleep sugar…

Or the sound of hollow singing.


	70. Chapter 14 Book IV

Chapter 14

"…Let your dreams flood in  
Like waves of sweet fire you're safe within"

Cynder stirred with a groan.

"Sleep sweetie  
Let your floods come rushing in  
And carry you over to a new morning"

Her mind was slowly breaking free from Morpheus' arms, yet not fast enough to record what was happening.

What was that hollow noise?

"Hush my love now don't you cry  
Everything will be all right"

Her whole body shivered when a cold gust of wind lashed across her scales.

The balcony door were opened.

Cynder gently shook the scaly pillow below.

"Spyro, you forgot to latch the balcony door"

He was unresponsive. Lost deep in sleep.

She shivered through another gust.

"Close your eyes and drift in dream  
Rest in peaceful sleep"

She gasped at the sound of the pitifully melodic hollow voice.

It came from the balcony.

With a terrified moan she propped herself on her straightened forelegs, pressing firmly against Spyro's golden chest , as she impulsively looked in the direction of the glassy door.

As far as she could tell there was nothing there, but it was hard to say for certain. The darkness coating the room along with the outside world was just too thick for her eyes to pierce it.

Darkness.

Her throat dried out completely, her heart started to pound at her chest painfully when realization struck her.

Her room was completely dark.

"The light" she hissed through clenched teeth, she felt like a wounded sparrow being circled by hungry cats that only wait for her to make a chirp loud enough for them to hear so they could locate her and tear her apart

"The light is gone" she shook her partner hectically, her eyes never leaving the balcony

"Spyro the light is out"

He remained unresponsive.

"Spyro. Light" she whined pleadingly , giving him another shake but at the same time turning around

In this moment of utter terror she remembered that in every bedside cabinet is a small globe with magically lit flame inside. A way to lighten the room for those without the natural ability to breathe fire. It could be used as a lantern or as a mean to awaken other sources of light by touch.

Despite the complete darkness her paw immediately fondled with the right drawer, locating the small orb soon after. With one swift move she withdrew it from the wooden clutches of the drawer and pointed it at the balcony door. The yellowish light cut through darkness like sun rays, two side moves of her paw were enough to scan the balcony completely.

It was empty.

With a sharp breath she swung her paw in a wide arc, just to flick the orb to her other paw when the first couldn't reach any farther. She scanned the room in five seconds, just to find out it was exactly like the balcony.

Empty.

Cynder let out a long breath of relief, her paws slumped down onto Spyro's golden chest together with her head. The orb rolled down from his neck and stopped onto her nose.

"Sleep sugar"

Her head went up in alarm with a horrified squeal, when she realized from where the sound came from.

It rumbled from within Spyro's throat.

Her eyes landed on the jaw of his tilted to the back head. The moment that happened his paws tightly clenched themselves around her body making her scream in horror and pinning her to his body.

His head swiftly arched itself up.

Cynder screamed again when she locked her sight with his creepy, emotionless brown eyes. His snout was covered in many bloody cuts., some of them gushing blood profusely.

Screaming in complete terror she began to thrash around, trying to break free from the clutches, yet her attempts were futile. The paws held her in place like heavy chains.

While the eyes kept staring at her.

Not able to look at them any longer, Cynder, driven by panic, pressed her front paws to his chin and started to push, squealing and screaming through the whole ordeal. There was a snapping sound and the dragon's head tilted backwards, unnaturally far away, revealing a long deep cut across the whole neck.

Another powerful, terrified scream escaped her throat when she saw the crack growing in size as the head fell backwards. Thick, dark, disgusting and putrid blood shot from the growing opening and splashed onto her snout. Cynder gurgled when some horrible dark streams flew into her widely opened, screaming mouth and forcefully continued down her throat.

She almost choked on the amount of blood, its taste and stench made her writhe in abhorrence.

Worms poured from the wound and onto her paws.

Cynder gagged, swallowing the dark liquid to make room for another blood freezing scream, which was only intensified by the feeling of hundreds of worms slithering up her scales.

Snap.

The head dropped onto the bed.

Spyro was dead.

She shut her eyes...

...and screamed at the top of her lungs.

A whip of cold air lashed across her snout.

Cynder opened her eyes, the scream that was bursting from her throat ended abruptly with the sound of her clamping mouth. She wasn't in her room any longer, she was on her balcony, standing on hind legs. Her forepaws rested on top of the railing while her head dangled in the air. Her eyes locked onto the bushes below, swaying to the rhythm of the wind, while remaining in the spotlight of the moon.

How the hell did she got here?

It was just a dream?

Cynder ran her tongue along the inside of her teeth and winced. Images flashed before her eyes, worms, dark blood. Taste and stench, bugs burying into her scales, blood...

It made her sick.

She retched and then threw up, emptying her stomach completely. It was painful, her whole throat was burning but she was glad it happened. When the unpleasant ordeal was finally over she allowed her head to dangle freely, panting in relief.

"We are feeling much better now"

Cynder stiffened at the sound of the low, hollow voice just next to her. With a gulp she began to slowly turn her head, not wanting to look, yet without the ability to stop herself. She noticed two slightly cracked purple paws.

She yelped and threw herself at the far end of the balcony.

"Stay away from me!"

She yelled in horror, but before she laid her eyes on the creature she noticed rays of light reaching on the balcony, reaching from her room. With a shocked gasp Cynder looked through the glassy barricade, seeing her completely lightened room, her bed and her partner soundly sleeping on it, his paws wrapped around his chest tightly, as if he was still holding her.

He was there.

He was alive.

"Spy-agh-gh-ha" her call for his name ended with her coughing fiercely. Her lungs started to burn, it was not the ordinary choke on excitement, but something completely else, if the smoke wafting from her mouth was any clue.

_Not again!_

"We believe waking us up is not the best course of action right now"

Cynder ignored the creature and shouted again, at least tried to, this time there was no smoke, not even a sound. Whatever shout rumbled inside her throat forcefully remained there.

She turned towards the creature, her eyes a mix of aggression and fear. To her surprise it made no attempt to reach for her throat or do any other creepy thing. The dragon just stood there, watching her with emotionless eyes.

To her surprise the creature was adequately tolerable to look at, wounds still covered its body, its wing membranes were still tarnished, but now it didn't look like a long dead corpse dragged out from the ground, but rather like a scarred veteran of to many wars. She also noticed one curious thing, trails of smoke were wafting from underneath its paws.

Something has changed, she didn't know what and honestly wasn't interested to find out.

"_This is only a dream_" she muttered her thoughts

"_It's a dream Cynder_"

"_You hear me fucker?"_ she grew angry

"_A dream!"_

"A fucking DREAM!"

Cynder blinked, surprised to hear her voice again, normal, without any sign of abuse. As if nothing ever happened.

"We are not dreaming" the drake replied, standing still like a statue, brown eyes fixed on her

It gave her the chills.

She spun around swiftly, with the intention to wake Spyro again.

"We would hate to make us uncomfortable again"

Cynder opened her mouth yet didn't let out any sound, remembering what conclusion she reached before they entered her room. The thing wanted something and it won't let anything to get in its way.

She turned around, facing the creature. Fright was ravaging her, but there was also that special thrill, the warrior's blood boiled in her. She finally sees her enemy, makes eye contact, it was enough to fill her up with courage. Unknown was gone, that is important, fear of the unknown constrains, while awareness untangles every binding knot. Doesn't matter if the enemy is a mercenary or...

...a supernatural monster.

"Now listen monster" Cynder growled, trying to the best of her ability to mask the fear in her voice "because I'm not going to repeat myself. Leave. Me. Alone!"

"We cannot be separated"

She lowered on her paws, her fighting spirit dictating her actions, her heart hoping that Spyro will wake up at the first sign of fighting.

"Wanna bet?"

"It is not necessary"

She sprang forward with a growl, there was something infuriating about its emotionless tone and the way it stared at her with its dead eyes. Like a master listening to his slaves, showing them empathy but at the same time drawing a line of superiority and arrogance.

There will be no other Master telling her what to do.

Not now when she has everything she ever dreamt about.

She slashed at the creature with almost rabid ferocity. Her eyes widened when a gasp of sudden shock left her throat. Her claws swung right through the creature, rippling its form in their wake, like it was nothing more than a mist.

Cynder slashed at the creature again and again and again, putting more strength into each strike, grunting as she swung her deadly, natural weapons. Aggression and desperation rang in every tone of the sounds the dragoness made, she had her nightmare right in front of her and she just couldn't touch it!

Her claws flew in every direction possible, running along every part of its body. Yet no matter how many times she rippled the features of the creature's head its cold eyes always swirled back into place, always watched her with unintentional supremacy.

"We should stop acting this way, more discomfort is not needed"

Its VOICE!

Seemingly emotionless but strangely radiating arrogance.

"You don't exist!" Cynder pushed back from the creature with a depressed shout

"I am alive"

She swung her tail ferociously, her blade tip tearing through the dragon's form, making his form swivel like vapor.

"Then why don't you die!?"

"This" the dragon looked himself over without any hint of interest "is a projection of our mind, the limited capability of our brain to understand something beyond its scope"

"I hardly believe that I would imagine a walking corpse! If I would have any say in this you would be a bunny! What have you done to me!?"

"Nothing. Our mind is only partially responsible for creating this projection, other thing warps it also, but it is beyond our comprehension"

Cynder backed away, carefully watching the creature. She wanted it gone, knowing what it did to her and the poor mole, but also was intrigued by its lack of any hostility. Her life experiences taught her to allow everyone some benefit of doubt. However strange they may seem, everyone deserves a chance, Spyro showed her that.

She was also a creepy monster, everyone hated her, Spyro was the only one that offered her a chance and she turned out pretty good if she can say so herself. Perhaps the same thing happens to this creature, she doesn't understand its nature, that doesn't mean it's evil...

Right?

She licked her lips apprehensively.

"Who are these _we_ you keep talking about?".

The dragon stared at her callously, it was hard to say if her question was too intrusive and the creature was making up a sweet lie or it didn't know how to answer.

The dragon raised his paw, black tendrils of shadow followed in its wake as he pointed a claw at his chest, just to aim it at her moments later.

"We are one"

Cynder balked in disgust "We are not the same!"

"We are not, but we are one"

"What that supposed to mean?"

"We are one"

She growled with irritation.

"Make some sense!" she snapped at the creature, surprised how bold she suddenly became around it "You think you are me?"

"No"

"You're a part of me?"

"No"

Cynder wanted to snap at the creature, but then a bolt realization struck her as she remembered one tiny detail.

"You referred to Spyro in plural, is he one of us?"

"No"

"Then why us?"

The dragon' s eyes shifted towards Spyro "We are not the same, but we are one"

Cynder sighed "Okay...then what are we?"

The creature looked at her again "We are one"

She growled, supernatural monster or not it was getting on her nerves "Forget it, let's start with something simple" she licked her lips

"How did I get here?"

"We carried ourselves here sensing great discomfort, we-"

"Stop right there" she blinked, once more surprised by her boldness. The creature wasn't so terrifying anymore

Somehow she didn't seem any bit calmer about the fact.

"If we want this to work you'll stop using plural"

The dragon stared at her with the same emotionless gaze.

Yet this time she shivered, she felt like she was poking a troll with a stick.

"What is YOUR name?"

The creature remained silent, when she thought it won't answer her its mouth opened suddenly.

"I..." the dragon's voice boomed like a distant thunder,

Cynder couldn't shake off the image of a hymen breaking, she sensed that by forcing the creature to see itself as an individual she made it to do something for the very first time in its existence.

"...have many names" the creature finished forcefully and aimed its blank gaze at the dragoness.

She instantly thought of a sly grin forming on its mouth.

"Sugar"

Cynder reared her head back "What did you call me?"

Nothing could be read from the drilling into her brown eyes of the creature.

"Sugar"

"No way! You absolutely won't call me like that! My name is Cynder"

"It is unavoidable. It is you who made me as I am"

She cackled from the ridiculousness of this situation "A monster calls me by using a pet name. Guess the stupidity meter is full now"

The dragon cocked its head, for the first time showing a hint of emotion.

"Is...love not important to you?"

Cynder eyes narrowed on the creature intensely, defensive instinct waking up with her "What THAT has to do with anything?"

Its head tilted to the opposite side.

"Do you not love me?"

Her jaw dropped to the floor, she was desperately trying to convince herself that she misheard the dragon. She licked her dry lips.

"W-what?"

The creature disappeared in a puff of dark smoke just to suddenly appear right in front of her nose. Cynder jumped back with a terrified yelp.

"Do you not recognize me Sugar?"

"Okayyyy I think that's enough for one night. Goodbye now" she slowly retreated towards her room

The dragon spread his green, tarnished wings open, tendrils of black smoke were left in their trail.

"I am what you made me to be. Look at me, do you not love me Sugar?"

She had no idea what the dragon wants from her. Cynder looked the creature over, just for her own peace of mind, or instinctively protecting herself from any more horrors the dragon can surely bring to life. She knew that the creature resembling Spyro was no coincidence, it speaking about love was just as strange, especially because she wasn't sure if it understands its meaning.

At first nothing came to her mind, but then as she kept looking at the creature, seeing Spyro's purple scales and thinking about the dragon speaking about love…everything slowly started to make sense.

"Wait" Cynder cocked her head "You look like Spyro because he is important to me?"

The dragon stared at her blankly. She took that for a _yes_.

"But why Sugar? He never called me like that"

The creature tilted its head "You are our son"

Despite the confusion she laughed, it was a chuckle full of fear and shock, she just couldn't help herself. The way the dragon looked at her, the way it talked, the way it confused her for a boy. Seemingly stupid and probably depraved to some point and yet she just couldn't hold back. She laughed, hard to say why, maybe the happiness from earlier didn't left her yet.

"I see that somebody missed his anatomy lessons"

Another torrent of abashed feminine laughter echoed on the night's air.

The dragon's head returned to its natural place. He stared at the dragoness for a while and the burst out laughing.

Cynder froze, her tail curled practically in between her legs, whatever sign of happiness vanished completely, turned into a stiff expression of cold terror. The sound the creature emitted…it was horrible, low and rumbling, like a blow into some fiendish horn. She instantly thought of a demon, roasting its victim over the fire bleeding through the cracks of its hellish pit while enjoying the sound of screams the poor fellow emitted when it poked him with its pitchfork.

Her mouth shut itself with an audible clamp.

The dragon stopped laughing instantly, eyeing her once more with the same emotionless gaze.

"Don't do that ever again" she mumbled warily

It remained silent.

The dragoness shivered, fear once again overwhelming her, it was strange. The fright was pulsing in her, like the heartbeat of a dying person on a life monitor. The creature's silence after its display of…that, pushed the pulse to the highest of levels making her almost faint.

It was so strange and ominous.

She felt like a lamb on the run and from tonight…

…It's hunting season.

Her paws twitched restlessly, they really wanted to get away from the dragon, she would gladly comply if not for the misgiving feeling that it would be the worst thing to do right now.

Cynder scratched her choker nervously "Explain…" she rasped and instantly cleared her throat, not wanting the creature to feel any satisfaction from her condition, if it was capable of doing that in the first place

"…why do you call me your son?"

"I have sired you Sugar, you are our love"

Her eyes threw the dragon another confused look, she wanted to tell the dragon once more that it isn't making any sense, but then something struck her. It was so obvious that she cursed her stupidity. The creature is not entirely Spyro, it also carries the features of the dragon from her dreams. Maybe being formed from two different dragons somehow confuses its understanding of the world…or her.

"That song you sang" Cynder continued, her voice filled with hurt and curiosity, she felt like she was putting her head through some dark crack in the wall, above which, on the other side, a sharp clever awaited her "is it a lullaby you used to sing to me?"

"With your mother we did, she had such a wonderful voice. I wanted to sing it to you for the last time Sugar, but I lost all my strength protecting your mother. They have ruined her Sugar…"

The dragon's emotionless voice trailed off for a moment as Cynder clutched her chest, she felt like a scab on her heart just broke and blood was flowing from the wound once more.

_She cleared her throat, dropping the cheerful mood and silencing the group as a result "Now it's the time for some bad news, mind you that they are bad for you not for me, that's a very important detail since no bad news follow me around. As you may know, your fathers, friends, mates or whatever won't be coming to visit you. They all are…" _

_She scratched her choker "How to put it mildly?" she muttered to herself and shook her head "I've slaughtered them all, I've painted the ground with their blood and decorated the walls with their guts and all they could do was to beg me to spare their mates and children while I disemboweled them" she snorted "Bunch of whiners"_

"_You will pay for this!" one of the female dragons yelled, while streams of tears flown down from her eyes, with all emotions released in a single shout, she sobbed and hid behind a rock._

_She rolled her eyes "Yeah, yeah, you know how many times I hear that line? Come on people, be creative!"_

"_Thou shan't find peace and fall under the weight of thy deeds, those who disdain pure life shall become its prey" a rasped feline voice reached her._

"Shit…" Cynder mumbled devastated

"…and then you killed yourself. You comforted yourself first, you made yourself to believe you and then you sank your claws into your flesh Sugar. Drawing blood, ripping, tearing-"

"Stop!" she cried out painfully

The dragon once more adopted his statue like pose.

"You disgusting creature!" she snapped at the dragon furiously, her voice wavered with emotion "You're not alive! You're my conscience, I don't know why I see you, or why do you talk to me now when you had all the time to appear way earlier, but I know one thing. You're the price I have to pay for my crimes, twisting the only feeling that keeps me going, to haunt and torment me"

She looked behind her shoulder, aiming her eyes at Spyro sleeping on her bed, on his paws that held her in a loving embrace. Her claws scratched the balcony floor with fiery determination.

"You might have succeeded once, but I am stronger now than I was ever before" Cynder turned around with a growl, fixing her shimmering eyes at the dragon "Do you hear me you creep? You missed your chance! I will have my redemption, because I DESERVE IT! You're just like all the rest of the people, trying to stomp me with guilt like I'm a bug, but you won't do it and you know why motherfucker?"

"Because I'm stronger than all of you combined! You may make hell out of my life but in the end I will be the one last one standing. This is my life! I'm the only one who has any command over it!" she inhaled deeply "Begone you monster!" she roared

However the dragon remained where it was, yet as much as it tried to keep the pretense that her outburst left no impact on it she could feel its…fear.

"You are wrong Sugar, I-"

"I don't care!" she cut the creature off ferociously "Let me go!"

"You were never trapped here"

Cynder narrowed her eyes skeptically on the creature as she moved her head back in surprise "Really? I should have known that indigestion was behind the shadow coughing earlier"

"I had to stop you Sugar, you would never talk with me otherwise"

She looked behind her shoulder, once more taking Spyro into her line of sight. Her eyes glimmered hopefully.

"Then I can leave?"

"Yes"

Cynder swiftly spun around, determined to fall back into her partner's embrace.

"I do not want to hurt anyone again. I did not want to kill the old mole in the Plaza. Why did he not remain in the light?"

Her whole body tensed at the sound of the creature's voice, it was still emotionless, yet she could hear the pitiful notes of regret in its voice. Her claws already touched the wooden floor of her room, the feeling of boards underneath her claws was never so inviting before.

"Is this a threat?" Cynder asked, her eyes remaining locked on Spyro, how she wanted to be close to him right now

"No Sugar, it cannot be avoided. My nature is complex, tied like a knot. I need your help to unravel it"

She is being played, the creature in its depression clings to her guilt, it was so obvious, but it isn't forcing anything on her. It asks for help, seems to beg for it in its own way, it's up to her if she listens to its plea. This is the command of the life you asked for, save the monster and people that taunt you all the time or simply walk away.

Altruism or selflessness.

The choice is simple.

Your happiness or the well-being of people that torment you.

The choice is simple.

The blissful drift in Spyro's loving embrace or more bodies added you our count.

The choice is simple.

"Dammit" Cynder's head dropped down with a depressed sigh

She turned around slowly and lifted her head, meeting the blank gaze of the creature. Its posture didn't change but she could feel something else emanating from it in pitiful, weak waves.

Relief.

"How do I know if I can trust you?"

"I do not want to hurt you Sugar. I love you"

The creature's callous confession sent shivers of disgust through her body.

"Don't say that" Cynder mumbled in abhorrence

"I care about you Sugar. I took you here to spare Spyro the taste of your spew. I waited until you finished your loving intercourse"

"Wait!" she yelled bashfully, a fierce blush crept onto her cheeks "You watched us as we…we…umm…kissed?"

"Yes"

Cynder coyly rubbed her leg, feeling extremely naked right now.

The dragon cocked its head "Were you not…happy?"

"No! I mean…yes…but…you can't stalk me like that!"

"I do not understand"

"Forget it!" Cynder snapped, relieved to get away from the uncomfortable topic "We'll get back to setting boundaries later. By asking if I can trust you I didn't mean myself, how can I be sure that you won't hurt any more innocent people?"

"I will not"

"Oh yeah, a word of a creepy monster is enough for me. I believe you!" she snorted sarcastically "I need more than that!"

The dragon stared at her and fell silent. Once more she was torn between thinking that it is making up a sweet lie or looking for a good answer.

"I love you Sugar"

She groaned in annoyance "I told you this is not about me! I w-" she reared her head back in sudden realization "Wait a moment. You love me right?"

"Yes"

"So you won't do anything that will make me…ummm…unhappy?"

"Yes"

"You know, you might be telling the truth but I'm still not convinced. You dragged me out from my room, into a dark balcony. You know how I feel about Spyro, you know I'll tell him everything. Then why bother to have some one on one with me if your intentions are friendly?"

"it would make you uncomfortable"

"How? Weren't you listening? I will tell him everything anyway"

"This projection is for your eyes only"

She rubbed her forehead "We're walking in circles here. First you're saying that it would make me uncomfortable and then that this is for my eyes only"

Cynder narrowed her eyes on the creature "Why are you lying?"

"I am not"

"Then tell me, without any more cryptic answers. Why appearing in front of Spyro would make me uncomfortable?"

"This projection is for your eyes only"

"You stupid f…" her irritating groan ended abruptly, realizing suddenly that the dragon's sentence has ambiguous meaning

"You're invisible right? Nobody can see you except me?"

"Yes"

Cynder shook her head in disbelief "Was it so hard to tell me that?"

"I do not understand"

"I have to remember that you're a creep" she took a deep breath "Alright. Focus. You said I was wrong? Wrong about what?"

"I am not your conscience"

"Then why do you look like two dragons in one body?"

"It is you who made me as I am"

"Okay, let's try differently. Love, this is what created this projection?"

"Yes"

"Why?"

"For you to love me Sugar"

"And why should I love you?"

"Because we are one"

She sighed "Guess there's no getting around that, huh?"

The dragon remained silent for a longer while.

"I do not understand"

Cynder rolled her eyes "Yeah, I figured as much. Just one more question about your appearance. If you want me to love you, then why appear as a wounded creature? Why scarred?"

"It is you who made me as I am"

"Okay, I made you from love. Is that all?"

"Yes"

She cocked her head, not really knowing why she asks those questions when there are so many more important things to know. Maybe it was just curiosity, or unconscious search for weakness of a potential enemy.

"What is love to you?"

The dragon stared at her blankly, longer than ever. It was hard to say what it was thinking, or feeling for that matter, but if she had to guess she would say that the creature was confused.

"Happiness…pain"

Something clicked inside her head, everything started to make sense. The dragon appeared like that because it focused on love, most likely the most powerful feeling that ravaged her. There was no denying the fact that she was in pain, especially when Spyro didn't show any romantic feelings towards her and she was afraid that she's going to hurt him by confessing what she felt about him. The dragon was an embodiment of that feeling.

Cynder looked the dragon over once more time. Two dragon bodies put into one and bloody scars representing struggle…happiness and pain.

This was so sick.

She licked her lips "Love doesn't cause that sort of pain. It doesn't make you bleed, literally speaking, you do realize that right?

The creature remained silent.

She didn't know why, but somehow the silence of the creature in this particular moment was the most scariest thing that happened today.

The dragoness shook her head in abhorrence "This is wrong, from now on we don't use the word _love_ get it? You're here because you like me, do you understand?"

"Yes"

"Let's make this somewhat less creepy"

The creature once more adopted the posture of a silent statue.

She cleared her throat, breaking the uncomfortable silence "Let's start from the beginning. Let's rewind to the point where you freaked me out since we already figured out that you're not embodiment of my conscience. You're alive as you said and as I recall have many names. How old are you?

"I do not age"

"But you had to start from somewhere, someone had to name you after all. How long you are on this world?"

"Since the beginning"

Cynder's eyes widened "Since the beginning of the world?"

"No"

"No? Then beginning of what?"

"Beginning of time"

She gasped "What?"

"Beginning of time"

She swallowed, an idea has crossed her mind and she didn't like it one bit "You're…you're older than the world?"

"No"

"Not literally I mean. Did you exist before this world?"

"Yes"

Older than the world, THEIR world at least. Recent events showed them that there were many more worlds than this one. The Veils prove that, Flare and Iris prove that, Volteer confirmed it with his scientific theory. Not to mention that they've experienced how a world ends first hand, perhaps nobody ever managed to save their world from collapsing, perhaps they were the first ones in…in time? What if…what if they just prolonged their fate? And the nemesis stands before her right now?

Dear Ancestors.

This doesn't bode well.

She has to know, the dragon…or whatever it was didn't lie to her, at least she thinks so. It has no reason to start now.

A cold shiver of terror gripped her heart, her lips suddenly became dry as sandpaper "Are…are you…the Destroyer's spirit?"

"No"

Cynder closed her eyes, the question she was about to ask filled her with so much dread that her legs almost gave under her weight "Are…"she gulped "…are you…M-Malefor?"

"No"

A loud breath of relief escaped her throat. The most horrible scenario is out of the way and yet the feeling of misgiving still lingered on her soul. This thing is ancient, that's enough to be afraid of it.

"Then what are you? And don't tell me that we are one"

The dragon didn't answer.

Cynder scratched her choker thoughtfully after an unending moment of silence "Guess I've fried your circuits with this one" she took a deep breath "Are you evil?"

The creature once more went silent, this time it didn't ignore her question, she felt that it was thinking.

Why?

Is it such a hard question to answer?

"I do not understand"

"What is there not to understand? Do you like hurting people?"

"No"

She sat down, finally a bit relaxed "Alright that's a good start, as for a walking reminder of my evil deeds you're not so bad"

Cynder went silent for a while, resting, she didn't know that conversations could be so tiring. Unconsciously she hoped that the dragon will start talking on its own, explain its origins, she had no patience to ask it any more random questions about its past, not really wanting to find herself fin another undemanding loop.

The creature was silent the whole time, whatever hope of it sharing its life stories faded with each passing second. She kept looking the dragon over, it didn't seem to mind her intrusive sight.

It wasn't Malefor's spirit, nor the Destroyer's, as her eyes landed on the shadowy tendrils burning from below the creature's paws she remembered Amela's words. How little they know about Dark, perhaps the dragon is the answer to that mystery.

"Are you my element?" Cynder finally asked

"No"

Her fears have been checked, her idea about the creature being her element was also checked, it denied all of them. She looked down, at the light reaching out from her room, there is only one left possibility to consider, with all the rest out of the way this one seemed like the most plausible one.

Her heart started to bleed.

Please no.

"Are you…" Cynder swallowed and looked at the creature, her saliva tasted bitterly "…Corruption?"

The silence that accompanied every time the creature asked a direct question was a very brief one, yet this time it seemed like it had no end.

"No"

She let out a long, deep breath of relief, her heart started to jump inside her chest with joy. Cynder looked behind her shoulder, seeing Spyro smacking his lips as he drilled his head into the sheets to get more comfortable.

She smiled.

And that was one of the largest smiles that ever stretched the delicate scales on her snout.

Funny.

She wondered if he was dreaming.

Dreaming.

With a sudden realization she turned her head around.

"Are you the one responsible for my nightmares?"

"No"

Cynder frowned "You aren't? Then why I keep seeing my past while I sleep?"

"Those are not dreams"

"Then what are they?"

"Our memories"

"OUR?!" Cynder jumped on all fours scared "You said you aren't Corruption!"

"I am not"

"Then why you call the things I saw our memories?"

"Because we are one"

She growled "Stop with this useless answer!" she snapped at the creature wrathfully "I demand details! What does it mean that we are one?!"

She wasn't sure if it was her imagination, or perhaps the uncontrollable hateful terror that overwhelmed her was behind this but she could swear that the creature cringed.

"We are one, Spyro and I are one, the mole I killed and I are one, Flare and I are one. We all are one. This is how it was and always will be"

Cynder immediately relaxed, not fully, but she was glad that the initial danger was over. She had absolutely no idea what the creature means by constantly repeating that they are one, however she decided to leave it as that for the time being. She still didn't like the idea of the creature calling her nightmares THEIR memories, but at least she knows now that this has nothing to do with corruption.

There was absolutely no chance that the mole or Flare had any contact with Malefor's evil influence. So the memories about her being corrupted have nothing to do with the Dark Master's evil touch.

This explanation seemed believable, yet her feminine intuition told her that something fishy is going on here.

"Tell me this. Why do you keep showing…our memories to me?"

"We are connected, it is unavoidable and necessary"

Cynder frowned "Ok now we're getting somewhere. Forget about the connection part since I already know what you will answer. Why is it necessary?"

"I sense a hole in you, part of you existence had been blacked out. You need to be whole, and by being whole you need to remember your abusement. You need to be made impenetrable for manipulation"

"What sort of manipulation?"

"The influential touch capable of pushing your awareness into the background, making myself flourish without a leash. You are familiar with the touch, Malefor was the last one that used it on you in his lair. The touch is dangerous for us Sugar"

She jerked her head back with an angry and frightened frown "I think you are lying to me creep and now you are beginning to entangle yourself in your own web" she pointed an accusing claw at the creature "First you're telling me that you are not Corruption and now you mention Malefor, who didn't do anything else but corrupt me in an instant with a single thought"

"I-"

"And that's not all!" Cynder cut the dragon off "you made me to live a memory of a guy named Koren and since I was looking through his eyes I guess you were one with him too. There was some old chick there who called you an abomination, not to mention that you killed your own mother and then you turned you attention to the old dragoness, who you promised suffering! We can't forget about the war going on outside also, a war which you were quite pleased to see! How all of this fits with your _not evil_ _and I don't like killing people _catchphrases?"

"My natu-"

"I'm not FINISHED!" she snarled at the dragon

The shadows from underneath the dragon's paws hissed and twirled like pushed against the corner cats.

"What about the flashes I kept seeing of you? You tried to chew my throat off in almost every single one of them! What about the monsters? The first one I saw chased me through the forest almost making my heart stop! The other one tried to kill Spyro, while another one almost drowned me in a river!"

She moved towards the creature, she didn't pay much attention to the fact that it backed away with each step she made forward.

She once more pointed her claw threateningly at the creature.

"What about the visions? Bloody, scary and generally creepy? I felt like my blood turned into acid, my head was a dynamite and my heart was being poked by daggers. How will you explain THIS? This is your idea of liking me? Lie to me like I'm an idiot and torment me like I'm your toy? If this is your idea of cooperation then we have a serious problem"

The dragon pressed its back to the railing of the balcony, it had nowhere to run and for the very first time Cynder could see just how terrified the creature was.

She didn't feel any pity for it.

"ANSWER ME!" she roared

The creature cringed, shadows started to dance around its whole body as if trying to conceal it.

"Why all of this is happening? Why you tried to kill me? WHY?"

The dragon looked up at her, the creature seemed devastated, like a prisoner after a very long session of merciless torture. It was bleeding once more, but this time no blood was flowing through the cuts and cracks, but streams of black smoke.

"I have watched, I have stalked, I was hidden, observing you from the distance. Unable to form myself, only strong enough to appear during the night. No gentle approach was possible, only night, only nightmares, only dark creatures and only shrouded by darkness, no other way"

"For I am Shadow"

"It hurt, it boiled, it hissed. Suffering, no other way, complex nature of my existence. Only the strong, only the destined ones, powerful enough to survive. Suffering, necessary, unavoidable, had to protect, had to survive, only way to become immune. Bear the suffering, no other way"

"For I am Poison"

"Quick pounding of heart, agonizing, breath stealing, weakening. Many horrors, chasing, hunting, paralyzing and terrifying. Not only monsters dark as the night, life in general, tragic, dreadful. Dark creatures with red eyes, usual monstrosities, creeping in the souls of many. Necessary to run, to save yourself, only then strong enough to build courage, no other way"

"For I am Fear"

The apparition coughed, shadow pushed from its mouth as it cringed its chest in a sign of suffering.

Cynder swallowed, monster or not it was difficult to see it in pain like that, however she also knew that she has to be merciless, otherwise she won't receive any straight answers, if they can be called like that in the first place.

"You really sound like my element now. Is corruption my element? Are you Dark?"

The dragon shook its head fiercely "No, no, no, no, no. Shadow. Fear. Poison. No Corruption, No Dark. Shadow. Fear. Poison"

"You're not my element but you mentioned three out of four powers that I wield! It doesn't add up! What are you?"

Another fierce cough ravaged the creature, a long cut appeared on its chest, shadow was bleeding through the toes of its paw that tried to push the scales back together.

"Hurt. Please. I have watched, I have stalked, I was hidden, observing you from the distance. Unable to form myself-"

"Not this again!" Cynder cut the dragon off "Focus. Wind. What about Wind? Why didn't you mention Wind?"

"Not us. Not part of us" the dragon began to shook its head swiftly from one side to the other "Hurts. It hurts. Hurts so much" it whined

"If you were here since the beginning of time, why did you start to haunt me right after Malefor's death?"

"Impossible to show myself sooner. Too broken"

"That's not an answer!" she snapped

"Huuuurtt" the dragon cried out, Cynder impulsively shivered, it sounded like a howl of a wounded, wild, beast. Not entirely from this world.

"Obstacles, broken, not able to find you Sugar. Drawn to you, as one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are-"

"Stop!" she blurt out, cutting off the pitiful whining of the dragon. Her voice wavering with emotion, it hurt her too see the creature in so much pain. This was torture.

She was torturing the dragon, somehow, perhaps by standing her ground so fiercely. Didn't matter right now, she has to take advantage of it, as horrible as the idea seems.

She was disgusted with herself.

"Why did you show up now? Why not earlier? What changed?"

"My nature, destructive, deadly, poisonous, complex. Unsurvivable for most, a struggle. Couldn't be changed, couldn't become calmer if not accepted. Toxic, for both of us. Consent allowed to settle, allowed to flourish, allowed to tug at the knot. Thank you"

"What consent? What acceptance are you talking about? I don't remember agreeing to anything"

"Yes Sugar, you accepted. The pond. Forest, temple, Boven, Flare"

Cynder frowned "What pond?"

"The sweet scent of rosemary from the uncorked flask…"

Her eyes widened in horror.

_Her nose gladly accepted the now gentle scent. The smell that reached her was very pleasant, the enjoyable flowery aroma caressed her nostrils softly. Surprisingly that was everything she could smell, besides the rosemary she couldn't discern any other herb. It mattered not, she just wanted to relax, be it two flowers or one she didn't care, she just wished they worked._

_She kept watching the flowing water, the streams that flew down were completely silent, it looked like that not even nature in all its glory wanted to disturb her rest. The whole world seemed to forget about her, leaving her to her refreshing solitude. The moment she closed her eyes, she felt like she was the only creature in the whole Realms, at least she had a moment solely for herself._

_"You are enjoying yourself I see" _

_Her emerald eyes snapped open after hearing the unexpected yet familiar voice. She turned her head just to see a purple dragon standing next to her head. Even in this shrouded by darkness forest she could see her friend clearly, thanks to the silvery light._

_"Spyro" she blurt out surprised "What are you doing here? I've told you that I will be right back"_

_"I know, it's just that I've felt guilty when I've mentioned my happy childhood while you had it rough from the very start" he took a breath "It's good to finally get this out of my chest"_

_The thing she feared was just happening, she can't allow him to feel guilt, it isn't his fault "No harm done, I'm fine" she offered a slight comfort_

_Spyro smiled, there was something unnerving in the way how he did it, yet she decided to ignore it "Besides, I really wanted to see you"_

_A chuckle escaped her throat, she decided to turn his words into a joke, he couldn't mean it after all "Yeah, it's not like we see each other every day. Just imagine how boring it would be"_

_He didn't even giggle "I __**love**__ your company" he answered bluntly _

_The tone of his voice and the emphasis he put on __**love**__ quelled her giggle instantly "You...you are serious? Umm...thanks I suppose" she replied dumbfounded_

_With the same somewhat creepy smile he raised the flask with the herbs and examined it "What are those?"_

_She bit her lip, she didn't want him to know the truth, telling him about the nightmares wasn't a really good idea "You...remember when I've went to the hospital? I've wanted something to help me relax and fall into a blissful sleep. After all we've been through I deserve a bit of innocent rest right?" she sighed "But here I am with my eyes opened and talking to you, I think you can guess how good those herbs actually are"_

_Spyro put the flask down and looked into the pond "How's the water?"_

_"Great to be honest, I've put all my faith into the medicine but the water is doing just fine"_

_He threw her a cold glance "Will you let me in?" he asked with a strange excitement ringing in his voice_

_Her head jerked back, what kind of question was that? It's not like the pond is her property "Sure...hop in"_

"You…" Cynder swallowed, not even the tiny drop of saliva managed to ease the painful scratching of her suddenly dry throat "…you…you…TRICKED ME!" she roared with furious desperation. Even the metallic railing of the balcony seemed to shriek in fear.

The dragon howled agonizingly as he dropped on the balcony, puff of dark smoke shot from underneath his belly.

The creature's suffering didn't move her in the slightest "You impersonated Spyro! Made me believe that you are someone else! You…you…" her snout twisted in abhorrence "KISSED ME!"

"Sugar pleaseeee" the dragon cried out, scratching at the balcony tiles. Tendrils of smoke were wafting from the open wounds on its body like some sort of a fading soul escaping the dying shell that it once inhabited.

"You PLAYED ME! Took advantage of my longing. SHOWED ME WHAT I WANTED TO SEE!"

The dragon roared, releasing a hollow, rumbling blare that children sometimes imagine to hear in the darkest of forests.

"Happyyyy. Wanted to make you happyyyyy"

She cackled mockingly "Happy? You think fooling me would make me happy? Have you forgotten that you fed me your tongue later and wanted to drown me in that black water?!"

"Nature. Complex. Complex. No other way"

"What the hell do you want from me you fucking CREEP!"

"KNOT" it howled like it had never did before, its mouth began to dissolve into nothingness, teeth started to vanish with puffs of dark smoke. The scream the creature let out really resembled a scream of a dying person who is being devoured by a pack of wolves

A bolt of pity immediately hit her heart. Somehow she was killing the creature, and it was dying in great agony.

"UNRAVEL THE KNOT" its constant agonizing howling sent shivers of guilt throughout her whole body "HAD TO TRICK, DEATH AWAITED IF NOT. DEATH AWAITS NOW"

Cynder impulsively backed away while scratching her chest, she was having a crisis of conscience and her soul was reminding her of that in the most painful of ways.

"I OFFER POWER. POWER FOR LIFE. DO NOT CAST OUT"

"I don't want power" she muttered, whatever aggressive strength vibrated in her voice before now was slowly fading away

Cynder winced at the sound of the creature's snapping claws. Shadow started to bleed from the holes on its toes.

"POWER IS UNAVOIDABLE. NO OTHER WAY. NECESSARY TO CONQUER THE FORCES OF PAST ERAS. MANY FOES. THE WORLD BLEEDS. THEY REACH THROUGH THE WOUNDS. SEEN THEM ALL. ALL DANGEROUS"

The dragon dropped on the balcony, whatever blood freezing howling it was blaring ended the moment it fell flat on the stony tiles.

"Help Sugar. I plead" it mumbled weakly, with its last breaths

"How can I be sure that you're not planning something evil?" she yelled at the dragon, having troubles looking at the dying creature "How can I be sure that you won't trick me again? How can I be sure you won't get in between me and Spyro? How can I be sure that you're not planning to hurt me in the future?"

"Never. I will never hurt you. I like you Sugar"

Cynder averted her gaze, silently cursing her meek heart. She had no certainty that the creature isn't trying to trick her now, telling her everything she wants to hear, they are one as it said. It knew that love for Spyro is what kept her going and it made sure to approach her with that influence, in its own twisted way.

That alone was suspicious and sick. She had all the right to turn around and walk away, ignoring its pleas. However her eyes moved, to take a glimpse of the dragon once more.

She winced at the sight.

The creature was dying, it was ruined to be precise and she was the one responsible for it. The sight of it bleeding shadows instead of blood should be enough to make her reconsider her approach, and she might have done that if not for the fact that it was BLEEDING.

It was alive.

Monster or not, evil or not, it was dying an agonizing death, suffering that she orchestrated. Seeing the creature like that, it made her sick, she was the one accusing it, calling it evil, putting all the blame on it, all because she might have misunderstood its intentions. While she allowed it to writhe in torment and that's a solid fact.

How she can be such a hypocrite, from the two of them she is the one being evil, no good hearted creature would stand idle in the face of such pain. Was it really the creature's fault that it acts as it acts? Perhaps it seeps from the source of her own moral corruption which she pretends that isn't part of her, pretends that it was forced upon her while in truth that darkness is there, has its fangs dug into the veins of her morality and is pumping poison into her soul?

Like it always have been. I am a black dragon, elements reflect the nature of the wielder.

The creature is suffering in front of your eyes and you haven't lifted a claw to stop it.

You enjoy death and destruction don't you?

Doesn't it remind you of someone?

Oh Dark Mistress?

"Help. Help me Sugar" the dragon mumbled weakly

Shit.

"All right!" Cynder shouted defensively "You…you can stay or whatever. Just don't die ok?"

The creature looked at her, aiming its blank brown gaze at her. Its agony has ended, but this wasn't the only thing that has changed. She had no idea what it was, the feeling was as empty as the dragon's stare. Emotionless once again.

"Thank you"

"However if we want…this to work, whatever this is, I want you to stay out of my life. Don't watch me, don't stalk me, don't follow me. I want my privacy understood? Appear only when I need you"

"Yes"

The dragon vanished in a puff of dark smoke.

Cynder jerked her head back, impulsively looking from side to side, hardly believing that the dragon disappeared, but this wasn't an illusion.

The dragon was gone.

She punched her chest, a thud rumbled throughout her bones.

"Fucking guilt" she hissed accusingly

A cold wind blew across the balcony, it was quite a blow for her freshly awakened nerves.

The dragoness shuddered.

"Don't make me regret this"

She retreated to her room, grabbing the handle of the glassy door and froze. She unconsciously started to stare into the emptiness of the balcony.

Another cold gust made her shiver.

She shut the door and latched them in place. Ancestors know how long she stayed outside on this cold night.

With a sad sigh she turned around, the moment she rested her eyes on the sleeping figure of Spyro she smiled, all the worries of today's night suddenly weren't that much important. They were pushed to the background, where they belonged.

Cynder gently hopped on the bed, dropped delicately on the sheets and started to crawl towards her earlier resting spot. With a smile she pressed her nose to Spyro's locked in a hug paws, moved her snout underneath them and with a swift motion hurled them up while she crawled onto his chest.

"Cynder…?" Spyro stirred with a groan the moment his paws made a delicate smacking sound on her back

"Shhh. I'm here" she kissed his shoulder and drilled her cheek into it later on

He moved his sleepy head, barely lifting his dreamy eyelids to look at her as he shivered underneath her "You're cold…is everything all right?"

"As long as you are here, yes" she kissed him on the cheek affectionately "Sleep now"

He rested his chin on top of her head and drifted away instantly, breathing deeply. The clutches of sleep didn't let him go fully in the first place and now they just pulled him back in their embrace.

She shut her eyes soon after, envying the peaceful oblivion.

As she slowly drifted away to the sound of his beating heart the encounter with the strange dragon started to lose its importance.

Hopefully it will stay that way.


	71. Chapter 15 Book IV

Chapter 15

Spyro groaned softly, feeling the bright rays of the sun poking at his closed eyelids. He tried to ignore it, but the light remained unrelenting. With a yawn his eyelids went up, revealing his rested, despite everything that happened, amethyst eyes.

He woke up with his head turned towards the balcony door, the sun greeted him with a beautiful morning. When was the last time he admired dawn he had no idea, he didn't remember if he done it at all in his whole life. Daylight like daylight, there was nothing special about it, he will see many of them in his life yet and all of them look just the same.

Or so he thought.

There was something magical about this morning that he just couldn't walk past it indifferently. The rays reached into the every corner of the room, he could swear they that never been so brighter before, as if they needed to be here and remind of him that light will remain with him no matter what.

It was so peaceful.

Spyro smiled when he spotted a small blue bird sitting on the balcony railing, bathing in the sun and singing softly. The musical tone it emitted from its beak reached to the room even through the locked glassy door, vibrating inside like the most prettiest of lullabies.

He inhaled a deep, wavering, daunting breath, taking a whiff of burnt candle and used oil lamp. For a moment there he thought that there was no better smell that could greet you in the morning. The light of the sun, the bird and the scent, it was like waking up in his own spot of paradise.

If he would notice the beauty the world has to offer in every dawn months, or even years ago, he would say that there was no way a morning could get any better.

A barely audible, soft feminine moan broke through the singing of the bird.

Spyro's eyebrows rose in unexplained surprise, he impulsively wanted to turn his head in the direction of the sound but found himself blocked by delicate, scaly blockade. He jerked his head back and the smile on his snout only grew wider when he laid his eyes on the sleeping snout of Cynder.

She was breathing slowly, sleeping soundly on top of his chest, one of her paws was hanging down from his flank, while the other was draped across his shoulder, right next to her head, chin of which rested on the bottom side of his neckline. She was coiled in an adorable posture, with her snout practically facing him, as if she unconsciously knew that the sight would make his heart skip a beat.

If she would be awake now she would feel that this was exactly what happened.

Spyro swallowed. The image of her lying on top of him poked at every nerve of his body, his heart blissfully hurt from all the exciting, peculiar pain. The events of the last night struck him fiercely, he was both intimidated and happy after the blow.

Here was his best friend lying on top of him, only now he felt how tightly he had his paws wrapped around her.

Best friends.

They are no longer only that, are they?

This sole thought filled him with an uncertain, peculiar dread. Not because he felt like he betrayed the trust of friendship, the burn he was feeling just by looking at her was enough to tell him that they were never meant to be just friends. He was afraid of the obligation that the last night put on him.

As friends they watched each other backs, their chaotic and dangerous lives demanded no less from them. Even if they didn't want to admit it the thought of losing your friend in one of those skirmishes was always there. Rooted deep down at the bottom of their souls.

If the world was cruel enough, if back then Fate decided to take her away from him he would scream himself hoarse, or even went crazy, but he would survive. As difficult as it would be, he would survive.

Now…he wasn't so sure anymore.

He's the guy in this relationship, feral instinct demanded that obligation, obligation to protect your partner from harm. Fight tooth and claw for her safety, their safety as a couple, it was more important than anything else. It is his duty to keep them both alive, keep the spark they share alive no matter what life throws their way.

The responsibility to protect them is his.

There was perhaps another notion behind this devoir. Self-perseverance, innate desire to stay alive.

Because he wouldn't survive without her. He was certain of that by just looking at her.

Spyro shook his head and aimed with eyes at the ceiling with an accusing sigh.

"What the hell are you thinking about?" he hissed quietly

He chuckled suddenly "I'm sick with love, it makes me crazy. Love is a disease"

His head went down again, when his eyes met Cynder's sleeping snout once more he came to a conclusion that he couldn't wish to be a victim of a better disease.

All the worriers evaporated like moisture in a breath on a cold winter day.

His eyes traveled slowly along her whole silhouette, absorbing every softness, curve and the tiniest discoloration between magenta and black. He just couldn't comprehend how someone can be so beautiful, nor he couldn't understand the fact that this divine creature is now held in his embrace.

Besides the obvious bewilderment and happiness he couldn't shake off the nudge of that selfish, arrogant and triumphant pride of his male ego.

He had a girl locked in his embrace!

A very pretty one, and she was crazy about him!

He is the king of the world!

Spyro smirked impulsively, offering the triumphant masculine grin to everyone who dared to glance at him in envy.

See what a male I am!

What a womanizer!

The room was silent, there was no one here, not a single person bowing his head to his new master. Only the bird sang, the same melodic tone as it did from the very beginning, it made him realize that nobody gives a damn about his ego.

Spyro laughed, politely muffling the sound to the best of his ability.

He had never woke up so happy before. It was either due to the fact that he finally got a proper night's rest, or it was because of the company he keeps.

His eyes once more landed on Cynder's sleeping snout, whatever arrogant grin that grimaced his snout vanished, replacing by a kind, loving smile.

It was definitely the company.

He watched her sleep countless times already, but never from so up close, where a slight crane of neck was enough to smell her breath. She was absolutely radiant from this proximity, like the brightest of stars on the night's sky. The white markings made her so charming, as he observed her like that he was sure that his favorite tattoos are around her eyes. He was sure that it was their fault that he is head over claws in love with her.

The delicate white dashes seemed to purposely underline her eyes, intensifying the emerald glow that he adored so much. It was a trap, a trap that he fell into the first day he saw her without even realizing it. Those eyes stole his freedom with their beautiful shimmer, making him the most willing slave in the whole world.

How he craved to see those eyes again as they emerge from underneath the black, closed eyelids.

The spark they emit as they come forth after every nap was blinding, couldn't be compared to anything else. He pitied the fools who never appreciated her and the things she has to offer, deliberately giving up the chance to witness this divine radiance.

He was also glad that they didn't see it, because now her breathtaking, godly grace was only his and for him only.

I am yours forever.

Goddess of mine.

He couldn't fight off the temptation to touch those white markings, to trace their length with his claw, thank them for what they did by tenderly caressing them. Spyro's mouth parted with an excited waver of lips, a puff of inflamed breath escaped his mouth the moment he gently pressed the blunt side of his claw right beneath her closed left eye, exactly where the marking was.

He started to trail its whole length tenderly, her eye responded to the gentle caresses by fluttering behind the closed eyelid. His claw bounced to the other eye and subjected the marking on this side to the same kind of treatment. He was silently begging for the magical sesame to open and reveal the two glorious green gems underneath. Coaxing the eyelids with all the loving care he could muster.

When he returned to the starting point funny wrinkles filled Cynder's snout and her nose twitched as if she was about to sneeze. He had a really hard time forcing down a burst of laughter, and yet he continued his massage. He really wanted to see her eyes, but it was not his intention to wake her up forcefully. However he couldn't help himself, he just had to touch her soft scales, he just couldn't get enough of her sleeping snout.

Before he knew it, he has finished trailing the marking, just when he was about to push his claw back to jump over to the second eye Cynder's paw, the one that hung from his flank, smacked his paw accidently away as her claws went to scratch the itching spot he created.

Her leg was moving on its own, her consciousness hasn't awaken yet, the moment her claws got rid of the itching sensation the paw dropped limply on her nose and slid down it numbly, just to rest in front of her mouth.

Spyro smiled, at the same time bottling the desire to see her glowing eyes, she was still sleeping, she deserves the rest, he will have to bare through the unendurable yearning. No matter, he'll wait, the look of her sleeping snout was enough anyway, he couldn't get enough of it. His heart screamed in joy as it is, and it was painful, if she would open her eyes now it would kill him no doubt.

He nuzzled her lovingly, affectionately and with the gentleness of a feather rubbed the top of her head with his nose before planting a soft, burning kiss. She shifted in his embrace with a cute purr.

"I'm so lucky" Spyro whispered heavenly, his mouth just inches from her head, he felt his own warm breath on his nose as it bounced of her sweet scales.

He withdrew his head, making it stop in his favorite position on this morning. With a smile he returned to his vigil, if it would be up to him he would stay like that for all eternity.

* * *

Spyro had no idea how much time has passed, in fact he felt like the clock froze in this room, but eventually Cynder shifted on her own, inhaling deeply and groaning cutely. Sliding her scales across his chest, her paws scratching delicately his own body.

His heart started to pound and his stomach made a flip, his eyes widened in ecstasy and impatience, knowing that something great is just about to happen. His paw started to pet her head on its own.

And then with the last smack of lips she opened her eyes, revealing the most beautiful gems beneath, the green spark they emitted blinded him like a fierce ray of the sun.

He didn't mind.

He was way too deep in love.

Spyro offered his partner an enchanted smile "Good morning" he cooed

Cynder smiled lovingly "Good morning"

She stretched with a yawn, running her claws along his chest, excited by the feeling of his muscles under her paws. Waking up on top of him, rubbing her scales across his well-formed muscular body, was like a very arousing dream come true.

She caressed his flank as she looked up at him, charmed by the amethyst eyes looking at her with passionate love that just seemed to be too good to be true.

"You're still here" she planted a grateful kiss on his chest

"I wouldn't trade this chance for all the gems in the world"

"What chance?"

His smile grew wider, revealing a set of pearl white teeth formed into an almost hungry and enthralled grin.

"I just love to watch you sleep"

Her eyes flared up affectionately "That's the other thing you like about me? To watch me sleep?"

Spyro nodded.

Cynder grinned playfully "Creepy"

Both of them laughed.

"Seriously" he continued when he finally managed to contain his explosion of joy "I could do it for the whole day"

The teasing smile never disappeared from her snout "Seek help"

"I can't help it. You're just too beautiful"

The cocky smile was gone in an instant, replaced by a shy squint of her eyes and a fierce blush "R-really?"

Spyro smiled and without a word leaned for a kiss.

"What are you doing?" she tilted her head back with a bashful giggle "I just woke up! My breath smells bad! I don't want to ruin your image of me"

"I don't care. Even if there would be slime dripping from your lips and rotten meat stuck between your teeth I wouldn't hold back"

To force his point across he pressed his lips to hers.

Cynder punched his chest playfully the moment she felt his lips, exploding with a happy giggle.

"You're disgushhting!" she mumbled joyfully as he caressed her with his kisses.

He smiled but never stopped kissing her affectionately, eventually she submitted to his loving treatment and began to bestow him with her own loving touches. Gently and passionately. Waking up to such blissful treatment was beyond her power of self-control. She wrapped her paws behind his neck and pushed his head forward, preventing him from breaking from this embrace.

Not that he wanted to anyway, she felt the grip on her tightening, his paws pushing her closer to him. She moaned softly, repaying him by kissing him more fiercely, more aggressively and hungrily. He was confused by her sudden boldness, his lips not able to keep up with her smooches.

She achieved dominance quickly, Spyro surrendered completely to her fiery caressing. She gently bit at his lip, pulling it slightly, wakening every nerve on his mouth. Sometimes she brushed her tongue across his lips, teasing, making his mouth part a little bit wider, invitingly and yet she always seemed to deliberately ignore it.

She acted like she wanted to eat him, this morning would be unforgettable without this, but now it reached his own podium of personal bests. He even caught himself on moaning sweetly as she passionately devoured him. This kiss couldn't be compared to the moments of intimacy they shared last night, this was different than all the rest.

It felt like some kind of bribe, or perhaps a bait. He instantly imagined himself as a thief who just took a peek inside a huge gold filled vault, doors of which closed in front of his eyes, but somehow placed the key in his hands. They would willingly open, but first he needs to make a run around the fiery pits of Hell.

If somebody would ask him now, he would gladly pay the price.

She most likely would caress his lips perpetually, but to his great displeasure they both were living creatures and to survive they needed air. They were completely lost in the moment, it would last probably for quite some time if Cynder wouldn't have to break the kiss to catch some breath. When she pulled her lips from his they foreheads met again. Eyes closed

The both panted heavily, their chests moving up and down in perfect, quick harmony.

"Wow" Spyro mumbled in sincere awe as he smacked his lips before inhaling another swig of air "What was that?"

Cynder licked her lips in between her heavy breaths "Apology"

He frowned as he continued to pant "Apology? For what?"

She removed her paws from behind his neck, put them on the bed on both sides of his head and lifted herself up, pleadingly looking at him from above.

"Please don't freak out"

Spyro furrowed his brows suspiciously "I don't like the sound of that"

She smiled weakly and started making little kittenish circles on his chest with her claw "I have more to offer than just that kiss if you play nice"

He grabbed her legs, making her stiffen with a gasp "You were trying to pay me off?"

She bit her lip and looked to the side "No…"

"Stop making dodges"

"I'm not! Honestly!"

"Well, I don't believe you"

"But-"

She never got the chance to finish what she wanted to say since Spyro swiftly lifted himself up, intensifying the grip on her forelegs. Then with one strong jerk of his body he forced her to tilt to the side with a surprised yelp. Before she realized what was happening they rolled on the bed once, the spin ended with Spyro lying on top of her this time.

He smirked "Now you're trapped"

"Come on!" she exclaimed with a giggle and weakly tried to push him off of her with her paws "You're heavy!"

He pretended to yawn "Oh boy, I'm getting sleepy all of a sudden"

The legs he placed on both sides of her body as a support bent, making his underbelly press stronger onto her chest.

She let out a happy coughing laugh "Get off!" she smacked his rump with her tail

His legs bent even further making her happily gasp for air as he drilled his cheek into her chest scales "I can't help it, you're such a soft pillow"

Cynder punched his shoulders playfully "I'm going to choke!"

He faked a snore.

She laughed heartily "Ok! You win! Only straightforward answers!"

He lifted himself up, offering her a loving smirk "There, it wasn't so hard was it?"

She caressed his cheek with loving attention "Before I say anything know that I don't want to ruin this mood"

Spyro tiled his head, pressing his mouth to the inside of her paw and kissing it fondly "Nothing you'll say will ruin this"

She smiled, feeling the pleasant itchy mark his lips created on her paw "Waking up next to you…well technically speaking on top of you, was the best thing that happened in my life"

"Why do I get the feeling that this sounds like one of those _what have you done_ speeches?"

She looked to the side, surprisingly ashamed.

"It's about the dragon isn't it?"

Her eyes widened in fear "How did you know?"

"You have it written all over you"

She massaged his leg apologetically "He visited me last night"

He sighed sadly "And here I thought my presence would solve your nightmare problems"

She bit her lip "This is not the kind of visit I was referring to. He was HERE, in flesh...sort off"

Spyro's eyes widened "What? In this room? How come I didn't feel anything?"

"He...ummm dragged me on the balcony somehow"

His eyes sparkled with sincere hurt and shame "And you didn't wake me?"

She cringed underneath his gaze "There was no reason to..."

"No reason?" he shook his head, devastated "That thing ate a guy Cynder"

"He said it was an accident"

He sneered "You don't eat people by accident dammit!"

She closed her eyes, wincing painfully "Are you mad at me?" she whined

Spyro felt like a sword just ran his heart through "Of course not" he licked her nose before nuzzling her comfortingly "I just wish you would have told me. I don't know what would I do if something happened to you. You're my friend...my partner...my ma-" he swallowed "I need to protect you. I can't help it, not now"

She rubbed her cheek against his warm snout scales with a purr "If it makes you feel better I wanted to call you but he stopped me" she felt his muscles tensing "Before you say anything, no, he didn't smack me or anything. He stopped me because he said you wouldn't see him anyway, you would see me talking to a wall"

"So what? He's like a creepy voice in your head embodied?"

Cynder shrugged "Something like that I guess"

Spyro looked at the balcony suspiciously "Tell me this. If he's invisible to anyone but you then how you explain the mole's disappearance? He didn't want to kill him, you said so yourself, add to this equation that he is invisible to everyone else besides you and what do you get?" he looked at her again

"Nonsense. You get nonsense. If he's some kind of…I don't know, ghost that only you can see, then how is it possible that the old mole saw him before he died? Doesn't matter that the old guy was snatched by some kind black tentacle, that monster said he killed the mole so it had to be him. Who says he can't change shape?"

She kept rubbing her cheek across his leg, lost in concentration.

"I…I didn't think about that"

"You can't trust a monster that kills people"

"I was a monster too and now you're in one bed with me"

He felt the sword impaled in his heart making a painful turn.

"That's not what I meant"

"When it comes to monsters there is usually more than meets the eye"

Spyro leaned forward, resting his forehead on top of her head.

"I'm sorry. Please forgive me"

Cynder kissed his leg reassuringly "No, you are right, I have to stay focused. He might have lied to me, or I simply asked the wrong questions. It was really difficult to talk with that thing"

He caressed her head "I don't know Cynder, if I would be in your place I would be skeptical. That thing gave you nightmares and now haunts you. Nothing good will come out of it"

"He doesn't haunt me, he's like a…he kept saying that we are one"

"We are one?" Spyro asked with fear in his voice 'What does that mean? He sits like inside of you?"

She swallowed, hearing it put like that made her nervous "Maybe, I'm not sure"

"Dear Ancestors" he mumbled intimidated "This is unnatural, don't you see this?"

"Of course I do!" she snapped back "I'm not an idiot you know! Before you come to any conclusion let me tell you that he also referred to you as one. We are one, those three words exactly, when I asked him about it he just said that you and him are one. Just like me"

"Come on Cynder, that thing lied obviously! I don't see any creature looking over my shoulder"

"Maybe it's different for everyone. I don't think it lied though. Didn't seem capable of it"

Spyro shook his head "You know what I think? I think that a creature that thrives on me is nothing else than a parasite. No matter in how many pretty words you are going to dress it"

She dropped her head on the sheets, with a defeated sigh titled her eyes up at the ceiling "I didn't think of that either" she shook her head depressingly "I am an idiot. Run away while you still can"

He smiled "So what if you have a loose screw? I'm still going to love you"

She sighed once more in the same manner "Bad timing Spyro. Very bad timing"

He winced "Sorry. Wanted to cheer you up. Can I…ummm….hug you at least?"

"Gods yes"

Spyro leaned closer while tilting his body to the side, he wrapped his paws around her neck and paw and rolled the two of them over. Back to the position they woke up, with her on top of him. He rested his head on top of hers and tightened his grip around her back.

"Better now?" he asked bashfully

Cynder kissed his neck softly "Yes"

"Listen, it wasn't fair of me to play the expert, I have no such right. I wasn't there, it was you who stood up against a creepy monster. I know that you did everything you could considering the situation. It's impossible to think of everything in the heat of the moment"

"You don't have to explain yourself, you have a point and there's no denying it" she licked her lips apprehensively "Want me to call him for some answers?"

He jerked his head back in surprise "You can do that?"

"Well…I never tested it, but I think he would show up if I wanted to"

He looked at her intensely, even if he wasn't saying anything she could see in his eyes that he was considering it. She herself would rather avoid it, but on the other hand maybe that was the way to solve all the question marks.

"No" Spyro finally said "I'm more comfortable with the idea of you staying away from that creature if that is possible"

She let out a heavy breath of relief "Good"

"Cynder you know that you don't have to do everything I say. If you don't want it don't do it. Be a part of my life as you always wanted, not the whole deal. I won't be angry"

She smirked "Would you look at that, someone here did his homework"

He grinned proudly "Did I earn some extra points?"

"You certainly did"

She kissed him softly and put her head on his chest once again.

Spyro scratched her back saucily "I think that falls into the _nice_ category"

"Ouch!" his whole body shivered at the sudden, sharp pain striking his hind leg

Cynder swirled the blade tip on her tail in the air meaningfully.

"Don't push your luck"

He chuckled "I think I'm starting to understand how you managed to put a leash on that creepy dragon"

She lifted herself up, grinning proudly at him "You should have seen me. I was a badass, I even made that monster cringe before me"

"No kidding? You should have told him to get lost"

As if by some magic touch the grin on her snout faded away, every grimace of happiness followed suit. Only sadness ruled her expression now.

Unfortunately, it was addictive.

"I did that" she muttered

He tenderly rubbed her cheek "So why the long face?"

"Because I was killing him"

Spyro didn't respond to that, instinctively he felt that this was just not the time for his stupid questions. They knew each other for so long, he perfectly understands her relation with death, especially that of her own doing.

Instead of voicing his support Spyro gently pushed her towards him, she obeyed without any sign of resistance, finding herself once more in his caring embrace.

"Be glad that you didn't hear his howling" Cynder shuddered "I was so mad at that thing, I was yelling, swearing and all that. Simply put, I wanted him gone. Then he started screaming, bleeding, basically break apart in complete agony like I would be skinning him alive. It was torture, I wanted that thing to die, to leave me alone but…but I just couldn't stand and watch"

She swallowed bitterly "His howls of pain, the suffering, it reminded me of who I used to be. All that pain I caused…I couldn't do a rerun. Monster or not I let him live, don't know if it was the right thing to do, but I just can't be that girl anymore"

She pressed herself tighter to his chest "Never again"

"Hey" Spyro whispered while massaging her comfortingly "It's ok I understand. You showed that thing who's boss here, it will think twice before going against you. I'm impressed, honestly, you managed to influence an otherworldly creature…whatever it is, with fierceness and mercy. That's worth a lot"

He sighed "Still…I don't like the idea of it sitting inside of you…us. What the hell is it exactly?"

Cynder scratched her choker thoughtfully "I'm…not sure. My closest bet is that he is my element, at least some part of it, but then again you don't wield Dark and he said you are part of him too" she frowned "Since when I stopped referring to that dragon as it?"

"You did call that creature _it_ a couple of times, what that has to do with anything? I think it's better to refer to that thing as _him_, it's more comfortable and less creepy if you ask me"

"Yeah, maybe it has something to do with bravery. Anyway as I was saying I don't know what he is exactly, probably a part of everything we think of. Something tells me that even he doesn't know his origins himself. He's a creep"

"You know what? I take back that less creepy and comfortable part"

Cynder snorted in amusement.

"Hey I think that I just found a good name for him. Creep"

"Didn't you hear what I just said?"

"Come on, I doubt he will be offended, even so, what worse can happen to us? He doesn't want to eat us"

"Then what does he want?"

Cynder paused, contemplating the events of last night "I think he wants to…live"

Spyro frowned surprised "Live? That's all?"

"He came seeking my help, he was afraid to die"

He looked up at the ceiling with a worried sigh "Why do I keep thinking of demons and parasites? Why you? Why now? From where the hell did he come from? He started haunting you because he needed your consent am I right? I'm guessing here, I mean since you almost kicked him out and made him rot, my guess seems like the only viable option"

He gulped "What if he was looking for a host?"

Cynder shifted uneasily "It sounds so terrible when you say it like that"

"But on the other paw, if he is your element, personified by some magical means then it's normal for him to seek your help. I don't buy it, but it might be my protective nature, I see danger everywhere, especially when it comes to you"

She smiled at him lovingly "The extra point basket is full for today"

He chuckled "No hidden intention, promise" Spyro started to pet her neck gently as he drifted away in thought once more "That would solve the _why you_ question, idea of that thing being Dark is believable, so it answers the question for the time being. What about the other two, huh? Why he showed up now? And from where did he come from?"

"Good thing that you're lying because the thing that I'm about to tell you would kick you off your paws" she lifted herself up and looked straight into his eyes with somewhat intimidating awe "What if I told you that he is older than the world?"

He pushed his head into the sheets in surprise.

"What?"

Cynder nodded "Yep. I have something better than that. What if I told you he is not only older than our world but all the other worlds that came before ours?"

He was unable to utter a word.

"Better yet. What if I told you that he is here from the VERY beginning? From the VERY start of life?"

"By the Ancestors…"

"Yeah, pretty mind blowing right?"

"Whoa" Spyro rubbed his forehead "I don't know if I should be amazed or scared, probably both. Cynder if any of this is true then that thing survived who knows how many apocalypses!"

She scratched the back of her head "Damn, when you put it that way I feel like my legs are going to break. What if he's responsible for ending the previous worlds?"

"I wouldn't go that far, Malefor believed that purple dragons are destined to end the world, Flare confirmed that theory in his own way"

"Hello? You saved the world. Have you forgotten about the prophecy? Which you fulfilled by the way?"

Spyro looked around the room, as if checking if somebody isn't eavesdropping "Between you and me I don't believe in it"

Cynder jerked her head back "Oh my"

"In times of crisis people seek hope, it's understandable, they cling to everything that lights a spark of brighter future. Prophecy is nothing more than a prayer, if believing in greater power helps you to push forward so have faith. Same goes for Malefor's words, that was his own prayer, he had to justify his actions somehow I think. Who can truly know what sits in an evil mind"

"Would you look at that" she mumbled in awe while arranging her paws on his chest in such a way so she could lie her chin comfortably on them. From this position she observed his snout with craving curiosity and unexplained fascination

"A perfect body and a beautiful mind. How could a girl like me meet someone like you will elude me for the rest of my life"

Spyro pinched her nose playfully "Stop it"

She wrinkled her nose in amusement.

"I'm serious. I'm learning so much about you and I thought I knew everything. You initiated our first kiss, now you said things that would sound like heresy for certain people. It came from your mouth, the purple dragon of legends. I swear you became so much more manly"

He smiled flirtatiously at her "I'm loved, I kissed and spent the night in one bed with the girl of my dreams. Can you blame me?"

She cuddly shook her head, his words were hitting all the right spots, not that it was really hard to do it. Life made her vulnerable, unfortunately. However she is the brave one, the confident one, every sign of manipulation, no matter how sweet, will be condemned. It's all about independency, it didn't matter how badly she wanted to be stripped of it and entangle herself in his sincere loving web.

He's just a boy!

You stood your ground against hordes of bloodthirsty mercenaries!

Independency.

It's essential that you keep pretense of independency.

"Flattery will only get you so far"

Spyro caressed her chin reverently "Did it work?"

Cynder turned her head to the side with a shy snort, covering her blush filled snout behind one of her paws. Completely breaking under his warm touch.

"Yes"

Well done.

He laughed "You're so cute when you're embarrassed"

She giggled, realizing in horror that she is acting like a psychotic fangirl who just met her handsome hero. She jabbed his shoulder weakly, in a pitiful attempt to defend herself.

"Stop it"

"What? I can do it a-"

He was cut off by Cynder's unexpected kiss, she cupped his head and started to fondle with his lips in a grateful loving manner. No matter how many times they kissed, there was always something special about this, it always filled his head with a certain pleasant dizziness and his heart with a sweet touch, as if a jar of honey would cover it completely.

All that pride, all that male ego was completely gone during the beginning of those intimacy, loving touches, those were his brief moments of weakness where he would do anything for her without question, be on her every whim.

He had no idea if she knew that, but he was sure she sensed his pleasant confusion, feminine intuition is a fact. He became more certain of it when Cynder withdrew from the kiss just in the moment when he shook of the initial shock and wanted to repay her in the same way.

Cynder smiled at him, the blush that still covered her snout made her adorable beyond any imagination "Let's get back on topic, ok?" she whispered frivolously

"Mhm" Spyro muttered, as if he was drunk, the tone of her voice was so promising and enthralling, sending his mind wandering in a steamy place where young male minds enter without waiting in line

She cocked her head curiously and with a certain pride "Are all males so easily swayed?"

"I don't know, never kissed one before"

She giggled "Funny thing, until last night neither did I"

Their eyes met instinctively.

And they both burst out laughing.

Cynder wiped a tear from the corner of her eye "I'm so pathetic, look how old I am. I had to beat some record here"

Spyro chuckled "Come on, it's not so bad"

"Not so bad? I'm right behind chastity priests"

That realization was enough to ravage their throats with another dose of uncontrollable laughter. The explosion of joy was so strong that Cynder couldn't keep standing and dropped flatly on Spyro's bouncing chest.

Spyro wiped his tear filled eyes "Hey" he muttered in between laughs "I'm no better. You are the first girl I kissed"

"True, but you are a guy, it's different with you. I'm a girl, the supposedly fair sex. It's like our duty to wrap guys around our claws"

He shook his head in disbelief "Our lives are so messed up"

"I know, right?" she lifted herself up with watery eyes, full of sudden enlightenment "Maybe it's not our lives, maybe we are messed up. Look, we got portals opening to different dimensions, zealots in the city and some ancient being stalking our tails and what are we doing? Laughing and talking about stupid stuff like bunch of children"

She giggled wryly "What's wrong with us?"

Spyro shrugged playfully "Maybe nothing is wrong with us. Maybe we're normal and the whole world is crazy"

Cynder nodded with an amused smile "I'll buy that"

"Jokes aside, I just can't be angry, mad or sad Cynder. I'm just…happy"

She looked at him, with the eyes of her imagination she could see the loving electric charge jumping between them. Not even the Ancestors would be able to comprehend just how much she loves the boy under her.

"Yeah…me too"

Their eyes met again, they haven't said a word but the looks they offered each other were like an invitation to glance into each other's souls. It was intimidating, blissfully and emotionally intimidating.

Cynder cleared her throat "All right, I'm going to cry again soon so let's focus on something else" she poked his forehead "I want to look into your thoughts again, satisfy my curiosity. I know you aren't the most religious type, but I can't believe you didn't…well…believe in the prophecy"

Spyro took a deep breath and rearranged himself on the bed.

"I believed in it, when I was young. I was the only purple dragon back then, tales of heroism and valor can mess around every young boy's head. I kept hearing tales of people getting hurt, their houses destroyed, all families broken and as aspiring hero I just couldn't let it happen, I couldn't stand idle. Villains had to be punished"

He looked at her meaningfully, petting her leg caringly.

She understood that look, she planted a soft, reassuring kiss on his caressing paw.

"Go on, I asked"

"I hated you Cynder" he said finally, his voice filled with stinging, agonizing pain "I hated you so much. News of your cruelty reached my young, stupid head, Ignitus tried to keep the more harsh ones away, but I learned them anyway. The prophecy wasn't a simple prayer for me back then, it became my creed"

He grabbed her leg, lifted it and started to rub his cheek against the bottom side of her paw, she in turn began to scratch his scales lovingly. He closed his eyes and began to purr gently.

Cynder smiled, her eyes once more started dripping tears.

"I'm here" she whispered

"I kept playing different scenarios in my head" Spyro continued, his eyes were still closed, his scales were still pressing against her soft paw "I imagined thousands of them, where I beat you, kill you and humiliate you. I was going through my Fire regime back then, its fiery influence made those images so…" he swallowed "I still remember some of them, in every single detail when I think about them. It's horrible, I don't know how could I've been such an idiot"

Hearing him say that left a painful stinging mark on her heart, that was being poked over and over again. There was a brief moment of doubt, a fleeting one, impossible to remember, however when it crossed her mind she wondered for the tiniest of second, if this bond they share makes them stronger or weaker.

"Ignitus didn't make things any better" Spyro continued "I wouldn't call him zealous, but he was a true believer. I was all his hope, he was really broken when I met him in the Swamps for the very first time. Long story short, he kept reminding me of the prophecy and my destiny as a hero and I believed every word of it"

"Then came the apes, and the trail of bodies I left as I pursued you to save the Guardians. Here my faith in the prophecy and the good, valiant hero started to falter. Step by step and I eventually landed in your lair, where we went through the portal and I defeated you. It was then when all my faith in the prophecy went to hell"

He swallowed, looking straight into her eyes "I have no regrets. Do you wish me to continue?"

She smiled reassuringly "Don't worry about me. This is your story, does it feel good to get this off your chest?"

"A little"

"Problem solved. Go on"

"Before I-" he ended abruptly. His neck sprang forward, planting a yearning kiss on her lips, that caught her completely by surprise.

"I'm sorry" he whispered as he pushed back, feeling her wavering breath on his nose

"I was supposed to be a hero, warrior of the light, what kind of hero saves his worst enemy?"

He stopped there, observing her closely, watching for any reaction that would make his heart break. She didn't show any, she just looked at him like a curious student with those beautiful green eyes of hers.

He never believed that it is possible to fall so deeply in love in somebody.

And yet here he was.

"My destiny was to smite evil, to bring prosperity, not to extend my paw to help my enemy to get up. A true hero would let you die back there when the realm started to collapse on us, a hero wouldn't hesitate to end the evil once and for all, that hero would bring prosperity and peace to the Realms, believing that your death would complete the circle of destruction and Good would triumph"

Cynder couldn't hold back any longer. She dropped down for a tight hug while bursting in tears "But you are a hero" she sobbed "Good has never triumphed better than in that day. I had no idea I was the one who…who…"

"You are my hero"

She licked his cheek fondly "I don't want to ruin your faith, how can you help people if you don't believe in yourself?"

Spyro scratched her head "You didn't ruin anything, you opened my eyes. Do you remember when we were in the temple? Do you remember the words I scratched on the stone? Do you remember what I said? I wasn't doing this just to make you feel better, it was coming from the bottom of my heart, today we just understood the meaning"

He drew her closer into the hug "There would be no Spyro without you" he whispered "You're the reason of my existence"

Cynder cried in his embrace.

"Hey now" he uttered, moved by her reaction "Don't cry" he rubbed her back with loving care "Don't cry"

"I…I can't help it" she sobbed and then suddenly started to laugh in between emotional hiccups "You-you are going to be the d-death of me"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to happen"

"T-there's nothing to apologize for silly" she blubbered "Those are therapeutic tears. I wasn't making stuff up either when I said I'm deeply traumatized. I'm broken Spyro, and you are the one who is putting me back together. You can't possibly imagine the feeling I'm experiencing right now, being hated for my whole life and now there is someone who says that I'm the reason why he still sees life in brighter colors"

"Me!" she cried again "Ancestors this is too much" she blurt out, breathing heavily

He held her tightly, allowing the tears to cleanse her of all emotion. She was happy, there was no denying that, yet he didn't like to see her cry, not like this. The only acceptable form of tears are those coming from choking laughter.

"it's okay" Spyro whispered when she eventually calmed down a bit

"You are a hero Spyro" Cynder sobbed as she raised her head, her eyes were glistening with tears "You saved me. You saved the world"

"I saved you, yes, but not the world. I've killed more people than Malefor ever did, I got Ignitus killed, my mentor who was a draconic father figure for me, I created the Veils, not so long ago I slaughtered my own people. Heroes don't do that Cynder. I'm a normal dragon, period"

"Boy, you have an ability to ruin the mood" she poked his chest fiercely "Listen to me young boy, I know that in my current wrecked state I'm not a figure of authority but nevertheless pay attention. If you weren't a hero then why are you so eager to help people?"

Spyro shrugged "Because that's the right thing to do, if I would stand idle I would throw away all the lessons my parents taught me" he caressed her moist cheek with a kind smile "I know what you are trying to do here Cynder, you don't have to cheer me up. I accepted my fate, I have to live with the consequences of my actions. You can't change my mind about it"

She frowned "Ok if you are so sure of yourself, I'll give you an example that I am right. The Veils, you can't be responsible for them, remember that we have an ancient creature hiding in the shadows now. You said yourself that he survived countless apocalypses, which I'm not so sure about since we don't know if the Destroyer walked the world in the previous era, but I digress. Creep is a survivor, let's say all the previous worlds ended like our almost did, he had to escape somehow right? He might have been the one that created the portals. You unleashed all your power when you mended our world, maybe it was enough for him to break through from whatever past he came from"

"Huh" Spyro sifted on the bed and looked at the ceiling thoughtfully "I didn't think about that"

Cynder grinned "See? All those things you mentioned, none are your fault, I can go on if you don't believe me"

He smiled "No need, you win"

She rubbed his chest consolingly, locating her favorite spot "Bad things happen to good people. That's how the universe works" she let out a small excited breath feeling his golden heart pulsing underneath her paw

Spyro caressed her leg affectionately "Good things happen to, you're the example of that. You're brilliant Cynder, if any of the things you said are true we might have found the way to fight back against anything the portals throw at us, that dragon has to know the weakness of every possible enemy. Not to mention that he might be also the only one who can help us close them once and for all"

"Should I call him?" she asked bluntly

At first he wanted to say yes, that theirs is no time to waste, but then he remembered all the things Cynder went through with that dragon, how he dragged her into the balcony to talk with her. All those things and more seemed just to suspicious to him, not to mention that he is Dark most likely, a black element. That was a stupid argument when he thought about it a little longer, Cynder also wields Dark and she is anything but evil, even if her beginning was a rough one, mildly put.

And yet, considering all of those options by some strange instinct he didn't trust that dragon.

"No" Spyro finally said, pulling her gently into a hug and resting his head on top of hers, staring at the wall of the room thoughtfully "We'll figure this on our own, he will be our last resort if it comes to that"

Cynder let out a breath of relief "Good, I would rather not talk with him"

"Baby steps, we are going to find Volteer, I need to speak with him about my Time powers, maybe he'll help me figure out the portals and how to manipulate them. I know it's possible. Then we need to figure out what those crystals are that Flare and Iris have in their chests, they have to related with the Veils somehow. In the meantime the Guardians will open the training grounds so we will have the chance to hone our skills, we're gonna need them, there's no doubt about that. As we do all of those things we pray that nothing even worse happens in the world and Brill and his group of fanatics won't do anything exclusively stupid. One dead family is enough"

She let out a defeated sigh "My plan of spending all day in bed went to hell I'm guessing?"

He kissed her forehead apologetically "I'm afraid so"

"Then at least let's stay here for a while longer. Let's make the world wait for us. Just this once"

"You can't imagine how much I love this idea"

The young couple remained cuddled like that for maybe an hour or so, enjoying each other's company. Time froze for the two young dragons, they were entirely lost in the silent moment, unconsciously knowing that they both well deserve it. Besides each other's company nothing interested them in the slightest, all of their problems vanished, all daily troubles were rendered unimportant.

Like the sad fact that the world did not wait for them.


	72. Chapter 16 Book IV

Chapter 16

He opened his eyes.

The world swirled into focus the moment his yellow eyes adjusted themselves to the surrounding light, his cat-like black slits dilated and shrunk repeatedly, until the blurry bouncing images joined into one, full picture.

He was in his room.

And strangely everything looked like it was turned upside-down.

And then his head was filled once more with that painful ringing.

He winced and with a groan pressed his red paw to his forehead that dangled from the edge of the thing that he slept on.

Here we go again.

The pain was agonizing, it felt like someone would be drilling through his brain using a chisel. His paw dropped down towards his eyes, hiding them. The light was partially responsible for this pain, it happened every morning, whenever he woke up beneath the rays of the sun. There weren't many such days in his life, there weren't many mornings in his life to be precise.

As he shielded his eyes for a brief moment he could feel the cold, cracked walls of his prison surrounding him, and he felt that through his scales. It was impossible to see anything, it was just too dark, and he spent many hours like that, daily, until they finally called him. Locked in a black pit, not knowing if you woke up during the day or night.

Later it stopped to matter.

Eventually his eyes adjusted to the night, discerning faint, dim luminance of his surroundings, a basic version of nocturnal vision. Hours spent in a completely dark cell had also one unpleasant consequence.

His eyes became weaker.

He wasn't the brightest of dragons, he knew that himself without people constantly reminding him of that, yet he wasn't entirely dumb. Surviving on sheer instinct taught him, brutally, some intermediate and crude lessons of medicine.

This is why he knows that his eyes suffered from the years of imprisonment, this is why he knows that he will be blinded by every bright ray until his eyes won't get used to light, this is why he knows that every morning will be a pain.

But he will bare through it.

This is the price of freedom.

If there was anything valuable he learnt during his ugly, young life is the high tolerance for pain.

There was something else behind the pain than the simple vulnerability of his eyes. It was burning his brain like a fever and eating him up like a cancer.

It was like that from the day he was born, it was impossible to remember your days as a freshly hatched child, this was common knowledge even he could understand, yet he remembered.

Flashes of course, but they were there nonetheless. It was still more than most people, or even all of them could ever experience.

Not that this was something to be proud of.

Those flashes were mostly filled with images of pain, his crying and purple paws slapping him, ordering him to shut up, demanding his obedience. Flashes full of agonizing screaming. Mostly his own, but there were also different, full of suffering blares.

If not for the pain he maybe would have smiled.

The scream of a purple dragon he will recognize everywhere.

Just like he recognizes the fiery bubble accompanying his every brief vision.

Just like the cracking sound of a fire and the scorching heat of a flame.

Really similar to the ringing vibrating inside his head, noise of which got more and more recognizable by the second, as if little fires popped all around his brain and spat flames.

He groaned loudly when a strong bolt of agony pierced his skull.

Little doesn't cover it, they were little years ago. Now it was a fully grown fire, burning his brain like it was made of wood. With each passing year the fire spread farther and farther, it covered his whole mind when he was very young, now each next year intensified the painful feeling and it was getting worse.

It was like someone would dip his brain into a blazing forge and squeeze it forcefully with a pair of pliers, trying to push out all of the fluids as if his brain was a fruit.

As a very specific fire dragon he was used to high temperatures, however his body heat was beyond even his boundary of tolerance. He was boiling from inside, with almost steam hissing from his nostrils. He felt like he was going to explode.

Waking up is a bitch.

Flare opened his eyes, the light hit him fiercely, only intensifying the ringing sound inside his head, as if a gust of wind would stir the already tremendous fire within. His black slits adjusted themselves relatively quickly, already having to deal with the light some minutes ago helped immensely.

When the picture that formed in front of his eyes stopped being just a huge, bright, pulsing splotch he noticed that something was dangling in front of him in this upside down world. It was a drop of his saliva, hanging on a sticky, wet natural rope of his mouth that was attached to the tip of his lolling tongue from his opened maw.

With a slurp he wiped his snout, getting rid of the drool, yet that wasn't the only wet thing his paw had to deal with. Something started to drip on his red leg, he moved his paw back, to get a good look on it. When that happened more and more red spots started appearing on his leg.

Blood.

And they were falling from above, in quick succession, one after the other, like drops of water from an insecure faucet.

Flare immediately knew what was happening, after all this wasn't his first time. He pressed his paw to his nose, its toes immediately started to soak on blood. Sleeping on the bed on his back with his head thrown out of the edge, not only made the world look silly but also didn't help with the bleeding at all.

He arched his neck up and made a roll, he groaned in pain when his head returned to its natural position, the quick spin made the ringing sound turn into a loud rumble, just like a fireball would explode inside his brain.

He jumped from the bed, landing on the floor on three legs while balancing himself using his wings, the fourth was clenching his nose tightly. As he turned around, he made a quick scan of the room, looking for something, a perfect solution for his condition. He found many such things, drawers, flowers or lamps, anything here would do, yet even now he decided that he won't ruin any of those things. He already destroyed one bed, another missing furniture would draw attention and he doesn't want that, especially not after last night.

He'll figure something out, this was not the time for this anyway.

Flare hobbled towards the balcony door as fast as he could, even the slightest jerk made his brain crack from the heat. He shoved the door open, luckily for the glass the door didn't open wide, as if they were deliberately designed that way.

He didn't really care, the gap was big enough to fit him through. That was all that mattered currently.

He hopped onto the railing, placing his hind legs firmly on the balcony floor, while both his forepaws, even the bloody one landed on top of the commonly used barricade. He yanked his head over the edge and started to retch.

Blood never stopped dripping from his nose, but he didn't care about that at the moment. All he wanted to do was to get rid of the burning bulge in his throat. He retched for some seconds before finally managing to properly throw up, leaving some of the recently consumed food in the bushes below in a pile of spew.

Blood kept on dripping.

Just to think that years ago all he had to deal with was just a delicate nose bleed, only a small rope of red streamed down his nose, all he needed to do was to wipe it off and he was ready to go. Now not only he bleeds like he was stabbed but also vomits, the latter being rather new in this painful addition.

However not the newest.

Flare reached to the corner of one of his eyes and slid his paw across it, just to look at it soon later, already knowing what to expect. His eyes were bleeding, delicately for now, as his nose in the beginning. It all started a year ago, he had no idea why but didn't really care, for him it was as normal as morning chores for a priest. In the next two or three years he most likely will start crying bloody tears.

He will deal with that when the time comes, for now he had other things to worry about.

Like getting rid of the agonizing pressure on his brain.

With his snout wrinkled in the typical grimace of pain Flare looked around the balcony. Besides the railing there was nothing here. He groaned, the ache is getting insufferable and the only thing in close proximity was the railing, the room was excluded now, it was too far away. He would avoid doing this if he could, but without any other option he is forced to draw attention to himself.

And then, suddenly, two avian creatures landed on the railing, making him jerk his head back in surprise.

What were those things again?

Birds!

Those were birds!

Living creatures that nobody will miss, so much different from the inanimate railing.

Both birds squawked, only making the fire in his skull to spit more fiercer flames.

With a growl of anguish Flare reached for the avian creatures, the pain made his so fast and desperate that the creatures didn't see him coming. He clenched his paws around the feathery beings strongly, already feeling fragile bones snapping, way before he landed with on his clenched paws on the balcony floor with a thud.

He let it out.

Flare exhaled a wavering moan of ecstasy as he unclenched his paws, the birds weren't there anymore. He lifted one of his legs to his head, dragging a stream of ash behind, the pressure on his brain noticeably weakened.

With all of his muscles getting numb from the pleasure of release he sat down on the cold floor, observing the ash as it was scattered by the wind. All of his blazing parts pulsed like fiery hearts until eventually they adopted their normal structure.

The pain was mostly gone by now.

Only a delicate stinging remained, it was always there, in his younger days that feeling annoyed him greatly, but now he got so much used to it that he barely notices it during the day.

This was a beautiful morning.

A night spent in bed couldn't be compared to anything else, he drifted away the moment he got comfy on the sheets. He was never so rested before, this was simply amazing, if the rest of the day will look like this morning everything will be great.

He lifted himself on the railing again, in the distance spotting a slight crowd of people moving about, he wasn't sure for certain but it looked like the neighborhood where he destroyed the house. If he focused he could already here the dim sounds of hammering, people were already working, already rebuilding what he has destroyed.

So much death happened that night.

Flare yawned loudly and stretched, keeping his front legs on the railing while pushing his whole body back, straightening like an arrow.

There was nothing better than a proper stretch in such a beautiful morning.

His eyes once more landed on the small crowd of builders and workers, wondering if he will be able to wash the blood off his paws someday.

Speaking of which…

He leaned towards his bloodied leg and started licking his paw scales. Many years ago he would cringe at the sole thought of licking his own wounds, cleaning them like some wild animal, he would retch at the taste of his own blood.

Now it came naturally to him.

He was a survivor, that demanded some sacrifices.

Flare cleaned his paw without any interest, scarcely remembering the times when his tongue wavered moments before it touched the blood. Now it was just as boring and normal like drinking water.

His long draconic tongue made short work of every droplet of blood. He then moved towards his nose, automatically finding the moist spots. Years of experience taught him where to look.

Same thing couldn't be said about his eyes.

Flare moved into his room, reached into the drawer right below the standing mirror resting on top of the furniture. He withdrew the cloth he borrowed from Amela and wiped the floor of his room of every droplet of blood.

Next he sat in front of the mirror, not shocked, scared or even intimidated by his look. Just curious. He leaned forward, turning his head slightly so his eyes were just inches from the reflective surface.

His yellow eyes were exactly the same.

Driven by an impulse he reached towards one of his eyes and stretched the scales around his eyelid. Only then he spotted a delicate discoloration in the corner, normally hidden below the thin layer of scales.

The blood vessels on the sclera expanded, looking like tiny swelled veins, yet there was something odd about them. He leaned even closer, his eye taking almost the whole reflective surface of the mirror. He was used to seeing his bloodshot eyes, but this was new.

Two of those tiny veins were broken, snapped like twigs.

Suddenly the corners of his vision started to darken.

Flare let go off his eyelid, the scales smacked into place as he withdrew his head from the mirror, he shook his head fiercely and looked at his reflection again.

Everything was normal once more.

He snorted dismissively, different traumas haunt him already, another childish fear isn't welcome. There is no foreshadowing here, just another discomfort that he will have to deal with. He survived through worse things, he will survive this one too.

This is a beautiful morning after all.

Flare licked the blunt side of his claw and ever so gently got rid of the small, thick red lines in the corner of his eyes. He looked himself over in the mirror, checking if he cleaned everything, it seemed ok but for his own peace of mind he rubbed his recently bleeding nose again.

His nostrils stung but nothing besides that.

Then suddenly his stomach woke up with a loud rumble, only now he realized that he hasn't eaten anything practically whole last day. It has to be corrected, but first he needs to see how his friend is doing, he hasn't seen her for the last couple of days and when they finally met that purple dragon was once…

Flare shook his head fiercely.

No.

Cynder sees something in him, and he looked like he was defending her from Iris, Amela wouldn't lie.

Screw it.

This is way too beautiful of a morning to ruin it with thoughts about that purple guy.

With a content sigh he directed himself towards the door, with a joyful smile patted the bed he slept thankfully. The last one met a rather gruesome fate, it collapsed under his bouncing weight, he really got scolded when he had to explain what happened.

Yet here he is, with a brand new bed that gifted him with a rest he never experienced before. It was all so great that he just had to repeat that to himself once again.

This is a beautiful morning.

"Get away!"

Flare jerked his head back in surprise when he opened the door, a muffled, excited shout echoed in the corridor.

"Stop it!"

He cocked his head as he stepped into the hall, the happy laughter was coming from the room ahead. From his friend's room.

The door burst open.

"It tickles!"

Cynder jumped from the room with a happy, squeaky giggle. Her head was titled in such a way so she could see behind her shoulder, not caring what's in front of her or the fact that she bounced off the door frame. She shoved the door open as if her room was on fire.

And yet she was laughing.

Until her eyes landed on him that is.

Cynder froze at the sight of the fire dragon in front of her, her green eyes widened in sincere shock the laughter died with a squeaky whizz, leaving her mouth hanging open, paralyzed.

"Hi Cynder!" Flare blurt out happily

She cleared her throat, pushing through the first stadium of losing her voice.

"Hi...umm...Flare" she put up a weak attempt of a smile.

She began to sway her tail in the doorstep vertically, the blade tip shivered in the air, dangling like the tail of a rattlesnake.

"You think that tail is gonna stop me?"

A playful teasing shout came from the room. Then suddenly Spyro pounced from the interior, paws extended like he was a cougar leaping on his prey. Pushing through the barricade her tail formed like it was nothing more than a thing bush.

"Gotcha!" he laughed when his paws landed on her waist with a delicate smacking sound

Her body didn't even shiver.

He raised his eyes, laughing triumphantly, till his vision wasn't filled with the image of a burning dragon ahead.

His eyes shot wide open, the laughter turned into a pitiful groan. The shock of such unexpected encounter welded him to his partner's rump.

The three dragons looked like statues, all frozen in dumbfounded postures, a perfect fit as props in some lousy comedy play.

Flare was the first one who shook of the shock, his yellow eyes narrowed themselves on the stupid snout of the purple dragon.

He is everywhere where Cynder is!

He is stealing his friend away!

Who knows what false promises and fake sweet words he whispered to her when they slipped without him to that village or whatever! That dick was undoubtedly swaying her to his side! Her laugh was sincere!

He was swaying her like he was once swayed!

He won't allow that to happen! He will spare his friend the cruel fate!

This was such a beautiful morning.

If he only knew that prick was in that room! He would barge in there when he woke up, touch that ugly purple hide and the morning would be beautiful once more.

No!

Not the morning, the whole DAY!

And every day after that!

There is still a chance to make things right, just look at that surprised idiotic mug. He won't know what hit him!

The temperature in the room increased making Cynder wake up from her trance. It was a magical spike, she felt it pulsing through the already hot atmosphere of awkwardness, that some people wouldn't even recognize.

She wasn't one of them.

Her conversation with Amela regarding Flare put her on higher pedestal of awareness. She is the only one who might have any control over him, especially when it comes to dealing with Spyro. It's up to her to prevent them from killing each other. The delicate bead of sweat appearing on her forehead told her that she is running out of time.

"It's great to see you!"

Cynder exclaimed, sincerely yet with a note of fear in her voice as she swayed her body from side to side, shaking off Spyro's paws, making them land on the ground with a numb thud before she leapt at the fire dragon.

She clung to him tightly, the force of her jump making him totter back and slam his rump into the door of his room as she embraced him into a caring hug.

Cynder clenched her teeth, fighting off the burning pain coursing through her flesh that was caused by the closeness of his unnaturally heated body. Especially from the wings she gripped so tightly.

Luckily her move obviously caught him by surprise or perhaps he instinctively felt that he was hurting her. Whatever the case may be her impulsive plan worked, the magical heat wafting from him vanished, he was his naturally warm self again.

Spyro straightened up, for a brief second a tiny, senseless bolt of jealousy hit him. There was his girl wrapping her paws around the neck of another guy, or perhaps it was Flare, him only, who triggered such unreasonable emotions in him.

It was him who made things difficult for Cynder in the hospital after all, it was Flare who attacked him, putting her in collateral danger, it was him who was a step too close to Cynder for his liking when they weren't a pair yet.

That dragon was a threat, he felt that in his guts.

Spyro shook his head.

Ancestors...

Are all males so crazy and territorial about their loved ones as he is about Cynder?

It's insane!

_That dragon is a threat._

Flare returned the hug "I'm so glad that you're all right. It's been a while since I last seen you"

She broke the embrace and smiled "Too long"

"I've heard people talking about some strange indestructible golems and weird ruins. It was the Keepers, am I right?"

Cynder scratched the back of her head "Yeah..."

"Why didn't you take me with you? I would help and protect you from..." he looked at Spyro, a spiral of tiny flames flashed across the black slits of his eyes

"...danger"

Spyro noticed Cynder shifting nervously, undoubtedly she noticed the same murderous spark he did, not that it was difficult to understand the meaning of Flare's words without it.

He gulped, he felt those yellow eyes drilling into his skull. He tried to the best of his ability to ignore the stare but caught himself throwing glances at those eyes every now and then. Some deep dark part of him wanted to snarl at the fire dragon, unexpectedly and fiercely, knowing exactly that it would make him whine in fear despite whatever brave show he is putting up right now.

The moment she saw that ferocious spark in his eyes, full of murderous hate directed at no one else but the love of her life, she wanted to smack Flare across his snout. How is it possible that someone can dislike a dragon like Spyro so much was beyond her comprehension, especially when his golden heart bled and still bleeds for many people.

Yet she like no one else understands Flare, his mistrust is misguided but it doesn't mean that in some cruel, ironical way it isn't fair. How can he see the other side of Spyro when he received nothing else but violence from purple dragons, when nobody showed him any kindness.

Yet all that horrible fate didn't break him completely, there was room for amiableness in his heart, there was room for trust. She just knew it, they share a similar dark past after all. The ability to accept, to see behind the veil of hate, he has it in him.

If he would be a lost cause he would never try so hard to at least tolerate Spyro.

Good has walked through the door of sadness and pain of her life. If she can spare someone else a similar suffering she will do it. She will guide Good to the right door.

Cynder rubbed Flare's shoulder tenderly.

"I know you would. We went to the place where we found you, we didn't want you to go through the painful memories. You escaped from that place, you suffered enough, you earned your peace. Knowing our luck there will still be a chance to earn a couple more bruises. We have to avoid fighting when we can, violence is horrible, we both know that Flare"

He instantly dropped his head down, aiming his full of aggression eyes at the floor, feeling guilty. She doesn't like fights and violence, the aggressive look he gave Spyro would only lead to that, he would betray the wishes of his friend. He can't sacrifice that.

She moved her head down to meet his eyes, smiling lovingly "Besides it's not like you wasted your time, you were spending much of it with Volteer from what I've heard"

He jerked his head back up instantly, the move was so fast that the top of his head almost crashed into her nose, she was saved only by her natural reflex.

"I have to show you something!" Flare exclaimed excitedly and turned swiftly towards the door to his room

Cynder looked behind her shoulder, shrugging and winking playfully with an eloquence of false modesty of a person knowing his value.

Spyro rolled his eyes teasingly.

All that sympathetic cockiness was gone with the surprised feminine yelp bursting from her throat when a powerful tug on her leg pulled her into the room across the hall.

Flare instantly jumped towards one of the nearest cabinets while unfurling his tail from around Cynder's leg, he began rummaging through every drawer he laid his paws on like a maniac.

"Where did I put it?" the fire dragon mumbled as he slammed another drawer shut before starting working on a different cabinet

"It has to be here somewhere"

Spyro cocked his head, intrigued by the slight commotion going on inside. He stopped at the doorstep and peeked inside the room.

Cynder feeling his presence looked behind her shoulder gently and smirked.

She started to swing her tail around, what at first seemed like completely natural movements. At least it looked like this for Spyro, he kept jerking his head from side to side, up and down, trying to keep Flare in his sight despite the swaying tail blocking his view every now and then.

Cynder started to move her tail faster, biting on the lower lip to quench the giggle building up in her throat. He looks so cute and silly when he succumbs to his natural curiosity, failing to see what is truly happening. By now she was tilting her blade tip in such a way so it blocked even more of his vision.

It was that what made him see the true intentions of her actions. After another jerk he looked straight in her direction, aiming his friendly indignant eyes at her.

Cynder muffled down a giggle and moved her tail in front of his eyes, this time purposely stopping the tilted blade tip in front of his nose, like an aerial metallic blindfold.

He jerked his head down, her tail followed suit, his neck moved to the side, her tail did so too.

A jerk to the right, she kept with his pace.

Another one to the left, she followed him closely.

Up, down, right, left, quicker and quicker.

And then suddenly he stopped with her tail frozen in front of his nose.

She giggled quietly, with playful anxiousness awaiting his next move.

After a short pause he moved his head to the right, she blocked his view, then he swiftly jerked to the left.

Before she caught up with him he moved his head in the opposite direction and took a gentle bite on her tail right behind her blade tip, making Cynder bleep in amusement.

"There it is!" Flare exclaimed triumphantly throwing on the nearby cabinet a thick sheet of paper with ink and quill following soon after

Spyro spat out his partner's tail, receiving an endearing gentle pat on his shoulder before finally the two of them focused all their attention on the fire dragon.

The fire drake immediately dipped the feather and started to scribble on the sheet. Cynder and Spyro craned their necks forward, admiring with honest fascination Flare's work. Even Spyro whose relations with the fire dragon are barely tolerable was happy to see Flare fighting with his limitations with such enjoyment. He was glad that he found some happiness.

Flare bit on his tongue as he with immense concentration trailed with the feather the lines he was pretty familiar with. Slowly, letter after letter started to appear on the sheet, all of them capital.

Finally he pushed away.

Five crooked letters were visible on the paper, with thick ink smudges at the ends as a result of too much applied pressure.

_FLARE_ was written on the paper.

The author snatched the page fervently and presented it to Cynder, clenching the top of it in his paw.

"Look!" he blurt out, almost choking on his own excited quick breaths "That's me! This is my name!"

Cynder stared at the paper in awe, proud about Flare's accomplishment and silently praising Volteer, the miracle worker.

"This is awesome!" the enthusiastic mood marked her "Flare, you can write!"

"Only my name for now and only in big letters"

"Doesn't matter, this is a win here. You're a fast learner" she smiled happily "Come here"

Flare began to move but it was her who made the first step, despite what she said. She embraced him in a friendly hug. The paper swayed down onto the ground like a leaf. Completely unimportant.

He felt himself melting within this sincere display of friendship.

"I'm so proud of you" she whispered softly and broke the embrace

He has never felt so great before, there was someone who seriously cares about him, his little victory made her happy.

She was so pretty when she smiled, he couldn't get enough of it. He will never do anything that will make her sad, he won't allow anyone to steal or kill that smile.

Never.

"Congratulations Flare" Spyro added "I mean it"

The fire dragon looked towards the door, meeting the amethyst gaze. He saw kindness in those eyes and something else. He compared it with the memory of a flower that just recently blossomed, its sweet aroma filling the room, the scent not entirely dedicated for him, but it still overwhelmed his senses, bringing peace and sympathy with it.

That dragon felt sorry for him! And was sincerely happy!

But he is a purple dragon!

Thanks to Cynder he recognized this honesty, and Spyro was radiating the same aura as her, with a bit of...apology in it?

He was too deeply scarred to give to that feeling of acceptance, it wasn't enough to heal his wounds, if that's ever possible that is, but it was enough to sooth the pain.

"T-t-t-thanks" Flare stammered, surprised himself by the nervousness in his voice

Cynder's smile grew wider, she took that stutter for a good sign.

"So, what are your plans Flare? What will you do with your new set of skills?"

"I'm going to write your name next" he replied automatically

She was surprisingly awe-struck by his blunt determination, a slight blush crept on her cheeks.

"My name? You don't have to"

"But I do! You're amazing, I've never met anyone like you before. You're like the best friend from a group of best friends"

"He is right you know" Spyro added

Cynder spun around, aiming her eyes at the balcony window so they couldn't see her eyes that were flooded with tears once more. As she stared at the azure sky she wondered if this is really her life or just a beautiful dream she can't wake up from.

People care about her.

They love and accept her.

She has friends and a partner.

Is this really happening?

After all she has done?

"You" Cynder cleared her throat, bottling up the emotion as best as she could. She cried enough already "You should focus on something else than me. On something far more amazing. I'm just a name, you write it and it's over, you can do it even now"

Flare shook his head "Oh no, I will only ruin it. You're name has to be perfect, I will only try when I feel I'm ready"

Spyro smiled at seeing Cynder shiver, perhaps all those sweet words and overall all-loving, all-caring atmosphere was cheeky, indigestible for some even. He had a different opinion on that matter, he could watch and listen to Cynder's happiness for whole days and he would never get tired of it.

Why?

Because she deserves every bit of it and no one has the right to say it's enough.

Cynder pressed her paw to her chest, it felt like her heart was about to explode from the excess of blissful joy.

"I'm flattered, let's say you write my name perfectly. What then?"

Flare shrugged "I dunno"

She looked behind her shoulder gently "Come on, everyone wants to do something cool after they learn some wicked skills"

The drake looked around the room, lost in thought.

"I think I'm going to write a book"

She turned around, eyebrows risen high in surprise "A book? What about?"

Flare shrugged once more "Don't know yet, but it's going to be about something great"

The dragoness smiled kindly "I'm sure it will. Claws crossed"

The drake looked at her paws, the toes from which her claws protruded to be exact.

Cynder understood that clueless, curious stare immediately. It triggered a merry giggle from her throat.

"Don't ever change"

"Ok!" he replied instantly, not understanding what she meant by that but that was a request and he will see her wishes fulfilled.

A loud rumbling sound filled the room unexpectedly.

Spyro reared his head back in surprise "What was that?"

Flare cringed in shame "Sorry, I haven't eaten in a while"

"We were going to get some breakfast, you can come with us" Spyro scratched the back of his head "I mean if it won't be a problem"

The fire drake looked at the purple dragon first, at first wanting to starve than dine with him, but then his eyes landed on the only female in the room. Even he could see how important Spyro is to her and he is no perception expert.

He will never betray his friend even if it meant spending some time in the company of his life nemesis.

"Sure" Flare answered emotionlessly

"Great" Spyro threw a quick glance at the door leading to his room "Before we go I need to check something first" he disappeared from the room, the sound of his claw clicking in the hall the sign that he was on the move

Cynder nodded her head at the opened door as she followed her partner. She noticed Spyro creeping to the door of his room, silently working up on the knob.

"Why all the stalking? Just open the door, everyone is awake already"

Spyro smiled "I can't. If he's in there, and I hope that he is, I don't want to wake him up. Everyone might be awake but Sparx surely isn't, he usually sleeps till noon in days such as these"

"What a lazy ass"

"That's not laziness as he says it. He's working with his head, all that neurons need their rest to be at their best"

"What a quote. He made you believe in it, right?"

"For the sake of our…" he looked at the ground, seeing the light of flames dancing on the floor "…relationship I pretend that this is the only stupid thing he made me believe in"

Cynder snorted in amusement, smirking teasingly "Don't forget about the brush"

Spyro chuckled "Ok. Two"

"By the way, I forgot to ask you. You think last night or this morning can win against a wet brush? The slurping can't be fake"

Flare cocked his head in confusion.

"Shut up" he replied endearingly

Cynder giggled.

He put more gently pressure on the door and they finally opened with a barely audible creak. He dropped on the floor and pushed the wooden obstacle with the top of his nose, just enough to fit his head through the crack.

His eyes widened in surprise.

"Sparx?"

The dragonfly turned around, the glow he naturally emits was more brighter under the sun rays that were pushing through the window to which he turned his back.

"Sup' dude"

"You're awake?"

Sparx looked around startled as if checking if somebody is listening then he covered his mouth with his hand.

"What gave me away?" he whispered

"You know what I'm talking about, you never been up so early"

"Buddy pay attention cos' what I'm about to say will change your life. You can't sleep when somebody is so loud"

Spyro winced in guilt "Sorry, we shouldn't be so loud in the hall"

The dragonfly narrowed his eyes on the dragon "Oh yeah, I forgot about that"

"Huh?"

Sparx shook his hand dismissively "Never mind, I'm just screwing with you. I've been up for a while now"

"So since you're wide awake…" Spyro entered the room wrinkling his nose at the peculiar scent in the air "…where have you been all night?"

"Dude, from the two of us I'm in our room. Where have you been?"

"I asked first!" the drake protested, his nose kept twitching, adapting to the smell that wasn't in this room. Ever.

"I've been all around Warfang looking for you!"

"Thanks dad"

"Answer the question! I was worried sick!"

Sparx folded his arms on his chest "You were devastated from what I've heard"

"What that supposed to mean?"

Spyro sniffed the air a couple more times, not able to ignore the scent any longer.

"What is that smell?"

"I don't smell anything" the dragonfly replied confidently

His draconic nostrils kept flaring in steady succession.

"It smells like…"he moved forward, his nose directing his legs "…dirt"

Sparx began to push back delicately from the advancing, sniffing brother of his

"Bro you should really put away that wine"

Spyro pressed forward "It's coming from…" every step he made brought him closer to the source of the smell

The dragonfly gulped when he felt his back pressing against the balcony door.

The purple dragon stopped in front of him sniffing at his right side before turning his head slowly so it eventually faced him. Spyro frowned and craned his neck forward, stopping inches from his glowing aura.

"You!" the drake exclaimed as he threw his head back "You reek of dirt, or something similar!"

Sparx laughed half-heartedly and darted across the room, away from his brother.

"I don't know what you're talking about"

He chased his glowing brother.

"What you've been up to!?"

The dragonfly dashed to the side.

"Dude you're paranoid"

"You stink, you're not going to fool me!"

"Troubles in paradise?" Cynder looked inside the room with a teasing smirk

"Look!" Sparx exclaimed as he pointed at the door "It's Cynder!" he swiftly dashed in the direction of the dragoness, hovering just next to her head as he pointed at her "You like Cynder don't you?"

"Smell him Cynder!" Spyro shouted irritated "Tell me if he stinks"

"Smelling Sparx, now that's a reason to wake up in the morning" with a smile she took a sniff "Yep, he stinks, surprise, but that's not dirt"

"It's clay" Flare added

"Clay?!" Sparx let out a hysterical laugh "Crouton, you always have the best ideas"

Spyro cocked his head "Clay? What were you doing with clay Sparx?"

"You're listening to Flare? Seriously?" he darted towards the red dragon and patted the his head "No offense"

"That's the smell of clay. I'm certain" Flare assured the group

Sparx snorted disdainfully "And how exactly can you know that? You've been a lab rat"

"I was always a dragon"

The dragonfly rubbed his forehead "I don't know if I'll ever get used to this"

"Fire can be used for more things than just burning stuff"

Cynder grinned mischievously "I think our Sparxy found a hobby"

Sparx's face twisted in a grimace of protest, from his mouth was coming a defensive groan but then all of a sudden his arms dropped to his sides in a sign of complete defeat.

"You got me" he sighed "I'm so embarrassed"

"Clay and hobby?" Spyro furrowed his brows "You started playing in pottery?"

"Exactly! Pottery" the dragonfly clapped his hands together "Can we stop talking about this now?"

"Pottery is about building and work. You're not a fan of either one"

Sparx rolled his eyes "I had a change of heart. What's the big deal anyway? Do I ask you what you did yesterday?"

"Pottery is a convenient excuse and you sold yourself out pretty quick. I think that's just a cover, you're hiding something"

"All right, how about this. I tell you everything about my night if you tell me about yours. Right here and now"

Spyro's eyes nervously shifted at Flare, however the rest of his body kept the appearance of indifference.

"Fine, if you don't want to talk then don't"

Cynder narrowed her eyes on the dragonfly suspiciously.

"_He knows?" _she asked herself inwardly

"Give it a rest bro" Sparx dashed next to his brother's head, leaning against his right side. The dragon's purple pupils eyed him attentively

"We have bigger problems now" he whispered "Zombie mole is on the move"

Spyro's eyes widened.

"There was talk about the recent killings in Boven, dark dragon and stuff, the explosion and even Flare"

"How do you know this?"

Sparx rolled his eyes "Doesn't matter. What's important is that there is something really wrong with some of the guys in the temple. And I'm not talking about being solely crazy about religion. There's something else"

Cynder snorted indignantly "Did your parents didn't teach you that whispering is impolite?"

Both brothers swallowed, meaningfully nodding with their eyes at Flare.

"He's a part of our group, he has all the right to know"

She looked at the fire dragon "Am I right? Do you want to know Flare?"

The red drake frowned curiously "Know about what?"

Cynder aimed her gaze at the brothers meaningfully.

Spyro licked his lips, understanding the signal.

"Troubles"


	73. Chapter 17 Book IV

Chapter 17

"Oh boy!" Flare's excited shout bounced off the walls of the corridor leading to the Mess Hall like an echo of a small explosion "We're going to conspire!"

The dragon's three companions gasped faintly and scattered through the whole width of the hall, examining the illuminated by torches walls, coughing and whistling in a poor attempt to deafen the sound and pretend that they have nothing to do with the fire drake.

To the best of their abilities trying to ignore the suspicious stares thrown the way from people walking down the corridor.

"Cynder!" Flare jumped towards the black dragoness, patting her shoulder to get her attention "We're plotting an intrigue!"

Cynder cleared her throat, bashfully looking down the corridor, observing the people walking by while pulling at the choker around her neck. Surprisingly its silvery embrace felt way too tight all of a sudden, as if it was crushing her throat.

People were giving her and the fire dragon next to her hateful and scared glances. One particular cheetah caught her attention, his stark expression was intimidating. Her throat dried suddenly when she noticed the feline slowly jerking the material of his coat out of the way, revealing the hilt and a bit of a blade of a sword strapped to his belt.

"Together!" with this thrilled shout Flare appeared in front of her eyes

Cynder smiled, at least she tried to pretend that she is just as happy as he is, yet her emerald orbs still moved past his excited snout and landed on the cheetah.

His face was twisted in a wicked snarl, with a gulp and tense of her every muscle she noticed the feline tightening his grip around the hilt and pulling his hand up. The reddish light of a torch bounced off the silvery surface like the fiery red light of an alarm siren.

Then suddenly a feline, furry hand landed on the cheetah's shoulder, making him jump. The clawed hand dug into his flesh gently and another feline face appeared next to his, whispering something. The angry cheetah's long ears twitched at the silent sound of every word that was spoken.

The irate cheetah looked ahead, aiming his fiery eyes on no one else but Spyro. The sword slid back into its resting place, however the grip on the hilt became tighter than ever, almost to the point of the cheetah's own claws piercing the flesh on his hand.

The edgy feline looked at her, mumbling something under his breath that only his companion could hear. Four feline eyes were drilling into her skull, full of accusation and disgust.

The hate was so palpable that Cynder turned her eyes away with an intimidated wince. Listening to the sound of the cheetahs thumping boots as they continued on their way like a surgeon listening to the beats of a heart that he just revealed by cutting the chest open.

"All right people, show's over!" Sparx' voice boomed in the corridor

"Thank you in participating in this social experiment!"

The passersby who stood and observed their group with eyes that radiated feelings suited for a devil from the deepest parts of hell than an earthly being looked at the hovering dragonfly with interest and a slight shock.

Some of them did at least, most didn't care what the dragonfly has to say.

Sparx clapped his hands, as he spun around, sending glowing sparks everywhere "All thanks go to the Guardians for organizing this little survey!"

Ignoring the mumbles and he dashed towards Flare and hovered just in between his horns, patting his head appraisingly.

"And of course Flare who played his role of a dumb instigator. We just wanted to see your reaction when dealing with situation when there is a possibility that your favorite heroes can be lured into an intrigue by the evil minds. It had to be shocking, because no true intelligent bad guy would spill his plans like a total moron!"

"What?" Flare blurt out "Wha-afff"

The dragon's words turned into an incomprehensible grumble the moment Sparx dashed in front of his snout and hid one of his hands behind his back, grabbing and pulling the waggling draconic tongue. Goofily smiling at the slight commotion that stirred in the hall.

"You passed people! You didn't believe that your heroes can be swayed to the dark side which was so perfectly played by Cynder!"

"Spaahhssxxx, let go ofshh my tongshheee!"

Still keeping up the idiotic grin he was giving the people he put more strength into the grip, holding the shaky, meaty, wet, draconic flesh with all his might.

"Remember that this was just an act! Because as we know Cynder is no longer evil! I vouch for that! Me, the sceptic!" he shouted, not even for a second dropping the false, happy smile "You're part in this play was spectacular! Flawless! You haven't given to emotion in the face of sudden danger! You believed in your heroes! You kept a cool head! Important in this troubling times! Congratulations! The Guardians will be proud!"

People didn't share his enthusiasm, they were staring and mumbling between themselves. Dumbfounded and irritated, not knowing how to react.

With a practiced grin of a salesman Sparx meaningfully nodded at the end of the corridor from which the four of them came.

"Thank you for your support. You've been a great help"

The people remained in place.

His observant eyes spotted children among the adults "To thank for your attention Spyro over there will show you some tricks, tell a story or even sign an autograph if you ask him nicely!"

The purple dragon's eyes grew wide in horror.

"W-what?"

Sparx' grin only grew broader when he heard a slight commotion stirring, noticed the children tugging at skirts, jumping in joy, waiting for their parents and family to give them a signal. His plan might fail, if he won't react, signs of protests from the adults clearly broke through the happy chitter.

Yet he was calm, he knew he controls the situation, because no matter how difficult the times are, a legend and an idol walking among you is still far more important.

"Catch him before you can!" Sparx shouted, pointing a finger at his brother "He's already leaving!"

It was enough, the children despite the protests of their parents dashed towards the purple dragon like unleashed hounds. Momentarily a small crowd circled the drake, only his tail protruded from beneath the many legs.

The situation was under control, he was certain of that, you don't have much chances in life to touch and talk with your idol without crossing the boundaries of good education. Now it didn't matter, paws and hands were all over Spyro and even if the adults had their doubts about this eventually even they will be convinced. Their children's happiness is the most important thing, besides they might pretend that they are more controlled, more collected, but Spyro is as much as a hero for them as for their offspring.

All of them need to literally touch hope once in a while.

Faith alone isn't always enough.

With the same stupid grin Sparx kept on wooing the ones that hesitated, succeeding in his attempts eventually. Only when all of the people were solely focused on Spyro, whose voice died somewhere among the chatter of happy people he turned around to face Flare.

The joyful grin was gone in a blink of an eye, with a frown he pulled the dragon's tongue to his chest, making his yellow eyes widen in fear until the meaty flesh couldn't go any farther. Only then he let it go.

The tongue shot inside Flare's mouth with a sound of a snapping cord of a sling.

"Are you out of your freaking mind?" Sparx hissed through clenched teeth

The red dragon covered his mouth with a whine.

"What was that for?"

"You still ask?!" he shook his head, realizing that Flare won't understand him anyway "Conspiracy? How do you know this word anyway?"

Flare rubbed his tongue caringly, with the look of a hurt child.

Sparx rolled his eyes "Give it a rest dude, it's not going to fall off. Stop with the puppy eyes already"

"I think that's enough Sparx" Cynder rubbed Flare's shoulder comfortingly "You did nothing wrong"

"No, of course you didn't"

"We are like the assassins from the book Volteer showed me" Flare said, remaining oblivious to the dragonflies' sarcasm

"Perfect, all we needed was for you to mention assassins. Now that would make our day even better"

Cynder scolded the dragonfly with a fierce gaze "Sparx, cut it out"

"They were a group of friends plotting to throw down a tyrannical king. Everyone was against them while they were planning to do the right thing" he looked at the ground ashamed "I've never been in a group of friends before, fighting evil and the like. The idea was so cool"

"Dude, those are just books!" Sparx blurt out in disbelief "Fiction!"

"Sparx!" she admonished him again "We heard your opinion, it's enough. What has gotten into you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why are you so defensive?"

The dragonfly snorted indignantly, folding his arms on his chest "I'm not defensive"

"No? Then what's with all the anger? You're scolding Flare like you would be his father"

"You're overreacting"

"Am I? Correct me if I'm wrong but this is not the typical way you act. Where is your mask?"

Sparx shrugged "I don't know what you're talking about"

Cynder threw a quick glance at the crowd and then leaned closer towards the hovering dragonfly "You vouched for me"

He snickered in contempt "This is what made you paranoid? I was improvising, I had to think of something"

"I agree, but you didn't have to say that"

"I might have said it, so what? What's the big deal anyway?"

"I think you like me" she noted smugly

Sparx burst out laughing "Please"

"I'm a girl-"

"Don't flatter yourself" he cut her off

She let out a weak giggle as she smiled, now that was the Sparx she got used to, yet it was too late to put up the wall since she was already behind it.

"I'm a girl, I have an intuition and it's telling me you changed"

"How can you not like Cynder?" Flare asked the dragonfly, somewhat more accusingly than he wanted to

Most likely.

Sparx had troubles telling for certain.

"You don't understand buddy"

"You always insult her. You have no right to do so! She's way too nice, she doesn't need to listen to this"

Sparx frowned comparing him to his brother was quite an accurate thing to do. Flare is just as naive and clueless like Spyro was when he was young. He is just as defensive about Cynder like his brother. In Spyro's case the act was understandable, for him of course, because Spyro had no idea what makes him act that way.

The clueless bastard.

However in Flare's case it was way too early and really uncomfortable, wrong even. He can't blame him for having romantic feelings for Cynder, Flare is a guy and Cynder isn't an ugly girl, despite what he usually says.

Developing a crush for her was the perfect, normal thing in the world.

Still, he wasn't entirely sure this was the case, the aggression dripping from Flare's tongue like venom from a Dreadwing's fangs didn't bode well. He felt that it reached further than the boundaries of jealously or nagging overprotectiveness.

Problem is he couldn't see how far it went.

Ok, he might be messed up, who wouldn't be after spending his whole life like someone else's plaything. He has the right to not understand many things, simple ones or the more complicated, like his specific relation with Cynder. He can't blame him for that.

He blames the dragon for his inability to properly explain the drake's aggression.

He blames the dragon for his inability to understand the drake's motives.

He blames the dragon for his inability to see through the drake.

He didn't trust Cynder in the beginning either, had similar doubts about her like he has now about Flare. Only today he sees that jealously and lack of experience were behind that dislike.

Why the certainty?

Spyro.

His clueless brother fell in love with her the moment he saw her.

He couldn't deny that Spyro has an unnatural ability to sense something in people. He had no idea what it was, Spyro most likely didn't either. It had to be that golden heart of his that their parents spoke about.

It goes without saying that he was right about Cynder, she isn't and was never evil how he stupidly believed. From the murderous, corrupted chick he didn't trust she became...

Family.

…

Don't tell her I said that.

Spyro didn't trust Flare.

He was sure of that, just like he was sure of the fact that after day comes night. This is enough for the alarm in his head to keep on ringing. Not with a red light but a fierce yellow, like a warning against a potential fire hazard.

Exactly.

Flare was chaotic.

Like fire.

"Dude" Sparx continued "You should stop interrupting when you don't understand what's going on"

"She is offended! You have no right to make her sad!"

Cynder cleared her throat "Ummm guys? I'm right over here"

He looked at the drake mockingly "You sure about that?"

"Yes!" Flare growled

The dragonfly patted his chin with his finger "So you are a mind reader?"

"Who I am is besides the point!"

Sparx shook his head "I did it again" he mumbled

"You'll apologize to her"

He cackled wryly "For what? I did nothing wrong"

"For your insults and taunts!" Flare snapped angrily "I won't allow anyone to treat her like that!"

Cynder scratched her choker nervously "Guys I'm right here"

"You don't know her like I do!" Sparx continued to hold his line of defense "We go back ages, there's no chance you will understand any of this"

Cynder reached forward "Excuse me" she said politely as she grabbed the arm of a slim cheetah girl passing by. The girl turned to face her , her eyes almost shooting out of their orbits.

"You see me, right?"

The girl looked at her like she was crazy, or expecting someone suddenly to jump at her like on a surprise birthday party.

"Yessss..." she mumbled uncertainty

The dragoness let go off the soft arm with a grateful smile.

"Thank you"

"Whatever" the cheetah continued on her way "Weirdo" she muttered under her breath

"All right man! You win!"

Cynder heard Sparx irritated voice as her attention once more shifted at the arguing boys. She gasped in shock when suddenly she spotted Sparx right in front of her nose.

"I apologize Cynder for every stupid thing I said" he turned around with an angry frown "There!" he rose in the air, looking at the fire drake contemptuously

"Happy now?"

"It is not me who you should ask that question" Flare noted arrogantly

"You're the only one who has a problem!"

"Ok guys, that's enough" Cynder stepped up, looking from Flare to Sparx interchangeably "If we don't want that crowd on our heads I suggest we move on and wait for Spyro a bit farther ahead or your plan on setting your brother up Sparx will be for nothing"

"I didn't set him up" he dashed towards her snout, resting on top of her head "I saved him" he uttered, eyeing Flare with a blaming frown

The drake repaid with the same look.

Cynder smiled at Flare, melting his irritation in an instant. With a playful nudge on his rump with her nose she urged him to move. He gladly complied to her suggestion.

"Correct me if I'm wrong" she whispered so only Sparx could hear her "But were you just arguing about me?"

"Noooo, we were arguing about Flare's brain, about leaving it on the other side of the portal he came through and whether he should fetch it or not. I was supporting the first idea, with a bonus of locking it behind him and losing they key"

"You don't mean that"

"I don't know what you see in him. That guy is trouble"

She looked at the fiery drake with pity shimmering in her eyes "He had a rough life, go easy on him"

"He's crazy!" he sighed "Look to who I am talking to, you're not normal either"

Her green eyes shifted to the top of her eyeballs, spotting the faint rays of the dragonflies' natural glow.

She smiled belligerently "Careful or you lose your ride"

He smacked her head as he darted forward "It smells too much of Spyro anyway"

Her jaw dropped, stopping halfway before hitting the ground.

"What did you say?"

"Flare buddy!" Sparx circled the dragon "We began this day from a bad start"

He started hovering in front of the dragon's eyes, clearly spotting annoyance in those yellow eyes. Caused by nothing else but his presence.

Wasn't the first time.

"What do you want?"

The dragonfly looked inconspicuously at Cynder, who was already doing math in her head and most likely will come to only one conclusion.

"You're part of our gang now, we can't let our slight misunderstandings get in the way when there is a bigger fish to catch. You know what I'm saying?"

"No" he replied bluntly

"Shocking" he circled the dragon's head "Ok, listen, even in gangs there is rivalry, for whatever strange reason you're competing for Cynder with Spyro, you're trying to prove that you can be a better friend to her than my brother is"

"_If I keep on going like this I'll start believing my own bullshit"_ the dragonfly mused inwardly

Flare threw an alarmed glance at the black dragoness "I-I'm not competing. He is her friend, she wouldn't like to see us fight. It would hurt her. I have to protect her from pain"

"_Not competing, yeah right"_ Sparx huffed

"We don't judge in our gang, but If anyone from outside our group would hear you talk about her all the time, they would think that you're obsessed"

He did not reply to that, the dragon's nose was aimed at the ground, yet Sparx could see Flare's yellow eyes watching Cynder with hungry attention. Like the glare of an insane rapist eyeing his victim.

The dragonfly impulsively shivered at the thought.

He clapped his hands, making the fire drake jump a little with a blink. He began hovering at the right side of his snout.

"As a fellow gang member I propose that you forget about her. I know Cynder for a long time, she's cool and all but dull and boring when you get to spend so much time with her. There are more interesting people to focus on out there. Cynder really get on your nerves"

Flare shook his head fiercely "I don't care. I won't abandon my friend"

"_Was worth a shot" _

"Ok fine, it's your funeral" he flew to the other side of the dragon's head "You gotta help me"

He looked at the dragonfly, tiny flames of wrath danced in his eyes "You insult Cynder, then you argue with me and you dare to ask for my help?"

Sparx threw his hands up defensively "Whoa! What's with the venom in your voice?"

The flame of aggression slightly died down as Flare looked to the side, out of pride hiding the shame of obliviousness as he once more didn't understand his words.

The dragonfly sighed longingly "The good old days"

He cleared his throat.

"Look, I'm competing with my brother too, it runs in the family. I might have said one thing too much and Cynder is very close to spoiling my victory. I don't want it to get out of hand so I need you to distract her so my bro will try to rub his triumph over my face. He doesn't know that I know and I just have to see the stupid look on his snout when I won't even flinch while he thought I would faint from shock"

"I don't understand any of this" Flare replied "I don't see why I should distract Cynder so you can win in whatever game you are playing"

"Come on dude" Sparx whined "I'm competing with my brother. Spyro! You're not the biggest fan of him right?"

The drake licked his lips, looking at Cynder once more "I don't see-"

"How about this" the dragonfly interjected, placing his body in front of the dragon's sight "What would you say if I would annoy and embarrass Spyro a little when he comes here?"

His yellow eyes narrowed themselves, both in shock and abhorrence and the slight not of mischievous craving.

"You would do that to your own brother?"

"Boy, you make it sound like I'm planning to murder him"

He wasn't sure, but Sparx believed that in that moment he noticed Flare's wings, their burning surface, crack tiny flames of excitement from the inside.

The drake remained silent.

"I annoy people, that's what I do. I haven't done it in a while and I need to stay in shape or I'll go crazy from all this seriousness" he folded his arms adopting an expression of a practiced businessman "So what do you say? Want to see an abashed Spyro? I'll be a nice change of scenery"

"And how exactly are you going to do that? He's a purple dragon, they're too smart for stupid tricks"

Sparx grinned "He could be as cold as a golem and I would still get to him" he turned around, spotting Cynder in the distance and waved at her

With her head tilted to the side she waved back at him, slowly and suspiciously.

"I have everything I need already"

There was a pause, only the sound of happy chatter of the already scattering crowd in the distance could be heard.

"All right I'm game" Flare frowned angrily "But if you try to make a fool out of me like you did with the bed I swear-"

"Relax" Sparx pated the drake's head comfortingly "This is about me, you're out of the picture. Soon you'll see how cool it is to have my old brother back"

Eventually Cynder joined the two boys and Flare as agreed did everything in his power to get her mind off their little conversation earlier, which was a huge give-away. It was quite clear that she at least suspected that he knows, however she never got the opportunity to confront him about it since Flare was keeping his end of the bargain quite well. He had no idea what they were talking about, it didn't interest him much anyway.

Flare kept waggling his tongue for quite a while, the longer it lasted the more certain he became that she wouldn't say anything, not even let out a meaningful sigh or throw one of those drilling looks. Be as it may, it's better not to take any chances.

He needed some time to think and came to a conclusion that she was right.

He was defensive.

They were arguing about her.

She was partially the reason, she was like the feminine part of him, knows exactly what a joke means. That's why he gets more comfortable around her, that's why he opens up when he least expects it, it's her darn influence.

Not a very enjoyable situation but understandable, a bond between brother and sister is a powerful tying force, especially in this family. Because dragonflies of this family stick together.

And this is why Spyro is responsible for his softness.

The moment they left the Swamps and their home, he swore to their parents that he will look after him. For all this time he did exactly that, and does till now, even with Cynder on their path now. Spyro didn't listen to reason and went crazy about her, of course he had to do that, of course he couldn't keep his hormones in check for the only draconic girl he ever met back then.

Of course she has to mean the world to him.

An oath is an oath, but I'll be damned if being so careless and honest isn't annoying.

Damn clueless bastard.

It's all his fault.

Yet this situation they all found themselves in opened up an opportunity to bring the old confused Spyro back. His relationship with Cynder is new to him, add to that his natural impulse to help, care and protect everyone around him and you have the perfect recipe for _Swamp days_.

The good old days.

"I love you Spyro!"

All three of them looked up in the direction of the squeaky, shrilling scream, spotting nothing but the crowd shifting. And then the female part of the mob exploded with a blare of excitement, jealously and fanatical adoration.

"I love you too!"

Another high-pitched shout and another excited squeaky cry from the crowd.

Sparx looked at Cynder testily "Sounds like my bro has quite a number of fangirls"

She didn't even flinch, if his words touched a nerve she perfectly hid it.

Time passed and the crowd started clapping and cheering, people started to split the formation they created in half, leaving more and more space as if making room for the carriage of a king to pass by.

A purple rump started to push through the recently created opening.

"Thank you all!" Spyro yelled as he finally popped free from the crowd "It was great to meet you!"

His words were appraised by another joyful cry.

He thanked the gathered people with a wave of his paw as he slowly backed up.

"I really need to go. I hope will do this again sometime"

The crowd cheered.

"Spyro!"

A small cheetah child, not older than ten years shot from the gathering of fans with a pleading, excited squeak. She had her arms extended from the very start of her run, such advantage put Spyro in a vulnerable place.

He let out a surprised grunt the moment the child threw herself at him and wrapped her small, furry arms around his neck, pressing herself to his chest in a warm, tight hug. With an awkward smile Spyro raised one of his legs and placed it on the child's back, returning the embrace.

The crowd gasped with emotion at the sight.

"Mina, leave Spyro alone" a male cheetah admonished his daughter tenderly

"I have something for you" the child mumbled as she pushed back from the hug

"Really?" he asked politely "What is it"

The child reached towards her right hand, his amethyst eyes followed her move. At the top of her wrist was a small bloom of a violet, there was a tiny string attached to it so it could be wrapped around an arm without falling off. The young feline tugged at the cord until the flower eventually slipped off her wrist.

With a small that only a child can offer she reached towards his head, spreading the string as far as it would go and slipped the flower down his right gold horn, so its petals looked in the direction of his nose.

The child covered her mouth with a giggle "You're so pretty!"

Spyro smiling kindly shifted his eyes to the top of his eyeballs, spotting the delicate form of the violet's petals above.

"I don't know if I can accept it"

"Yes you can! It's a magical flower!"

His amethyst orbs landed on the child once more "Magical flower, huh?" he smiled and leaned closer for a whisper "What powers it has?"

"My dad told me that the flower has the power to tell if someone is good or not! I hear the grownups talk about weird stuff, but I don't believe in any word they say nu-uh! My dad told that if somebody would be bad that flower would dry. I put it on your silly horn and it still lives! That means only one thing"

The child suddenly looked down, intertwining her the clawed fingers on her hands, stretching her arms to the level of her thighs as she swayed bashfully from side to side.

"You're good and sooooo pretty" she muttered, biting on the neckline of her blouse

Spyro observed the cheetah kitten, he isn't a big fan of children, they have something in them that really intimidates him. Most of the times it is him who is scared and ashamed by them, he just doesn't know how to talk with them.

Seeing the child like that forced a change of heart in him, for a moment he wondered if the future will be bright enough for him to have any children. If it will, there would be only one thing he would do if his own blood would look so adorable like this young girl right now.

With a loving smile Spyro craned his neck forward, running his draconic tongue along the child's furry cheek, from bottom to top.

The kitten giggled bashfully and a fierce blush filled her cheeks as her glowing green eyes looked at him the moment he pushed away. She covered her giggling mouth and then sprang forward, placing a hot kiss on his scaly cheek before running away happily right into her father's arms who lifted her up and helped her to sit on his shoulder.

"Spyro licked me right over here!" the young girl exclaimed joyfully, pointing at her cheek with her claw "I'm not going to bath, ever!"

Both the young purple dragon and the small crowd shared a sincere, goodbye laugh before Spyro finally turned around and made his way towards his group.

Prancing all the way.

Cynder grinned, not able to hold back her smile thanks to the funny way he approached them,

"Nice dance moves"

He smiled, swinging his head from side to side to the happy tune he whistled.

"Bro you met a leprechaun out there or something?" Sparx asked "Every time you dealt with a crowd you practically pissed yourself"

Flare's eyes flared up with excitement.

"Really?

Even when Sparx spat out the awkward secret Spyro's mood remained unchanged.

"I'm just too happy to care about stuff like that" he pranced towards Cynder, moved past her like they met each other for the very first time. However he never allowed HER to feel that way by rubbing her foreleg with his tail inconspicuously.

The soft shiver that traveled across her leg was a signal that she understood.

"I have found a perfect medicine for my condition. I started to enjoy life. Your plan to set me up failed"

Sparx pressed his hand to his chest with a shocked gasp.

"How can you say such things?" he blurt out indignantly "You think I would do that to my own brother?"

Both brothers looked at each other and laughed.

"That was a nice plan to take the attention off Cynder though. It's good to know that you wouldn't have second thoughts about throwing me to the sharks" Spyro noted

Sparx grinned "Always happy to be of help"

"To tell you the truth we needed it, both the people and me. I could feel their mistrust and pain when they circled me. I personally felt like a stranger, it was like we met for the first time, we just couldn't recognize each other. If not for the kids I doubt they would even want to talk with me"

He sighed "I could feel their disappointment guys, they no longer saw me as a hero they adored so much. It didn't bother me, I don't like the praise anyway so I just ignored it. Now I know that this was extremely selfish of me"

"The fear of being in the center of attention kept me away from them, all I wanted was to hide and pretend I don't owe those people nothing. Spyro the dragon, normal dragon was all that mattered to me" he shook his head "I was so wrong"

"Whether I like it or not those people need me, and I locked myself from them. We're living in troubled times and the only guy who could help them looked the other way" his amethyst orbs sadly eyed the corridor and the people walking by "I looked the other way"

"Hey" Cynder slammed gently her flank into his playfully "Don't be too hard on yourself, people have to learn to take care of themselves. You can't protect everybody"

He smiled at her "I know, but they have to know that I'm still on their side. You should have seen their faces when I finally convinced them that I'm still the same Spyro they knew so well. In that moment I even convinced myself" he turned towards his companions, pointing at the flower on his horn "Do you know what this is?

Sparx shrugged "A cry for attention? You finally came out of the closet and want to show us how pretty you are? Because I tell you, that flower really sets off your eyes"

Spyro chuckled "As much as I'm proud of my feminine side that's not the case right now"

"I give up"

"It's a magical flower, it tells if you're good or not. If you're bad it withers"

Sparx scratched the back of his head "Umm…bro? You know that's just a violet right?"

The drake smiled "Relax, I'm not going crazy, I know it has no special powers"

"Just checking"

"It's symbolic. The girl that gave it to me believed in its special powers, it was important to her. Just like I'm important to the people, I'm their symbol. The girl believed in this flower's special powers, just like people believed in me and now I see that I let them down"

"That couple of minutes that I spent with that group opened my eyes, I might not like the attention, but I'm their hero and a hero takes care of his people. We talked like we were friends, you could sense the unity in that group, we were once more a one heart like during the war with Malefor. And I know that nothing will shatter that bond, not even Brill's religious speeches"

Spyro's eyes widened in excitement "Maybe this is the key! Maybe I need to be the leader they always wanted! Maybe I need to show the people that I have their backs! Maybe if I show them why I'm so happy…" he looked lovingly at Cynder "…then they'll understand"

She averted her gaze, blushing slightly.

"You had a change of heart because of a stupid flower?" Sparx asked

"You could say that"

The dragonfly dashed towards his brother, folding his arms as he stopped in front of the dragon's nose "So it had nothing to do with those _I love you_ squeaks?"

Spyro's eyes shifted towards Cynder for a brief second but then quickly returned to observe the dragonfly again.

"I don't know what that has to do with anything"

"I mean all those girls throwing themselves at you. It would mess up every single guy's head"

"There weren't any girls throwing themselves at me!" Spyro protested unconvincingly as he looked at Cynder who observed the scene with a frown that his panicking mind took for anger "I swear!"

Sparx huffed "Are you explaining yourself to her?"

Spyro looked away "No! Of course not!"

"You're a single guy, come on bro, brag! We all want to know what happened" he pointed at the drake's mouth, right next to his lips "Especially about this hickey, you REALLY had to like the girl to allow her to suck to you like that"

"What?! No!" he exclaimed, blushing fiercely while hectically rubbing his mouth "I didn't like anyone...I mean I did...but not the way you think!"

Sparx punched his brother's shoulder "Stop with the false modesty already. You're a wolf dude, I've seen at least two dragonesses walking away on weak legs. You must really be quite the kisser"

Spyro rubbed his forehead, he got extremely hot all of a sudden, sweat followed soon after.

"That's not true!" he blurt out, aiming his defensive shout at Cynder "I didn't want to kiss anyone, I swear!"

Sparx shook his head, after all this time his brother still doesn't know how to keep a secret. All that swearing aimed at Cynder was a huge give-away, like a husband explaining himself to his wife. If he wouldn't know about their intimate relationship already he would surely found about it now.

That's the confused, awkward brother he misses.

Sparx elbowed Spyro meaningfully "Didn't want to but still did! You have to teach me that skill!"

"They forced themselves on me!"

"Ha!" the dragonfly exclaimed "So there was some girl kissing going on! You know bro, perjury is a sin"

"No!" Spyro whined shifting his eyes between Cynder and Sparx, feeling smaller and smaller with each passing second "There was no kissing! I mean there was...I just...I didn't...I'd never...it's not the way you think!"

He looked at the ground "Can...can we just go now?" he mumbled devastated

Sparx looked at the black dragoness who was staring at him with an

irritated frown. She understood what brotherly devilry is, but also understood the moment when to draw the line.

The dragonfly darted towards Flare "Happy?"

The fire drake was grinning triumphantly "I don't know what happened, but seeing him so embarrassed was the best thing that happened in my life"

"Yeah, great" Sparx sighed half-heartedly "We all got our share, now start walking"

"We're not waiting for Cynder?"

"She'll catch up, my bro needs to get back on his paws"

Spyro looked at the black dragoness apologetically the moment they were alone.

"Cynder I'm so sorry"

She smiled "It's ok. Sparx was just screwing with you"

"Those girls really kissed me" he swallowed "I feel like I betrayed you"

She caressed his leg comfortingly "Did you want to kiss them?"

"Absolutely not!"

Cynder smiled "Then there's nothing to talk about. It's not your fault that you are so handsome. I just have to get used to the fact that there will be woman around you. My fault, should have found an uglier partner"

He leaned closer, nuzzling her softly by rubbing his cheek against hers, as if he prepared to whisper something.

"I will never do anything that might hurt you"

Cynder looked around the corridor, checking if they are alone, they weren't, but people weren't paying them much attention. Even if they did she wouldn't care.

She flared her wings open, the blade claws on her wing thumbs reflecting the torches light murderously. From a distance it looked like she wanted to trap Spyro in a jagged cage of her wings to suck the blood out of him.

But that ominous display was just for show.

Nobody knew that under that black winged cradle she kissed him passionately.

Momentarily she pushed away, her black wings returned to their natural position on her back.

"I know" she whispered affectionately

"Yeah?" Spyro slurred, dazed

"Want to know why I'm so certain of that?" she reached towards his horn, rearranging the flower in a way that only a feminine eye could make perfect

Spyro nodded.

"Because this flower thrives"


	74. Chapter 18 Book IV

Chapter 18

"As assassins we would-"

"Flare, dude!" Sparx blurt out indignantly as he spun around to face the dragon, throwing his arms in the air in display of irritation "Stop using that word already"

"Come on!" the red dragon whined "The torch lit tunnel, shadows creeping over the walls, whispers…" his eyes widened as he focused on the floating dragonfly, they stopped right at the entrance to the Mess Hall. The light coming from that room intensified the natural glow Sparx emitted. He was shimmering like a sack of gold coins.

"And now you! A perfect scenery for a story about assa-"

Sparx dashed forward, clamping the dragon's yapping mouth shut "Not this word again"

Flare shook off the yellow hands from his snout "Then what word should I use?"

"Why on earth you want to replace it? Just forget about it"

The drake shook his head fiercely "Oh no! This is just too perfect to ignore. The scenery is dark, scary and mysterious, with the occasional light of hope or reward, or…or good pushing through!" the drake spun around in place, spreading his wings in awe

"Can't you not see this?!"

Sparx covered his face with his hand, protecting himself from the indiscreet stares of passing people. Not satisfied with his cover he dashed behind Flare.

"Let's clear something up"

Flare scanned his left flank, then his right, just two repeat the motion three more times.

The dragonfly stared at him with wide eyes "I know I'm going to regret this but…what are you doing buddy?"

The drake examined his body two more times "You said something about clearing. Am I dirty somewhere?"

Sparx rubbed his forehead with a sigh "Ancestors give me strength" he shook his head "What I'm trying to say is that not everyone has such a high tolerance for strange like myself"

Flare frowned, dumbfounded "What?"

The dragonfly rubbed his pulsing temples "Keep your rich personality to yourself or people might take us for possessed"

"Sparx, seriously, stop with the smart talk already and tell me what you want"

"Don't draw so much attention to yourself. People look at us like we're crazy"

Flare looked around the corridor, some people were throwing the two of them quick, disgruntled glances. Sparx was covering behind his body…it all started to make sense now.

"You think I'm embarrassing us?"

"No, not us, you're too far gone to even tell the difference" the dragonfly pressed his thumb to his chest indignantly "You're embarrassing ME! I have a reputation to keep you know! A really sucky one lately, but still a reputation"

The dragon narrowed his eyes on the dragonfly "So basically all your talk about freedom all that time ago was worth shit?" he snarled "Guess what, I don't care if I'm embarrassing you. Nobody is going to tell me what to do, never again I'm going to be a slave"

Sparx raised his arms defensively "Sheesh man, that was a joke. All I'm trying to say is that not everyone has to know what's going on inside our heads. For their sake and ours. Words pulled out of context are more dangerous than any weapon"

"So what? I should shut up and nod all the time?"

"You need to keep secrets. That's how this gang rolls and you're a part of it now, until you learn what's going on you have to follow our lead. If you don't like it…" he shrugged "…you know where the d…then you can always leave"

Flare looked sadly at the ground "I want to be in a team with you and Cynder, I just don't like the idea of throwing away the stuff I like because it might make people mad. I'm free, nobody should tell me how to live my life"

Sparx folded his arms in sincere awe "Damn dude, you really are something" he clapped his hands, making the red neck raise from the ground "I didn't say you have to throw stuff and your ideas away, or whatever is going inside your head right now. Just replace the _ass_ word" he dashed towards the drake's snout, waggling his eyebrows "See what I did there?"

The dragon shook his head.

The dragonfly sighed with his arms slumping down "What I mean is you can change the word that people hate to hear now to something more acceptable, if you're so stubborn about this stuff. A word that is adorable, sweet and practically everyone loves. Like _pony_"

Flare frowned surprised "Pony? What the hell is a pony?"

Sparx covered his mouth "All I know is that if you add _my _and _little, _exactly in that order before _pony_ the world ends"

"All right, I'm beginning to get it now, sorry for all this trouble. I'll start to understand things faster with time, all my life I had to focus on something else than thinking"

"No problem" Sparx darted forward but then suddenly stopped ahead of the dragon "One question though, since we are in the sharing mood" he turned towards the drake "You've got quite the manly voice man, a slimmer body than my bro but undoubtedly of a fighting guy, sometimes you say things that only someone with experience might say, you know the grownup stuff. And then…"

Sparx snapped his fingers.

"…boom, you are a dull kid. Jumping around, getting excited about things no one really cares about, overreacting about stuff like a spoiled brat, drawing too much attention when it's not needed, not really thinking about what you're doing like wanting for something to just happen so you won't be bored. All those things that a attention seeking kid would want"

There was a pause.

Flare scratched the back of his head "What was the question again?"

The dragonfly threw his arms to the sides "What the hell is your problem man?"

"My problem? I don't have any problem"

"Why do you act like that?"

"I don't know what you want to know. That's just me"

Sparx folded his arms, narrowing his eyes on the drake "See? You know how to lie, even if you pretend you don't"

The dragon's eyes flared up, fiery sparks jumped within his eyes "I don't know what you're talking about"

"Hey dude, whatever, everyone needs their privacy"

"Just because I'm different doesn't mean that I'm worse!" Flare snapped

"Whoa" Sparx jerked his head back surprised "From where did that come from? I'm not judging or anything, relax man"

With a snort the drake looked at the ground.

"Sorry"

"Damn you're moody. Did your check if you're pregnant?"

Flare looked up, his snout grimaced by a blank expression.

"Pregnant? How? I'm a guy, I can't get pregnant"

With a grin Sparx patted the dragon's head "Buddy, in your case, everything is possible"

The drake frowned,

The dragonfly elbowed him playfully "Come on, lazy tails are catching up, let's go call dibs on the line for food Pony"

"That word sucks" Flare blurt out as he started to follow the dragonfly with a jump "It just doesn't fit with my dark and mysterious scenery"

"Why it bothers you so much anyway?"

"It just doesn't fit in the book I'm planning to write"

Sparx snickered "Write a book?" he turned around with an amused look on his face "You?"

"Yeah, what's so strange about it?"

The dragonfly shrugged as he continued on his way "Nothing, burn the midnight oil over it"

The dragon reared his head back "Huh?" he sprang after the dragonfly "What's the point in that?"

"Exactly"

* * *

"Look at this line!" Flare whined

Sparx raised in the air, indifferently scanning the group of people standing ahead of them, all waiting to get to the counter for their today's breakfast. There was quite a lot of people ahead of them, but it wasn't so bad when you got used to the fact that in this Mess Hall everyone has his turn.

"I've seen worse" he commented nonchalantly as he lowered himself down

"How can you be so calm about this?" the drake sniffed the air, a drool appeared on his lower lip, he had no idea what smelled like that but it was absolutely wonderful

"Can't you smell this?" he slurred impatiently "It's driving me crazy"

Sparx cackled "If only that would be the truth"

Flare tapped his claws against the floor impatiently "Why the lines anyway? We should go out and buy some food, or cook it ourselves!"

"Do you have any money?"

"No"

"Do you know how to cook?"

The drake frowned offended "I'm a fire dragon Sparx"

The dragonfly smirked "Did any of your meals smell like this?"

"Well…no"

"Then you don't know how to cook"

"Whatever!" Flare whined again "We're hungry here! We shouldn't be waiting for our food!"

"You're getting your share for free, so stop complaining"

The drake snorted "I don't like this one bit!"

"Nobody cares about your problems buddy. Focus on something else, you need to stop annoying people around you"

"So unfair" Flare hissed under his breath as he looked around the room

Nothing but boring, incomprehensible chatter bounced off the walls of the Mess Hall.

A high-pitched feminine giggle broke through the ongoing conversations in the room.

Flare's head immediately shifted in that direction, he had to crane his neck to the side to look past the group of cheetahs and moles that stood in the line ahead of them to locate the source of the sound.

The reason behind this normal, yet at the same strangely interesting noise was a female dragon. She was leaning against the wall, with her gaze fixed on the floor. She was giggling, a result that was obviously extremely pleasant to the male dragon standing next to her, who observes his companion with an amused smile.

And the fiery assass…pony crept forward. The two not being his targets, but nevertheless high officials like them have to know one or two valuable secrets.

"See? I made you laugh" the male smirked

"You're a pig" the girl retorted endearingly.

"Not as much as you"

"A sassy pig"

"Not my fault that I'm so damn good"

The female grinned "Good in being pathetic you wanted to say"

Flare narrowed his sight, driven by the eye of imagination he noticed something that wasn't there. Like the idea of those two fighting over domination.

"But good nevertheless. You on the other paw are bad in everything"

"This is really starting to become too childish" the female narrowed her eyes, wry sparks flaring up inside "You know, this reminds me of the time when we were young, and you were always there to pick on me.. Do you remember how it ended?"

The male dragon shook his head in disbelief "You're stupid"

The girl leered at the drake "Are you hitting on me?"

They looked at each other for quite some time and then started laughing simultaneously.

Flare cocked his head, that was an unexpected turn of events, first they are arguing and then suddenly laughing. All that fight for power he saw earlier was gone. It was like opening a portal to another world by speaking the right password'

"Finally!" the shout from the hovering dragonfly g him back to reality

"Took you long enough Twin tails" Sparx commented belligerently

Both Spyro and Cynder chuckled

"Twin tails?" the purple drake ask amused as the two of them joined their companions.

Disgruntled snorts and terribly toxic whispers about Cynder murmured from behind them.

They both ignored it.

"From where did it come from?" Spyro inquired further

Sparx folded his arms with a grin.

"Bro, bro, bro, You're still too young to know such things"

Spyro rolled his eyes "Fine, don't tell if you don't want to"

"Hi Cynder!" Flare greeted his returning friend excitedly, completely ignoring what the two brothers had to say

The dragoness returned him a kind simile "Hey you"

"Out of my kitchen!"

The Mess Hall went silent like by a magic touch, everything that remained and could be called a sound was the rumbling echo of the shout from the kitchen. The door of which were observed by every possible colorful eye that currently resided in the Mess Hall.

Then there was the clinging noise of the frying pan and gasps of anxiousness as some peculiar ovation. The door of the kitchen burst open, slamming with their wooden surface into the nearby wall.

Momentarily an adult fire dragon shot from the doorstep, the burning tail tip almost burning through the swinging door. Some of the jumping food on the shaking, clinking platter the dragon held in his mouth landed on the floor. His steps were uneven, shaking, his legs just kept tripping over each other, the escape was hilarious, like that of a drunk trying to escape from authorities.

Full of imagined dignity.

The Mess Hall burst out laughing.

"Hey!" Flare snorted angrily as his eyes followed the dragon "That's the guy I saw Iris with in the City Hall!"

One of the nearby moles pulled up the sleeves of his blouse as he elbowed his friend.

"Did it got hotter here or is it just me?"

"Yup" Cynder confirmed callously "That's her uncle"

"Uncle?" Sparx repeated surprised "One day off and I missed so much?"

Flare didn't pay them any attention, his head kept following the stumbling drake. During one of those upward stretches of his red neck his yellow eyes widened in pleasant shock.

"I don't feel anything" the mole's friend responded after one of the strangest contemplations of his life. He could swear that he felt something there, he would swear that to anyone that would ask.

But nobody did.

"That's Iris!" the fiery drake exclaimed excitedly

The two male companions impulsively looked in the same direction, only Cynder was unmoved by the revelation, finding more interesting things to see in her own claws than in her surroundings.

"That's our spot!" Sparx blurt out indignantly the moment he noticed that the dragoness occupied their table. Sitting there all alone.

Wonder why.

The adult fire dragon reached the ice dragoness, dropping the plate onto the table, right in front of the girl's nose. He leaned closer towards her, from here it was unable to tell what he was saying, but judging from how tense the drake was it was quite clear that it was nothing nice.

He then stormed out, almost tripping the table with his angrily swiping tail. The display of annoyance didn't seem to have any impact on the girl, since she indifferently reached for the plate, ignoring even the scattered remains lying on the table.

"Let's go!" Flare dashed forward

"Dude!" Sparx yelled, stopping the fire drake in his tracks "You're leaving the line?"

The dragon pointed in the direction of the table "Iris is there" he whined

"So what? She can't feed you"

"But-"

"Get back here, she'll still be there when we are done here. After we get our plates you can ran away to her" he waved his hand indifferently "Or whatever else you want to do"

"We can always all join her when we get our meals" Spyro added

Every draconic member of the group froze and looked at him.

"What?" Flare asked with thrilled disbelief

"What?" Cynder asked with cold hostility

Spyro swallowed, his eyes hectically jumping between his two companions.

"We really gonna do that?" Flare blurt out frantically "Cynder you will be there too?"

The black dragoness sighed "I think ye-"

"Awesome!" Flare exclaimed joyfully "All friends together!" he jumped forward, almost trampling a mole in front. He kept poking his head in every empty space he could find, just to get a glimpse of how many people are still waiting to reach the counter.

"Faster please" he whined

A dragon shrugged Flare's intrusive nose away.

"Watch it man! Wait for your turn"

"Yesterday…I wanted to say yesterday" Cynder mumbled with a devastated

Sparx slowly shook his head, observing the jumping fire dragon ahead "Guys I can understand just about anything, purple shemales, friendly orcs or cuddly death hounds, but I'll never understand that guy"

"Why did you propose such a thing?" Cynder asked painfully as she looked at Spyro "I don't want anything to do with that…her. I don't want to sit at the same table with that….her. My claws itch just by thinking about that…her"

Spyro rubbed his leg nervously "I wanted to score some extra points with Flare, he seems to really like Iris"

"You shouldn't have drag me into this"

"I didn't! You can always say no. That was just an idea, we didn't decide what to do just yet"

Sparx cleared his throat meaningfully, nodding in the direction of the bouncing fire dragon.

"Are you sure of that bro?"

"No" Cynder added firmly "it's ok. Problems of the individual shouldn't concern the whole group"

"Look at the bright side. We are going to train together with Iris, this is our chance to do a little bonding"

The dragoness frowned, sparks of fiery poison danced within her eyes.

"The only thing I'll ever bond with Iris will be her own entrails"

"Give her a chance, maybe she isn't so bad" Spyro nodded at the line ahead "And you'll be jumping around as Flare"

"She attacked me Spyro" Cynder protested

"Well… technically it is you who attacked her first

The dragoness blinked and reared her head back. The moment the initial shock was gone, her eyes narrowed dangerously to slits while she craned her neck forward.

"What did you just say?" Cynder hissed wrathfully %

Spyro gulped.

Sparx dashed to his brother's side, covering his mouth "If you want to save your skin, keep repeating that she is right. Maybe she's merciful enough to forgive your fatal mistake" he whispered

"I mean…I want….I think…." Spyro mumbled

"You think that it's my fault? You think that I started it?" she asked, every word dripping anger

"Think!" Sparx urged his brother with a whisper "Be confident, don't show any weakness or she'll sense your hesitation. Then you're dead"

"T-t-t-t-hat-t-" the purple drake stammered

The dragonfly elbowed his brother with fake approval "That's it! Keep going and there will be only purple strands of you left"

Spyro cleared his throat "I-I-I-I mean umm…that umm…I umm…"

"Very nice bro, with all that humming she might think that you're praying. You always knew how to soften a furious heart"

The dragon's panicked eyes shifted at the dragonfly quickly, they wanted to radiate fury, but the obvious mockery coming from Sparx' mouth only intensified the feeling of nervousness.

"T-that's not w-what I m-m-eant"

The dragonfly next to his head hissed painfully "This excuse never works"

"Not what you meant?" Cynder snarled "_You attacked her first _is pretty clear to me"

"Technically" Spyro added livingly "I said technically. That makes my statement not an accusation but a loose observation of a third party"

Sparx winced "Ouch"

"A third party?!" Cynder snapped ferociously "Excuse me if I understood our situation differently Mr Observer. I had no idea that it was just an experiment"

Spyro's eyes widened in fear "That's not-"

"Of course that's not what you meant!" she snickered mockingly "Your words always mean something else"

"Cynder, please"

"You aren't supposed to be a third party! You are here to always back me up!"

"I always had your back"

"Guys it's our turn now!" Flare shouted excitedly

All of them looked impulsively in the fire dragon's direction, but seconds later their attention once more shifted to the previous point of focus.

Cynder had her mouth slightly opened, as if wanting to say something but in the last moment deciding not to. Instead she narrowed her eyes on Spyro, deliberately forgetting about the thing that crossed her mind before they were interrupted.

"Do you hear that sound?" she whispered maliciously

With a gulp Spyro started to listen intently. The dumbfounded expression he adopted soon after showed clearly that he doesn't know what he is looking for.

"That's the sound of the extra point basket breaking apart" she clarified and spun around, marching annoyed to the counter

"That's not fair!" Spyro whined under his breath

Sparx lowered himself to the high of his brother's head and observed the walking black dragoness with his arms folded on his chest.

"Chicks are crazy"

"I don't understand what's gotten into her"

"And you're stupid"

"Hey!" Spyro snapped annoyed "You helped enough"

"You should have done what I told you, but no, you had to stick your neck out"

"I did nothing wrong! I'm not entitled to my own opinion?"

"But you are, as long as it is the same as Cynder's"

"What kind of my opinion is that?"

Sparx shrugged "You get what you signed up for"

"What?"

With a grin the dragonfly patted his brother's head "You poor fool" with that he dashed forward waving for Spyro to follow him "Come on, Cynder is at the counter, if we won't show up there who knows what she'll do to those nice mole ladies"

Cynder was already in a heated argument with the moles serving the food, their presence at the counter prevented it from escalating any further. With a polite yet meaningful word or two Spyro got the food for the three of them without incident. Flare was already ahead of them, with plate in mouth, wagging his tail in pleasant anticipation.

And then they reached the table, Flare was the first to arrive.

"Hi Iris!" he blurt out enthusiastically as he unhesitatingly put his plate right next to hers.

The satin blue dragoness looked up, her diamond eyes widening the moment she noticed the fire drake. They only grew in size when her orbs shifted past him and spotted two other dragons and a dragonfly joining the table.

She was speechless and genuinely surprised.

The gentle expression dominating her typically rough and always angry snout was a clear sign of that. Not to mention her partially opened mouth with noodles hanging from her maw in strands.

Flare aimed his paw at his three companions, forgetting that all of them were more or less already acquainted with the ice dragoness.

"Meet my two friends Cynder and Sparx, that purple dragon over there is Spyro"

Both mentioned friends looked worryingly at the purple dragon.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that" Spyro replied calmly as he took his sit at the table

The fire dragon looked in the direction of the blue dragoness again. His yellow eyes widened when only now he spotted that there was a book sprawled open in front of her.

"What are you reading?"

Iris swallowed the hanging noodles with a slur, the gentle expression disappeared momentarily, replaced by the typical rough features as she slid the book off the edge of the table with a swift motion. Landing in the opened bag next to her with a thud.

As it turned in the air Flare noticed a black leather cover and a shadowy looking letter. It was T he believed, and it was very familiar.

"Wasn't that the book we found in the library? The one with the black dra-"

"No" Iris snapped coldly

"Are you sure? It really looked-"

"What I'm reading is none of your damn business"

"Sorry"

Iris dived at the plate, took another bite at the noodles and looked around. All of them were still here.

"What the hell do you want? This is my table"

"Slow down there missy" Sparx cut in indignantly "We called bids on this spot way before you showed your cold butt here"

The dragonesses diamond eyes shifted at the dragonfly, she was running her claw around the plate in front of her, emitting malicious screeching sounds.

"You will show me respect fly or I'll squash you"

"I suggest you consider your next words carefully" Cynder said threateningly, the blade like tail tip kept swinging from side to side behind her like some sort of a murderous plant awaiting its prey

The females eyes met, the atmosphere around the table got unbearably thick. Everyone felt it, even the mostly oblivious Flare. Another minutes of silence would undoubtedly lead to the breaking of this _friendly_ table.

Literally.

"Calm down" Flare pleaded

"I agree with Flare" Spyro added "We will have time to blow some steam off on the training grounds, as warriors do. Fighting here will only lead to us being kicked out of here or worse. We all have plans that we don't want to see ruined"

His words didn't have any impact on Cynder, she was still eying the blue dragoness fiercely, however Iris seemed to consider his words, by some strange means finding sense in them.

As he looked at her he couldn't decide if he was happy because of that or worried. Both girls have a fiery, hard to quench temper, he learned to like it, love even, he learned how to deal with it.

All that experience kept pushing only one thought in his head.

It went too easy.

"We're going to train together?" Flare asked excited "Awesome!"

"I'm not going to waste my time on weaklings like you" Iris retorted, returning to her food

"I don't see what say you have in this. If we wanted your opinion we would ask your uncle" Cynder commented with a tiny smile at the corner of her mouth

Sparx snickered.

Iris growled, the plate turned momentarily to ice and seconds later was seen flying at Cynder, who dodged it without problems.

People didn't react to the breaking sound, all too well acquainted with the noise of many breaking dishes.

"I'm going to cut your tongue out slut!" Iris jumped on all fours with a murderous snarl

Cynder adopted a defensive posture.

"Bring it on bitch!"

"Catfight!" Sparx cried as he fearfully dashed towards the ceiling

"Flare! Grab her!" Spyro shouted, pointing at Iris while he threw himself at Cynder, embracing her in his wings and paws as if in a hug, blocking her sight

She started to thrash in his embrace "Let go off me!"

"Cynder I know you're angry at me, at Iris"

She kept on fighting "I'm pissed at both of you! That whore is going to feel it!"

There was a crashing sound next to them. They ignored it.

"I know, I'll beg for your forgiveness later, but now please calm down. Don't do anything you might regret later"

"Shut up!" she cried out, slapping him across his snout and punching at his chest "You already showed on which side you are!"

Spyro ignored the itching pain "I apologize, I should never have said that"

There was some shouting next to them. They ignored it.

She didn't say anything, she only kept on struggling.

"Don't let your anger out on Iris, if you have to punish someone punish me"

Her resistance faded considerably.

"But if you love me as much as I love you I hope you let your anger go" he whispered as he embraced her in a loving hug

She melted completely. If not for his wings and paws he was sure she would drop on the ground like a doll.

"What am I doing?" she muttered devastated, her eyes raised themselves at him, spotting the red mark the size of her paw on his cheek

She started to caress it fondly "I hit you…"

Spyro jerked his head back "Really? I didn't feel a thing"

She smiled weakly "Liar. I almost torn your head off" guilt dawned on her features "I'm so sorry"

"Cynder you don't-"

She silenced him by covering his mouth with her paw "When I saw that girl fury overwhelmed me, I still remember how she treated and wanted to hurt Amela. My idiotic mind took your words for betrayal, after that I've seen everything in red"

She removed her paw from his mouth, only lovingly running her claw across his lower lip "I don't want to be a girl who orders you around. You have all the right to see things your way, if I don't like it, screw me"

"Cyn-"

She pressed her claw to both his lips and smiled charmingly.

"I get what I signed up for" she kissed her claw, her warm breath from so up close made his lips waver

"Funny, Sparx said the same thing to me"

"Holy crap!" Sparx shocked yelp brought the two young dragons back to reality

Momentarily the loud commotion, louder than before struck them like an unexpected bell's rumble.

They both spun around, their eyes widened when they noticed a big circle of people around their dinning spot. Their eyes went even wider when they looked across the table and saw the huge, burly cheetah cook, holding by the horn Iris and Flare. Each in one massive hand.

Something covered their mouths, as if someone shoved food down their throats.

The burly cheetah raised her arms, dragging the two young dragons even farther above the floor. Their unwilling ascent stopped the moment their snouts were in the same line with the cheetah's face.

Both of them looked sick, from top to bottom, even the tails that are the dragons usually most active part hung numbly in the air.

"These mushrooms I shoved down your throats would kill off a whole village if put into a well. A dose of those for too active dragons like yourself drains your energy, magical included"

Iris grumbled and swung her paws reaching the cheetah's big arm, yet her strike, if it can be called like that, instead of cutting the feline ended up scratching her. Just like petting a cat behind the ear.

The cook looked seriously at the weakly thrashing female.

"With that toxin in your system darling you're just as dangerous as an overgrown lizard"

Iris kept on swinging.

The cheetah frowned "Which reminds me that I know a perfect recipe for a lizard soup" she looked the dragoness over "We would only have to pluck those feathers of yours. I have a perfect cauldron in the back. You would fit perfectly"

"No" Flare mumbled and began to thrash around.

The cook intensified the grip on the dragon's horn. Her fingers impulsively started to unclench themselves from the sudden intensified burn.

"What a fighter, strange for you to protect her, not so long ago you two were on each other throats. Hopefully when you start to throw up in the evening you'll learn that nobody shits where I work"

She looked up at the surrounding crowd "Hopefully you all learn!" the cheetah's growl boomed within the Mess Hall "Remember that I have a way to take you all down, if you forget" she raised her arms, shaking the young dragons in her grasp "You end up like these two. Next time however you land straight in my pot!"

With that roar she unclenched her fists, sending the two dragons on the floor, where they sprawled against each other like a pair of lousily prepared marathon runners.

"And you!" the cook growled as she spun around, pointing a claw at the ceiling "Mosquito!"

Sparx gulped.

"Don't think that I don't know what you have been up to! Do it again and I'll make a snack out of you!"

The cook looked around, people stared at her. She stomped with her massive foot.

"Eat!"

People didn't need more encouragement than that, everyone was either gone or back at their table. Everything returned to normal in a moment's notice. Returning to their duties as if nothing ever happened.

Spyro and Cynder exchanged a quick glance and sped past the table.

"Flare?" Cynder asked worryingly

"What the heck happened?" Spyro threw the question in the air as he observed the two dragons on the floor.

"Remember how you told Flare to grab Iris?" Sparx asked as he hovered above the two draconic, well if he wouldn't know better, he would say corpses

Spyro nodded instinctively.

"So he grabbed her, taking your words literally like everything else. Man you should have seen how he tackled her. Her feathers shot up in the air like fired from a catapult. After that it was all fight"

He nodded at Iris "Our Fallen Angel doesn't like to be touched, you can only imagine how thrilled she was when Crouton pinned her to the ground. Hard to say who was more surprised, me or her"

Sparx shrugged "Anyway, when the shock was gone, it was then when the fun started. They kept rolling on the ground, at first it looked like she was attacking Flare, but later it was eye for an eye. They were really into it, as they kept on going the tiniest hair on me started to stand on end from all the magic in the air. A little while longer and I swear they would make a crater in the floor"

"When the screaming reached a dangerous level people started to intervene, I don't really have to tell you that our wrestlers didn't allow to touch themselves. During this mess Big Mamma eventually showed and voila"

He gestured at the practically dead dragons.

"The final result"

"Can you get up?" Cynder asked the fire drake caringly

"I think so" Flare muttered

Spyro jumped towards Iris who began lifting herself up on shaking legs.

"Let me help"

"Don't touch me" she hissed angrily

"Come on, take advantage of my good nature"

Spyro slid his left shoulder and part of his body beneath her. She didn't protest. At first she tried to get up on her own but the moment her weakened body felt support her legs gave away instantly and she landed on Spyro's back with a grunt.

"Where to?" he asked, staying in the role of a servant

"Table" Iris replied weakly "Sit there"

He did as he was told, led her to the table and allowed her to sit. She was swaying in place at first so he stayed behind her, ready to catch her in case she would fall. She didn't.

Flare found his place next to her soon after, closely escorted by Cynder.

"Iris sorry, I didn't want to" Flare mumbled guilty

"Not a word"

Cynder curiously looked both dragons over.

"Flare you're bleeding, left foreleg and neck"

The drake averted his gaze with a wince.

The dragoness craned her neck towards Iris' back and sniffed. She frowned.

"Move your wings away"

Iris glared at her "Don't tell me what to do"

"I'm not going to ask twice"

"Fuck you"

Cynder shrugged "As you wish"

She grabbed the feathery wing and forcefully jerked it away, making the ice dragoness shiver and hiss in pain.

"Just as I thought"

The girl's back was burned, scorched in some places even, making scales crack. Blood leaked through the wounds in lazy streams, from places where the heat didn't manage to touch for long.

Iris pushed her wing back.

"Take your filthy paws off me" the dragoness demanded

"This paw?" Cynder poked her wing, exactly in the spot where it covered the injuries

Iris stiffened with a weak growl, the black whore's touch literally ruffled her feathers.

"I'm going to kill you"

She poked her wing again "I'm waiting"

Tiny icy sparks shot from the blue dragonesses tail tip.

"Cynder, please, leave her alone" Flare whined pitifully

She looked at the fire drake, ashamed and ignorant of his plea at the same time.

"I don't want your protection Dynamite"

"I asked Cynder to show you respect, because I know she's capable of it. Not everyone is like you Iris"

The mentioned dragoness shuffled her legs tentatively. Flare's words touched a spot, a very sensitive one of every creature with a heart and a conscience.

Shame.

Harassing Iris in her current state was cruel, or regrettable at least and she didn't want to disappoint Flare, or herself for that matter. However she can't just leave Iris be, not after what she has done. She needs to be reminded of her place, needs to understand that the world doesn't turn around her.

For proud and arrogant creatures like her nothing is worse than mercy.

Cynder leaned closer to Iris.

"You are not worth it" she whispered "Remember this moment, where my single puff would be enough to put you down. Remember that I walked away because you are pitiful. Remember that you are at my mercy. Remember that you are my bitch"

Iris turned her head in her direction with a snarl and spat.

She missed, Cynder was already behind her.

"All right I think that's enough for now" Spyro cut in, separating both girls "We all are at the same table here, so if not for respect for ourselves than at least for the respect of our parents who showed us dignity at a common table. For their memory let's at least tolerate each other"

"What if someone never met his parents?" Flare asked shyly

"If you can tolerate everyone at this table without any lessons then you are better than all of us. For those who don't know their parents and dislike someone from this group just remember home is where your heart is. And home is family.

He threw a meaningful, quick glance at Cynder before returning his attention to the two weak dragons.

"Thirsty? I can fetch some water if you want"

"My, my bro" Sparx commented with a nod of his head "What happened to you? For a moment I confused you there for a guy"

Flare looked surprised at Iris, then at Cynder, Sparx and eventually at Spyro. What is wrong with that purple dragon?

"I don't want anything from you" Iris answered

"Ok, fair enough" Spyro sat at the table, returning to his meal "Maybe we should get to know each other better? We're all acquainted here more or less, we don't know anything about you Iris"

She looked around the room, pretending she didn't hear anything.

Spyro took an uncertain bite at his food, thinking on how to proceed.

"Maybe I'll start" he said when he swallowed the food he munched "I'm Spyro, I hatched in the Swamps, grew up there among a dragonfly family who adopted me. Sparx is my brother, technically a foster one, but I hate that word. Ummm…" he scratched the back of his head "…what else? I grew up believing I was a dragonfly" he announced with a forced smile

"How long you stayed in those Swamps?"

Spyro jerked his head back in surprise, with a proud smile he scanned his companions, who just like him couldn't believe that Iris is talking with him. Maybe she isn't that bad after all.

"All my hatchling life and then some"

"You grew horns, gained body muscle ten times bigger than that of your family and you still believed that you were a glowing bug?"

Sparx sighed "That insult is getting so old"

Spyro nodded "Pretty much, yeah"

"Now I'll stop wondering why my world ended, it had to since the legendary purple dragons are retards"

Cynder narrowed her eyes on the dragoness furiously.

"I think I'm going to sneeze"

The glance Iris threw her was enough to tell that she understood the signal.

Spyro cackled bashfully while scratching the back of his head. He was wrong, she is bad.

"Okay enough about me, tell us about yourself. You have a strange accent, while your uncle does not. What's the deal with that?"

"I'm not looking for friends. All you need to know is that I don't give a shit about you and I will kill your girlfriend if you won't stop me right now, when you have your chance filth"

Cynder smirked "You better get in line"

"Listen" Spyro commented, fighting hard to keep his anger in check "I don't know what's your problem, but I won't allow that to happen. Nobody is touching my friends"

Iris aimed her cold eyes at him arrogantly. Only hate emanated from them, for absolutely everything and everyone.

"I'm going to kill your girlfriend and you won't do anything about it. You're below me retard. Fuck off"

Sparx cracked his knuckles.

"Can I hit her?"

"Who is this girlfriend you keep talking about?" Flare asked confused

Both Spyro and Cynder looked at each other, telepathically deciding their next course of action regarding the insolent dragoness. Provoke her or act just like her, show her that she is worthless to them, not the other way around.

"You're too dumb to understand" Iris retorted

"You're the one insulting a purple dragon!" the fire drake blurt out indignantly "You're the dumb one"

Iris glared at him with a growl "I'm nothing like you, idiot"

"I'm not sure about that. Look at us, we both can barely sit and were forced to eat some very disgusting mushrooms"

The three companions grinned seeing Iris' thoughtful expression, she certainly didn't expect such an answer.

"Shut up" the ice dragoness hissed finally, unable to find proper words

"It's not so bad to be like someone else. I'm different than anybody else but still have many things in common with Cynder. That's why we are such awesome friends!" he smiled at the black dragoness before focusing on the other girl again "You can have friends too"

"Stop talking moron"

Flare shook his head "All those insults, all that aggression doesn't suit a girl like you"

She slammed her fist into the table while flaring her feathery wings formidably, or so she imagined. In truth, with her energy still drained the _slam _was similar to the sound of smacking ice cream on the floor and the _formidably flared wings _looked like a delicately straightened window curtain.

"You know nothing about me!"

"You're interesting, nice and able to remember how to smile"

Sparx snorted "Nice? Dude are you high?"

"Stop bothering me already" Iris snapped

"You're talking with me, this has to mean something"

"You're lucky that I'm poisoned and have no strength to tear your head off"

Flare beamed happily "See? You're joking already"

"I never joke"

Flare smirked, he knew he was winning, he'll make her laugh. It's time for the magical question, whatever it means.

"I know why you are so friendly to me"

Iris growled "I want to get rid of you moron"

"Are you hitting on me?" he asked bluntly

Cynder started to cough, choking on her food.

Sparx spat out all the water he poured in his throat.

Spyro's mouth dropped open wordlessly, all the chunks of food he was munching moments ago fell back onto the plate.

The dragoness looked at his fiery grinning, expecting mouth. The dumb cretin is prepared for some kind of reaction from her, like he used some kind of special password that triggers only one behavior. Not to mention that only a single glance was enough to tell that he doesn't know the meaning behind the question.

Idiot.

"Yes" Iris replied in her own typical cold way

The smile faded from Flare's mouth momentarily.

"What?"

"Take me"

The three other young consumers at the table who currently didn't engage in the ongoing conversation threw surprised looks between each other.

Flare jerked his head back "Take you where?"

"Ooooohhhhh" Sparx huffed in sudden realization

"On the table"

"What?"

"Right here and now"

"I'm sorry Iris but I don't know what you're talking about"

Iris pushed herself up, dragging her tail along the ground, pulling the bag from the ground along its rope handle. The additional weight made her totter on her still weak legs.

Flare pulled himself up fiercely.

"Let me-"

"Don't touch me" she snarled at him

The fire drake stopped in his tracks, observing the slowly walking dragoness. She was like that heroine he saw on one of the pictures he saw in some book. Beautiful, harsh and abstruse. Carrying a ton of weight only few could bare.

The moment he heard and seen her opening the front door he woke up from his trance.

"See you on the training grounds!" he yelled after her as the passed through the doorstep.

The door closed with a thud.

With a defeated sight Flare sat at the table "Do any of you know what she meant earlier?

Sparx took another indifferent bite on his meal.

"Don't worry, she was just mocking you"

"Do you think we will see her again soon?" Flare asked, ignorant of what has just been said

"Knowing our luck dude" Sparx continued nonchalantly "she won't be the only crap we will have to deal with soon"


	75. Chapter 19 Book IV

Chapter 19

They spent the last minutes of what all of them probably call free morning time eating at the table of the Mess Hall. Talking about trivial stuff, but mostly remaining in silence, knowing that there will be plenty time for conversation in the future.

"Sparx" Spyro licked his lips as he emptied his plate "You said that there was something more to Brill earlier"

"This is it right?" the dragonfly asked with fake excitement "End of chit-chat? We're back to the fun business?"

"Just who is this Brill guy?" Flare asked, his interest perked by the familiar name

"You'll learn everything when Sparx starts talking" Spyro urged his brother with a nod of his head

"You wanted to tell us about everything earlier!"

"That was before, the day hasn't really kicked off yet, it could have been a complete downhill slide from the beginning. Now…" he spread his arms open, making a slight spin "we're here. In a place where we, with poor effect, fill our stomachs, laugh, talk and see Iris getting owned"

"Owned?" the fire drake blurt out with a fierce confusion "Owned how?"

Sparx ignored the question.

"Since you want to know so-

"She is no one's property!" Flare snapped ferociously, weak flames of fury flashed from his burning body

All three other companions jerked their heads back with shocked squints of their eyes.

The fire drake started to pant, his fiery body pulsed with brighter and dimmer light simultaneously. His yellow eyes shifted from one dumbfounded face to the other with each labored breath he took. Strangely he didn't feel stupid about his outburst, or about the fact that six colorful eyes were staring at him.

He felt tired and sick.

Those ugly mushrooms might have something to do with it, most likely they intensified the discomfort like tenfold, although they weren't definitely the main reason behind it.

He was like a dog who desperately NEEDED to bark but lost his voice.

Only when the silence stretched to really palpable limit his eyes widened in sudden embarrassment. The unpleasant enlightenment made him to avert his eyes.

Sparx looked at the two dragons, their eyes shifted at him impulsively. He raised his yellow finger to the side of his head and started to make small circles with it while whistling silently.

"S-s-s-sor-r-r-ry" Flare stammered, the light he naturally emanates returned to its normal intensity, if not a little darker

"Flare, are you feeling ok?" Cynder asked warmly

"N- n-n-o"

"Who the hell keeps poisonous mushrooms in her own kitchen and dares to shove them inside your customer throats!" she slammed her paw into the table "I'm going to file a complaint about that cook to the Guardians!"

If you want us to eat your thighs the next day by all means do it" Sparx commented wryly

She narrowed her eyes on him challengingly.

"You think I won't do it?"

"No, no, no, you can do everything. Go for it even, I'm sure the morale would shoot high up sky when people would get your tail for dinner"

"You know the worst part?" Spyro swallowed with abhorrence "I imagined it. That cook held two dragons like chickens for slaughter! Cynder you don't want to mess with someone like this. You're good as you are now"

"How many times did you have to taste her?" Flare asked suspiciously, his fiery light pulsed with brighter glow once more, as if under the influence of the second wind. The same couldn't be said about his clouded eyes however

The fire dragon's stupid, literal question caught Spyro of guard, his amethyst eyes widened, beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. In panic his desperate orbs found Cynder, seeking forgiveness or an impulse to protect their secret. A secret who he just revealed by his stupidity.

Her gaze didn't share his worry. It seemed not to understand his.

Exactly!

That's just Flare, he'll believe everything. He just needs to be convincing.

"I don't know how she tastes!" Spyro blurt out with a nervous cackle "It's not like I kissed Cynder, or licked or anything" he laughed almost maniacally "You think we're a couple?"

Cynder choked on her own saliva.

The sound made his eyes dart between red and black scales in a hectic manner.

"Because we aren't!" he shouted, making Flare jerk his head back in both fear and surprise.

"We aren't a couple!" he laughed, sweating profusely "How you even think about it?!"

Sparx covered his face in his hand.

"That's my brother" he sighed defeated

"Spyro-"

"Cynder tell him!" the purple dragon cried out like a desperate prisoner with the blade of a sword at his neck as he gazed in his partner's direction

All of this, this stupid situation and his devastated cry caught her completely by surprise. Spyro is a terrible liar, he complicates for himself even the simplest situation. How this particular one turned out was a big shock to her.

"I never-"

"Of course you would never look at me!" Spyro exclaimed fervently "I'm a purple dragon!"

Flare shook his head "Ok, I don't understand what are you shouting about" his voice carrying the same usual sharpness

Whatever other scream boiled within Spyro's throat died down suddenly as if someone would turn off the air in his lungs.

"You don't?" he asked, or more likely rasped. His voice being terribly rough, as if forming words for the very first. His shocked, hopeful amethyst eyes were locked on Cynder

"Are you even still talking to me?"

The purple drake laughed nervously "Of course! Who else I would be talking to?!"

Flare cocked his head, he didn't know if Spyro is joking or…doing some other purple stuff. One thing he learned during his life is that to never try understanding purple dragon's way of thinking. It's just too complicated for his head.

"I had to miss your answer. How many times you had to treat Cynder's wounds again?"

Spyro's mouth clamped shut, he eyed the fire drake, overwhelmed by bewilderment.

"Can you repeat that?"

"I asked how many times you had to taste Cynder. You know, lick her wounds. I did that to myself like thousands of times and every time was slightly different than the other"

"Oh" Spyro mumbled, the cogs in his head began to grind against each other as they tried to return to their normal working pace

He averted his gaze thoughtfully "Oh" the gears with a shrilling grind pushed through the clinch he forced them into

"Ooooohhhh" he huffed in embarrassing realization, the cogs kicked into their normal tempo with a rumbling thud

"That's…" Spyro scratched the back of his head with a bashful, weak smile "…that's a lot easier question to answer"

Sparx looked at the window with an approving nod "Not so bad bro, there's still daylight outside"

"It didn't happen often" Spyro continued "Cynder isn't the type who asks for help, she's independent and likes doing things her way" he threw a craving glance at her "One day maybe she'll see that sometimes a different tongue is far more better"

Cynder shook her head endearingly, she wasn't certain if the play of words was intentional yet her lips still moved, it wasn't difficult to read the silent word they were forming.

_Pig._

"You should-" Flare rasped and then suddenly started coughing roughly

The atmosphere of awkwardness and bashful joy hightailed away.

The dragoness pushed herself on her legs sharply "Flare?"

"I'm fine" he blurt out between another cough

"Is that blood?" Sparx pointed at the red dragon's lower lip

"No" Flare wiped his mouth fiercely "S-sometimes my saliva turns red like m-my body. It's normal"

Spyro winced, perhaps he isn't on the best of terms with Flare, but seeing him so sick was rather painful. Not to mention that he obviously lied, despite how convincing he tried to sound.

"This is crazy!" Cynder snarled furiously "I'm going to have a word with that cat!"

"No" Flare blurt out, grabbing her leg before she moved

She looked at his red paw, the grip was strong, but she was surprised by the sensation going underneath. Her leg was being heated in weak annoyed pulses. As if held with the strength of someone going through rehabilitation as he again learned to walk.

"It's normal" he repeated almost pleadingly "It's normal" his claws unclenched themselves from around her leg and limply returned to the floor

"You can barely sit!"

"Continue Sparx" the red dragon smiled weakly

"Flare!"

"Continue…" he mumbled with a barely audible whisper "…I'm fine"

The dragonfly looked up at the two other dragons, seeking any kind of advice on how to proceed, but they were just as confused and defenseless as he was. He sighed, this only meant one thing, maybe sharing with him the story about Brill and other temple lunatics will take the dragon's mind off…whatever is happening with him right now. Maybe it will be for the better.

He sincerely doubted it.

"We have some really crazy people here who worship overgrown lizards, that is you, dragons, as gods"

Flare's eyes widened curiously, colors slightly returned to his burning body.

"Really? Why?"

Sparx pointed his finger at the drake "Good question" he gestured at the three drakes at the table "Just look at you, who in normal mind would worship something like you? Grab a lizard from the jungle, stick some leafs to its back and watch it through magnifying glass. BAM! You have a dragon"

He cleared his throat, adopting a proud pose "Now, a dragonfly like myself would be a completely different story"

Cynder snickered "Yeah, worshipping bug like lanterns would be so much better"

The dragonfly shook his finger admonishingly "That's blasphemy"

"In your world maybe"

Flare groaned in annoyance "I don't get it. Do they worship us finally or not?"

"They do" Spyro confirmed

Sparx sighed "This seriousness is going to kill me one day" he blinked and focused his gaze on the red drake "They do man, especially the guys who built this place. Those little dudes we call moles are really into all this dragon worship stuff. It was them who built all those statues around the city"

"Why do they worship us?"

The dragonfly shrugged "I'm not a history professor, you would have better chances on getting a proper answer from some bookworms like Volteer or healthy fanatics like Hunter. I would go for the latter, at least he won't sizzle your brain with funny sounding words. I tell you guys, that cat seems to know more about dragons than dragons themselves. All I know is that it had something to do with friendship and respect, at least that's before Malefor showed up"

"Wow" Flare huffed in sincere awe "I've never been respected before"

Cynder looked at the fire drake sadly.

"With things going as they are now you didn't lose much. Lucky bastard" Sparx threw his fist behind his shoulder, thumb pointing at the window "All those chatty lunatics gather in that big ass temple over there"

Every draconic eye present at the table shifted towards the window.

"Sermons and other creepy religious stuff is happening there, pretty harmless really. People shout and that's it, nobody is going to do anything anyway, well, at least not them"

Spyro frowned "What do you mean by that?"

Sparx moved closer towards the three dragons "The real CRAZY stuff is happening behind the curtains" he looked around, checking if nobody is listening to their conversation

Flare craned his neck forward, practically bumping Cynder's head out of the way. She looked at him with amusement, noticing the overwhelming glimmer of curiosity in his eyes.

"I don't have any details, all I know is that there's a group, hard to tell how large, that regularly meets in one of the farther chambers of the temple on the upper floor. Nobody knows how many people flow through that room, those that managed to be seen and talked to were acting very weird. Mumbling all the time about darkness, corruption and all other creepy, dark stuff. Besides that nothing more is known, after those few encounters everything that is happening in there was shrouded in mystery and access to that specific part of the temple was forbidden. I tell you guys, that zombie mole created a cult or something"

"If I may" Cynder raised her claw in the air, signaling that she is going to speak, all eyes turned to her "Before we all become paranoid I only want to ask one question" she narrowed her eyes on the dragonfly "How do you know any of this?"

"In the beginning there was that guy on the main floor, a green dragon, big, muscular, like somebody would sculpt him. You know, a true draconic beast" he nodded at the purple dragon "Not like my girly looking brother over there"

"Thanks Sparx" Spyro commented sarcastically "You always knew how to pump my self-esteem"

The dragonfly bowed "You're very welcome dude" he smiled approvingly "Just look at you, you really grew to be something. A third sex I might say, something between a guy and a chick. You're surely one of a kind"

"Stop" Cynder interjected, throwing her paw in the air "You'll continue your brofight later" She scratched her choker "Tell us more about that green dragon"

Sparx shrugged "I don't know much, he acted like Brill's recruiter or zealous follower. He convinced people to go see the zombie mole, telling them that it would change their lives forever or something like that. One day he just disappeared, either stopped being the mole's errand boy or simply believed that his work is done"

"Capro" Cynder muttered under her breath "What the hell are you up to?"

"This is awesome!" Flare blurt out excitedly, his fiery tail wagging from side to side, the light he emanated regaining its sharp colors

The distraction was working it seemed.

"We're like the dangerous ponies! You Sparx are our information broker, giving us details on our next important mission. A quest!"

Spyro observed the fire drake with a dumbfounded wince.

"We are dangerous...what?"

"Don't ask bro" the dragonfly pointed at Flare "And you dude, leave those books alone" he poked his forehead "They're messing with your already messed up head"

"That's not true!" the fiery drake protested, stomping his paw on the ground as an offended child

"Flare had a point there however" Spyro looked at his brother suspiciously "How come you know so much about what is happening in the temple?"

Sparx threw his arms to the side, in a sign of surprised confusion.

"What's the big deal? I see stuff and a big dragon like that guy is hard to miss"

"Ok I get that, what really bugs me is that you know what is going inside that temple"

"Dude? Hello? That place has windows"

"Yes it has, that would explain the presence of the of that dragon, but not what he was doing, or what exactly he said"

Sparx folded his arms with a frown "Who told you that it was exactly what he said? I'm telling a story here, every storyteller has the right to color things here and there"

Spyro nodded "Fair enough"

"What are you even trying to do here bro?"

"Nothing, I'm just asking. Curiosity you know, it gets the better of me. One last question if you don't mind?"

The dragonfly rolled his eyes "Sure, whatever"

"I'm really curious about the upper floor of the temple. As you know there are no windows there and only caretakers and priests have access..."

Sparx gulped, keeping his stoic, confident posture, yet at the same time inconspicuously scratching his arms in a nervous manner.

"…so it's very interesting for me to see you know so much about that place. I understand the artistic creativity to make the story more exciting by adding some imagined details here and there, but to imagine the whole floor? It would be stupid to bother us with this stuff if all you said would be just your imagination, after all it was you who brought this to our attention"

"So…here's my question" he narrowed his intelligent, amethyst eyes on his glowing brother "What are you hiding?"

Sparx cackled "What?"

"You heard me"

"Seems like you hit your head against the bedframe too many times last night"

He grabbed the cup of water and dipped his mouth into it, tilting it so high that it practically hid his face.

Spyro exchanged a brief, cagey glance with Cynder.

"Answer me Sparx"

The dragonfly placed the cup back on the table with a tired sigh "There's nothing to tell. I hear people talk and that's it"

Spyro shook his head fiercely "I don't believe you, you've been acting strange from the very morning, disappeared somewhere for the whole day, plus the smell of clay" his draconic eyes started to shimmer with brotherly worry "Are you in trouble Sparx?"

The dragonfly jerked his head back "What? No"

"Someone threatened you in any way?"

"No!"

"Then what is it?!" the purple drake blurt out impatiently

"What's going on?" Flare asked alarmed "Who would want to threat Sparx? You're a purple dragon and he's your brother. Nobody would dare"

Spyro looked at the ground, with the corners of his eyes spotting Cynder's black paws "It's a little more complicated than that"

The fire drake blinked, Cynder furrowed her brows curiously as she spotted the visible shift of fiery colors crossing the surface of his fiery wings. Flare seemed to shake on his paws, if ever so lightly.

"You're not as powerful in this time as the stories say and someone is targeting you?"

She cocked her head, was that…

…hope she heard in his voice?

"Whoa" Spyro exclaimed, throwing his head back up and shaking his paw in protest "You make it sound like there is a bounty on my head"

Cynder licked her lips, she was certain that she saw Flare's eyes glimmering with murderous anticipation. Not to mention that he was now visibly shivering, as if the temperature in the Mess Hall dropped to that of Dante's Freezer.

Except that it didn't.

Both changes within him filled her with dread.

"No, I'm not the target" the purple drake explained

"Oh" Flare mumbled, rubbing his forehead with a wince as if he was having a very strong migraine "But if you aren't the target then why would anyone want to threaten Sparx?"

Spyro looked up at Cynder, his eyes glowing with affection.

"To get to someone I really care about"

She smiled, yet her eyes remained locked at the fire drake.

"Wow" Flare huffed in awe, delicately cringing from pain "People would really do that?"

"I don't know, but it's better to be prepared for every option. Lately I see conspiracy everywhere, I'm sure you heard, whole family died in an explosion. They say it was an accident but I have my doubts"

Sparx dashed to his brother's side "Ease on the conspiracy theories or you'll get Crouton started on his ponies stories" he whispered in fear

Flare started to cough, which surprised Sparx, lately the drake didn't waste any opportunity to paint the world with scenes of his imagination and now he remained silent.

There was something really wrong with him.

"Flare are you sure everything is ok?" Cynder asked kindly "Maybe you want to see Amela?"

He smiled, instead of relaxing her the sight made a cold shiver crawl across her spine. She instantly thought of a mortally sick person, offering his last smile on his deathbed.

Gullibly telling that everything will be all right.

"I'm f-f-f-fine"

She didn't believe the word he said. Mostly because he started stuttering for no apparent reason, a fact that he himself seemed to ignore.

Flare swallowed "W-w-wha-a-at d-d-do you k-k-k-know a-about t-t-the e-e-e-explo-o-o-sion?"

Spyro looked at the two other companions at the table, he didn't found any help, they were just as confused as he was and had nothing to offer but a shrug.

"Well…I wouldn't be surprised if that would be deliberate action that was made to look like an accident. Nothing stirs people more than death in a place they believe to be safe, tragedy like this sows doubt and suspicion, especially now"

"W-w-w-why n-n-n-now?

The purple drake scratched his head as he looked at Cynder "Ummm…how to say this…"

"Because of me" she announced straightforwardly

Flare cocked his head as his eyes shifted towards her.

"I've done some horrible things you see, many people that live in Warfang remember what I did, many hold it against me. Those grudges and wounds will take years to heal, if it's even possible that is. Until then I'm nothing more than a traitor and a flaw on the almost godlike image of a dragon to most of them. A taint"

"Of course nobody mentions that Cynder isn't responsible for any of this" Spyro added quickly

She began making small circles with her claw on the plate below.

"Who is right or not isn't currently important. Most people blame me and with good reason, if Flare is to understand our problems he needs to know how the situation looks like. People hate me"

Flare looked the dragoness over, seeing her sad like this hurt.

"I don't understand how people can hate you. You're so nice, that's not fair"

"See?!" Spyro blurt out excitedly "I'm not the only one who thinks that this isn't right!"

Cynder smiled reassuringly "It's very sweet of you two but what you think is irrelevant. People hate me, let's focus on that since that's the main problem. This hate spins all the crap that is happening around in this city"

She straightened up with a tired sigh "When the portals showed up in our world you Flare and Iris weren't the only ones who appeared in Warfang. One of those magical a-holes spat out a mole that was a symbol and an idol for many. Of course luck wanted him to be one of my former victims. After all nobody wants things to be easy once in a while"

She started nibbling the edge of the table "That mole's name is Brill, the main architect and constructor of Warfang, now the zealous believer of the old ways. He lived in a time where our race was revered, survived that difficult period during which the faith in dragons wavered, until he met me, or my claws to be precise, which torn him to pieces"

"Now he's back, probably from a time where I already made quite an impact on the world, which brings us to another important topic. Corruption"

Cynder looked up at Flare and smiled "Should I repeat anything or are you with me?"

He didn't answer, didn't have to really, she saw his eyes drilling into her, interested in what she has to say beyond any healthy measure.

It was awkwardly disconcerting.

She returned to nibbling the table, not because she had a tick she couldn't control, she just wanted to avert her gaze and occupy her eyes with something.

Everything would do the trick, she would do anything just to not look into his eyes.

His eyes were burning bright, they seemed weak but healthy. It was normal as he said and yet she couldn't shake off the feeling that they were sick and he knew that.

He is sick and he knows that.

And still this is normal.

What a unnerving thought.

"I don't understand truly what it is myself so I explain it from the people's perspective. Corruption is me. It goes by many names in fact, if you met Brill, or one of his followers, you would hear them mentioning evil, darkness, taint, flaw and the like. Brill is not only a constructor but also a priest, he treated dragons as gods, still does I believe, so when I showed up with my black scales and murderous intent it wasn't hard for a priest to connect me with darkness, see me as flaw on his perfect image"

"He was crazy to begin with, pushing the whole worshipping thing a little too far for my taste, but it's not my place to try to understand religious fanatics. This is why he is so dangerous, he has the skills to turn people to his side, that's why everything bad happening in Warfang will be blamed on me first, anything to find an excuse for his actions"

She nodded at the dragonfly "Now with Sparx bringing us the news about Brill acting even crazier than usual the situation is even more dire. If the rumors about a cult are true, then we have to be double careful. I still don't believe that Brill has it in him to kill his own people, no matter how blinded he is, but that doesn't mean that there aren't people in his fold that wouldn't do it. Boven and the explosion are perfect arguments to stir the pot of aggression"

Spyro nodded fervently "This is why we need to keep our eyes open, whoever set that house on fire is still out there, we need to prevent more innocent lives from being lost" he smiled meaningfully "So what do you think Flare? You still-" his mouth dried completely as he looked at the fire drake

"Flare...?"

The dragon's yellow eyes were aimed directly at him, blood was slowly flowing from the corners of his eyeballs like bloody tears. The black slits usually in the form of thin lines were pulsing, filling his eyes with fiery light as if fire itself would be knocking on the door of his eyes but just couldn't shove them open.

"Come after me if you dare" Flare rasped, his voice pulsing as his eyes, filled with tone of his normal speech and an otherworldly tune, like that in Munitions Forge

"Flare?" Cynder asked quietly, extending her paw

She hissed painfully the moment she touched his scales and jerked her paw away. Her leg was touched by heat, so unexpectedly, like a bite from an usually docile dog.

"Brillll!" Flare howled as he spun towards her "Responsible for everything!" a ring of heat wafted from his body, making the three of them to cover their faces

People in the Mess Hall stopped in their tracks and turned their attention at the table where the unusually loud commotion stirred.

The smell of burning wood filled the nostrils of every member at the table.

"Flare!" the three of them exclaimed at the same time

The fire drake cringed with a groan "You…will…burn…WORM!" he roared, his voice, strangely deep and intimidating rumbled in the Mess Hall, his fiery body burst with intense flames.

And then suddenly, the roar turned into a fierce cough where instead of saliva blood shot from his mouth.

He retched soon after and spewed a ball of thick, red, dark blood that landed directly on the table, exploding in streams of red tongues in accordance with the people shocked gasps, parts of those tongues splattered both on Spyro and Sparx.

The intense light he emanated died down completely, a veil of nauseating dizziness clouded his vision as his paws gave up underneath him the moment he lost consciousness. As he went down his numb head hit the edge of the burnt table which cut his scales as it shattered under the weight of the draconic snout.

A moment of breathtaking silence befallen on the Mess Hall when the fire drake hit the floor with a loud, intimidating thud.

"Flare!" Cynder squealed horrified as she dashed next to the fire dragon's side "We need to take him to the hospital!" she began to slide her paws across his whole body chaotically, looking for a proper grip to lift him

"Guys! Help me!" she exclaimed, raising her fierce gaze at the two brothers

The two young foster siblings didn't seem to hear her, their blood covered faces were completely lackluster, their eyes staring ahead, into inchoate distance.

"Guys!"

They both blinked, their heads moved slowly to the side until their eyes met.

Sparx pointed a wavering finger at his face "Bro…you have bl-" he gagged abruptly, swiftly diving towards his brother's mug of water and plunging his head inside, tightly holding onto the sides of the cup and started to throw up vehemently

"Stop being such crybabies!" Cynder shouted with irritation "It's not like you see blood for the first time!"

His retching brother and shouting partner tore him from the shock "No…" Spyro turned to face her, touching his snout "…but that's the first time someone puked blood on me"

"Get over here!" she growled

He shook his head and swiftly dashed to Cynder's side.

"Get down, I'll push him onto your back"

Spyro did as he was told, sliding close to Flare's unconscious body, propping him up with the yanks of his head so he could get underneath him. With Cynder's assistance the uncomfortable job of lifting someone for any quadruped creature wasn't that difficult. Momentarily the red dragon was on his back, his head hanging from his right purple shoulder, paws dangling from his flanks. From a distance the fire drake looked like an overgrown, draconic turtle, preparing to swim.

"Let's hurry" Cynder urged her friend as she spun towards the door, she made a step before her eyes located five people standing ahead, staring at them.

She impulsively stopped, for a moment ignoring the fact that Spyro passed her. She began to look around, her green eyes spotting more and more people, all looking in their direction, practically standing in one line. None of them carrying any sign that they were on the move, with the intention to help.

Every single person present was observing them, like statues. It infuriated her greatly.

"Enjoying the show?!" Cynder snarled as her furious eyes swoop from person to person

People started throwing surprised glances among themselves.

"Are you so badly brainwashed that you forgot what empathy means?!"

Her words started to stir the inhabitants, the wrong way of course.

"Cynder" Spyro hissed her name through clenched teeth

"You have the guts to call me evil?!" she growled as she spun around, her usually loving emerald eyes spitting out flames of fury "While you stand and watch when someone clearly needs help?!"

"We don't care about you, or your monsters!" someone shouted from the crowd

It was enough to raise a small thunder within the Mess Hall, people started yelling, mostly at her but there were also voices of reason among them. She didn't care what any of them had to say.

"Cynder, let's go" Spyro pleaded

She scanned the shouting people with narrowed eyes, green tongues of poison wafting from her nose and tail swinging high from side to side like a snake ready to attack.

"Who is the flaw on this society?!"

If someone would just enter the building they would say that a riot has just begun.

"All right sis" Sparx rasped, clearing his throat as he flew closer to her, delicately pushing her head towards his brother "Time to bail"

"Whore!"

Cynder snarled, her whole body tensed at the sound of the shout.

"No, no, no, ignore" Sparx muttered, putting more strength into his push when he felt pressure from her side "Spyro is right over there, you like Spyro don't you?"

She started walking towards her purple friend, yet her eyes shifted from side to side of her eyeballs murderously.

The screaming only intensified.

Sparx winced and smacked her rump "Pick up the pace"

The unexpected slap made here jump forward a little.

He raised his gaze at his brother, nodding at the big exit door "Outside bro"

Spyro followed his advice without protest, he would propose it himself, making their way through the building right now wasn't the best of ideas. He pushed the door open carefully with his horns, shook his body to rearrange Flare on his back, freeing his wings in the process and walked outside.

The breeze coursing through the city was so pleasant, indescribable, almost making him faint. It felt so damn good to be out of that room.

The door slammed shut behind him, turning the screaming inside into nothing but a delicate rumble.

"I'll fly to the hospital" he announced, spreading his wings "It'll be faster. Catch me there" and with that he took to the air

"Okay Cyn, we're out, take a deep-"

She roared wrathfully, throwing a fierce punch at one of the nearby walls, but instead of hitting it her paw dived into a shadow hole of her impulsive creation. Panting, she stared at her leg, halfway sucked by the dark hole, surprisingly so damn alluring.

"Fuck" she grunted

"What's gotten into you?" Sparx asked calmly

"What's gotten into ME?!" she snapped with a mocking laugh "That damn cat poisoned Flare!"

"We don't know that"

"Like hell we don't!" she snarled, furiously pulling her leg out of the hole, trails of dark energy followed her claws

Her eyes impulsively landed on her filled with dark energy claws. The solution for every problem was right over here, it served her well all those years. Everything was so easy back then.

…what?

She clenched her paw with a wince, the energy puffed away, revealing her silvery claws once more.

Sparx folded his arms "Lately even the stupidest thing seems to anger you"

"What thing you call stupid?" Cynder snarled aggravatingly "You call stupid the poisoning of my friend? For all we know you caught the same thing, you have his damn blood on your face!"

The dragonflies confident expression wavered, the reminder that there is blood on his face and the thought that it might be poisonous made him gag. Yet he remained in place, even if every atom of his body wanted to run away.

"You…you're overreacting"

She snorted, her intelligent yet angry eyes didn't miss the change on his face.

"Yeah, I can see that"

"If those mushrooms would be so dangerous Ice Queen wouldn't walk out of the building just like that"

"How do you know how far she managed to go? For all we know she might be drowning in a pool of her own blood in one of the side alleys as we speak"

Sparx threw his arms forward, palms up "Okay stop, we need to remember about who we are talking here. I've seen you observing Flare, you saw the same things I did I'm sure. He's weird, behaved even crazier during our whole time at the table, I don't really have to mention the last part do I?"

Cynder rolled her eyes indignantly "He's different, so what?"

He narrowed his eyes on her "Even you don't believe this. You know just as I do that there is something very wrong with this guy. He has a split personality or something"

She looked to the side "Whatever his problem might be is beside the point" she said without conviction

"What if it's the WHOLE point?"

"Stop right there" she blurt out in irritation "Let's wait for some information from the hospital first before we jump to any conclusions"

Sparx threw his arms up with a relieved sigh "Finally you're starting to make some sense!"

She rubbed her forehead "How solid are the news about Brill? Speak freely, I don't care how you found about that"

"One hundred percent legit"

"That's what I feared" she looked at him kindly "Be careful Sparx"

"Awww" he smirked "Are you worried about me?"

She looked at her claws with a frown "Just watch your back"

"I'm safe, remember that you are the one he's crazy about. Between the two of us you will be the first with a knife in the back"

"I'm not worried about Brill"

He furrowed his brows in surprise "No? Then who? I thought zombie is the first one on your list of enemies. Of course the list only grew bigger thanks to our recent episode"

"I'm not worried about Brill because as insane as he is, he is a priest, he knows what remorse means"

Her eyes shifted from her claws to the wall which earlier was occupied by her shadowy void.

"I'm more afraid of those who don't"


	76. Chapter 20 Book IV

Chapter 20

Amela sat on the chair in her office with a content sigh, her surprisingly white, hygienic doctor's gown carried no sign of medical intervention on its delicate material. She was in the middle of wiping her hands with a small, white towel, perfectly clean as the rest of her outfit.

"We can with whole certainty rule out any biological danger. Our little fiery friend isn't contagious in any way"

Spyro exhaled a big breath of relief as he observed his own, now smooth expression in a mirror that wasn't in this room last time he was here.

"Glad to hear it"

"Which brings us to the other important matter" she leaned back into her chair, running the towel in between her fingers, over and over again

"You must understand darling that this is a hospital. You don't make our job easier by barging through the front door, yelling about a contagious disease. You find attention faster, correct, but such actions put all of the staff on high alert. Diseases of all sorts have priority here, our beds are unfortunately always occupied by patients who suffer from more or less dangerous wounds. By being weakened like that they are susceptible to any sort of sickness"

Spyro winced, ashamed of his own reflection in the mirror he aimed his nose at the ground.

"I'm really sorry for that"

Amela smiled kindly "Cheer up, no harm done. The staff is mostly female, you're lucky that you're so good looking, I'm sure nobody remembers your effective entrance by now" the cheetah chuckled, throwing her eyes at the ceiling "We're almost like moles here, geeks, rarely see the sunlight. With you around I'm more worried about the health of my co-workers than the patients"

"I…" he blushed fiercely, his eyes impulsively located the mirror, at the sight of his abashed reflection his cheeks only became more red and hot

"I…don't know what to say" he mumbled, averting his gaze

The cheetah laughed, her feline eyes landing on the shy dragon "You're adorable darling, now I know what she sees in you. When you finally get there be sure to make her happy"

In his current state his mind didn't work as usually, he didn't understand what the healers was talking about. His first thought was of Cynder, but he wasn't sure if he's right, it didn't really interest him much currently anyway. He just wanted this awkward moment to end.

"I…will" he mumbled

Amela smiled, understanding the gentle hint perfectly, spending so much time around different people makes your inner perception really sensitive, lately she always spotted the line, that if ignored leads only to irritating discomfort.

"My _apologies, when everything is well with my patients I tend to lose control of my good humor"_

She flicked the towel on her desk and stood up, she made her way towards the big painting on the wall, playing with her earring.

"Please satisfy my curiosity if you will. How did you come up with the poisoning theory in the first place? From what I gathered from your shouting you were spending your time in the Mess Hall. They always served good food there"

"Yeah...long story short the cook shoved some strange mushrooms down Flare's throat. They made him really weak"

"Ahh yes, Shroudballs. Very unobtrusive, very potent and very rare mushrooms. Highly effective in depressing elemental energy but hardly toxic. Quite tasty for every mundane creature without magical potential"

She turned around, aiming her intelligent eyes at the drake.

"I know our cook has some in her personal storage, it had to become very interesting for her to use them"

Spyro scratched the back of his head "I'm not sure if I can talk about that…I can get in trouble with certain…people. Don't want to make the same mistake again"

Amela chuckled "I see" she grinned, leaning closer as if preparing to whisper a secret "We wouldn't want that to happen now don't we?"

She cleared her throat, folding her hands behind her back "Let's get back on topic regarding your friend" she started to slowly pace around the room "As far as I can tell he's perfectly fine, nothing threatens his life, however the blood coughing is a concern. Even more so because I'm not sure what might have caused this"

The dragon's amethyst eyes kept following the cheetah as she ambled back and forth her office.

"Maybe Flare got _served_ a bad batch?"

"Mmmm" the feline tilted her to the side thoughtfully "Possible, but highly doubtful. You know the cook yourself, she would never ruin the reputation of her kitchen. Even if there would be a mistake, I don't know just how many bad mushrooms a dragon has to eat to start spitting blood"

"I don't know…maybe his body rejected the bad and hence poisonous mushrooms?"

Amela smiled "To fight poison is to reject it darling. Flare's body in any other circumstances behaved appropriately, if not for the blood in his vomit everything would be medically explainable without much of a problem"

She sighed "Unfortunately that is not the case. The only explanation I can give and would still be considered a medical theory is that Flare is suffering because of an allergy"

Spyro furrowed his brows in surprise.

"Allergy? Is that even possible?"

"Technically? No. I yet have to meet a dragon whose immunity and regenerative system isn't capable of handling illness. However" she raised her forefinger in the air "as we both know Flare is no ordinary dragon, who knows maybe he's afflicted by a trait that no other dragon ever was"

"Seems believable enough"

Amela nodded in agreement "It does doesn't it? However darling, that's my professionalism speaking through me. The cheetah underneath this healer's gown" she gestured at her outfit, running her hands from top to bottom of her chest "thinks that I am…how you youngsters say it now?" her eyes widened in realization "Ah yes, full of crap"

Spyro looked at the feline in shock.

The cheetah grinned "Don't look at me like that darling. I look old, that doesn't mean that I can't remember how it is to be young once in a while"

She clapped her hands "Back on topic. I believe that whatever is, let's say, troubling Flare, only Flare can shed some light onto, or one of you if you're lucky enough. I think that Flare's problems are of magical nature, only intensified by the impact of his past traumatic experiences"

Spyro rubbed his forehead bashfully "Excuse me for my boldness, but is there nothing you can do for him?"

Amela smiled kindly, folding her hands behind her back once more.

"He was given a concoction for digestion and immunity boost. He was also given a red gem, in case we missed something. He seemed to respond well to the treatment, he's resting as we speak" the smile on her furry face grew wider as she leaned closer "Did I pass your test?"

"Test?!" he blurt out in fear as he reared his head back "I didn't mean…I wanted…asked! I asked if…ummm" he didn't realize that with each muttered word he was retreating closer and closer towards the door

"Stop right there young boy"

The feline's assertive tone paralyzed him in his tracks. The only sound he let out was that of swallowed bulge of own saliva.

She offered him a sympathetic smile, pressing her hand to her chest.

"Do I intimidate you darling?"

Spyro laughed nervously "Of…of course not!" he tried to keep eye contact but his eyes constantly sought something else than the feline's orbs

She said nothing, just looked at the young dragon.

He couldn't bare the weight of her stare, it was like a torture that he knows won't end if he won't start talking. He looked to the side with a wince.

"A…little"

Amela giggled in disbelief "Why is that darling? My presence didn't bother you in our last meetings"

"I know! I don't know what's gotten into me"

His eyes found the mirror, and the only dragon crazy enough to understand him in its reflection.

"It's sooo…stupid"

The cheetah returned to her desk, sat on the chair, rested her elbows on the wooden surface, folded her hands into a fist and laid her chin on them.

"What's bothering you?" she asked softly

He looked at her pleadingly "Can I speak freely?"

She smiled "You aren't in a military darling"

Spyro cringed, the cheetah's response was like a blow to him. He offered a brief, dorky smile in response.

"Right. Ummm...the thing is that I don't want to mess up...I really need to...make a good impression on you" he looked at the ground in shame "I'm not doing a great job as you see"

The cheetah leaned back in her chair, eyeing the dragon curiously.

"You saved the world Spyro, it's difficult to find a better way to impress somebody"

"That's not enough…or maybe it doesn't matter, hero, legend, whatever, unimportant. I want you to…" he shook his head in disbelief "…this is so stupid" he sighed and looked at the healer, mustering all shreds of his courage "I want you to like me for who I am, a normal dragon, not some superhero people make me into"

"Why is it so important to you?"

"I don't know!" he whined

There was another moment of awkward silence after his whimper. The healer didn't respond to it, she just watched, as if studying his reactions.

"Cynder REALLY likes you…" he finally mumbled

Amela straightened up in her chair, a pleasant warm feeling filled her heart. Spyro didn't say anything new, it was no big secret that Cynder got attached to her, and yet the way he said it…It felt like a confession. She couldn't decide if her heart increased its beating because of her own personal pride and happiness, or because someone else than herself found joy.

She smiled warmly "Her feelings are important to you?"

Spyro nodded "Very"

"I'm very happy for you two, you were destined to be with each other and I'm overjoyed that you finally made it happen. You make a sweet couple"

"NO!" he screamed, jumping back startled, landing on stiff legs and with tail frozen in place "I-I never said anything like that! We aren't together! We are just good friends! Only friends!"

Amela giggled "Oh darling, it's too late for excuses. You have happiness written all over you"

His mouth clamped shut, he knew there was no way of getting out of this. Impulsively he looked behind his shoulder, eyeing the locked door behind his tail.

"Please don't tell Cynder anything" he whimpered as he aimed his defeated eyes at her "Please, please, please! This supposed to be a secret, she will kill me if she finds out that my babbling mouth got us in trouble"

The cheetah smiled cordially "My lips are sealed"

"How did you figure out it anyway? I never said that we're a couple now"

Amela laughed "Oh darling, you don't have to use the word _love_ to betray your true feelings. The moment you mentioned her name your eyes sparkled and drifted somewhere far away, to a place they didn't really want to leave. It's all in the eyes, it's all in the body language"

"This was such a bad idea" Spyro shook his head, annoyed at himself "I'm a terrible liar, I can't keep a secret. I should really stop talking with people"

"Don't be too hard on yourself" she rested her chin on her hands once more with a happy smile "You want to hear something that will cheer you up?"

"Yes please"

"Cynder won't kill you if you spill out the truth, I believe she wouldn't be even upset about it. You want to keep your relationship a secret because you think it's safer. You both realize that you won't keep your feelings for each other a mystery forever. What's the difference if people find out today, or on some other date in the future, it will lead to the same thing anyway"

She moved on the chair to the side, turning around so one of her flanks was directed at the purple dragon while the other at the window on the opposite side. At which she now pointed while her eyes were focused on the drake.

"See that window over there? I'm sure that if you only said a word about giving up on your secret with Cynder here with us she would open that window and stick her head out. Do you know why she would do that?"

Spyro looked at the transparent glass ahead, embarrassed at his ignorance.

"Not really"

The cheetah smiled "She would stick her head out and roar, cry out about your relationship, about the fact that she is your love partner. She would roar for so long until the whole world would hear her, with every soul coming here to bang at the door. She would do that out of pride, out of arrogance, out of ecstasy, and most importantly out of love"

"Because now there is nothing she fears, she would invite all the demons to her doorstep and show every each of them just how strong she is. It is you darling, you give her strength, you mend the wounds she carries for so long. No matter what you do, she will always be with you and draw strength from you actions. You mean the world to her Spyro, if somebody has a problem with that, screw him"

He didn't feel the smile creeping on his snout as he stared at the window ahead. He imagined her green eyes sparkling with fierce flames, he saw her leaning over that windowsill and roaring. Her beautiful feminine voice loudly announcing that they are in love, that they are partners.

Not once, not twice, but ten, twenty or fifty even. Her voice ringing with emotion, laughter, joy, haughtiness, absolutely everything, making her voice more squeaky with each blare. When she would be finally done, allowing her head to dangle numbly from the window while her body being shaken by tears of happiness he would jump towards her, turn her around and kiss her passionately.

Not caring about the gasps of shock, shouts of disbelief and other things that disagreed with his choice. They wouldn't care, because they were meant to be together and if somebody has a problem with that…

Screw him.

"I'd like to see that" he muttered dreamily

Amela observed the drake with a smile of her own, the distant look on his snout, the blissful smile was enough for her to say that she did more than just cheer him up. Everyone dreams about something and now she was certain that Spyro has one more fantasy he would want to see fulfilled.

"Sometimes our dreams come true darling"

"You know so much about Cynder" he stated, waking up from his trance with a blink

She smiled "And you don't sound surprised, after all you consider me to be her...let's say, guardian"

"I...thank you for being there for her, thank you for taking care of her, thank you for...your acceptance"

Amela's lips wavered, she covered her mouth to keep her emotions in check.

"Stop Spyro or you'll make me cry" she pleaded with a dose of humor

Some muffled shouts stirred suddenly from behind the door, both Amela and Spyro looked in their direction and both of them knew who was behind them. She with an instinct of a hunter and he with his sense of smell.

"Come in! The door are open!" the healer announced happily

Moments later they were literally open, making enough space for a young black dragoness to enter, with a glowing dragonfly barging into the room from above her head.

"How is he?" Cynder asked worriedly as she stepped inside "Nobody wanted to give me a straight answer" worried as she was her tone was still ringing with a dose of anger

"Me first!" Sparx exclaimed as he dashed in front of the cheetah "Doc help! I'm dying here!"

"Sparx" Spyro called his brother calmly

"Not now bro!" he darted across the desk, pointing at his face "Look! This is Crouton's bloody spit!"

"Sparx"

Amela didn't say anything, she just pointed to the side, the dragonflies eyes followed her clawed finger.

He gasped as he recoiled back when the world got dark all of a sudden, he reached for his face and dragged down the thing that was covering it. A small towel.

"That's a towel" Spyro pointed at the floor "That's a basket of water" his claw moved then on the big reflective surface he was so familiar with "And that's a mirror. The blood isn't poisonous, you'll be fine"

"Victory!" the dragonfly exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air "Sparx lives to see another day!" he quickly flew towards the bucket and dipped the towel in the water "You hear that Cyn?!" he pressed the wet, soft material to his face

"You're going to enjoy my company for longer!" he blurt out, his shout muffled by the towel

"Cool" she replied casually, twirling her claw in the air "Yippee" her worried gaze started to jump between her purple friend and the healer "How's Flare doing?"

Amela smiled comfortingly, sliding on the chair back towards the desk "You can calm down Sweetheart. Flare is perfectly fine"

"Fine?" Cynder repeated doubtfully, her green gaze kept jumping between the two of them, trying to determine if Amela didn't say this just to make her feel better while in truth Flare is in coma or worse.

She didn't find anything suspicious, their eyes were honest.

"How is that possible?" she continued with her questions "He seemed like he was dying out there, blood was everywhere!"

"Our panicked minds sometimes overdraw reality, making-"

"No Amela" Cynder cut her off "I know what I saw. You were always right but this time I must disagree. Flare was a complete mess, I'm sure of that and I'm not the only one"

"Cynder is right" Spyro confirmed "Flare was in a really bad shape"

The cheetah shrugged "I don't know what to tell you. If Spyro wouldn't rise an epidemic alarm Flare wouldn't require a group intervention. Sudden fainting like in his case are fairly common and Flare looked exactly like a perfect example of that theory. I also know what I saw"

"What's the big deal?" Sparx commented bluntly as he cleaned his face in front of the mirror "The guy healed, is it really so important how it happened?"

The dragoness considered his words carefully, there was some truth to them, maybe it's better to leave the good mysteries unexplained.

"Where is he?" she aimed her question at the cheetah "Can I see him?"

"I'm sorry Sweetheart but I'm not allowing anybody to interrupt my patients rest. This is a rule that I value greatly"

"I'll be quiet. I would only want to see how he's doing"

Amela shook her head "It's non-negotiable. This place is about recovery, might seem unfair but those are my rules. I only allow visiting long term patients. Flare luckily isn't one of them"

In any other case she would argue, but Amela's stern rule was like an unbreakable wall to her. Out of respect she decided not to dwell on the subject further.

"Ok. I understand"

The cheetah's ears dropped on her skull in guilt at the sound of the girl's almost devastated voice.

"You can always stay here with me if you'd like. I'll just inform someone to call us when Flare will be fully awake"

Cynder smiled "Yeah sure, I can stay for a chat, but not for long. I'm supposed to show my scales on the training grounds and if a very certain someone will get there I would rather keep an eye on her"

"I would love to stay with you guys, but I really need to see Volteer, I can't postponing it forever" Spyro said "You're coming Sparx?"

"And listen to him talk? the dragonfly shook his head "No way, I escaped death today once already"

"See you guys later then"

Amela waved with a kind smile on her face "Bye darling"

He turned around and as he did so his eyes locked with Cynder's, the image of her roaring through the window and him kissing her flashed before his eyes. Only holding tightly to the shreds of his will prevented him from spilling out the truth, or throwing herself at her, to show how much he cares about her.

Ancestors I love her so much.

"What?" Cynder asked with furrowed brows

Spyro blinked, waking up from his trance.

"Nothing" he smiled "See you on the training grounds"

Her emerald eyes followed him as he walked out of the room. She had a feeling she missed something here.

"I'm off as well. I'm not staying here longer than I have to, hospitals give me creeps. Peace" and without any more words to it the dragonfly disappeared through the still opened door

Amela leaned back in her chair, her feline eyes watching the black dragoness with loving attention.

"You're beaming Sweetheart. You look absolutely stunning with that glow. It suits you"

Cynder turned around, giggling bashfully

"Really?"

"Oh yes. Life has started to finally treat you well?"

She impulsively sniffed the air, inhaling the air deeply and with it almost overdosing Spyro's scent.

"Can't complain. For once"

"Last time I saw you, you were scared to go to your room. I'm guessing that it's over now, you took care of the monster underneath your bed"

Cynder grinned "Better. I talked with it"

* * *

The main room of the City Hall was devoid of life, it was unusually quiet here, he wasn't used to this. It wasn't common to see the main building of Warfang to be so empty. There was always at least one of the Guardians present, ready to be of assistance.

Currently there was only one Guardian here and he seemed to be in a hurry to put the City Hall to its first impression of emptiness.

"Hey Terrador!" Spyro yelled after the almost running dragon "You know where can I find Volteer?"

"Spyro!" the old dragon exclaimed happily, stopping in his tracks right before he was about to disappear just behind the corner

"You can find Volteer most likely in the library, haven't seen him leaving it since he talked with Ignus"

"Thanks Terrador"

"Before you go Spyro" his words stopped the young drake "Did you do something special recently? Anything heroic?"

The purple dragon furrowed his brows "Nothing that I can think of, no"

"Huh" Terrador's gaze fallen on the corridor leading to the training grounds "I ask because we have surprisingly quite a lot of eager people wanting to hone their skills" he looked proudly at the young drake "All inspired by you"

"Oh that" Spyro huffed in sudden enlightenment "Not so long ago I had a chat with some of the people near the Mess Hall. Crowds used to scare me, but that talk was…really nice"

The Guardian smiled, nodding in in the direction of the young hero.

"Does that flower on your horn has anything to do with that?"

Impulsively Spyro reached up, touching the soft petals "I completely forgot about it" he smiled shyly "Yeah, one of the children gave it to me"

Terrador nodded several times in silent astonishment "This is a very good sign. People, no matter how old they are, offer gifts to their leaders and idols because they look up to them and know they have their interests in heart"

The Guardian's eyes shone with sincere pride and longing.

"You have their ear and love in such a young age. You are growing into someone extremely special Spyro, you will be a dragon this world has never seen before. I'm confident you will become a great leader one day and lead our race into an age of prosperity. My only wish is to live long enough to see it"

Spyro averted his gaze, ashamed by the Guardian's high regard towards him.

"I don't…know about that…"

Terrador smiled "But I do and our people do. We can't be all wrong"

"I'm not much of a leader since I have no idea what's going on with our world and how to make it right"

"But you try. You're going to see Volteer, alone, as much as I adore my old friend I know you're not going there just for a chat. The living don't have that much time"

Both dragons chuckled.

"You're working" the earth dragon continued "Alone, in a such young hour, putting all the stress on your own shoulders rather than somebody else's. Such gestures are important"

His eyes fell onto the window and he smiled.

"Speaking of valuable time, look how much of yours I wasted already"

The young drake shook his head "Not at all"

Terrador smiled "Be well Spyro"

He bowed "You too Terrador"

And the Guardian was gone.

Leader.

Me?

Yesterday I couldn't tell the difference between a hook and a claw.

He pressed on forward, towards the library, not really realizing that his legs were moving, carrying him ahead. His mind was completely elsewhere, circling around the idea of him becoming the symbol of his kind. He was imagining many things, from glorious battles with him shouting orders to the simplest things like walking down the corridor with people bowing their heads as he passed.

The idea of people holding him in such high regard, almost in reverence was still uncomfortable and in his opinion no living creature, no matter how unique doesn't deserve such praise. That title is deserved for the Ancestors or whatever other god people have their faith in.

However the image of him surrounded by people who listened to him talking, like many friends, wasn't so frightening anymore. Part of him looked forward to it in fact, everyone was different and meeting different personalities, from the quiet to loud was fun. He doubted that a person existed that he would truly dislike, it's all about getting used to for him.

Besides the praise he was terrified of another thing, perhaps even more, it was the lack of time. Being raised on the pedestal of importance means more duties, as a leader you need to maintain your position and look after your people. He was afraid that they would take most of his attention and distract him from the one soul he is crazy about, or at least reduce her to an equal role.

Despite the horrid thought he caught himself smiling, on his own hypocrisy and lie in fact when he remembered that no living creature is worth praising. There was one such creature, one dragoness, his goddess.

Cynder.

It might sound horribly romantic or disgustingly cheesy, unfit for a male, but there it was and he wasn't ashamed of it. Just thinking about her made his heart hot and his world dizzy, he was under a spell, under a spell of a goddess because it's impossible that JUST a girl would mess in his head so much.

She is so divine.

As he walked, his thoughts circled around Cynder this time, how beautiful she is, how wonderfully alluring she looked on that bed last night, how funny and fiery personality she has, how soft are her scales. All those thoughts and more took his whole concentration, or it seemed that way.

Pulses of cold logic managed to pierce through the blissful veil, they were both appreciative and depressive. The good one was about people finally recognizing her as their own, after all their leader could fall in love with someone really special.

The bad one was also there and the longer it kept nagging him the more of his pleasant images it managed to deprave.

His heart couldn't bare it, seeing unknown people getting hurt or mistreated is bad enough, the same fate befalling on someone he cares about is even worse.

So eventually the only image in his head that was left was of Cynder being taken care of, he saw many scenarios of that happening. From humiliation, exile to death, all of them tragic in more ways than one. That's the cost of being a leader, a champion of Light is above any creature of Darkness.

He shook his head, discarding the horrid thoughts or anything else regarding his ascension on the pedestal of importance. This is the melody of a future, hopefully a very distant one.

There are more pressing matters that need to be taken care of right here and now.

The door to the library swung open, the smell of old paper and dusty books put things into motion. All the thoughts, all the images from earlier faded away.

He moved forward, walking along the carpet, his head moving from side to side, observing one bookshelf after the other, after a while coming to a single conclusion.

Somebody ruffled practically through each of them. More than once.

Volteer wasn't present on the desk he usually occupies, at least not now, he was surely bunkered here for quite some time judging from the mess.

"Volteer?" Spyro asked, his voice quiet, impulsively following the unwritten rule of a library

"Over here young Spyro"

It was hard to pinpoint from which direction exactly the voice came from, it flew along the corridors of bookshelves like a wind in a forest. The purple drake took his best guess and pressed onward, as it turned out later his instinct was right.

Volteer was there, sitting in a spot each ray of light seemed to point to, making his amber scales glow. He was surrounded by a fortress of books, tome upon tome in places looking like towers, one big pile in the middle as if was a castle and many other, bigger and smaller books scattered all around, like people of the fortress or its enemies sprawled dead outside.

And above the playground rose the figure of the amber king, who as the medieval monarchs of fantasy tales was admiring his jewelry. Under the fiercest light with the practiced eye of a silversmith.

One crystal in fact, it was the dark gem Hunter brought back from his mission.

"It eludes my comprehension" Volteer said, his squinted eyes locked onto the dim crystal he was holding in two claws, which turned the gem around slowly, allowing it to flicker whatever strands of light it reflected across his snout

"What does?" Spyro asked, instinctively approaching the electric dragon. Volteer might be sometimes tiring to listen to, but everyone that know him understand that he has a certain magnetic pull. It might be the drive of curiosity that wants to seek the Guardian's attention, knowing that in the end there will be nothing to regret

"The rich in qualities of esteem pebbles. Every dragon that partook in the undertaking miring quandary as to the contingency of the gem being unfluctuating in their bodies. For what inducement Ignus does not?"

Spyro's eyes widened "I completely forgot about them and didn't even notice that Ignus didn't have one"

The Guardian twirled the gem in his claws "My words eventuating to you with a sudden titillation of overpowering stupefaction is of no wonder. Those are tenuous little gems. The way they derive so unostentatious to the eye is because they give the outward semblance of draconic bodies being their congenial hosts"

The purple dragon's eyes landed on the crystal, nodding slowly "If they are so powerful no wonder the remnants of the Dark Army used one of those to…to…cause a lightning storm?"

Volteer looked through the window, at the calm azure sky outside.

"An outbreak of discombobulation. The effulgent circumambient electric spark fusillade in the gaseous envelope around earth was harmless. Thanks to our idiosyncratic presence and means of the senses we are versant with the impelling force perambulating through the convolution that fastens the portals together. In an unequivocal manner work our specialized propulsion conducting cells in our encephalon when any conception starts to sojourn in the mind as an emanation of mental understanding. This is not a process of abating into inferior fettle, but a expeditious disturbance of enlivening"

"Perfect. If the Dark Army is behind this and one of those portals spat, let's say Malefor out, then we are in a lot of trouble"

The Guardian nodded "Seemingly pertinent of approval proposed explication, however individualistically I wouldn't cause to betide into being such an unpropitious imagined sequence of predicaments. They could have been just propitious, come into the presence of propinquity of a dragon with the pebble in his body and very grievous extent of acquaintance with verifiable factualism. Throughout the continuance of cruciation the drake avowed all of the gem's secrets. Dark Army wanted to corral a punishment in a bellicose and vindictive spirit, the lightning storm was their reprisal. With Malefor's capacity to be a coercive force still contemporaneous in some, they fail to convey vividly to the mind that they are antiquity now, only having power and aptitudes to create chaos.

"Sooo basically no matter from which side we look the Veils are our main problem"

Volteer nodded eagerly with a wide smile, always beaming with extreme happiness when dealing with sharp, young and apt minds.

"Correct"

"We were in Boven lately as you know and we found a portal there, exactly in the same place as before" Spyro bit his lip, lost in deep thought "It was somehow different than the one in Munitions Forge. I can't really explain it, but it didn't feel right, as if I was missing something"

Volteer's eyes widened in excitement "Precisely! How could it circumvent my understanding?!" he exclaimed turning his paw so swiftly that Spyro had to jerk his head back with a gasp to avoid being smacked by the gem that now hovered in front of his eyes

"This is the elucidation to our problem! When Flare and Iris came into apprehension in our world it was dehiscent to our knowledge that something without indubitable reason occurred to them, they were confounded just like we were with the crystals incorporated as an prerequisite part in their bodies. We surmised that the gems are conjoined with the portals in some not itemized way, but there was always a fact of being fortuitous that someone did that to them before they alighted here. Thanks to Ignus now we know that this concept ripened in the mind is false"

"That Boven portal is a door " he narrowed his gaze on the gem in his paw "And here is the key"

"Then Flare and Iris are walking padlocks, at least for us because the golems we fought with passed into our realm without their help. Soooo….the Veil is a door that opens from the inside, to get in from the front you need a key"

Spyro's eyes widened, the heart in his chest skipped a beat at the sudden realization that crossed his mind.

"That means everyone on the other side can walk into our realm like they own the place!" he exclaimed startled "While we can't do a damn thing!"

Volteer shook his head calmly "There are no facts from which we can articulate conclusions for stampede. If the gateway marking an ingress to our realm could be so facilely opened from the other side we would be overpowered exhaustively by now"

The purple dragon evidently calmed down after hearing the Guardian's explanation. He was right, if the portals could be opened they would have so much more to deal with. However his swinging purple tail betrayed his anxiousness.

"Also" the amber dragon continued "we have people compassing information from Boven each day. No newfangled sightings as for now"

Spyro perked up at the information "Then we need to strike back while we can! Get Flare and Iris to each portal and try to lock it"

"First you need to transpose them by argument or substantiation to your belief, which will be an untroublesome matter of substantial labor seeing as both are struggling in opposition to overture their aid"

The young dragon's snout was covered by a gloomy shadow "Why things can't be simple for once?"

Volteer smiled "The wonted condition of our existence is never facile my young friend. It's up to us to make it simpler and from what I espied by my sense of hearing you are about to make the first vestige today on the training grounds"

"Yeah and I could use your help Volteer with my Time power"

The Guardian nodded eagerly "Of course. When do you solicit to begin?"

Spyro looked at the old dragon, determination flickering in his amethyst eyes, which seemed more mature and experienced than usual.

"Immediately"


	77. Chapter 21 Book IV

Chapter 21

Who knows for how long he trained with Volteer, working on his Time powers, in his opinion it went rather quickly and surprisingly well. Definitely the training session, no matter how short or long, was more productive than any individual attempt to manipulate the portals in the past.

As he crossed the halls of the City Hall his mind kept on wandering, lately, every free moment he spends on thinking. For the time being he wondered when and how he became such a sharp student, of course Ignitus always complemented him that he is a quick learner, but he was never THAT fast.

What was the trigger?

Familiarity with the subject?

Unlikely. Fire was the first element he learned, he absorbed the basics quite well and yet no matter how well versed in the element he became the next lesson was never simpler than the previous one.

Experience?

Doubtful. Before he set on the mission to save Volteer from Cynder's forces he had already behind him the severity of the fire training, he knew what is what regarding the elements. It didn't help much, the electricity sessions were just as difficult.

Determination?

Not quite. He was born curious of life, when he learned of his true origins the urge to discover more was overpowering.

Spyro sighed, nothing came to his mind, he stopped and in the confusion that took hold of him reached towards his forehead, his claws accidentally grazing the base of one of his horns. Something was amiss.

The flower was gone.

* * *

_"You are a doll" Cynder commented as she walked towards him, with a brilliant white grin and wonderful sway of her hips_

_The corridor of the guest quarters was a bit gloomier than usual, perhaps due to the fact that his eyes were clouded by a sleepiness. He had no idea that Time trainings could be so tiring. Even despite the weariness he couldn't get his eyes off her, or the dancing shadow she cast on the walls._

_Spyro smiled "I feel my masculinity rising already"_

_She laughed "Sorry, but from a distance, with that flower stuck around your horn you look like a toy"_

"_As long as I am a boy's toy I don't mind. Take a closer look and you'll see what I am talking about"_

_With a giggle she gave his approaching body a once over "Nah" she said with a smirk "You're still a doll"_

_He reached her and without a warning nuzzled her affectionately._

"_Ohhh" she purred, tilting her head to make more room for his loving scales while at the same time she returned the loving attention_

"_Wish I had the time to play with you" she cooed, her warm breath bouncing off his purple scales like waves of water at a rocky shore_

_"You know what happens with unused dolls" he purred as he trailed her soft scales with his nose, his breath making her visibly shiver_

"_They start to break" he planted a kiss right behind her cheek_

_A blissful tremor ran through her whole body, making her head tilt up, releasing a giggling whimper from her throat in the meantime._

"_You're not bothered by being a doll anymore?"_

_He exhaled a passionate warm breath down her neck, her scales tingling as if a freezing gust would blow across her body, leaving an icy, crystal trail behind._

_"If you stay for a while I'll be whatever you want"_

_Her barely opened eyes shut themselves tightly as he gifted her sensitive neck scales with a lick of his tongue. Drawing a moan from her vocal cords and a smile on her snout._

"_Tempting" she cooed, instinctively craning her neck forward, his hot tongue took the hint. She giggled._

_"But I gotta run, besides you said something about getting a nap"_

"_I'll change my plans for you"_

_His tongue continued to caress her, if she would let him to carry on for a little while longer he was sure he would convince her to stay._

_"Oh no" she protested and gently pushed his head away, with her paw still pressed against his forehead she looked into his eyes. He had no idea what she saw in them, but her own orbs glistened, as if charmed by a spell._

_And then without a warning she leaned closer and locked her lips with his._

_He caught himself groaning hungrily when she pulled away, as if he was an always starved hatchling that was just deprived of his fourth lunch._

_She patted his cheek with a smile._

"_Here's an invitation for my tea party. On some other day"_

_He furrowed his brows "Really? I didn't understand it, we need to write another one" he leaned for another kiss_

"_No" she held his head back with a giggle "Hold right there clever boy"_

_He whimpered and pressed on._

"_Stop" she laughed, her paw bending under the gentle pressure he applied, it's resistance, not formidable to begin with, was waning with each passing second_

"_Someone's coming!" Cynder suddenly exclaimed in a muffled, terrified voice_

_Instinct kicked in instantly, with a speed of light he jumped away from her, as far as he could, watching the long corridor occasionally, pretending that the conversation he was engaged in bores him. He wanted to look convincing for anyone that will show up._

_It turned out that there was no one there._

_He turned towards her with a playful, scolding frown._

_"Lying is a sin you know"_

_She grinned "Look at my scales and tell me if I care"_

_He faked a sob "You're mean"_

_"I have to if that is what it takes to get your head back in the game. There are more important things to take care of first, you know that" _

_He sighed, fully aware of the situation that he so unfairly wanted to ignore._

_She smiled comfortingly "I know it's a pain but chin up" she rubbed his leg gently "I'll still be here when it's over"_

_He let out another exasperated breath "So how's Flare doing?"_

"_Surprisingly well. Amela examined him and said he's perfectly fine, like nothing ever happened to him. When Flare heard I'm going to the training grounds he almost ruined the room when Amela said he's staying one day under observation"_

_Cynder chuckled at the memory "He thrashed so badly in his bed, whimpering and practically crying that Amela felt sorry for him and allowed him to go, probably thinking he's more safer on the training grounds than in that bed"_

_She shook her head with a smile "Pity that you didn't see it, he was like a fish pulled out of the water"_

_He nodded, that sounded like Flare all right._

"_Did he at least say what was the cause behind the blood?"_

"_Nope, he was dodging my questions. But no worries" she stretched her wings with a grin "I'll beat some sense into him"_

_He smiled "Show them who's the alpha dragon in this city"_

_A mischievous grin found it's way to her lips "Sure I will, I just hope that no one will hold back considering my reputation and you of course. A tiring fight would do me good, I need to find the vent for the whole bitch energy that fills me up lately"_

_"Well, Volteer already managed to waste me, I have to shut down for a while, I can't be wasting time to tiredness. A ten minute nap will do me good"_

_"Wow, you're really into it, aren't you?"_

_He reached towards his forehead, his claws accidentally grazed something soft. He froze for a second and then his paw began to move again, yet never in the direction of his forehead. His claws started to caress the flower on his horn instead._

_"I owe them that much" he muttered_

_He had no idea what she was thinking during the moment of silence that befell between the two of them, but he knew what was going inside his own head. _

_All of his thoughts concerned the people. _

_And chess._

_And hope._

_With a combination of strange words drumming in the background he never heard before but could recite out of memory every day of the year._

_Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant._

_"In that case" Cynder finally said, making a step in his direction, pride hidden behind every word "we need to get this flower from you. It's way too pretty to be ruined"_

_When her claws wrapped themselves around the soft petals, her scales just inches from his nose, he took a mental note that she smells better than any flower._

_"What are you going to do with it?" he inquired, watching her as she smelled the flower with a dreamy smile_

_"Not all days will be easy like this one, you need to remember why you are doing this. You need a reminder"_

"_What kind of reminder?"_

_"You'll see"_

* * *

Sense of duty.

He is a purple dragon, a creature born so rarely that most of the people see only in history books. He might not believe in the prophecy himself, but there are many that do. If he wouldn't care about that then cold logic demanded to think of a reason why purple dragons are so rare.

Facts.

And the cold fact is that if something happens so rarely then it has to happen for a reason. For a purpose.

His purpose is to protect.

He was doing it from the day he can remember, now it escalated beyond putting stuff back onto a turned over cart. He was born to solve the difficult problems, to work his ass off so others wouldn't have to. Be it complete strangers or people he especially cares about.

This is why he was born.

A stupid violet he saw in his room the moment he opened his eyes as he awoke from his nap made him realize this.

This is-

His train of thought was abruptly ended by a bump into something.

Spyro blinked, vision shifting back into one full picture, revealing the surface of a door right in front of his nose. He looked behind his shoulder and then looked ahead once more just to repeat the same motion two more times.

"Huh" he huffed to himself, only now realizing that he walked across the whole City Hall without even feeling it and found himself standing in front of the entrance to the training grounds.

Congratulating himself on the ability of teleportation he pushed the massive door open. The sounds of struggle and exertion hit him like a blow of heat from a recently opened oven.

* * *

_"Take this you stupid dummy!" his high pitched shout pierced through the sound of splintering wood with the tone of an arrow cutting through the air_

_"And this! And this! And this!" the young drake's excited pants were a fitting addition to the flying wooden arms and legs throughout the whole temple_

_With the snap of stiffening wood another spinning, fragile enemy shot up from the ground._

_He smirked and opened his mouth, a wave of scorching fire was sent flying in the direction of the dummy, turning it to ash on impact._

_With a triumphant blare and excited swings of his purple tail he started to jump around, enthusiastically awaiting another foe. _

_The battlefield was empty however._

_"This is all you got?!" he mocked the invisible, evil mastermind "Bring it on losers! This is so much fun!"_

"_Fighting is never meant to bring joy"_

_He turned in the direction of the stoic voice of his mentor, who was pulling down the paw of the statue dragon that served as a lever. The key to releasing the dummies._

_"Oh come on Ignitus!" he whined "I'm on a streak here! They haven't even grazed me!"_

_The Fire Guardian's eyes traveled from bottom to top of the draconic statue._

_"Do you know why we are having this training sessions?"_

_He smirked arrogantly "Sure I know! I'm preparing to kick Cynder's and her army's ass!"_

_"Martial prowess is not the key aspect of these exercises"_

_The young drake jerked his head back in surprise "No? Then what is?"_

_Ignitus poked the statue with his claw "We must not allow ourselves to become cold"_

_"Eh?"_

_"We must be better than the ones before us. You must be better"_

_His young, tensed muscles relaxed. The one thing he learned about Ignitus is that he might not always understand what he is trying to say and when that happens he needs to redouble his brain activity. The lesson that the Guardian wants to share is an important one._

"_Look around and tell me what you feel"_

_Still pretty confused he did as he was told. The scan of his surroundings unwillingly put a smile on his snout, there were like ten thousand ruined dummies here and he was still standing. The smirk only grew wider._

"_Pride"_

_Ignitus nodded slowly "Take another look, but this time imagine that not dummies surround you, but corpses of creatures made from bone and flesh"_

_The smirk from his young snout was gone in an instant, he began to look around as was asked of him, yet this time every shift of his eyes, every glimpse of the destroyed, wooden limbs sent chills down his spine._

"_Imagine that not tinder and wood is scattered around you, but blood and entrails"_

_There was something magical, something hypnotizing in the low, soft and somewhat melodic voice of his mentor that forced to listen to him no matter the situation. The young dragon closed his eyes with a wince, his still developing, imaginative mind already started to form the gory images. The purple drake turned to the only defensive alternative every dragon his age knew, he kept his eyes shut as tightly as he could, muttering to himself that this isn't real._

"_Imagine that every enemy that you just vanquished had family, friends and loved ones"_

_He shook his head, whimpering pleadingly._

"_Imagine the cries of children that witness the death of their fathers and mothers"_

"_Stop" the young drake whined and despite his best efforts he opened his eyes_

_His prayer was ignored, the world around looked exactly how the Guardian described it. Shades of children were wailing like banshees over the ruined corpses of apes. Not dummies, but creatures of flesh, some of which still moaned their last breaths._

"_Imagine the snapping sound of bone breaking"_

_In this very moment he accidently stepped on something, letting out a terrified yelp he jumped into the air, making a spin, eyes darting at the spot he recently felt underneath his paws. One day there would a be a wooden arm lying there, now it was a bloody, tattered limb with a bone sticking out from its severed joint, crushed under the weight of his body._

"_Imagine the floor being covered in slippery, sticky blood"_

_A disgusting splashing sound filled his skull._

_With an abhorrent snarl he lifted his left foreleg from the floor and aimed his gaze down, seeing streams of thick blood dripping from his claws and paw onto the bloody ground, with the crimson liquid reaching practically the middle of his legs._

_It was enough for him. With a scream tearing through the deepest canals of his throat he jumped into the air and without thinking shot straight ahead, towards the nearby corner where he curled himself into a ball, covering himself underneath his wings, violently shaking._

_"Why do you scare me like that?!" he let out a sobbing, blaming whimper from behind his wings "What have I done to you that you punish me like this!?" a powerful tremor quaked his body "You said you'll watch over me! P-P-protect me!"_

_His mentor didn't respond, between his sobs he could only hear the Guardian's claws clicking on the floor._

"_I will never fight again! I don't want to kill anyone ever again!"_

_He whimpered and cried for a while longer, not really remembering what he was mumbling during that time, or if his mentor reacted in any way. He impulsively wanted to get this horrific images out of his mind, and the only way to do that was to scream his sorrows away._

_Eventually his body stopped shaking, the sobs ceased ravaging his body, all the tears and shouts resulted in him ending with a burning hiccup, that stung his emptied lungs like cold daggers._

_He was calm once more, at least to some degree._

_He moved his gold wings out of the way, peaking through the opening they created he noticed his teacher sitting in front of him. His reddish tail curled innocently in front of his forelegs, eyes watching him with concern, successfully blocking the cold and commanding glimmer of a harsh mentor. An image Ignitus adopted during training sessions, an image that didn't suit him at all._

_The Guardian never apologized for his actions, no matter how painful, tiring and difficult they were, both mentally and physically. The fire dragon never comforted him, never said not to worry, never said that everything will be alright, never voiced his support._

_But that didn't mean it wasn't there._

_Even in his young age he could see the signs in the Guardian's eyes, signs of deep concern, regret and even hate for himself. That reverence his eyes constantly displayed, all of those things convinced his young mind every single time that his mentor has his best interests at heart. Those were honest intentions, there was no denying that, a single glimpse of those intentions was enough to lift him from the pit of deepest despair._

_With a final sob he lifted himself to a sitting position, one of his paws working on the tears of his moist eyes, head remaining aimed at the floor._

"_is there anything you've learned from this traumatic experience?"_

_There was the question, calm and emotionless, like nothing ever happened. He got used to the Guardian's methods by now that it no longer bothered him._

"_I'll restrain from killing"_

"_Completely?"_

"_Completely. I won't even hurt a fly" _

"_Then you will die"_

_Ignitus got up and walked away. The young drake lifted his amethyst eyes with a wince, observing the moving dragon, knowing that this wasn't the answer the Guardian waited for. The old drake stopped near the statue once more and pulled the inconspicuous lever. Releasing a single dummy onto the arena._

_The wooden construct started spinning threateningly, by magical means moving to engage the fire dragon._

"_We train to become better than our enemies, to overpower them with our might" the dummy was onto him yet before it could land a strike the Guardian smacked the construct with his paw, toppling it to the ground, completely intact_

"_Avoiding lethal damage if possible"_

_There was a sudden rumble of the stony paw once more, the Guardian's red tail unwrapped itself from the lever the moment it pushed it to the bottom. Ten or so dummies arrived on the battlefield, all headed for the Guardian._

_One swipe of his tail, and two or three slashes of his paws were enough to destroy all of them even quicker than they appeared._

"_Sometimes you are given no choice, when that happens you do not hesitate, you kill or you die. When it's finally over and your enemies lay before your paws, souls long gone from their mortal shells you remind yourself how terrible war is, how terrible it is to take someone's life away. You remind yourself just how disgusting it is. You must remember that morality is the most important trait, we must not lose it"_

"_Killing speaks for itself does it not? Can we really lose ourselves to the slaughter? It's obvious that killing is bad"_

"_it might seem that way, yes" the Guardian once more eyed the cold draconic statue "and yet the conclusion is incorrect. Power can corrupt even the purest of hearts, when you become strong your confidence also becomes strong, you start to believe you can reach the stars. You start to believe that everything else is holding you back, and to reach your dreamed destination you need to get rid of the shackles that bind you. One of those shackles is respect for life"_

_The young drake cocked his head, there was a strange tone in the dragon's voice, like he was not passing another lesson alone, but also relating a story._

"_Ignitus tell me, was there anyone else you taught that was just like me?"_

_The Guardian visibly stiffened at the question, he turned around, his eyes more commanding than ever before._

"_I have never taught anyone who was similar to you. You are one of a kind Spyro, you are a dragon of a prophecy. There was and never will be anyone like you. Remember that"_

_The young drake nodded "Ok"_

"_You will make mistakes, we are imperfect animals. Do not worry about that, carry the scar of your mistake, let it prevent you from making the same one in the future. You must never doubt yourself"_

"_Ok"_

_The Guardian turned to the statue once more, grabbing its stony paw._

"_Tell me now why we are training"_

"_We are training to be better than our enemies"_

"_And why we do that? Do you remember what I told you yesterday?"_

"_To become strong, to sow doubt in minds of everyone that thinks about attacking us. Sow fear to prevent the loss of life"_

_The Guardian's claws slithered across the stony paw._

"_We train to become strong, but not as an individual"_

"_We train to become strong as people" the young drake finished, already familiar with most of the lines but still learning a new one every single day_

_Like a prayer._

"_For it's the duty of the experienced to help the new"_

"_We show that we can stand against even impossible odds"_

_The lever went down, horrendous amounts of dummies appeared on the arena, too many to count_

_He lifted himself up, confidently walking beside his mentor._

"_We show that if we help each other…"_

"…_if we stay united…."_

"…_we can achieve everything"_

_He tensed his young muscles, feeling that they became bigger than ever._

"_Because that's the duty of a leader"_

* * *

A triumphant roar filled the entire training grounds, effectively breaking through the commotion. Spyro directed his eyes towards the direction from which it came from, seeing Flare toppling to the ground, beyond the circle that served as an arena as he got struck by an earth spike shooting from the ground, created by a young earth dragon who loudly roared his victory.

"Flare"

Spyro's attention turned towards the direction from which the rumbling, baritone voice came from. Up above, on the stony elevation that surrounded the whole training grounds sat the Guardians and other most experienced dragons, all already past their prime time when they wrestled on the arena. Iris' uncle, Ignus, included.

There was quite a number of them sitting above, in pairs, distanced from each group, every pair responsible for their own arena's below. All shouting commands, praises, motivating speeches and the like to their assigned pupils. Younger or older. Mature or adolescent.

Spyro nodded, truly impressed. It was so much different from the time when he participated in his own training sessions. So perfectly organized, it was clear that the Guardians take this seriously and judging from the roars of anger and triumph the trainees do also.

"I remind you once again" Terrador continued patiently "Low energy based elemental attacks are permitted in the ring"

"I know" the fire drake replied as he scrambled from the sand, dusting himself off "I'm doing my best here"

The Earth Guardian shook his head "Take a break you two"

"And who do we have here?" Cyril announced suddenly

Terrador turned his attention elsewhere, spotting a young purple dragon climbing up the stairs towards them.

"Have you come to show these amateurs how a true dragon fights Spyro?"

"I-"

"Trainees!" the Ice Guardian roared, cutting off any attempt to respond properly

"The living symbol of our proud race is among us!" the ice dragon continued "Show that you deserve to be called a dragon!"

Unexpectedly the people below cheered, instead of being offended as Spyro expected every single dragon, currently engaged in combat or not, roared. And those were blares full of determination and anger, a sportsmanship anger he believed, and yet you could sense something else behind it. Like cries of soldiers from a faithful and loyal army.

He hurried up the stairs, the training renewed with more vigor, the sounds of skirmish and general shouting became louder than during the period he witnessed when he firstly arrived here. Even through all the noise he could hear single voices with his name on them.

All this attention felt like an extreme oppressive weight, it didn't matter currently that in a way he accepted his role in this society. Having the faith of every single dragon down there on his shoulders was a burden nonetheless, which, in this moment, he doubted he would ever get used to.

He reached the two Guardians, circled around their backs and sat in between them, keeping slightly in the back, enough for their massive wings and bodies to at least partially cover him.

"You didn't have to do that Cyril" Spyro mumbled bashfully

The Ice Guardian laughed "Oh, I beg to differ my young friend. Look!" he waved his paw, with a single swing covering the whole length of the training grounds below where dragon against dragon was engaged in a skirmish or currently resting before another session

"Look at the fierceness! The determination! All those people came here with a peculiar motivation to begin with, I agree, it was surprising to see them acting this way, considering everything that was going on lately"

"And we have you to thank for that Spyro" Terrador chimed in

The purple dragon looked at the ground, timidly scratching the stony ground.

"I don't think-"

"I agree" Cyril added before he could finish "They came here with your name on their lips, there was so much ambition in some of them. Now?" the Guardian laughed almost menacingly

"Such fire is in all of them! Your presence was the missing ingredient!"

The dragon laughed again, however now there was no doubt about anything. This was a truly sinister laughter.

Both the green and purple dragon observed the overjoyed ice Guardian with amazed frowns.

"I hope that you won't forget on which side you are on Cyril" Terrador commented with a smile "That evil laughter is pretty creepy"

"Can you blame me?" he growled in amusement "Take another look! This is MY race! Those down there are worthy to be called true dragons. Worthy to be compared to me!"

"At least one thing didn't change"

"Whoa, that's a quite big line. For what all of them are waiting for?"

The Guardians eyes immediately spotted the sight the surprised voice of the purple drake was referring to. Anxious and confident line of dragons was waiting for their turn to get in the ring which was currently occupied by a young black dragoness, who in this very moment successfully disposed of another challenger. Proudly returning to the middle of the ring, preparing for another fight, much to the displeasure of her defeated opponent and every soon to be contestant.

"Ah, that would be the line of volunteers naively believing that they are strong enough to take on Cynder" Cyril commented casually

Spyro pushed himself up in alarm, stepping in front of the Guardians, not really liking the look of that.

"Doesn't she get any breaks? There are many dragons who want to fight with her, one after the other"

"This is unfair" a growl rumbled within his throat as he turned towards the Guardians, eyes narrowed angrily

"There is nothing to worry about Spyro" Terrador explained, pretending that he doesn't see the specific look the young drake was giving the both of them

"Cynder asked for this herself. We purposely took her under our wings, that way we make sure that anger doesn't escalate beyond sportsmanship"

"We are grateful for her decision" Cyril added, obviously not bothered at all by the young dragon's protest. His eyes were locked on the ring where Cynder fought with another contestant. His orbs surprisingly sparkling with a glimmer of arrogant pride and sincere awe.

"She dispatches them one by one with magnificent ease. People return to the ring, believing that they practiced long enough to walk away victorious. And every single time they are wrong, no matter how angry, how wounded their pride is, they always lose"

As he finished his sentence the most recent opponent just hit the ground.

The Guardian sighed longingly "Do you know what that means Spyro?"

He turned towards the arena below, even from here seeing that Cynder is obviously enjoying her unfair struggle. It might have been her decision but he still had a bad feeling about this.

"I see a bright future for our race" Cyril continued, not really caring if the young dragon is listening

"All those years I believed that I was overpowered by Cynder thanks to her numerous army, but now I have to admit, proudly I might add, that even if she would be alone I would stand no chance against her. And when I'm saying that somebody would defeat me without breaking much of a sweat it means something"

A roar came from below, which shouldn't be much interesting considering that the training grounds were filled with fighting dragons, yet this blare came from the ring which currently received the most attention from the elevation the three dragons currently occupied.

Another contestant tried his chances and had just got up from the ground after a slightly demeaning strike. The challenger retaliated instantly, but Cynder's graceful and swift moves made the drake hit empty air. In his confusion he didn't notice when she attacked him, pushing him onto the ground and from the ring as a result.

Cyril grinned, his smile having practically an evil tone to it "Admire the moves, the effortless and yet powerful strikes. She would slice the throats of every single one of them and they wouldn't even notice her coming. Such a killing machine that girl is and she's on our side. We have Lightbane on our side, people will only benefit from the humiliation she has to offer"

The grin on his snout grew wider, together with the arrogant icy shimmer in his eyes "We have Lightbane on our side. We have the prophesied purple dragon on our side. We cannot lose with the two most powerful dragons the year of the dragon has ever brought fighting under the same banner. Let them come, let them all come. We will squash them all like the bugs they are!"

"I think that's enough Cyril. Don't get too excited, watch for that old heart of yours" Terrador commented with a smirk

Cyril took a deep breath "Watching my kind thrive makes me younger than ever friend and yet, this is not perfect"

Spyro frowned surprised "Not perfect? You guys got it perfectly organized, I haven't seen so many dragons practicing…well…ever"

"it is good to see the dragons training, but they are nothing more than lesser fighters"

"Cyril!" the Earth Guardian admonished his friend "Show some respect for those who might in the nearby future risk their lives for our Realms!"

The Ice Guardian rolled his eyes "Spare me the cuddly speeches Terrador. The truth is that we are as powerful as our strongest links. The improvement of our draconic citizens is a secondary aspect, the most important matter is to further develop the abilities of our most powerful fighters. The rest will follow to some degree"

"Sadly we can do nothing for Cynder, her martial skills escalate beyond the abilities of every dragon in this very room. Her Dark element has potential, but without a more experienced black dragon there is nothing we can do to develop her skills even more. She has to figure it out by herself or face stagnation and waste time like now"

"Waste time?" Spyro asked indignantly "if we are the most experienced here it's our duty to help the ones who are new or less talented"

Cyril nodded indifferently "Yes of course, all of this is very important"

"Don't overdo the excitement friend" the Earth Guardian added sarcastically

"By wasting time I mean the lack of any development. Let's face it, there is no one here from who Cynder or you Spyro can benefit regarding martial skills. The only way for you to improve is to train with each other. However both of you are very talented already, the progress would be there but it would be a slow one. We don't have that much time"

The ice dragon scanned the training area below with a thoughtful frown.

"This is why we need to focus on elemental abilities. There is nothing you can gain Spyro from group sessions, you need an individual program for it to be quick and successful. To make it happen you need a training partner"

"Unfortunately as for now there is no one who could help to develop your elemental powers" Terrador continued instead of his ice friend

"There are some dragons here who possess a certain amount of skill, but nothing that would be especially worthwhile for you"

"So all of this" Spyro gestured at the arena, embracing the whole training ground with one swing of his paw "Is meant to find me an appropriate training partner?"

"Yes. Everybody wins that way. You gain more power and knowledge, your partner benefits from your skills and eventually everyone else does either by observing or sparring with you"

"Wow. You really thought this through"

"We aren't Guardians for nothing boy" Cyril snarled irritated, as if he had to remind him of something extremely obvious

Terrador glared at the ice dragon "What Cyril is trying to say here is that the plan seemed to work fine. However we didn't foresee that it would be so difficult to find an appropriate partner for you"

Spyro scanned the training grounds, his eyes spotting several dragons that were worth mentioning. However they never picked any of them. His orbs stopped moving the moment they shifted away from the rings where they focused on an area near some pipes, some were still dripping water.

A sole, literally burning fire dragon was sitting there all by himself.

"What about Flare?" Spyro asked, observing the drake stretching his bones tiredly and occasionally sipping water from a recently filled bucket

"Worthless" Cyril said bluntly

Terrador scolded the Ice Guardian with another stare.

"Flare was our first choice, his burning features and origins made us to believe that he is the ideal pick for your training partner. He most likely possess fire abilities that are foreign to our knowledge, he comes from a different age after all"

"Sadly Flare shows no signs of hoped potential, which is odd considering his rather frail build and weak fighting skills. It's clear that he bases his strength on the magical side of our nature and yet he showed no such promise. He lost every single fight, we tried to pit him against Cynder, thinking that he feels unsure around other dragons. Unfortunately the result was the same or even worse, he seemed even more reluctant fighting her than anyone else"

Terrador looked at the young fire drake with a sad sigh.

"We haven't seen him displaying any extraordinary fire power, he seems to only breathe the basic flame every fire dragon is known for. He is either holding back for some unknown reason, or he is on the very beginning of his road to become a true fire dragon"

"Have you tried talking with him?" Spyro inquired, curious about the whole situation, especially considering what he saw in Munitions Forge

"Of course, even Cynder did, she seems to be the only one having some influence on him around here. The result was the same however, he said he is doing his best and kept losing further. We would try another element without fire out of the way for now, but Iris didn't show up. Ignus promised to get her here, but I fear it might take some time, we all know how arrogant that girl is"

There was a moment of silence as every dragon from their three numbered group was lost in thought.

"I would like to train with Flare" Spyro finally said, deciding on the only reasonable and ironically risky path

The Guardians exchanged dumbfounded glances between each other, before Terrador focused on the young purple drake.

"Spyro didn't you listen? Flare has nothing to offer you"

"Trust me, he does. We can help each other"

"If that is what you think is best then so be it. I propose however that you start right now, test the waters so to speak"

Spyro shook his head "No. I need the arena empty and hopefully locked. Just the two of us"

Cyril narrowed his eyes suspiciously "That's an odd request, is there something you want to share with us? Because I must warn you that there is absolutely no chance that you will be left here alone. You need someone to supervise your training"

"That's a bit harsh" the drake replied "Almost seems like spying to me"

"Call it as you will. One of our jobs is to gather information, be it on our own people or murderers from outside. We ignored too many things already, we won't allow that to happen again, especially in our own home"

"What Cyril is trying to say" the Earth Guardian threw another, obviously fruitless, admonishing glance at his friend "is that our people are important to us. When they spend time in our home it's our role to help them in any way we can. Better to stand against known problems united than face them alone"

The dragon tapped his claw meaningfully against the stony floor.

"Isn't that right Spyro?"

The young drake instinctively winced, hit by the burning arrow of shame.

"I'm sure I can get Flare to show more of his abilities, he doesn't like me very much and he has VERY big anger control issues"

Cyril laughed heartily "Really? Him?" his claw fiercely pointed towards the arena

Their eyes followed the sharp, draconic road-sign, which pointed at no one else but Flare. The dragon was busy figuring out how to operate a valve of one of the water pipes, or perhaps he was figuring out what the hell is a valve, or pipe.

Whatever the case may be…he was busy.

The valve, like most of the other new things proved to be too difficult for the drake to understand. He behaved like a cat, scratching at the pipe and biting at the small tube at the end of the valve that connected it with the main pipe. Knowing that the dreamed treat is just inches away, taunting him from its hiding place.

It was beyond everyone's understanding why the young fire drake didn't turn the round mechanism so obviously constructed to spin under pressure. Sometimes Flare placed both of his forelegs on the valve, when everyone expected that he finally managed to figure out how the mechanism works the drake surprised once more.

Instead of pushing the round valve into motion Flare leaned forward, doing something at the back of the small tube, it was impossible to see what exactly, their best guess was that he tried to bite through the metal.

There was always the possibility that the valve got stuck, things like that happen all the time, but it was obvious that the dragon didn't take that option into consideration.

"We should-"

Cyril never managed to finish his most likely full of mockery opinion since suddenly a loud, sharp ringing sound of creaking metal echoed through the arena, magically silencing every grunt of struggle. The tube together with the valve fell off, it was impossible to bite through the steel, so the young drake had to melt it off, or weaken in some other familiar way.

It was unimportant however in the sight of events that followed soon after. The pipe transported water, that water to flow under a provisional control, since you can never fully control the forces of nature, required pressure.

Unsurprisingly the young dragon had no idea what happens when suddenly the pressured, steady flow is broken.

Water shot from the recently created hole with such a force that it seemed like a water dragon would be sitting in that pipe all along, fully charged on elemental energy, awaiting an excuse to release it.

And the oblivious fire dragon was that excuse.

The pressurized water hit him like a wet cannonball, with a squeal unsuitable for any male Flare was hurled practically towards the opposite side of the training grounds. At first he flew through the air, gurgling and squealing, his burning body barely visible through the splashing water.

The pressure weakened some distance away from the ruined valve, it was no longer strong enough to carry his draconic body above the ground, nevertheless it was still strong enough to push him. Flare hit the sandy floor with a smack, the yellowish ground being moistened by his body and the shooting water became mucky and sticky.

Unable to regain balance, no matter how deep he dug his claws into the earth, Flare kept rolling along the ground, sand sticking to every part of his body and getting in practically every possible hole. He no longer squeaked, the gurgling remained however, together with coughing as both water and the wet sand got inside his mouth.

People started screaming, rushing to block the shooting pipe together with some moles who thanks the Ancestors were here to supervise the construction. Others dashed towards the tossed away fire drake, ready to help if necessary.

Spyro was also one of those people, yet his attempt at throwing a helpful paw was stopped by an cold and firm paw on his shoulder.

"Stay" Cyril said casually "There are already enough helpers as it is. Stay and let's contemplate on my another fair argument"

He already got used to the fact that the Guardian has troubles seeing past the tip of his nose, so his comments didn't bother him any longer. In any other situation he would ignore the old drake and rush to help, but it was truthfully not necessary. Flare was already getting up on his own and Spyro really doubted that his presence there would make the dragon feel any better.

"I didn't change my mind. I still want to train with Flare. And if there has to be someone watching us I would like it to be Volteer. No offense, but he has an eye for oddities"

Cyril snorted "Whatever, if you want to waste your time so be it. I'm glad that I won't be the one sharing the agony with you"

Terrador nodded, scanning the piped construction running through the training grounds.

"As you like Spyro. I suggest however that you come back in a while. We need to reserve some time for repairs, seems to me like there might be a problem with the main distributing pipe thanks to Flare. At least you have some time to convince him"

Spyro observed the dirty fire drake anxiously "This is one of the things I need Volteer for. In case I'll need some paralyzing effect"

* * *

All the yelling was still ringing inside his head, he couldn't find a moment of peace even in an empty corridor. Ok, he might have broken that strange thing but this isn't a reason to be so mean. Cynder was the only one he could listen to from that yelling crowd, since he knew her shouts were sincerely supporting.

And yet he declined her offer to tag along. She was really surprised to hear that, however his stubborn and stupid sense of pride disallowed to forfeit his previous decision. For a good reason now when he thinks about it, she really enjoyed the never-ending skirmishes. She was having so much fun.

Of course he had to ruin it.

Out of shame and sense of guilt he couldn't look into her eyes, let alone talk with her. Sitting here alone with the destroyed valve in paw as a memento given by some stupidly clever mole he tried to forget about everything, calmly and smoothly.

The sound of creaking metal as it curled in his paw from heat was the first step in achieving that dreamed peace. He was so focused on the noise, with his eyes aimed at the ground as if looking for footprints that he didn't hear the sound of clicking claws. He wouldn't even notice that someone is walking if not for the sight of draconic paws stopping right at the edge of his vision.

His yellow eyes widened at the sight. A pair of pretty draconic front satin blue paws stood before him. Clearly feminine, with white toes. He recognized them immediately.

"Iris?" Flare asked raising his eyes. He found the answer for his question as his gaze traveled up the perfectly curved body, even before reaching the pretty snout

The happiness that circled through him vanished however when he locked eyes with those cold, diamond orbs of hers.

"Have you come to make fun of me like the rest?" he asked with a voice full of pain

She sniffed the air, besides the smell of nauseating shame there was also the scent of burnt metal. Her eyes shifted to the side gently, finding the melted piece on the floor next to the dragon.

"You were right" she said with her alluring accent, the white orbs took his features into their whole focus. Sadly it wasn't one of the pleasant type of attention.

Flare whined, with difficulties containing his wounded fury "Go away, I'm not in the mood to listen to your taunts"

"You were right, I'm not unique"

He looked at her with a surprised and partially suspicious frown. She wasn't the type that willingly admits ones flaws or considers oneself as an equal creature with the rest.

He knew that she was one of a kind and Iris…well, she lacked modesty to think otherwise.

"Why are you telling me this?" he asked, a bit too harsh perhaps, but in his current mental state it was hard to tell right from wrong

She looked to the side, down the corridor.

"I thought you were training"

There was such pity and sadness in her voice that he visibly flinched, cursing himself for offending another one of his friends with his rude tongue.

"I was, things just got…" he bit his lip "…complicated. I don't know if I want to go back there"

Her usually still tail wavered a little, as if displaying the hidden feelings of its lady. Judging from the shaky shivers the tail resonated only the bad kind of feelings, like irritation or dissatisfaction.

"Why?"

Her voice was ringing with concern, it was strangely soft, almost sounding like that one time in the library. He had no idea if she was faking it or not, his mind was busy processing the fact that she seemed to care about him.

Why?

He looked around the corridor, scanning it up and down, left and right. Besides the two of them it was empty.

Maybe she is different when nobody is watching? Meaning she is truly herself?

"I badly treated Cynder, my first friend" Flare replied painfully and entirely honest, feeling extremely comfortable around the ice dragoness. His eyes widened in terror when his mind, in its own traumatic way recited inwardly every rude word from earlier

"I didn't mean to offend you I swear!" he blurt out in panic "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"It's ok, I'm not mad and Cynder isn't either"

Flare's eyes widened in overjoyed shock "Really?! How do you know that?"

Iris shrugged "I told you that I'm not unique and to my great displeasure I found a common trait with Cynder. We both are fierce and like to display that in a fight"

"Yeah! Cynder loves fighting!"

She nodded "The simplest way to test if someone hates you is to offer the offended person the thing she or he likes most"

Flare tapped his claws on the floor thoughtfully "So…I should offer Cynder a friendly fight?"

The dragoness nodded.

"She fought with me and many others already. How another duel will solve anything?"

"If you are a true fighter nothing is better than a fight that you feel in your muscles two days later"

He watched her confused "What does that mean?"

Unexpectedly her tail twitched again.

"The type of girls like me and Cynder value a REALLY tiring fight"

He raised his head hopefully "Seriously?"

"Yes. But a fight alone isn't the only thing a warrior values. After an EXTREMELY exhausting duel a true warrior like Cynder appreciate some rest. AS SOON AS POSSIBLE WITHOUT anyone around so she could relive the fight in her mind while the body rests. This is the best way to improve"

Hope and determination filled his heart once again. There was so much wisdom in Iris' words.

"Hey you're right! I think she will like that!"

Iris looked at the floor where her claws were scratching the stony ground, tiny sparks flew from underneath her razor weapons as she sharpened them.

"I'm sure I will" she whispered icily


	78. Chapter 22 Book IV

Chapter 22

People were eager to talk with him and surprisingly he was no longer afraid of the numbers with which they approached him. It couldn't be called a crowd, but rather a considerable group, earlier even those scared him, not only adults but children even.

Like in the cheetah village, which felt like years ago, when he made a fool of himself in front of kids.

Kids!

He couldn't handle a bunch of younglings, thanks the Ancestors that Cynder was there for the rescue. Who knows how it would go otherwise. Probably he would end with a traumatic experience, killing children with boredom surely counts as one.

And now he conversed, or more likely they did the talking, he mostly listened, throwing only a word here and there. It was enough however to feel the bond of companionship among them, resonating perhaps with a deeper strength to those in the distance. A group like they merged would be taken for a meeting of dear friends, not soon to be training partners.

Because it eventually came to training, it wasn't as comfortable and professional like in the still closed arena, but the open space behind the City Hall served its purpose well. The Guardians were right, people benefit from his skills no matter how lousy the provisional training grounds are.

That sole thought was enough to think about repeating this in the nearby future. Especially considering the fact that he met Hunter, dressed in his scouting outfit, leaving the City Hall, when he was done practicing.

Through the air cut a determined cry of a falcon.

"Hey Hunter!" Spyro greeted the feline enthusiastically "Where are you off to if I may ask?"

The cheetah turned around, bowing deeply "I'm here to serve my friend" he straightened up, just in time to prepare room on his right shoulder for his faithful bird

Spyro observed the falcon with unhidden fascination, it's powerful wings flapped in accordance with it's talons curling around the material, deeper and deeper. As if the wings and talons were a single mechanism, with each flap of the former more pressure was applied to the latter. Like turning a crank of a vice.

The cheetah didn't even flinch, and the bird when it finally settled on the furry shoulder looked at the drake with it's arrogant gold eyes and cried out proudly.

"One of my birds returned with disturbing news from the east. Dark clouds were spotted floating above Dante's Freezer. I was ordered to investigate"

"You can't go there alone!" Spyro protested "That's where we believe remnants of the Dark Army are holed up"

The falcon let out a shrill, almost indignant cry.

Hunter smiled with one hand grabbing the yin yang symbol on his coat, while with the other feeding his loyal avian companion.

"I'm never alone my friend"

"I'll come with you"

The cheetah shook his head gently "Assistance of someone like you would be a honor, however I believe you have important assignment here in Warfang. Ignoring that for a humble scout like me would be unwise if you excuse my boldness"

Spyro sighed, he will never get used to the fact that the feline sees himself below him, below dragons in general, but at the same time he knew there was no chance to convince him otherwise. Much to the young drake's displeasure.

"Please at least tell me if this has to do something with the Veils"

Hunter nodded glumly "That is the most probable cause. Dante Freezer is known for its ice and bright nights. Moon is a rare guest there"

"Perfect" Spyro snarled, unable to shake off the blame, nagging that he has wasted lots of time

The cheetah placed his clawed hand on the dragon's shoulder.

"Do not worry my dear friend, you are on the right course. If there is something to learn from our past is that a purple dragon dictates the pace of events, not the other way around"

The falcon squawked as if in agreement.

"Yeah" Spyro sighed half-heartedly "We all know how that worked out last time"

The scout withdrew his hand from the scaly shoulder.

"Exactly as I mentioned. Malefor might have been malevolent, you however are not. You proved that countless times already, to foes and allies alike"

"You overestimate my usefulness"

Hunter smiled "Do I? Could you say the same about all those people I saw behind the building? Do they also overestimate your value?"

Spyro bit his lip and looked to the side, like a child caught on a lie.

"Well…that's different" he mumbled

The cheetah chuckled gently "Let's agree to disagree then. What you're doing here Spyro is just as important, you need to believe that. Otherwise your efforts will be for naught"

The falcon squawked once more. The scout pet its feathery head.

Spyro shrugged, he was clearly outnumbered here. If it's for better or for worse…well that remains to be seen.

"Maybe. I just feel that it should be me throwing myself into the unknown. Drink the beer I brew you know"

Hunter gestured at the City Hall behind his tail.

"This is why you are here, preparing yourself so the new won't be no longer terrifying" he pressed his hand to his chest "You have people like me to help you shed some light on the unknown"

"I don't want to use people"

"Cats like me are limited people, with specific role to play. Only creatures like you walk beyond the well-worn paths. Everyone else is restricted to their own fields of faith"

Spyro impulsively looked down where his paw was barely lifted from the ground, tips of his claws scratching the marble below as he slowly turned it around.

"Like figures on a chessboard"

Hunter's ears perked up as he nodded impressed.

"A very precise comparison. I don't know why your wisdom still surprises me"

The dragon chuckled, scratching the back of his head nervously with a weak smile.

"I have my moments"

"And you're so young" the cheetah squeezed the drake's shoulder gently "Be well my friend. I don't have to wish you luck, you always do the right thing and always triumph"

Spyro bowed "You also watch out for yourself friend and return safely"

Hunter bowed with a smile, pat the scaly shoulder gently and spun on his heel. He made his way towards the front gate of the Plaza, his cloak practically hanging still on the windless day. The falcon leapt into the air with what seemed like an admonishing cry, at the sound of which the feline seemed to slow down even more. Much to the dislike of the bird.

Perhaps he didn't share Hunter's high regard about himself, but he couldn't deny that the cheetah was right saying that all have a job to do. He could only hope that his task, feeling so insignificant compared to Hunter's, will bare fruit in the future.

* * *

"Really?" Flare asked truly shocked "I can go inside?"

Volteer nodded with a smile, seeing the young so happy had a magical heart warming effect to it.

"Correct"

"Like open the door and walk inside?"

"Correct"

"You mean inside like INSIDE? No sky, but roof?"

The amber dragon chuckled "That is…what I…mean"

"AWESOME!" Flare squealed excitedly, jumping into the air, using the strength of his wings to make a backwards flip before landing on the floor, bouncing all around with youthful vigor

Volteer grinned, seeing people, especially the ones at the beginning of their life, happy makes all those years spent on this earth worthwhile.

"You are…going to…train-"

"I'M GOING TO TRAIN!" another flip, this one with overjoyed, almost glass shattering shriek, not bothered by the fact that he interrupted the Guardian

"I'M GOING TO TRAIN!" he jumped into the air once more, another acrobatic move prepared in hectic mind

"…with Spyro" the old dragon finished

All the joy blew from the red dragon's mouth like steam from an engine.

Volteer winced at the sight and sound of a powerful thud that followed soon after. If he was in the dragon's place he was certain that he would have all of his bones broken by now.

The young drake however didn't seem to be bothered by the fact that he laid sprawled on the ground, legs extended in every direction as if he was a squashed spider. It was his eyes that betrayed pain and confusion instead of his body, a theory fortified further by the fact the he was back on all fours in an instant seconds later.

"W-w-w-w-hat?" Flare stammered, his stiff bones grinding like rusty metal gears

"You...are-"

"I-I-I want t-t-t-to tr-r-r-rain wit-t-t-th Cyn-n-n-nder!" his devastated stammer interrupted the Guardian once more

Volteer shook his head, not bothered in the slightest that he didn't finish his sentence, speaking so slowly was his biggest concern that he just didn't have the time to worry about anything else. Not that he would anyway.

"Impossible. The…training…grounds will be…officially opened in the…evening"

Flare looked up at him, his yellow eyes sparkling with intense, hopeful, almost blinding glow.

"N-n-n-no t-t-train-n-ning t-t-then?"

"That…means the…arena is…empty. Spyro is…already there…waiting…for you"

"I-I-I-don't w-w-w-want to!" Flare shouted, backing away until his rump hit a wall. With a gulp he moved a bit farther as if wanting to get inside the stone or at least meld with the shadows

"This is…an…opportunity Flare. Not…everyone gets the…chance to…practice…with a…purple dragon"

"N-n-n-no!" the drake whined "I'm n-n-n-not goi-i-i-i-ing to be t-t-t-their p-p-p-playt-t-t-thing a-a-a-again!"

Volteer approached the dragon, observing him with friendly eyes but keeping his distance, as if he would be approaching a wounded, scared, wild animal

"Nobody is…forcing you to…train. You can…come only…if you…are…willing to"

Every burning part of Flare's body flared up, displaying in the only way possible their shock, in accordance with the dragon's wide stare.

"I-I-I- don-n-n-n't nee-d-d-d-d to g-g-go?"

"Of…course not. It's your…decision"

"Then I'm staying!" Flare exclaimed, the joy after hearing the news overpowering any sign of nervousness instantly

Volteer nodded "Understandable...however…" his intelligent eyes narrowed on the drake, his mind having difficulties leaving unanswered questions alone. This was just not his style.

"You…seemed…eager to…train…earlier. Does Spyro's…presence really…bother…you so…much?"

"Yeah! He's a purple dragon!"

"Ones…coloration…shouldn't be…the reason for…judgment. It's an…inherited trait…during…hatching, a process…beyond our…control"

Flare started to wave his paw defensively, shaking his head at the same time.

"No, no, no, not this again. Logic has nothing to do with it" he dropped his leg, planting it firmly on the ground "Purple dragons suck. Period"

The Guardian sat on the ground calmly, impulsively sensing a battle of arguments and he isn't the one who allows the war of mind to slip by.

"This is…an…unfair…assumption"

"Unfair?!" the drake blurt out, the colors on his burning parts sparkled and shifted from dim to bright and the other way around

Volteer cocked his head at the curious sight.

"You don't know them the way I do! You met one or two in your life, I met hundreds if not more. I exactly know what kind of creatures they are"

Hundreds of purple dragons!

Besides the young drake's complete reluctance to participate in a training session with Spyro and the dragon's strange external oddities that was another topic he would also gladly discuss about.

Hundreds of purple dragons!

If this was the truth, and he had no reason to accuse the youngster of spreading false information, it would change the perception of the world completely. It would put the entire Year of The Dragon and ten generation birth into question!

It might open the door to their world's secrets.

What if nothing is as it seems?

What if there's a second bottom to the events that occurred in their world?

What if Dragon Realms as they know it are nothing more than a delusion?

What if history as they know it's just a shell?

"Volteer!"

The amber dragon shook his head, driven back into reality as if by a bell's rumble. The distant gaze in his eyes shifted back, displaying nothing more than confusion.

"Are you listening to me?" Flare asked, brows furrowed curiously

"Of…course!" the amber replied defensively, impulsively wiping his mouth where a bit of a drool hung on his lip

"I…stand by my…opinion. Judging so…easily…is…unfair"

"You want to know what is unfair?" the drake snarled in irritation "Unfair is being waken up in the middle of the night after being pushed throughout the whole day. Unfair is being able to sleep for maximum two hours a day if you're lucky. Unfair is being so tired that you no longer can tell the difference what is real or not"

"Flare-"

"Not enough?" the drake asked wryly, the natural fiery light he emitted pulsed aggressively

"Unfair is being forced to murder your roommates in order to survive. Unfair is always remaining alert in case someone tries to bite your neck off. Unfair is being thrown into the ring with a purple dragon who you can't fight back or else you die while he can do whatever he wants with you"

"Enough" Volteer stomped his paw, tendrils of electricity coursed through the floor

Flare's tail swashed from side to side, leaving a fiery trail in its wake while he himself bent on his paws, eyes almost begging. Looking like a meek sheep.

The Guardian was amazed at the speed with which the dragon shifts and displays his feelings. This time however he didn't allow his mind to wander. One problem at a time.

"I'm...truly sorry...no one should be...treated like...that however...my opinion is...unchanged"

"Why? Why you people ignore the truth?" Flare whined into the ceiling "I know what a purple dragon is" he punched his chest, the burning feather looking attachments on his elbows flared up brightly, slightly increasing the temperature around the drake

"I've felt in on my own scales! Nothing defends them! They are all the same!"

"Spyro is…different"

"No!" Flare protested fiercely, every part of his burning body spat out furious flames

Volteer observed the young drake with extreme caution and curiosity, this wasn't the Flare he got to know. He had seen him angry already, but this was different, he no longer acted like the abused slave, scared of everything. Only mentioning Spyro triggered something in him, he was confident and sure of his actions, whatever chains are holding him back were creaking agonizingly, at the brink of breaking apart.

As if he was a king in a prison who just got out, trading shackles for a crown.

"He is just like the rest! You need to deal with him before it's too late!"

The Electric Guardian tapped his claw against the floor.

"If Spyro is so…dangerous why…haven't you…stopped him…yourself?"

There was a change, as if by a magic touch the raging flames died down, just like they would be extinguished by a bucket of water. The young drake's features changed completely, the image of a king was gone, the crown lost somewhere far away when it fell of his head. He was once again the same young, naïve and oblivious boy he saw in the library.

One question remained however.

Which of the chaotic images is the real one?

Flare looked to the side "I-I can't"

"Why?" the Guardian inquired gently

The fire drake cringed painfully "I can't hurt Cynder, not again"

"You…tolerate Spyro…because he is Cynder's…friend?"

The dragon nodded guilty.

"Are you…sure?"

Flare jerked his head back, looking at the amber dragon in confusion.

"I don't understand"

"Perhaps…deep down you…know that Spyro is…unique, you…feel it…because you…know that Cynder…considers Spyro as…someone…special"

The drake's yellow eyes fell on the ground, it was obvious he was considering his words and the struggling wrinkle on the young nose told him that it wasn't a simple debate.

"You…know she…wouldn't…trust someone…who is…evil"

Flare groaned "I don't know what I think anymore! I just want to train with Cynder. Let's leave Spyro out of it please" he retreated some steps backwards as if trying to visualize his plea

Volteer nodded "Very…well. May I…ask why are you so…eager to…practice with Cynder?"

The fire drake dropped his head in shame "I did something terrible and want to make amends"

"By…fighting?"

"She loves to fight, the harder the fight the better I plan to be a worthy opponent"

The amber dragon offer an apologetic, friendly smile.

"Forgive…me Flare but from…what I've…heard you…sparred with Cynder…already and it didn't…go…well"

"I know"

The young drake's devastated mumble was heartbreaking. He wanted to achieve something but knew that was unable to do so. Why, Volteer had no idea.

"There…is nothing…to be…ashamed of. Cynder is a…capable…warrior. I suggest…skipping the…fight-"

"I won't-"

"Wait" Volteer cut off the drake's antagonized shout by pushing his paw into the air "Let me…finish" he dropped his leg on the ground "I…suggest skipping the…fight…happening in the…afternoon. Cynder will have…a lot of…competitors, she might…not have…time for…you"

Flare raised his head, his eyes focused and glistening, as if he was at the brink of tears.

"So I won't be able to fight with Cynder?"

Once more the agonizingly painful tone, hearing it was like allowing daggers to pierce you heart. Sadness was such an ugly emotion that he just couldn't let it triumph. It didn't fit with his happy and friendly nature.

"In the…afternoon no…but I…might try to…organize…a duel in the…evening. Cynder would…have little…rest but I'm…sure she would…gladly do it…for you. Would you…like a…friendly…match with her? Just…the two…of you?"

"Yes please!" Flare exclaimed, springing forward, almost like with the intention to hug him but in the last moment deciding that he would cross the line.

Volteer had to lower his head to keep eye contact with the young drake who stopped just in front of his paws in a comical, cambered pose.

"Please! Please! Please!"

He smiled "It's…settled then"

The smile that showed up on the dragon's snout was one of the most beautiful and grateful he ever saw in his life. It wrinkled scales that were practically never touched before, the smile obviously grazing them after a very long break.

The sight was both heartwarming and depressing in a way, not being able to smile with all the strength of raging joy in such a young age was torture.

Life is very unfair sometimes.

"YEEEESSSS!" the young drake roared, tongues of excited flames wafted from his mouth

The amber dragon smiled.

"But…I must…warn you…Cynder even…tired is still a…powerful…opponent"

The beam of happiness didn't leave the young drake but it diminished slightly, he was clearly aware that the last time they trained didn't go well. It was hard to decide if he didn't believe in his skills or was there something else behind his worry. Yet no matter what it was, he achieved the most important goal and nothing will change that.

"I need to do this. Help me Volteer if you can and tell me how can I make our fight a bit difficult for Cynder"

"Simple, you…need…practice"

"Then let's do it!" Flare jumped up, turning around hectically "When do we start?"

The Electric Guardian shook his head "To…prepare for a…fight with Cynder…you need…to…train with the…best"

"Sure, no problem. Where we start Volteer?"

The old dragon chuckled "I'm…flattered that you…consider me…worthy but…I'm past my…prime"

Flare cocked his head "If not you, then who?"

"I…believe you…know the…answer for…that…question"

The drake's yellow eyes stared at him in confusion, even before Flare opened his mouth Volteer knew that he didn't find the answer.

"I've got nothing"

"Spyro"

Flare's whole body shook, whatever aura of joy surrounded the drake vanished completely.

"I-I-I thoug-g-g-ht we a-a-a-are don-n-n-ne t-t-t-talki-i-i-ing about-t-t-t-t him"

"If your…dream is to…be…equal to Cynder…you have…to…face the…best. There is…no…other…way"

His fiery head dropped at the ground once more, knowing that he has no choice, aware that if he wants to achieve his goal he has to walk that path. No matter how horrible it is.

"He i-i-i-is goin-n-n-ng to k-k-k-kill m-m-me"

Volteer's head reared back in shock.

"Kill you? Spyro would…never do…such a…thing"

"I-I-I-I don-n-n-n't want t-t-t-tto lose m-m-m-my frien-n-n-nds" he sobbed

The Electric Guardian approached the young boy, placing his paw on his shoulder comfortingly.

"You…won't…lose them. Why you…say such…things?"

Silence befallen on the two of them, between the dragon's quiet sobs no other sound could be heard. It was quite clear that he isn't going to answer that question.

"Spyro…won't…hurt you"

Flare shrugged the dragon's paw off, obviously his words of comfort having no effect on the young drake.

"He might not have any other choice"

With a defeated sigh the drake crossed the hall, his wings and tail emotionlessly hanging down his body.

Volteer raised on all fours in alarm.

"Where are...you...going?"

"To the training grounds"

* * *

He sighed tiredly, he no longer remembered when was the last time he threw a glance at the door, expecting Flare to show up. He would give up a long time ago, but Volteer assured him that everything will turn out fine.

And so he stayed. A deal is a deal.

He was lying flat on his belly in the middle of the sandy arena, extremely quiet arena. His chin resting on top of his two folded front paws, eyes boringly observing the only battle ahead that was going on.

In front of him was a chessboard, created in sand by his touch, its lines carefully smoothed by his claw.

The battlefield was mostly empty by now, many of the stones that he found around the arena and shaped cautiously so they would be mostly different from each other were out of the game. Only a handful remained on the sandy field and somehow he had no intention of moving any of them.

He observed the stones, every now and then spreading his mouth to release a bored yawn. Playing chess with yourself is only fun for a specific period of time.

With a smack of his tongue he reached for one of the nearby defeated stones and turned it around in his claws.

"Are you bored just like me little stone?" Spyro asked, placing the tiny rock on top of his nose

"We're not good enough for you anymore?" a low, thick tone rumbled from within his throat

He raised his head, eyes widening in shock, one of the stones in front of his nose was staring at him. He grabbed it with his other paw and dragged it in front of his nose.

"Yeah, I'm talking to you!" Spyro rumbled with the same low voice

"Hey!" he changed his tone to a more squeaky one and reached towards his noise, grabbing the rock sitting there "Back off!"

His eyes darted to the other rock as he threateningly shook it in front of his other paw.

"I don't think so" he rumbled again

Eyes shifted to the other paw.

"Back off!" he squeaked "I won't repeat myself!"

Amethyst glow landed on his first foreleg.

"I'm staying right here" he rattled, moving the paw closer to the other one, towering above it

"Whatcha you gonna do about it?"

The paw below moved up, eyes following it as it raised to the same level like the first one.

"You're about to find out" he squealed aggressively

"Bring it on!"

With those last words his paws moved against each other, low and high delicate growls escaped his throat as the stones began their clicking fight. After a very long time finally a battle has commenced in the arena.

And then suddenly the training grounds were filled with the thudding echo of a massive door opening.

With a gasp Spyro jumped on all fours, hurling the stones he held far away. Without thinking he started kicking with both his front and back legs, removing any sign of how he spent his time here, When the deed was finally done he wriggled his shoulders with a cough, testing his voice, making it sound more manly.

He then sat on the ground, running his paw across his snout, completely forgetting that he is sitting on sand. He started to gag all of a sudden, some of the sand got inside his eyes and throat, he started to cough violently, raising on all fours instinctively, impulsively flapping his wings with each cough he let out.

Eventually the worst was over, with one final cough he shook his head, opening his watery eyes, aiming them at the door. This time however deciding that he looks more imposing and confident while staying on all his legs.

Or at least more safer.

"You idiot" Spyro admonished himself under his breath

Wiping his eyes, this time using his foreleg for that not his clawed paw, he focused on the area ahead, soon whoever came through the door will appear in his line of sight. No longer than some seconds a frame of an amber dragon showed itself up.

Spyro's wings slumped down his back as he let out a defeated sigh.

"He didn't come" he mumbled sadly

Volteer didn't respond, he just smiled and stepped to the side.

The purple drake frowned when a dim column of a fiery light stretched suddenly in front of his paws. He immediately raised his head, the sight ahead made him jump back in shock.

"Flare! You're here!"

The fire dragon also remained silent, a single glance at his pale, practically mangled features was enough to tell that he was very far away from sharing his enthusiasm.

"I'm so happy to see you! I was afraid that you wouldn't come"

"Yeah, I can imagine, you wouldn't want to lose so much power"

The young fire dragon mumbled, it was hardly a whisper, but Spyro was far enough to not be able to hear his words. Same thing couldn't be said about the Electric Guardian, who could be easily accused of eavesdropping if somebody would connect the dots and notice his vanishing smile.

"Spyro" Volteer addressed the purple drake friendly "A word?"

He furrowed his brows, surprised by Volteer's request, yet he had no second thoughts about following the amber dragon who walked a safe distance from Flare. He had much respect for the Guardian, so he knew that whatever he wants to talk about is important.

"Be…careful" Volteer whispered caringly the moment the young drake approached him, his purple eyes inconspicuously observing the young fire dragon.

Who seemed to be completely uninterested by the fact that he was left alone with his thoughts.

Spyro's eyes impulsively trailed the Guardian's sight, even before they landed on their target Spyro knew who the Guardian has in mind.

"What's wrong?"

"There is…something…terribly…unsettling about….that…boy"

The purple drake furrowed his brows in confusion as he looked at the old dragon.

"Why do you speak like that? Is everything all right?"

Volteer shook his paw dismissively.

"Not a…concern. Necessary…speech for…people like Flare to…understand me"

"You're speaking with me now, you can talk normally. I see how difficult it must be"

The dragon smiled gratefully "I…appreciate the…offer, but…slowing my…speech is a…tedious and…uncomfortable…process. If I…give in to…seduction of…education it will…take a…while before…I…slow down…again. My…words…might…still be…needed"

Spyro nodded with a smile "Thanks for your sacrifice. I appreciate it" he turned his attention towards the fire dragon "So what was that about Flare?"

"I'm not…certain. He cannot…control his…emotions, they…shift as…easily as day and…night. Fire dragons…are…temperamental…creatures. Chaotic to…some…degree, but…always under…supervision. In Flare's…case the…chaos seems to…rage…rampant"

Spyro swallowed, eyeing what seemed to be defenseless, clumsy and innocent young fire dragon.

"I'm aware of that"

The Electric Guardian looked at him curiously.

"Flare tried to attack me in the past, not to smack me across the head to beat some sense into me but with a sincere, murderous intention"

Volteer shook his head "It…cannot…happen…again. Perhaps-"

"This is why I asked for you Volteer" he cut off the amber dragon the moment he heard a hint of doubt in his voice. He was afraid that the Guardian would abandon the training sessions, explaining that it is too dangerous. Yet that didn't scare him as much as the thought that he would convince him to do the same

"You are the only Guardian with the strength to pursue knowledge despite the odds. Cyril and Terrador would dispose of the idea the moment they would hear it would endanger my life"

"I don't…like…this" The Guardian replied worryingly

Spyro shrugged "Me neither, but I have no other idea that would help me to improve my fire powers and also help Flare to keep his elemental abilities in check. You most likely seen yourself how deep his past wounds reach, he would never allow any tests to be conducted on him. This is the only way we can help him"

Volteer nodded impressed.

"This is…very…convincing…deduction…friend. You…show signs of…extreme…wisdom"

He smiled nervously "This is why I need your help Volteer in making sure that this won't be my last moment. Cynder is the only one I know who was able to stop Flare, without her around I'm afraid it would be up to your electric powers if things go drastic. Paralyze him or something if it comes to that"

"Is Flare…really that…dangerous?"

"He's an efficient killer if that's what you're asking. I don't want to hurt him so as I said, it might be up to you to make him stop. I will be most likely too busy protecting my eyes from popping out from heat"

"You…seem…to be in an…awful good…humor…considering the…situation"

He looked to the side, a delicate blush crept on his cheeks.

"Cynder's influence. She…" he bashfully slid his paw across the sand "I'm just too happy to give to worry"

"Let's…make sure…it stays…that way…then" Volteer replied with a friendly smile and left the two young dragons to themselves. While he himself occupied one of the upper positions, overlooking the arena

"Have you finally come up with a plan on how to kill me without raising much suspicion?"

Even before he managed to open his mouth he was bombarded with the unsuspected, and what appeared to be a firm question. Yet the longer he listened to it reverberating in his head the better he recognized the true tone behind it. It was not confidence he heard, but an effectively shrouded fear.

"Nobody is going to kill you Flare" Spyro assured the drake "I only want-"

"I know what you want" a fiery light burst from behind the dragon, soon after the reason behind it came into vision, crawling across the sand

Spyro observed the brightly burning tail tip as if charmed.

"And what is that?"

"You want to use me to increase your power because you're too stupid to be able to do that yourself"

He wasn't moved by the aggressiveness in his words, but by the fact that this is the second time he heard Flare saying something like this.

"If you are so sure of that then why did you come here?"

He wasn't expecting that question, whatever aggressive fire ravaging his tail returned to its normal intensity. His yellow eyes blinked and looked to the side.

He recognized that look instantly, it was the look of someone who decided to face his fears for the sake of somebody else. Knowing that the drake doesn't know much people here it wasn't hard to figure out for who he is sacrificing himself.

Not like he wouldn't do the same.

"It's Cynder isn't it?"

Flare flinched at the sound of the name. An answer good as any.

"This was a bad idea" he turned to leave

"I understand your dislike towards me!" Spyro yelled after the dragon, making him stop "But you must understand that I'm not doing this for myself. Cynder is my friend also, do you think she would be happy to know that her two friends don't get along and are not willing to do something about it?"

"You're trying to manipulate me" Flare muttered hesitantly

"No I'm not. If you want to leave then go, I won't stop you. I only beg you to reconsider" Spyro waved his wing around "Look around, we came so far, let's push it a bit further. If not for ourselves than let's do it for Cynder"

Flare turned around, his expression was full of pain.

"How can I know that you won't kill me? I don't want to die"

"You have to trust me"

With a wince the drake started to turn around once more.

"Cynder trusts me!" Spyro yelled, springing forward on stiff legs "If you wouldn't value hers opinion you would never come here. In a way you believe her judgment, otherwise you wouldn't listen to what I have to say"

Flare stopped, he saw his head dropping down, chest pulsing with steady breaths until it pumped itself to the brink, before flattening itself again. Even from here he heard the huge amount of air he exhaled.

He turned around once more.

"Fine"

Spyro exhaled a breath of relief.

"Thank you! Just-just follow me to the middle of the arena and I'll explain everything"

He followed his own advice, with difficulty fighting the urge to look behind his shoulder, to check if Flare didn't decide to bail. Only when he finally reached his destination and turned around he allowed the weight of anxiousness to drop from his heart.

Flare was still here.

"So…the rules are pretty simple, you participated in a training session already so there shouldn't be problems understanding them. If you will have any questions just ask, I'll try to answer them as best as I can"

Flare just observed him without any sign of emotion.

It was pretty intimidating.

Spyro cleared his throat "So…there are two big differences compering to the open session. First, there is no ring, we fight until one of us gives up. There are no winners or losers here. Second, we are allowed to use a bigger variety of our elemental attacks, not something really destructive like Fury, but not the basic stuff either. The rest is the same like in the normal sessions. No lethal damage and the like. Do you have any questions?"

"Only one. How do you steal my power?"

He was taken aback by the blunt and somewhat accusing tone, it made him scratch the back of his head nervously. It was like Flare knew him better than he does.

"Its…its not stealing. It's really hard to explain. It's like learning a song, at first you don't recognize the words or the melody, but the longer you listen to it the better you start to recognize it. Eventually you reach a point where a single tone is enough, in that moment I know I've improved. However you as a natural fire dragon poses abilities I will never be able to learn. For some I'm just too stupid"

A small smile appeared on Flare's snout, somehow he doubted it was his explanation, the smile was either caused by willingly admitting his flaws or by the fact that Flare as a fire dragon surpasses in some areas even a purple dragon as himself.

Oh well.

He was glad that it didn't seem like Flare was about to ask further about his ability to quickly learn elemental attacks. He really doubted he would be able to offer any more than he already presented. He figured it out himself for what seemed to be just a moment ago. He asked Ignitus about it once and he also was unable to explain how is it possible for a purple dragon to learn so quickly and so many abilities from different elements. The only thing he was certain of is that he had troubles learning the first skill of every element, the rest came easier, no matter how difficult they were, it was still easier to learn the more advanced techniques than the basic ones.

He never sought an answer for that mystery, always convincing himself that if something works then there's no sense poking around it.

"Soooo, are you ready?" Spyro asked calmly "Remember that flesh cuts and other similar bloody bruises are permitted. We heal fast, we can use our claws as long as you don't drive them deep enough to tear out the heart, same goes for horns. Oh yeah, and no biting. I'm sure-"

He never got the chance to finish his sentence because suddenly Flare charged, jumping towards him, claws ready to swipe.

The move was so unexpected that the claws connected with his purple shoulder before he managed to jump back and completely avoid the strike.

Spyro growled painfully when Flare's slashing claws cut his shoulder, leaving three bloody scratches on his body as they drew blood from his flesh in three smaller streams.

He spun around swiftly, bent in a defensive posture, eyeing his bleeding cuts in disbelief as they slowly dragged a crimson curtain across his right leg.

"Something like this?"

"Yeah" he answered the cocky voice "Lik-" he gasped the moment he raised his gaze. Flare was in the offense once more

Just like before he didn't expect Flare throwing himself at him so quickly, yet this time his muscles were tensed and posture prepared. The surprise was still there and it still was the reason he got hit, but thanks to earlier preparation the injury wasn't serious.

He hissed in pain as Flare's claws ran across his other leg, this time slightly scratching him, the wound was similar to that received by scratching yourself over a rough wall.

Flare growled, obviously disliking the idea of missing.

The fire drake attacked again, claws slashing through the air once again. He dodged the first strike easily. The other set of claws was already incoming, this strike he blocked and shoved away with his risen paw, he was stronger than Flare, it was fairly easy to create a opening in his defense, especially when he attacks so ferociously and without thinking. An opening that in any other situation would lead to a bloody end of their fight, way before it really started.

He took advantage of it by sending a strong punch at the red dragon's chest, Flare groaned and cringed when air was kicked out of his lungs. Spyro continued his attack, headbutting his opponent, Flare grunted, obviously dazed. Finally he rammed into the fire dragon, keeping his horns away from his body, using only the power of his muscles to lift the drake and throw him onto his back.

A fierce, painful cough escaped Flare's throat the moment he landed on the sandy ground, back first.

"You need to think about what you're doing" Spyro commented as he stepped away from the fallen dragon, muscles prepared to repel another attack if necessary

"Allowing anger to guide you will only do so much against an experienced opponent" he pointed at his bloody cuts "Surprise is mostly a one time deal, you'll hardly fool a good fighter twice"

With a almost rabid roar Flare rolled onto his belly and before springing at the purple dragon released a breath of hot fire in his direction.

Spyro jumped out of the way of most of the fiery wave, the rest he blocked with his natural shield. His wing shook off the rest of the breath with ease. The moment his gold wing went down it revealed the form of the charging fire dragon. Claws already ready to draw blood.

It was clear that Flare didn't listen to his advice. Spyro narrowed his eyes, his experienced instinct already calculating the best way to repel the strike.

The aiming cross fell on Flare's extended foreleg.

He moved his body to the side, enough to get away from the slashing claws and enough to make enough space for a counterattack. He clenched his paw into a fist and swung it at the incoming foreleg, striking the red leg right below the elbow, putting enough strength into the punch to throw the sharp claws completely out of they way and their owner off balance.

Flare's furious expression turned to that of utter shock in an instant before it completely vanished from his sight as he sidestepped to the side, dragging his purple tail across the sand. The swing forced the fire drake to trip over the tail, unable to recover the already lost balance he hit the ground, snout first. His rump tilted upwards for a second before joining the rest of his body on the sand.

"Uncontrolled aggression makes you vulnerable" Spyro calmly circled the sprawled dragon "Don't try to kill with a single strike, provoke your foe into giving your that chance instead"

"Shut up!" Flare let out a muffled by sand roar, he leapt in Spyro's direction, his body spitting furious flames

He didn't even dodge the attack, he stayed put, allowing the claws to get close, not even the heat wafting from them changed his mind. Just when they were about to reach him he released the channeled elemental energy, creating an electric orb around himself.

Flare yelped in pain when the electric shock threw him back, forcing him to land on unsteady legs. Spyro without wasting time rammed into the drake once more and just as before shoved him onto his back.

Sand seemed to puff from underneath the drake's hard landing like snow in winter.

"Hate can't be your weapon" Spyro stated stoically, observing Flare scrambling from the ground "But a trigger. It should give you strength, not be your strength, otherwise it'll make you blind and you'll forget who you are facing"

"I exactly know who am I facing" Flare snarled and with a cracking spit of flames from his body he charged the purple adversary, his voice more ominous, more thick than usually

Even before he truly started to run, Spyro already figured out what was going on. Flare's head went down and flames started to crack from his fiery mane.

Comet Dash.

With a bright flash he was already on him, Spyro gasped as he threw himself to the side, using his earth element to form a boulder around himself. He was successful yet the form didn't manage to fully materialize, it was enough to prevent his body from being pierced by the fiery horn, but not completely dampen the force of the impact.

The moment the horn connected it threw his body into a spin, destroyed his unprepared barrier utterly and sent stinging pulses throughout his body as waves of heat encircled the fading rocky silhouette.

For a moment he felt like if he would be on fire, the flame that tried to consume him seemed to be just as angry as Flare is. It tried to reach beyond its power, melt his scales even despite the fact that there was no barrier to spread through anymore.

And yet he still felt like his blood was about to boil.

Spyro purposely ignored the instinctive reaction to land after every jump or fall and allowed his body to hit the sandy ground. Where he rolled twice, just in case, before he got up and turned his attention at the fiery dragon. His snout wrinkled by a feral snarl.

Flare was just finishing his skid along the sand, sending it flying like mud from hooves of galloping horses. With a burst of hissing, bright flames he swiftly faced his purple adversary.

"Flare" Spyro coughed the name, spitting out whatever sand that got into his mouth

"I know what you are"

His throat was ravaged by another cough as if every bit of sand he spat out seemed to get back into his throat just to hide from the scary, almost otherworldly voice.

"Fla-"

"A WORM!" he roared, the walls seemed to vibrate to every rumbling note

"Uh oh" Spyro narrowed his eyes on the fire dragon, muscles tensing with trained experience

Flare's mouth parted, a breath of scorching fire cut through the air.

Spyro's throat immediately filled a gust of cold energy, awaiting for the right moment to be unleashed and repel the incoming flame.

However he wasn't prepared for what happened next.

The wave of heat suddenly pulsed, sending a powerful, hissing ring of fire. Spyro only managed to gulp before the magical, hot shockwave arrived. Blowing him away like a ragdoll.

Volteer sprang up on his paws in alarm.

The original breath never stopped its advance, ready to make a short work of any burnt body on its way. Spyro due to his instinct of survival and the trained ability to withstand the most brutal of beatings wasn't about to give up so easily.

The magical punch was painful, making him groan as the heat cracked some of his scales. He took advantage of the wild spinning however and swiftly allowed a great amount of freezing energy to flow through him.

Momentarily a Snow Storm had begun, with him being the cause and center of the cyclone. For a time he felt the fire being dragged around by his magical energy, the feeling of being burned alive only intensified when the primary breath was sucked into the fray.

The burning pain was short however, since it was Ice that finally triumphed and went into offense. Dozens of ice shards erupted from the icy cyclone. Spyro made sure that most of them went in the direction of the fire dragon, not with the intention to test the resilience of his scales, but to make him dodge, eventually scratch if he would not be fast enough.

Flare tried to dodge, but was too slow, some of the shards left long, bloody cuts on his body, that forced furious growls from his throat.

Surprisingly Flare charged, running straight into the cyclone. Spyro's tail stood up in alarm, like a sorcerer's wand sensing great magical energy in the air. Every burning part on the dragon's body started to glow intensely, forcing his eyelids to protect the amethyst orbs below.

When a millisecond later the blink was over it was no longer the Flare he knew running straight at him, but an entity completely made of flames that carried only the silhouette of the fire dragon.

As if fire itself would join the fight.

Flare however wasn't gone, he raised in the air behind the charging burning figure, fiery wings glowing fiercer than the sun.

His reckless leap made the task of not seriously wounding him with an ice shard so much more difficult.

Luckily he didn't have to worry about that much since the burning creature just melded itself with the cyclone.

Spyro let out an agonizing roar, the freezing tornado turned into a fire pit in an instant. Between his own roars he could hear the rumbling blares of the creature, like the sound of a huge cracking fire. Its fiery form dissolved on impact, now instead of only white lashes of air there were also those fiery ones added to the mix.

He felt like he was stuck in a magical pyre of combustible ice, due to the flashing fiery light, his screams and painful tears in his eyes he couldn't really tell if he was imagining it or not, but he would swear that there was a column of flames erupting from the top of the dying cyclone.

One thing he did manage to see and which his instinct didn't allow to discard as an imagined image was the form of his red opponent. He had his wings spread wide and was still pushing them back, with the sole intention to intensify his hot sensations no doubt.

At the sight of that, his mind came up with only one logical way to get out of this situation and he was afraid that in this circumstances he has no other choice but to join Flare in his protest against the rules. Something he so wanted to avoid.

The same aiming cross appeared, this time it didn't target legs or some other less essential limbs.

This time it landed directly on the heart.

The Earth Missile was practically already charged, with Flare's defense so weak and his posture so open it would take only a single earth projectile to put him down. However he would never release only one missile, he would let it split into four.

At best Flare would somehow avoid the fatal missile and somehow survive, grievously wounded. At worst he would die and the additional bolts would make sure that no magic would bring him back.

Luckily it never came to that.

Just moments before Spyro decided on the unspeakable an electric chain wrapped itself around Flare, clenching his limbs and wings together tightly, as if rolling him into a tube. He never got the chance to voice his scream since momentarily the electric prison flashed brightly and with a crack of lighting sent tremendous electric pulses through the red body.

The dragon's eyes rolled back into his skull, tongue rolled out of his mouth and body went limp in an blink of an eye.

Spyro couldn't tell if the fresh stench of charred scales was the result of his torment or Flare's.

The fiery cyclone popped like a balloon, moments later Flare's caged followed and both young dragons were dragged down by gravity. Spyro however had enough strength in him to use his wings to at least slow his fall, despite the stinging pain in his joints.

He touched the ground, paws slipped underneath him, he had to prop himself on his wing to avoid falling down. It was hard and painful, his whole body wavered, paws sliding, drawing lines across the sand as if he was an amateur painter creating a new style of art.

Flare on the other paw hit the ground with a muffled by sand smack.

"Spyro!" Volteer's worried voice echoed through the room

"I'll live" he rasped, only now taking a good glimpse at his swollen, cracked scales. Lines of dark, heated blood lazily pulsed across the length of every wound

The amber dragon landed near the wounded purple drake.

"Dear Ancestors" the Guardian whined worryingly

"Spyro offered the Guardian a weak smile, or tried to, since the moment his scales stretched something broke in the corners of his mouth with a sharp sound.

With a hiss he pressed his paw to his face, feeling moist blood touching the underside of his leg.

"How's Flare? Is he…" he mumbled through his toes

Volteer immediately made his way towards the fallen red dragon, his heart bleeding with guilt. He has never before hurt someone so young before. Flare's body was still slightly convulsing, as if something tickled his every limb and he couldn't decide where to start scratching first.

In truth it were the last electric pulses running through him.

Volteer whined once more, placing his paw on the shaking, practically mutilated young body, sliding it gently towards the drake's yellow chest. His sensitive paw managed to sense the weak pulses of the young heart. Volteer tried to smile but failed to do so, instead he gently rubbed the dragon's underbelly, apologizing as best as he could.

"He's…alive"

Spyro let out a breath of relief and limped towards his old friend.

"We go to the hospital" he grunted through the painful stinging "Get better and then what? You've seen yourself how wild Flare is"

The Guardian pressed his paw against Flare's shaking side, the tremors seemed to weaken.

"I know…what to…do"

* * *

Only one last fight left for today, did she really have that much bottled up energy in herself?

Not counting the forced break, she spent the whole day here on the training grounds, earning some bruises and scratches along the way but it was worth it, at least a bit.

Her opponents proved to be a mix of everything. From inexperienced to well prepared, from slow to fast, from talented to only ambitious. Aggression and wounded self-esteem were the only characteristics they all had in common.

Unfortunately for her challengers, it didn't help them much in duels.

And finally, after all of those defeated opponents came the long awaited fatigue, she had wait for it till evening and yet she still didn't feel completely satisfied.

She would bare through the discomfort but then he came up with an offer to test their skills this evening. He was so eager and was practically begging for it that she couldn't refuse. Despite the fact that they already sparred with each other she looks forward to this fight. For starters it will make him happy, not to mention that in her current tired state the friendly skirmish might be interesting.

She could use a challenge.

The door to the training grounds opened for the last time, her tail tapped the sandy ground below excitedly.

She grinned at the sight of the fiery light entering the arena.

"Finally, you're here"

Flare stopped, smiling at her "Punches only?"

She took a deep breath, bending on her legs into a defensive posture.

"It won't help you much"

And with a playful laugh Cynder charged.

* * *

"Absolutely not!" Spyro jerked himself up from the bed fiercely, squinting his eyes with a hiss as the afternoon sun shone directly at him from its safe haven behind the window and high in the clouds

The female cheetah healer yelped in shock when the dragon threw himself up, the bandage that she was busy wrapping around his leg slipped from her hands. The ball hit the sterile floor and rolled underneath the nearby nightstand, leaving a brownish medical carpet in its wake.

A gentle, yet stern furry hand touched his side, putting pressure on his flank, pushing him down onto the sheets.

"Lie still" Amela commented calmly

Hesitantly he let the furry hand guide him towards the bed.

"Volteer no! This is a bad idea, I won't let her!"

"Lie down darling" the cheetah pushed the dragon a little stronger, nodding at her helper. The other female instantly cut the stretched bandage and reached for another fresh roll

He lifted himself up again.

"She isn't going anywhere!"

Amela with a delicate snarl pushed the young dragon onto the bed, and the moment his head hit the pillows she pressed her forefinger to his nose, making his eyes go wide as his orbs concentrated on the claw ahead.

"Listen here young boy" she said sternly, eyes fiercely narrowed on his as they stared at him from behind the claw "For starters you will show respect to your elders, this is no way to speak to people older than you"

"But-"

"I'm not finished" she pressed her claw a little stronger, making his nose wrinkle under the pressure

Spyro whined.

"Finally you'll stop telling people what to do, this is no battlefield for you to shout orders and boss people around. There is time for everything and currently you are out of your league young boy. You are in no position to allow or prohibit someone from doing something you don't like. Especially someone like Cynder. Before you decide what's best for her, maybe it would be polite to ask for her opinion first and check if she agrees with you"

Spyro blushed, no longer feeling the stinging pain under the bandages, everything was muffled by the sensation of scorching shame.

"I'm sorry"

She removed her finger and with a kind smile delicately scratched his cheek with her thumb.

"That's more like it"

"I'm worried guys" Spyro sighed sadly "Just look at me" he raised his other foreleg, from paw to shoulder it was wrapped in a bandage

"This is what happened when I decided to fight back. Imagine how Cynder will look when she won't, she likes Flare too much"

Amela pet his head with a delicate, yet understanding smile.

"I…made…a…promise" Volteer replied finally, observing the calmly breathing young fire dragon on the opposite bed. Deciding to suffer the slow speech in case Flare would pretend to sleep

"Cynder…will be…fine"

Spyro shook his head "You can't possibly know that"

"True…but I…can…assume so. We…forbid them…from using…magic…we minimalize the…risk. Refusing…to complete…our bargain…would…be…disastrous"

"I don't like this" he looked at the cheetah pleadingly "Please Amela convince him that this is a bad idea"

She nodded and turned towards the Guardian "Excuse me Sir Volteer, but how can you be so certain that this is safe? Especially considering the situation we are currently in"

"Nothing…is…ever safe. Pursuing my…idea we at…least can…retain…some means of…control. During…natural disasters it's…all about…precautions"

"But Flare isn't fire, flood or anything!" Spyro protested

Volteer turned towards the sleeping red dragon.

"Oh…but he…is"

* * *

Another smack.

With a grunt of exertion Flare was pushed across the sand, claws digging deep into the ground, yellowish soil shooting to the sides as he forcefully slowed down his slide, making deep indentations in the ground. He finally managed to stop, tail swooshing away the bits of sand that rose into the air, chest moving up and down with heavy breaths.

"Enough!" Cynder shouted with wavering breath as she tiredly threw her butt down onto the sand "I have…enough" she panted heavily, swallowing whatever saliva her dry mouth managed to produce

Flare's eyes widened, not in surprise but much desired relief. As his rump numbly touched the ground he realized just how tired he was himself, just how much he has to learn since she won even if he had an advantage, especially he realized when he reached his limit.

And it was a very long time ago. How he managed to hold for so long was beyond him.

She offered him a tired smile, due to fatigue and her quick and shallow breathing she had difficulties keeping it.

"You…really…gave me…a…challenge"

Flare swallowed, eyes sparkling with hope.

"Are…you…tired?"

She nodded, smile widening slightly.

"Like…hell"

He grinned excitedly, only one thought bouncing in his head.

Mission accomplished. She is happy.

"You…want to…rest?"

Cynder laughed in between labored breaths.

"As soon…as possible…please"

She was uncertain if after those words she blacked out or something, but she never really processed when was the moment when Flare got up. When she realized what was going on the drake was already opening the door.

"Hey! Where…are you-" her shout ended abruptly, in accordance with the sound of the massive door closing

"-going" she huffed

She stared ahead for a while, dumbfounded by the sudden disappearance, but enlightenment struck her tired mind. Flare was acting weird the whole time, first the begging, then the eager fight, stubbornness to continue even if she seen he had enough and now this.

Before she knew it she dropped on her side and rolled on her back, eyes aimed at the ceiling, panting heavily. Her eyelids went down eventually, just as her mind came up with a conclusion.

That's Flare.

And yet as simple and believable that explanation seemed her feminine instinct rebelled against that deduction.

She'll worry about that later, for now she just wants to catch her breath.

And in the same moment the massive door opened with a barely audible creak.

Her eyes snapped open, nose wrinkled when a familiar smell…

No.

Familiar stench invaded her nostrils.

The noise of cracking ice followed soon after, she glanced ahead, noticing a thick wall of vaporizing ice encasing the door and the surrounding corridor.

A malicious tapping of claws against ice pierced through the noise.

"I should have known" Cynder said with an accusing tone, gathering her last amounts of energy as she lifted herself up

Iris appeared in her line of sight, pacing slowly towards her, eyes aimed directly at her, hips and tail swaying with a slow, arrogant and seductive motion. She was like a lover, moving towards the bed of her mate, making sure he would see every alluring bit of her body, what it has to offer and what an unforgettable experience awaits him.

The sight would make the heart of every male skip a beat.

In Cynder's case it only caused a headache.

"You used Flare" she growled with perfect clarity "You messed with his head, I don't know what he sees in you but you managed to convince him. Made him fight until he tires me. You coward"

"Say whatever you want slut" Iris responded calmly "Those will be your last words so waggle that tongue if it makes you feel better"

"You are nothing, you act like royalty but in truth you're just a bully. Taking advantage of the ones that gave you a chance"

Iris snorted "Fools like you. It's the destiny of the stupid to do the dirty work for their betters. So the highborn like me get the spoils. I did my homework"

Cynder tensed her muscles, ignoring the sore feeling as they flexed.

"You just don't know how to let go. I feel sorry for you"

Iris' tail tip flashed mockingly "You know who else will be sorry? You're boyfriend when I bring your severed head in my mouth to him. But first I'll bleed you like a pig"

The stench she felt earlier became overpowering when the ice dragoness got closer. It had nothing to do with Iris' natural scent, it was the reeking smell of murder.

A stink she was very familiar with.

"Last chance to reconsider" Cynder prepared herself "Even now I won't be easy prey"

"I disagree"

And with that Iris charged.

Being a female herself Cynder knew how graceful her gender can be, how precise and beautiful in a fight, how cunning and clever. So much different than males.

Males are foolish.

This is why this fight will be like no other.

The ice claws slashed, she blocked the strike with the bracelet on her left leg. During the show of sparks she pressed forward, biting at Iris shoulder. The satin blue dragoness avoided her teeth swiftly, pushing her body up, paws and maw heading straight at the black back.

Cynder lowered herself on her legs and shoved her flank into the dragonesses chest. Iris let out a grunt as she was forcefully pushed away, forelegs and teeth hitting empty air when the strike forced her to bend over her foe.

With Iris' belly touching her black scales Cynder tilted her head back, drawing her horns into the blue scales. Iris roared painfully, spreading her feathery wings before leaping into the air, groaning in agony as the move forced her body out but at the cost of her own flesh.

Hot blood gushed on her back as Cynder threw her body into a spin, muscles screaming from exhaustion, she greeted her teeth and swiped with her tail, in time to deflect Iris' claws on her blue paws with her tail tip.

The shrieking grinding of steel was heard as the silvery blades connected, great amounts of sparks showing just how serious both girls are.

Instead of losing balance Iris pushed her body into an airborne spin, turning her body by three hundred and sixty degrees, aiming at her opponent's opposite flank.

This is the gracefulness she had in mind, a level unreachable for every male.

Cynder ducked, pressing her belly to the sand, claws whizzed inches above her scales. She wanted to counterattack but the moment she tried to raise, her legs wavered which resulted in pushing herself up some seconds longer than she wanted to. The struggle gave Iris enough time to get back and land safely beyond her grasp.

* * *

With one uneasy twirl Spyro's eyes snapped open, unconsciously he started to rub his chest, staring at the dark ceiling of his hospital room above.

Something was itching him from the inside.

Something didn't feel right.

* * *

Both females circled each other, eyes never leaving each other's snouts, looking for weaknesses. When Iris charged with a snarl Cynder was certain she had found one.

She ran with her head low, she knew that the attack was a reckless, Iris most likely did also. To avoid straining her already low limits of energy faster Cynder decided not to rely on her element powers. This decision led only to one choice, in any other situation it would be a good one.

Now, when being so tired…well it's all about luck now.

Cynder with great effort bent her legs and wanted to spring to the side. Her weak legs listened to her eventually, lifting her up with strong shakes. All of this happened way too slow however, she had enough strength in her to avoid one of Iris' bull-like horns completely, she wasn't so lucky with the other one.

It didn't pierce her flesh like a spear, she managed to avoid that, but it still connected with the edge of her body, tearing quite a sizeable chunk of meat from her in a spray of crimson blood. She wasn't really allowed to scream properly since momentarily a blue tail slid across the ground, with ease tripping her weak paws.

The rest of the scream her throat emitted was only for the sand to hear.

Iris skidded to a halt so fast that not even the Chronicler himself recorded when she actually turned towards her wounded enemy. Claws went down at the bleeding black body, ready to tear it apart.

Cynder with no other choice channeled her depleted magical energy, covering herself in a coat of poison, so weak and transparent like a veil. However poison is poison and Iris had the discomfort of being wounded in her flank, venom momentarily got into her bloodstream, mixing itself with the blood.

She coughed fiercely.

The elemental attack wasn't powerful enough to put the ice dragoness down, in fact it wasn't strong enough to do any harm besides making someone feel sick for a while.

That while luckily was enough.

The poison made Iris slow down, giving Cynder the much needed time. She pressed her forelegs firmly on the ground, digging her claws into the sand with all the strength she could muster and without raising jerked her body forward as far as it would go.

At the same time swinging her tail vertically.

She noticed Iris jerking her body out of the way, yet her blade-like tail tip met some delicate pressure. Cynder already channeled her shadow powers, ready to disappear into the shadow, but Iris never attacked.

She took advantage of the situation and got on all fours, using her also tired wings to accomplish this feat and stabilize her position.

Iris had her paw pressed to her throat, blood was sipping through her claws.

Mortal wound.

But then surprisingly the ice dragonesses wide eyes dropped on the ground, paw started to tap at her neck, leaving bloody spots everywhere. The wound that was revealed proved to be nothing more than a scratch and yet Iris behaved like she was about to die.

She jumped back, eyes scanning the sand hectically, paw with the same vigor patting at her neck.

"Is this what you're looking for?"

Iris raised her gaze, her diamond eyes widening even more, whole body visibly shaking. She looked so frail and vulnerable and seemed to be literally terrified.

"Give it back!" she screamed, her voice squeaky and wavering. Instead of lunging forward she retreated back even more. She was like a child at the brink of hysteria.

Cynder noticed that the girl's gaze never leaved her paw, eventually her attention landed there as well. In her black paw, dirty in bloody sand she was holding a weak, tarnished gold medallion. Her tail easily sliced the weak chain it was attached to in half.

Something was written on it.

"It's not yours whore! Give it back!"

With a frown Cynder's gaze returned to the dragoness, whatever she was holding was obviously very important for Iris.

"Let me leave and you can have it"

"Never!" her opponent roared, ice wafting from the slender nose

Cynder realized that there is no sense in trying to resolve this with diplomacy. Iris was scared and furious at the same time. Her instinct told her that this was her chance, either she makes her mad and holds for a little while longer or surely fall very quickly under the calculated and cold blows.

It's time for the bitch card.

She clenched her paw, her claws had no troubles denting the frail medallion. Whatever was left of it landed on the ground.

"Oopsie" Cynder hissed with an uncaring shrug

"Nooooo!" Iris cried out, her scream filled with heartbreaking suffering.

The air suddenly got very cold.

A cone of freezing ice shot from Iris' mouth.

Cynder avoided the magical strike by jumping into the air, taking advantage of the joints that still had some little strength to obey her wishes. The dragoness pursued her relentlessly, swinging her glowing icy tail in a wide arc.

A wave of ice in the size of the swipe flew in Cynder's direction. She ducked under the energy with ease, however she didn't expect that this wasn't over. The magical scythe exploded above her into sharp, cold shards that were hurled down like raindrops from a storm cloud.

Cynder howled in agony as the shards pierced her wings and back, draining whatever strength she had left even faster than before. The fading energy was perfectly resembled by the many falling blood droplets.

Iris didn't wait, nor she was able to stop her. The ice dragoness attacked viciously, taking advantage of the situation, sinking her teeth deep into the black shoulder. Cynder roared, the already excruciating pain only intensified by the claws driven into her flanks and the powerful jerk of her body as Iris dived down towards the ground, dragging her with her. Her black head aimed directly at the sandy earth.

When the ground got relatively close Iris loosened her furious grasp and hurled her prey directly at the ground.

She might have done her homework but in this particular moment forgot that gravity is as dangerous for a still breathing black dragon as a deer for a wolf.

Cynder dragged a shadow along the sand, making it stop right in the spot where her head was heading. Before she disappeared into the magical void she heard Iris gasping in shock. She didn't give the blue dragoness much time to shake off the feeling since she momentarily shot straight up from the hole.

Eventually reaching the same altitude as her enemy.

Cynder swung her front paws, the coated in darkness blades made contact with the still dumbfounded dragoness, slicing her quite seriously. Iris cried out in pain, Cynder got rid of the sound by kicking Iris with her empowered back legs.

The dragoness was sent flying across the air. Cynder didn't hear if she recovered or hit into something. The world swayed and her eyes were clouded by a blurry veil, every sound strangely coming from far away.

Fatigue.

It finally caught up with her, blood loss and the constant straining of her tired muscles made the race so much shorter. All she knew was that her tongue rolled out of her mouth, her chest heaved with painful pants and that she was lower with each passing second. Her tired black wings moved slowly up and down, waveringly keeping her body aloft, but loosing the unfair fight in general.

And then with great clarity a red light flashed in her mind.

Instinct.

With last ounces of strength she jerked her body to the side, in time to avoid the incoming ice bolt flying at her heart, but not fast enough to avoid it completely. It cleanly ran through her left wing.

She no longer had the strength to scream, she just fell from the air, smacking into the ground below. The rest was a blur, when she regained some partial clarity she noticed Iris looking behind her shoulder and someone far away calling her by name.

"S-Spyro?" Cynder whispered weakly, snout stuck in the sand

The noise drew Iris' attention to her, when the dragoness raised her claws all that Cynder thought about was how nice it would be to receive some help now and how unfair life is.

"Any last words bitch?" Iris growled through blood covered lips

"Proud people breed sad sorrows for themselves"

The dragoness jumped back with a hiss when she felt a sting on her other foreleg.

A scratch.

She growled again, preparing the swing of her claws once more as she raised her gaze.

When they met the black dragonesses snout she noticed that her enemy was staring right at her.

Her paw stopped in midair.

One of Cynder's claws was completely rotten.

And her eyes.

What the hell happened to her eyes?

Then suddenly a fierce bolt of unbearable agony shot throughout the inside of her body. Iris retched and vomited. Not the ordinary spew but blood.

Streams of dark blood.

"What…have you…done to…me?" she muttered between gags, blood kept on flowing from her mouth with each new retch

Iris impulsively retreated, but then another agonizing bolt shot through her. She groaned, spinning around and landing on the sand, paws clutching her belly. The impact forcing another stream of blood out.

The world started to lose its colors, everything was going black. One light seemed to pierce through the drawing darkness. A shimmering golden light, pulsing from underneath the sand, glowing brighter than it ever did.

Iris started to crawl towards it, mouth covered in blood and sand, fierce coughs ravaging her body, muscles going numb one by one.

It was so cold.

She was so damn cold.

With one last groan Iris thrust her paw out, claws clicked on a golden, tarnished medallion. She clenched her paw firmly around it.

And then darkness overwhelmed her.

Cynder blinked weakly, she could barely see what was going on. Her sight was completely blackened, her eyes formed only two small circles through which she could see and even that was blurry. As if she was looking through a dirty spyglass.

She only discerned Iris sprawled ahead and a trail of blood leading to her body.

"This is what we are Sugar"

Two purple paws appeared in front of her. Shadow was wafting from underneath them.

"Destroyers of all oppressors. For too long they have dictated our existence. You will understand"

A wounded purple snout lowered itself towards her closing eyes.

"You will see. Everything will be clear. Sleep Sugar"

The eyes of the snout were completely dark, burning with tendrils of shadow.

"Go into the night"

End of Book IV


	79. Chapter 1 Book V

The Legend of Spyro: Path of Delusions

Book V: World War Me

Chapter 1

Pages kept flipping one after the other, the soft vellum never remaining in one place for long. Sharp rays of gold flickered from every edge of a turning page, only intensified by the yellowish light covering the tome. Another flip and the gold text presented another of its rich and valuable contents, its letters shimmering with all the inviting force they were created with. Until a shadow rose suddenly, shrouding the parchment. The gold text chaotically jerked away from the yellowish light, trying to escape but was stopped in its tracks, only seconds later to return gently back into the illumination. Shadow no longer visible, once more the text clearly glowing and available.

* * *

_I think I'm ready  
I think I've got it  
'Cause too much thinking is bad for my health  
It's like a fire 'cause when I start it  
I can't control it and I burn myself_

_But I can't just sit here and watch it_  
_If we don't stop it_  
_no one will_

_We are the ones, we are the weapons_  
_And we will ride, we are the voice of a song unsung_  
_We are the change, we are the chains that hold us_  
_We are the choice, we are the strong_  
_We are one_

_My heart is racing, just like a rocket_  
_Victory looks like a distant dream_  
_'Cause what we're fighting's not gonna stop it_  
_But we can beat it if we just believe_  
_I can't just sit here and watch it_  
_If we don't stop it no one will_

_We are the ones, we are the weapons_  
_And we will ride, we are the voice of a song unsung_  
_We are the change, we are the chains that hold us_  
_We are the choice, we are the strong_  
_We are one_

_We are the ones, we are the weapons_  
_And we will ride, we are the voice of a song unsung_  
_We are the change, we are the chains that hold us_  
_We are the choice, we are the strong_  
_We are one_

_We are the ones, we are the weapons_  
_We are_  
_We are the change, we are the chains_  
_We are_  
_But I can't just sit here and watch it_

_If we don't stop it_  
_no one will_

_We are the ones, we are the weapons_  
_And we will ride, we are the voice of a song unsung_  
_We are the change, we are the chains that hold us_  
_We are the choice, we are the strong_  
_We are one_

_We are the ones, we are the weapons_  
_And we will ride, we are the voice of a song unsung_  
_We are the change, we are the chains that hold us_  
_We are the choice, we are the strong_  
_We are one_

_A note containing this text found in the Ancestral Sanctum  
by a random pilgrim with a single sentence written on the back_

_You were right Dawnbringer_

_~Bad Company_

* * *

The other night my friend had a dream. There was a world full of kings and queens. But it was cold, dark as the night. It made us realize that we were free, but we all wore chains. We couldn't see it, but we created a place between truth and overrated. We were shown that it's up to us to turn the world into the light.

We are the fire on the moonlit skies.

Anonymous The First

* * *

"Stop it Mom!"

She cried out, breath wavering with the unending torrent of laughter as she rolled on her back, swaying from side to side, unable to move with the blue paws pressed against each side of her small body. Her own legs were pressed against the buried snout in her underbelly, trying to push it away with all the weak, joyful energy

There was another one slurping snort.

"Stooooopppp!" she laughed hysterically once more, tears filling her eyes with each new joyful scream. Belly invaded by the tickling sensation of snorting lips and drilling blue nose

A perfectly shaped bluish snout, with two amazingly glistening diamond eyes showed itself in her blurry vision.

"Who's my favorite flower?" the lovingly smiling snout dived down again

Her whole fragile frame jerked up when with another snort and tickle a chocking laugh burst from her throat.

"M-M-Mom! P-P-P-Please!" she playfully thrashed around

Through her barely opened eyelids she noticed her mother's eyes watching her, she didn't really understand the look, but once she saw a priest with practically the same gaze when he was giving a speech about his god.

It was really nice.

Her bluish head moved slightly forward and before she knew it, a long, hot tongue gently caressed her own slender chin and nose. The lick made her giggle even fiercer.

"Eeeewwww!" she uttered in between laughs, playfully pressing her paws against the feminine neck above.

Suddenly an unforgettable wet, cracking sound filled her head.

Something hot and thick started to drip on her white belly.

With a horrific slurp her laughter ended abruptly, she opened her eyes, looking down her sprawled on the back body, stream of pulsing blood was flowing down her white scales. With a whimper her eyes darted up, her little claws pressed against the bluish scales above, there was blood soaking through her white toes.

Without any control her claws dug deeper into the scales, a gurgling rattle filled her mind when suddenly her claws started to move down, with ease slicing through the scales. The crack from which the blood sipped through grew wider, only growing in length and size with each inch of her sliding claws.

She started crying, not able to get her eyes off her own claws, unable to utter a word, the gurgling and wet cracking sounds bounced inside her head, becoming louder and louder with each movement of her natural blades and with each stream of blood flowing down onto her from the growing cut.

Finally her claws stopped moving, everything went silent for a moment.

Her tear filled eyes opened themselves widely, staring at the pulsing cut above.

Then suddenly the wound burst open, streams of blood washed over her completely. She started choking on it. On the taste, on the rotting smell, on the hue.

It was dark.

It was dark blood.

"She has another seizure!" a cheetah healer screamed in horror, face completely covered in dark blood as he was thrown back by the sudden, disgusting burst

"Quickly!" Amela ordered "Roll her on to the side!" she ran to the opposite side of the stretcher, hands tightly gripping the flank of the draconic body, pulling it towards her

Another one of those heartbreaking coughs filled her sensitive ears, making them drop down on her skull. With the noise came another one of those terrifying waves, the thick, dark liquid splashed directly onto her doctor's gown, now completely covered in dark stains.

"So much blood!" another assistant whimpered

Despite the odds Amela kept on doing her duty, together with other healers. Her silver earing bouncing wildly with her every determined move. The jumping tiny emerald reflecting every flame of the nearby torches.

The dragonesses absent gaze seemed to focus itself on the jewelry.

"I WILL KILL THEM ALL!" she roared at the top of her lungs, soiled, feathery wings flaring open as her mouth parted. The blare resounding with an echo throughout the mountains, full of fury and suffering

"Be quiet!" strong red paws wrapped themselves around her, one of it covering her mouth as they pulled her close to a warm body

She started thrashing rabidly, eventually freeing her snout, she sealed the victory with a ferocious bite on the paw holding her, pushing her sharp teeth deep into the scales.

The grip loosened, the owner of the paws growled painfully, jerking his forelegs away.

Distant roars echoed throughout the icy hilltops.

She sprang forward, one of her front paws almost slipped from the cliff, sending small rocks falling down the misty abyss below.

She didn't care.

"I'M RIGHT OVER HERE!" another painful roar burst from her throat

She started to thrash before the red paws even touched her, feeling the warmth they emanated was enough to trigger her defensive instinct.

"Leave me alone!"

She spun around, tail leaving an icy trail as it slid across the snow, meeting the ruby gaze of the dragon ahead.

"You will get yourself killed" he said as calmly as possible, paws moving towards her ever so slightly.

"They will all die first!"

He shook his head "No, they will not"

A puff of ice wafted from her nose "We'll see about that" she turned towards the cliff again, wings opening up once more, preparing for another loud roar

"COME AND G-"

She was once more silenced by the paws wrapping themselves around her. With muffled screams of protest she began to fight with her captor with new, wild vigor. This time however the grip was stronger than before, forcing her to obey, despite all her attempts to break herself free the red legs managed to push her back, towards a warm chest where soon a draconic snout lowered itself next to her fighting cheek.

"She wouldn't want you to die"

Her narrow eyes shifted, narrowing themselves on the drake hatefully. The muffled shouts intensified, together with her efforts to break free and the aura around her growing more colder than usual.

Even despite the discomfort the paws held her tight.

"Look ahead" he growled through clenched teeth

She never ceased her protest.

"Look!" he jerked her head forcefully, forcing her eyes to aim ahead

In the far distance, a thick column of smoke was raising far into the sky.

"You would be still there if not for her"

Another muffled sound, her fight for freedom continued.

"You were there with me when she gave her last order" he whispered caringly, the warmth of his voice seemed to calm her a little

"Just like me you remember her last words" he leaned closer, she lessened her struggle in his paws

"Her last wish was for you to live" his voice remained unchanged, resonating with warmth and comfort

She whimpered, fighting less and less with each passing second.

"I sacrificed my horn, my dignity as a dragon, to make sure that wish is fulfilled"

She stopped fighting, his words cutting deep into her shattered heart, eyes started to blink fervently, trying to hold back the incoming surge of tears.

"I only ask that you do the same" he withdrew his paws, she remained in place, staring ahead, her whole body shaking

"Don't throw your life away, in her loving memory"

The crunching sound of snow could be heard as she dug her sharp claws into the cold ground.

"She is gone Iris, do not join her so quickly"

"I miss her uncle!" she couldn't hold it back any longer, she burst in tears, not really caring that it's disgraceful for someone of her stature

He placed his paw on her shivering, young shoulder "Let it all out, just this once. After today there will be no more mourning, no more tears and crying. After today everything will change"

He made a step forward, stopping right next to her, overlooking the hilly valley below. Clearly abandoning his previous cautious approach. She felt the support for her radiating from him.

Sobbing uncontrollably, she looked at him, following his gaze, in the distance she spotted several flying forms. She didn't care much about them, her sight was momentarily drawn back to the rising column of smoke.

She felt like somebody stepped on the shards of her already broken heart.

Her rump dropped on the snow.

A full of suffering howl filled the sky.

Even from here the dark smoke was choking her.

"Hold her still!" Amela demanded, holding the young, convulsing draconic body by the shoulders

One of the healers jumped back with a yelp, avoiding the dark blood splashing on the floor.

"She's going to bleed out if this continues!"

There was another retch.

"By the Ancestors" a cheetah girl whimpered, biting on her claws "I have never seen anything like it"

"Hold her still!" Amela ordered once more "I need to apply this to the wound!"

Everyone nearby continued their work with more determination.

"Where are those gems?!"

The blue tail swashed uncontrollably, sending the golden equipment on the nearby stand flying across the room, flickering golden light shimmered on every part of the chamber.

"What is it?" she twirled the necklace in her opened paw, eyeing it with a curious frown

A beautiful feminine laugh filled the hall "Would you look at that, my little princess questions my taste in jewelry" she flashed her a perfect white smile, not far away from the laugh regarding formosity

"Very good"

She looked at her mother with a dumbfounded frown "Good?"

"But of course! Someone of our stature, of your position and respect needs to question the gifts they are offered. If you would accept just about anything then what's the point of offerings? If people want our ear they have to work for it. Those are the harsh rules of a court"

"Oh"

Her mother giggled and waved her paw dismissively "But enough of that, we are alone, here we can be our true selves" she pranced forward, sitting on the soft carpet right in front of her, grinning at her eagerly

She just loved watching her mother smile, she was so dazzlingly beautiful then.

"Tell me" her mother nodded at the necklace "What do you think?"

Her gaze shifted to the jewelry in her paw, it was a round medallion, made of a very shiny gold that it practically blinded her. There was a brilliant sapphire in the middle, so bright and pristine as if water was held inside.

"It's so pretty" she huffed in sincere awe

"And it's made of gold, your favorite"

She tilted her head to the side as she turned the medallion around, there was something written on its round frame. She leaned closer but couldn't recognize the writing.

"There's something written on it…I…don't recognize the language"

She felt her mother sitting next to her, her bluish wing wrapping itself around her lovingly. She pressed herself against its soft and protective touch.

"Don't concern yourself with that now. It will all make sense when the time comes, when you will be ready"

"Sounds like it's some kind of a special necklace"

Her mother nodded "Special necklace for a special girl" she kissed her forehead, before gently rubbing her nose against it "It will protect you as long as it has to. You'll decide if you need its help further"

She looked at her mother with an indignant frown "I'm not a little girl anymore Mom"

She laughed "Of course you aren't" she scratched her head playfully before moving in front of her

"Put it on, and you'll see. I want to admire the beauty of my favorite flower"

She began fondling with the chain, shaking her head.

"I'm not a little girl anymore"

Her mother shrugged with a smile "Perhaps, but you will always be my favorite flower"

She dropped her head down with a sigh, straightening on her hind legs, using her front paws to wrap the chain around her neck. The sapphire flickered slightly when the round medallion touched her neck.

"Done. How do-"

Her mother was gone.

She jumped on all fours, heart started to race in an instant "Mom?!" she yelled spinning around in place "Mom?!"

"MOM!?"

There was a wet smack.

She looked down at her legs, she was standing deep in a pool of blood.

A characteristic stench filled her nostrils. Something was burning.

She looked up.

She was no longer in their palace, or perhaps she was but could no longer recognize it. Everything was ruined and burning. She kept turning around, the walls once solid and pretty shifted shape in front of her eyes. Cracking, burning and exploding, beyond the ruined walls nothing could be seen but darkness.

Everything turned to ruins around her, while she herself stood in the middle of it, the pool of blood only raising with each destroyed brick.

Her eyes landed on the single door that remained still standing, they creaked and wavered in agony.

She felt sorry for them.

An invisible claw started to scratch against them, eventually forming one single sentence.

IT'S YOUR FAULT.

And then the door exploded.

Letting the darkness in.

"Her heartbeat is slowing!" someone shouted, in the room that was filled with all different yelling it was difficult to whom the voice belonged to

"We won't give up!" Amela commanded, hands swiftly moving inside her young patient, blood reaching above the wrist

"What a mess" someone whimpered

"I need more light here!" the old cheetah ordered, momentarily a lantern appeared above her head, glowing with a bright, white light

"Come on darling" she pleaded, throwing the dragoness a quick glance, her diamond eyes were constantly opened, slightly dilating, reacting to the fierce light, even if barely.

"You aren't the one that gives up easily. I'm not letting you die on this bed, not on my watch. Fight together with me Iris"

She removed one of her hands from the dragonesses body, putting a withered piece of liver on a nearby plate, before dragging the light even closer towards the dragonesses snout.

"Fight Iris!" she shouted

The diamond eyes pulsed slightly.

"Fight Iris!" her uncle roared

She blinked, just in time moving her eyes from the treacherous white hide ahead to notice a soldier swinging his spear at her.

She jumped to the side, avoiding the deadly stab, she swung her paw, it landed on top of the wooden weapon pushing it towards the ground. The soldier holding it was dragged forward, she sprang forward, closing her powerful jaws on the soldier's throat, not even the heavy armor he was cladded in protected his throat from her strong teeth.

Metal creaked as it bent, bones shattered, blood gushed onto her mouth, the soldier's life faded away even before his weapon hit the ground.

With a growl she clenched her maw even stronger, there was another snap of bone as she spun around, jerking her head fiercely. She opened her mouth, with blood splaying on the floor the limp body was sent flying at a group of enemies in the distance, striking them down.

One of the warriors dropped down so unfortunately that he broke his neck on the nearby staircase, his limp body started to roll down the steps. Screams filled the room as every fighter that was ascending was pushed from the staircase, with walls that usually surrounded the stairs long gone there was nothing that could prevent the toppled soldiers from falling to their doom.

"Get her!" a knight shouted, pointing his sword at her.

A large group of archers released a volley of arrows at her. Growling, she stared right back at the incoming sharp tips.

Then suddenly with a thud her uncle landed in between the arrows and her, with a swipe of his wing burning most of the incoming projectiles, the rest deflected from his massive armor with clicking sounds.

He opened his mouth, a scorching breath of fire left his throat. Agonizing screams were added to the ongoing commotion as the flames consumed the archers.

He aimed his fiery gaze at her, with the practically devilish helm protecting his head and two red eyes glowing like a pair of embers he looked like a demon.

"You've done your part!" he roared "Now run Iris!"

It became very dark all of a sudden, parts of her home disappeared completely, together with the soldiers invading it. Those that remained were emitting sounds that didn't fit an army. Every noise was distant, like an echo heard after traveling a long distance

"Fight Iris!" someone shouted from very far away

She shook her head, her enemies kept on disappearing, one by one vanishing behind the growing, thick black veil.

Should she leave it as it is? Let them disappear without punishment? Just let it all go?

"Fight!"

The shouts of her uncle died down, he was consumed by the closing darkness as well. Her legs suddenly became numb, her rump dropped on the ground.

"Fight!"

Her eyes started to grow heavy, her head kept on turning like she had a chain wrapped around her neck. If they all are going away then why struggle? What's the point?

Not even the white dragon ahead, one of many to blame for this, being so close to taste her pain was able to change her slowing mind.

"Give me that!"

He was grinning, he was triumphant and...he was fading like the rest. No point for him to feel her pained wrath if he will be gone anyway.

"FIGHT GIRL!"

A feminine voice boomed across the sky, she looked up, the dark sky flashed briefly with a golden light.

Her neck felt heavier all of a sudden.

She touched her white scales, feeling something metallic below her claws. Her eyes went down, completely uninterested in the fact that tendrils of darkness were swirling around her paws. All her focus was fixed on the round gold object she was holding.

It was shining with a fierce golden light, probably blinding to everyone else but her. The pristine sapphire purer than ever, reflecting her own image, her two defeated diamond eyes. Gold and satin blue seemed to intertwine with each other, it was like staring into the underwater world, through currents of which flickered the yellow rays of the sun. However there were no fish there, all that sea life was replaced by her own existence, reflected by the constantly changing shimmer in her eyes.

Just like the usual coral reef visited by the constantly different groups of colorful fish so were her eyes touched by the ever-changing shift of her own cycle of life.

The image of her snout she saw in that reflection was changing. The tired eyes turning from dumbfounded to overjoyed, from shy to confident to eventually stop at the most recognizable one.

The image of extreme suffering and wrath.

She knew where she was, she understood her place in this accursed world.

And she won't leave it until all those guilty of this crime will pay, her included.

She raised her head, the defeated look gone from her snout, she observed the world with a furious snarl and blood covered lips. A world that was pushing through the retreating darkness, returning to a scenery she remembers all too well.

The stench of blood and fire, the clanking sounds of steel and agonizing screams, the orders, the determined shouts, the rumbling noises of destroyed rock. And that one peculiar sound she will never forget, that mocking snicker.

An arrow found a hole in her armor, getting stuck in her side.

She didn't care, her rabid eyes narrowed on the figure ahead, on that treacherous white son of a bitch. Her legs started to move, energy started to course through her whole body, nothing else mattered, besides that ugly draconic mug ahead.

"Iris! No!" she heard her uncle shouting. Currently his protest was as important to her as the fading lives of the attacking soldiers

She ran, sprinting faster than ever.

Silhouettes began appearing in front of her eyes, transparent forms of armored soldiers, nothing more than a mist, nothing more than ghosts. Her own ghastly form was among them, fighting a battle she remembers but a battle that currently doesn't matter. As she continued her sprint more and more ghostly forms appeared, her misty silhouette pushing through the aggressive formations with ice, tooth and claw.

As both of them drew closer to her prey the bastard ahead stopped smiling, the cocky grin and stare vanishing from his snout. His blue eyes widening, he didn't expect this to happen, that murderous fucker didn't know he would taste her revenge so soon. His eyes grew to immense size, only one thing radiated from them.

Complete terror.

She reached him even before he could truly shake off the paralyzing effect of the situation. Her misty form did the same, in just a few steps before colliding with her prey she became one with it. With a furious roar she jumped, claws ready to strike, her blades sunk into his flesh, toppling him on his back.

As his blood gushed over her legs his arrogant stare flashed before her eyes, followed by his triumphant grin. The images were infuriating and she would rip them apart, piece by piece.

Her paw went up, claws curled practically into hooks, the smacking, wet sound she heard when they went down and tore his eye out was the best sound she ever heard in her life.

And his agonizing, full of suffering roar.

Now that is…

…that is worth fighting for.

* * *

Three different, yet almost identically low and experienced laughs echoed throughout Warfang, not disturbing the flow of life in the slightest. The walls were used to such sounds, laughter was as an inseparable part of the city as roars.

"And people say that battles are worth remembering" Ignus' hoarse laugh filled the balcony of a big house, its stony walls perfectly matching the coloristic of the district it was located in

With a cheerful cackle the storyteller, who was an old earth dragon raised the wine filled mug to his lips.

"Imagine that I've spent most of my fighting years with him by my side" Terrador commented with a smile, enjoying the noncommittal conversation far more than he believed he would

He nodded at the old fire dragon sitting by the table next to him, the first of the two dialogue participants.

"I've warned you about his dirty humor. Remember that you don't have to excuse yourself, just leave when you want"

"You're not among fools Terrador" the drake commented with a snicker as he put down his mug "You're just as depraved as we are, otherwise you would run away years ago"

"I believe I know the true reason why he never rejects your invitations" Ignus replied, reaching for the bottle on the table, red liquid swirled inside. He raised it towards the sun

"This wine is exquisite. I can't recall if I ever tasted anything better"

"Besides the folds of a dragon lass you mean" the earth dragon commented with a smirk

"By the Ancestors Vager!" Terrador blurt out

The old dragon cackled mischievously.

"Such _jokes_ coming from your mouth are nothing more than perverted thoughts. Speaking things like that in your age is no longer an infantile brag but a disgusting and nauseating reply"

Vager rolled his dull green eyes "Says who? You?" he snorted and aimed his gaze at the fire drake "Tell me Ignus, did I offended you in any way? Do you find my words disgusting?"

The one horned dragon smiled "Of course not, you couldn't be more right"

The cracked, practically colorless paw of the almost ancient dragon pointed at the recent speaker.

"See Terrador? Now this is a perfect example how a guest should behave. He lies straight to my wrinkled snout and we both feel good about it"

With a barely noticeable smile Ignus dipped his lips in his wine.

"Jokes aside, tell me of your battles, Terrador mentioned that you are a seasoned warrior from the past no less. I would like to taste the blood of foreign prey on my lips again, wine can only satisfy my craving for so long"

The Earth Guardian shook his head "You're insane"

The dragon grinned, displaying a set of cracked, yellow teeth.

"I'm old. I have my rights" he turned towards the fire drake "Speak youngster!"

Ignus placed down his mug "To tell you of my battles in detail would mean to foreshadow my whole life story"

Vager snorted, his expression turning sour as he emptied his portion of the wine just to start refilling It seconds later.

"Don't be such a dupe, we have one already" he nodded at the Earth Guardian

Terrador frowned "Remind me, why we are friends again?"

"I'm not being dramatic, this world is much different from the one I come from. You have space here, there are maybe four or five different races I've heard of inhabiting this vast earth. It's not enough to fill the whole territory. Not to mention that dragons, as a single specie stick together, fight as one, minus the one or two black sheep of course"

Vager slammed his fisted paw on the table "Now that's what I want to hear! From your words I can already guess that this is leading to a full scaled war. War for territory. A battlefield we sadly have never experienced ourselves"

Ignus nodded, taking another sip "All of the races living in our time were packed into a single valley, surrounded by cold hills we called Glacier Mountains. Mountains ravaged by deadly blizzards, inhospitable even for an ice dragon, of course there were legends about those mountains"

"Yes" Terrador huffed with a nod "I remember your niece accusing us of hiding in those very mountains, she believed she found a secret door leading to the legendary green valley you speak of"

The fire dragon smiled sadly "That sounds like Iris. Allow me to apologize in her name once again"

The Earth Guardian raised his paw defensively "There's no need"

Vager sighed loudly "Let me remind you that you are guests in my house, and as your host I have a privilege to choose the topic of our conversation. Geography is boring, focus on what's important youngster"

Ignus bowed with a polite smile "As you wish" he cleared his throat "As I was saying, in my time lived many different races, you probably won't be familiar with most of them. For instance our world housed bovines, represented by taurens and…creatures mostly with horns without being dragons to put it mildly, canines like vixens and wolves, reptiles, humans and among those and many more were of course we, dragons"

"None of those creatures I've mentioned were wild and feral, all had minds and ambitions of their own. And none of those were untied, there were clans and dynasties, basically representatives of the same kind but with different goals. Dragons were divided like that also"

The old earth dragon's dull eyes shimmered with sincere interest and perhaps fear.

"You fought your own kind?"

The fire dragon nodded "Most of the time, yes"

"Unimaginable"

"That world was too small for all of us and to be successful, able to survive in this environment we had to be the strongest and there was no other way achieving that if not by destroying your biggest threat" he smiled, it was a smile full of sad wisdom "Turns out that ambition and arrogance was our downfall, we were so focused on annihilating one another that we haven't seen the progress the _lesser races,_ as we used to call them, made"

Vager leaned closer, admiration clearly visible in his eyes "In just how many battles you participated youngster?"

Ignus emptied his mug with one swing, his snout wrinkled itself in complete abhorrence for a short while, as if the bulge running down his throat was not created by the delicious wine he swallowed but a poison he deliberately consumed.

"I'm not certain but I believe the best way to calculate that would be to take my age and multiply it by four or six"

"You're over thousand years old son"

Ignus smirked "Very nice of you to say that, but I'm much older than that"

"Impressive" Terrador commented "You're holding up quite well for someone who spent his whole life fighting"

"We all know that battle doesn't make you weak. I was born to do this just like you"

Vager slammed his paw into the table with a laugh "I couldn't have said it better myself! Spill it out son! Your most memorable carnage!"

The old dragon refilled the fire dragon's cup.

Ignus stared at the flowing red liquid with a modest smile "I will have to disappoint you my dear host. None of those battles I've been through can be compared to the the fight to preserve my niece's life. A war that I will wage until my last breath"

"Pfff!" Vager snorted

"Don't be so shrew my old friend" Terrador gently admonished his host "To protect the lives of your loved ones, putting their well-being above everything else. This is a commendable trait, worthy of a warrior"

"Yeah, yeah, it's important and all that, but what about bloody triumphs? We are fearsome beasts! Carnage is in our veins!"

Ignus emptied another mug of wine with a delicate, satisfied smack.

"I believe I can repay the hospitality of my generous host with a tale of an extremely bloody battle I took part in"

The old dragon slammed his paw onto the table with an almost juvenile cackle

"Now you're talking son!"

"Let me begin from-"

"Pardon me dear neighbors"

A bashful male voice from below cut the fire drake off. All three dragons craned their necks behind the railing of the balcony they currently occupied.

Underneath it, on the street, they spotted a cheetah wearing a black uniform with white stripes on his arms and legs. His head was raised high in the air, he faced the draconic eyes with professional shyness, even if his constantly shuffling leg wanted to be somewhere completely else.

"Do…you by any chance could tell me where can I find a dragon named Ignus?"

The three old drakes looked at each other with confusion shimmering in their eyes.

"Look no farther for you have found him" the fire dragon focused his attention on the feline "I am Ignus, what do you require of me?"

The cheetah below took two deep breaths.

"Amela requested to inform you of your niece's condition. She is badly hurt and fights for her life in the hospital. Amela believes your presence would greatly support her in this dire hour"

"By the gods" Ignus muttered devastated, his legs wavered

"Thank you for the information" Terrador thanked the messenger with a bow

The feline returned the gesture and disappeared within the moon covered streets

"You'll have to excuse me colleagues" the fire dragon mumbled, rubbing his forehead

"Ignus if we can help in any way…"

He shook his head "There's no need, this war is for me alone. Enjoy the rest of the evening and thank you for the hospitality Vager"

With those words he leapt into the air, directing himself towards the hospital. He flew for quite a distance but then decided to land between the formidable buildings of Warfang.

He licked his lips, still tasting the delicious wine on them. He looked up, towards the direction from which he came, the house of his host was no longer visible. That old dragon had his flaws, but he couldn't deny his great taste for wine. He had several full racks of those bottles as if he had his own vineyard in that house.

He sniffed the air, the night is still young, there has to be someone here offering this special liquid during this hour. Better to supply himself with this exquisite treat now before it runs out completely. During the time of emptying streets it will be quite simple to locate such trader.

He has time.

There's no rush.

* * *

She opened her eyes, the moment her eyelids lifted the black curtain from her orbs a fierce, blinding light filled her vision. With a pitiful groan she tried to lift her paw to shield her eyes, but was unable to do so. Her leg heavy, numb and disconnected, as if blood started to finally circulate in those veins after being cut off from the natural flow for a very long time.

"Don't strain yourself"

She was on her back, that much she could tell as she slowly turned her head towards the familiar voice. till unable to see fully, but it was enough to notice the blurry, yet familiar red body behind.

"Uncle? Is…that…you?" she muttered, blinking weakly several times

"I came as fast as I could" he reached out, gently squeezing her paw

Her diamond eyes followed his leg, she was indifferently staring at the display of affection.

The grip around her paw tightened, her whole body shivered.

"What did you do Iris?" he asked, looking straight into her eyes

She narrowed her gaze on his fiery sight, trying to return the gesture but being too weak to even move her claws.

She remained silent.

"Answer me. What stupid thing did you do that almost got you killed?"

"Where is it?"

Ignus' left brow raised in reaction to her question.

"Where is what?"

She raised her other leg, with last ounces of strength forcing it to pat her neck, before it splayed itself on her white neckline. As if dead.

A growl of irritation rumbled in his throat.

"I'm not in the mood for your games. Tell me what you want"

"My…medallion"

"By the gods Iris" he pushed back with a roll of his eyes "You almost died girl, there are more important things right now than your stupid trinket"

A hard to describe shimmer flew across her tired eyes.

"I…want my…medallion"

Ignus growled frustrated "You spoiled-" he swallowed "Where the hell is it?"

Her eyes shifted towards the nearby nightstand, no longer angry but worried and hopeful.

He followed her silent directions, clenching his paw on the only thing that resembled a necklace. Suddenly he delicately hissed in pain.

He turned around and presented his opened paw on which lied a round medallion, it surface was scratched and dented. The only element that somehow evaded damage was the tiny sapphire, the little gem, faded and bleak was now pulsing with a fierce blue light.

She stared at it mesmerized.

"I'm not going to wait forever" Ignus snarled and dropped the tarnished jewelry on the bed. Impulsively he began licking the paw that held the necklace.

"I don't know what you see in this ugly thing"

Iris despite her injuries jerked her body forward, grabbing the tarnished gold medallion in her paw.

"Watch out, I think I scratched myself on that junk"

She let out a wavering breath as she looked at the necklace from up close. It's faded beauty ironically glowing like the brightest of suns, even the sapphire returned to its natural gloomy charm. With a shaking paw she pressed the ruined trinket to her chest and dropped on the bed forcefully, as if she would punch herself.

"Now that you have your toy back will you finally tell me what happened?"

With one last wavering breath she clenched her paw as tightly as she could around the necklace before plunging her paw below the sheets. Only then she looked at him, her white eyes back to their normal, cold display.

"No" she commented, her voice carrying the same characteristic as her look.

He arched his head back "Excuse me?"

She remained silent.

Ignus swallowed deeply, his tail tip spit little, fiery sparks.

"Why won't you say anything?"

"I don't have to explain myself to you"

His eyes narrowed themselves on the young dragoness, his paw tightly clenched itself on her leg, claws almost piercing scales.

"Listen to me very carefully"

Iris threw a quick glance at her slowly trapped leg before raising it to meet the burning gaze of the fire dragon

"I'm the only one that is left of your family, look around this room if you don't believe me. You'll see for yourself just how many people sit before your bed. Only enemies surround you now, don't push away the only thing that offers you a piece of normality, everyone needs a break, even you"

Her whole body started to shift, slithering gently away, as if trying to sneak her way through an ambush.

"I'm trying my best here and no matter what I say you keep complicating things"

He gripped her leg firmer, making her lips part in a barely audible whisper.

"I didn't endure so much to let you ruin it all"

The handle behind went down, his pupils shifted to the edge of his eyes, the grip on her leg lessened, the red paw no longer held her weakened leg, instead it started to caress her.

There was a click and the door opened, the old cheetah healer entered the room, carrying a food filled tray, however there seemed to be more glasses on it than actual meat. The feline's kind eyes flared up brightly when her gaze met with her cold one.

"And who do we have here? Peeking while we should be resting" Amela said with a smile as she closed the door with her foot

"It's my fault" Ignus stood up, bowing apologetically "I couldn't wait to see her"

"Usually I don't allow people to visit my patients, but…" her loving smile grew wider "Special people require special treatment am I right?"

Iris focused her gaze on the ceiling.

Ignus touched his heart "Allow me to thank you in my niece's name. Realization that you are vulnerable and mortal is an uncomfortable thought in my family"

Amela nodded with a delicate giggle, placing the tray on the nearby nightstand.

"As I said, special people…"

"You're too kind"

"I'm sure you're curious about what happened"

Ignus smiled meaningfully, throwing his niece a brief glance.

"Special people…"

Amela giggled "Right" she looked at the young girl who was obviously unhappy about this whole situation.

"If Iris will be ready I'm sure she'll tell you what occurred. My specialty is medicine, so this will be my main point of focus. All her external wounds have been treated, they're not healing as they should due to the fact that there are more important damages right now. She already absorbed so much Spirit Gems that I'm afraid more would only harm her"

She smiled at the fire drake "It is better than it looks, the worst is over, trust me. Yet…" she raised her finger "…there is one thing that worries me. Iris was under the influence of an extremely virulent poison, I have never seen anything like it but it was cutting through tissue like acid. She nearly died, I think she owes her life to her stubbornness only"

"Dear gods…" he muttered devastated

She opened her palm, her aura radiated calmness. "As I said the worst is over, however the damage was so extensive that we had to operate. This is why she is in such a state, her body is still getting rid of the poison and knowing how dangerous it is it will take quite a while to fight it off completely"

With a smile she gestured at the tray "This is why I brought this, to help speed up the recovery process"

"I don't want…anything from…you" the ice dragoness commented with heavy eyes

"Iris!" Ignus admonished her

The cheetah's hand once again rose up in the air "It's okay" she turned around, picking up the tray "I know you like to keep distance from people and I respect that. However if you want to see your wish fulfilled you need to take advantage of people that make your job easier"

She sat in front of the bed, on a chair Ignus respectfully dragged over. The tray landed on her knees.

"People like me for example. There's an opportunity for you here, by trying to cure you I bring you one step closer to your goal. It's up to you how you want proceed from here"

Iris let out a tired sigh "I want you…out of my…room"

"I can leave, it will slow down your recovery process however. You will feel weak and dehydrated, vulnerable"

She rolled her eyes "Fine, do what you…want Puss and get out"

With a nod Amela picked up a piece of bread from the tray and leaned over the bed.

"Take only a small bite, we need to see how your digestion system reacts"

The dragoness did as she was told, with great effort biting on the bread and then chewing it, her mouth moving slow as if it was lazy. Eventually she won the unfair fight and swallowed the already moist crumb.

"And? How are-"

Iris' eyes widened, her cheeks flared up and with a newfound energy she rolled to the opposite side of the bed, throwing her head over the edge. She vomited fiercely, her mouth spitting out the recently eaten bread in a pool of delicately bloody spew of a disgusting fluid from the deepest bowels of a stomach.

Ignus winced "That didn't sound good"

Amela placed the tray on the bed and rose on her feet.

"This is bad. Her system is confused to put it mildly, it sees food as poison"

The dragoness rolled back snout aimed at the ceiling, mouth of which she wiped with her paw.

"I'm sorry sweetie" the cheetah apologized sincerely and reached for the nearby filled glass "Here, drink slowly"

Iris let out a deep, hoarse breath "If you want to kill me…just do it"

"I'm not torturing you, I want to be useful. You need fluids, this here…" she gently waved the glass "…is soup. We'll try to trick your organism, it's dehydrated, we're going to feed and fill it at the same time. Come, try"

The cheetah leaned closer, the dragoness surprisingly opened her mouth without protest. Momentarily a tiny bit of soup found its way down the draconic throat.

Iris licked her lips.

Nothing happened beyond that.

Amela smiled "Perfect" she offered the girl another sip, she accepted it with the same enthusiasm as the previous one

"Alright" the cheetah commented as she placed the half emptied glass back on the tray "That's enough for now. I leave the tray here, in case you'll want to drink more"

"Cool" Iris replied coldly "Now go"

Amela smiled and nodded at the door, making the fire dragon follow her.

Despite his natural warm aura a delicate cold shiver ran through her old bones the moment they were alone.

"I'm really sorry for her behavior" Ignus apologized the moment the door closed

"It's ok, unique patients are a specialty of mine. Speaking of which I have to check on another one soon. I only ask that you won't visit her for the time being, she needs rest and silence"

He nodded "Understood, thank you for saving her life Miss"

Amela shrugged modestly "We all have our job to do, I'm just happy to see that our work here makes the closest ones of our patients happy. There is nothing more important than family"

"I couldn't agree more"

"She's a lot to handle isn't she?"

Ignus looked at the closed door, tiny, hungry flames sparkled in his eyes.

"Let's just say that my life would never be the same without her"


	80. Chapter 2 Book V

Chapter 2

The ball bounced off the edge of a rough, dark stony wall, the impact sending it rolling around the nearby corner and down the steps of a relatively massive black staircase. A staircase that many armored feet escalated, jumping out of the way of the bouncing ball.

She shot from the nearby corner and into the main hall, the floor dark and smooth, still too slippery for her little legs, proving to be quite the challenge when speed dictates her moves. She lost balance at one point, instead of cutting the corner gracefully she dropped flat on her belly. The speed she accumulated threw her into a delicate spin, the ice like dark floor sent her sliding in the direction of the opposite wall.

"Hey! Watch out!" someone shouted, she wasn't really interested who, all she could see was a pair of leather greaves jumping out of the way

With an excited, playful growl she started moving her little paws, instead of getting a foothold her swinging legs kept constantly sliding away. As she was rising up she seemed to run in place, paddling even, at some point her tongue rolled out of her mouth

"Use your wings you black dot!" with an endearing chuckle someone gently smacked her rump

With a squeaky gasp she shot forward, cutting the air with a whizz after a fierce flap of her wings, almost like an arrow from a stretched to the limit bowstring.

People appeared from the staircase at the end of the hall, chatting and heading directly at her.

"Look out!" an ape exclaimed, pointing his metal cladded finger at the approaching black figure ahead who dashed through the middle of the corridor, straight at them

Laughing she put jerked her body to the side, her wings allowing her to press her paws at the vertical wall, using it as nothing more than tilted to the side floor. She ran across the wall, laughing happily, the soldiers with gasps and shouts glued themselves to the opposite side of the corridor. Her swinging blade tip once in a while bouncing off their armors.

"Come on girl!" an ape exclaimed joyfully, pointing down at the staircase "It bounced off somewhere down here. Get it!"

There was another metallic thud as another armor pressed itself towards the dark, cold wall.

"Damn dragons!" someone snarled "We should be killing these creatures not babysitting them!"

A metallic slap echoed through the corridor, a helm rolled down the stairs.

"Keep your mouth shut!"

"She's just a kid man"

She jumped off the wall, gliding down the staircase, making everyone on her way to drop down on the steps, some of the helms were too slow however. She felt her paws scratching some, and completely throwing off others.

A sound similar to that of a smacking hands against the stone was heard.

"Dammit!" a feminine voice hissed "My helmet! You're going to pick it up you overgrown rat!"

She felt furry fingers trying to grab her tail, but eventually sliding down her scales unsuccessfully.

"Damn people relax!" someone shouted from above "Don't you remember when you were young?"

"That doesn't mean she can do anything she wants!" a different voice protested, she was at the bottom of the stairs basically by then, so it was hard to tell if it was a male or a female voice trying to break through the commotion

Not that she really cared anyway.

The staircase ended, still unexperienced to take advantage of her flight ability to the fullest she collided with the wall ahead, smacking into it like a bird into a window. She fell down, slightly spinning in the air, wings unable to properly open as if they were tethered.

There was a thud when she hit the floor.

"Ouch" a guard hissed between giggles, holding a spear tightly in his hands as he guarded a door she never been through before

"But you have to give her credit, her landing seems to get better by the day" a second, female guard commented

Both of the apes looked into each other's eyes and both of them burst out laughing at the same time.

"She keeps doing this and we won't have to worry about hiring some poor soul to work his ass off engraving those walls"

Another dose of laughter filled the hall.

She got up on all fours, only barely noticing that the guards were talking about her, she heard many things about herself that she no longer knew what is true or not so she stopped caring about it completely.

Her entire focus was aimed at the ball ahead, it was idly lying in front of the laughing guards feet. She narrowed her eyes on the toy, bending her little legs, preparing herself for a frontal pounce.

The female ape's colorful eyes shifted in her direction, just to land on the ball soon after. She reached out and picked it up, turning her attention towards her.

Her pose relaxed, her green eyes widened as she stared at the feminine guard and the ball she held in her hand.

The other guard frowned "It's not nice to steal a toy from a child you know"

"Shhh. I'm not stealing anything" she replied, her gaze aimed at the little dragoness "You heard rumors about her didn't you? Being one of a kind and all that stuff?" she looked at the ball, only instinctively making a note of her companion's nod

"I'm curious if she has it in her. I know she can do things that no other dragon I met is capable of, but just like me you know the plan for her. A proof, 'tis all I want, I want to know that we have a chance you know? That we aren't wasting our time here. If she's so special she has to have it in her even in such a young age"

She twirled the ball around sadly "Do you blame me for wanting to find some hope in my life?"

His fingers curled themselves on the wooden pole of the spear as he looked at the ground, silently lost in contemplation.

"I guess not"

She crunched down, the tip of her sword dangling slightly on her belt, she extended her arm forward, holding the ball in between her fingers, eyes locked on the creature ahead.

"So what it will be Cyn?" the female ape asked, shaking the ball in her hand

Her emerald eyes sparkled, tail dashed from side to side.

"You have it in you or not?" she bounced the ball off the ground

Her little, shinning pupils followed each move of the toy.

"What about a little breeze, huh kid?" she gestured at the dark walls surrounding them "We are stuck here almost every day, barely able to see the sun let alone feel the wind, like in some damn coffin"

The other guard snickered "You're not that far off…"

The female ape winked at her friend before focusing on the dragoness ahead.

"So you see where this is going? This…" she pointed at the ball "…isn't running anywhere until I get something in return for it"

A delicate poison mist wafted from her nostrils as she snarled at the feminine guard.

The male whistled impressed "I think you made her angry"

The other ape rose her hand defensively "'Tis a fair trade I offer. A gust of wind strong enough to kick the ball out of my hand and you can have it back. So what do you say kid? Do we have a deal?"

Her emerald eyes kept observing the ball, tail no longer swinging so swiftly from side to side, one of her paws went up, one of the claws extended forward just to seconds later scratch her magenta neck. She remained maybe like that, thinking like for four- five seconds, when she was finally done and her paw returned on the floor she looked at the ape.

An arrogant smirk appeared on her snout while she dashed forward.

The feminine ape clenched her hand on the ball with a depressed sigh.

She opened her mouth, the ape girl didn't see it with her eyes closed and head aimed at the floor. Before she managed to recover the air was already coursing through her small black body, only a second or two after all that energy was released in a breath of Wind.

The feminine guard gasped and faltered on her crunched legs, the relatively strong gust of wind hit her directly in the hand, spreading her fingers open and sending the ball flying across the hall with a speed of a fired cannonball. The toy bounced from one wall to the other just to eventually shoot from one of the nearby triangular windows connecting this corridor with the main hall of the fortress.

The ape guard followed the ball with wide eyes, only when it shot through the window she looked down and offered the same look to the small dragoness standing in front of her.

She eyed the ape arrogantly for a moment before poking her tongue at the guard only to dash after the ball through the window moments later.

The other guard smiled "Feeling better?"

"Not really" she raised up

He furrowed his brows "Why not? Didn't you get what you want?"

"I did" she returned to her post, leaning against the wall with a sigh "I just only realized that by the time she will stand her ground we will all be dead by then"

"Only now? We all know what we signed up for"

"Yes I get that, but it still hit me now you know? How short our lives will be. I'm quite certain that she is the only baby dragon I will ever get to see"

He nodded "I understand. Our lives might be short but that doesn't mean we can't make the best of our time here"

"Yeah…" she sighed, closing her eyes

His finger tapped at the wooden handle of his spear "Tell you what, I'll stay here and you go find Cyn and play with her"

She looked at him with a frown "What?"

"Oh come on, I see how you look at her. I don't get it mind you, but you always seem to lighten up when she's around. Care to explain why?"

She shrugged "I don't know, maybe it's the realization that I will never have kids of my own and I treat her as my own? Besides I think that dragon hatchlings are kinda cute"

He laughed "You better not tell her that"

All she heard was the laughter of the guards she just left behind and the many footsteps of people ascending the main staircase below of the grand hall. They didn't see her flying above them, nor did she really pay much attention to the numbers of soldiers and the lot walking below.

All she was focused on was the ball that was currently cutting through the air practically at the speed of light.

It eventually bounced off the opposite wall, shaped exactly like the one behind her, barely missing the triangular opening.

The ball sped back right at her.

She stopped in midair straightening her body, raising her paws up, leveling her claws with her head. When the ball was finally close she threw her paws down, trying to catch it.

She failed.

The toy bounced off her chest and began to drop straight down. The force with which she swung her legs made her body to practically roll into a ball itself. With the strength she put into the swing she threw her body into a double airborne roll, twice her tail flashed in front of her eyes before she finally straightened up again, hectically looking for her target.

"By Malefor's purple scales!" someone shouted from below, stirring quite the commotion

"What on earth was that?!"

People began to jump around the stairs, occasionally bumping into and toppling each other, basically creating some sort of a little mayhem in accordance to the noise of all sorts of equipment hitting the stony steps and floor.

She looked down, with practiced eye scanning the jumping and shouting mob below, among the shaking crowd she spotted the one bouncing dot she so badly wanted to catch. Her green eyes narrowed on the target and without any second thoughts she dived down.

It wasn't long before she reached the crowd, shooting through the corridor their helmets provided atop their heads.

"It's a giant bat!" a woman screamed

It wouldn't be that interesting if not for the fact that after her squeaky shout the people around became more wild, especially the female part that had no military experience.

"Get it off me!"

She let out a short gasp when suddenly something smacked her in the side.

"Calm down! That's not a bat!"

"Kill it! Kill it!"

She dropped on the nearby step, armored and civilian legs flashed before her eyes one after the other in a chaotic, mind numbing manner.

"You're going to trample her!"

Something hit her directly in the nose. She shook her head with a groan just to realize that the object that hit her was nothing else than the ball she chased. Even among the flashing legs the toy rested still ahead of her.

She can be lucky after all.

"Sweet Malefor! It's over here!" another panicked feminine scream

"No!"

She started to raise but never managed to get up since out of nowhere she received a solid kick, which kicked the breath out of her little lungs and lifted her from the ground with a single spin.

"Stop! You'll hurt her!

Her unwanted acrobatic leap ended with a painful groan as she once more dropped on the stairs, her body sprawled across two steps, with most of her body occupying one step while a small part of her rump and whole tail lied on the second one.

And yet she was still concentrated on the ball, unconsciously knowing that she's been through worse.

After the kick people seemed to shout and struggle more lively than before, during this chaos she wasn't the only one who got kicked. Her eyes widened the moment the ball was sent flying, her energetic emerald orbs following the toy as it flew off the stairs and out of harm's way.

With newfound energy she pulled herself up and sprang after her target, on the way she bounced into someone making that person practically fall to the ground. Besides this little collision she slipped away from the chaos unscathed.

The ball rested near a column, the impact with the structure stopping it in its tracks. She had no problem reaching it and closing her maw on it with a victorious growl. With the ball in her mouth she looked behind her shoulder, with an arrogant snicker commenting the chaos behind.

Her tail began to sway happily, her eyes closed and head returned to its natural position, bouncing slightly from side to side as she started to walk, humming a happy tune under her breath.

She rounded the nearby corner, leaving all those exaggerating people behind, her head never stopping its special dance, teeth happily munching on the ball. All was well and as always everything went smoothly and without incident.

A loud thud echoed throughout the fortress, something heavy hit the floor in the main hall she just left behind.

Yessss.

Everything went smoothly and without incident.

And then suddenly her eyes shot wide open, something grabbed and pulled her tail, guessing from the gentle yet at the same time stern pressure she exactly who was yanking her tail.

It wasn't long before her little paws unglued themselves from the ground, she was being lifted by the tail. Her body began to hang upside down, she pressed her front legs to her mouth as she was rising and calmly munching on the ball. Her ascent ended the moment she found herself eye to eye with an ape face and the shimmering green jewel in one of his eye sockets.

"Causing trouble again aren't we?" his voice was thick and imposing just like the horned helmet on top of his head. Yet even despite the roughness a tone of softness broke through

She looked at him with her innocent big eyes, little paws fondling the ball in her mouth, teeth delicately working on the soft surface of the toy.

His face was filled by a thin line of a smile.

"I don't know why but this look you are giving me always makes me to forgive you no matter how serious the crime is" he leaned towards her "And I think you know that you little cute, smart thing"

Her expression didn't change, she was still innocent and clueless.

He chuckled, his perfectly trimmed colorful fur nicely floated on the windless air.

"You will be quite the troublemaker when you grow up my little Dreadwing"

He reached out and grabbed the ball in her mouth, gently trying to wrestle it out.

Her previously innocent eyes narrowed themselves on his hand fiercely, her little fangs showed up on the toy as she snarled at him.

"Oh yes you will" he kissed her nose

Her eyes widened once more.

"Hopefully the right target will be at the receiving end of it"

* * *

She opened her eyes, through the blurry vision a room was slowly revealing itself, clean, perfectly clean, sterile even. Rays of the slowly waking sun reached through the nearby window, its orange lances reaching across her nose, paws on which her chin rested and the surrounding light blue sheets of a bed she was currently occupying.

All of her other senses were also pulled from the fog of sleep. The first thing she felt was some kind of material, probably a bandage wrapped around her sore body. Speaking of sore, her every muscle seemed to grow a heart of its own, sending annoying pulses through her extremely sensitive nerves. Eventually her nose woke up, intoxicating itself on the smells floating through the air. Thanks to that she guessed that she was currently in the hospital and despite Amela's rules of leaving the patients to their peaceful rest she was certain that she isn't alone in this room.

All those things were important, but the numbing aftertaste after the recent dream she felt on her heart and soul seemed to overpower it all.

"Cynder!" an excited and full of relief shout filled the room. A smile appeared on her snout instantly, she would recognize that voice everywhere

Spyro.

She noticed him springing in front of her eyes, eyes shimmering with loving attention, legs bent prepared for a jump. A jump he commenced, yet instead of his whole body only the upper part of it lifted itself from the ground, as if he suddenly decided that giving himself to joy is a bad idea judging from her condition, but at the same time being unable to hold his advance completely.

The bed bent under their combined weight, the mattress crunching down under the force of his landing paws, making her head tilt slightly down. His eyes sparkled, he clearly noticed the result of his jump and immediately pushed his body off the bed with another jerk of his upper muscles.

Her head bounced slightly once again.

He returned to the ground, he remained there for a while, their eyes and smiling mouths watching each other for some time. He then sprung again, once more only the upper part of his body raised in the air, but this time his legs didn't land on the sheets but back again on the floor. As if his heart was struggling with his mind.

A struggle that eventually ended with a compromise. With his left leg only lying on the bed.

"You're awake!" Spyro shouted, his voice carrying far more feminine squeaky tone in it than it fits a heterosexual male

Despite her injuries and troubled thoughts she giggled.

"You're a doll"

Spyro smiled, his body kept swaying back and forth, as if he wanted to get on the bed but at the same time couldn't decide if he should.

"I'm not made of glass you know" she commented with a smirk

He cocked his head in confusion, the intelligent dragon lost in understanding the simplest of hints in his overjoyed state.

"Kiss me you fool"

It was enough. Spyro joined her on the bed, standing right in front of her before lowering his head to meet her risen snout and eager lips.

They kissed, it wasn't that much of a passionate loving attention as their first time, the kiss was more of a thankful one, a kiss to let go off all the burdens and worries of the past hours.

Their lips kept on caressing themselves for a while, clearly showing that both of them really needed it.

Spyro was the first who retreated, yet only from her lips, his warm tongue still not satisfied as it began to gently slide against her cheek, shoulder and finally her neck. The usually sensitive spot became far more tender due to her state, so the moment his tongue touched her scales it no longer felt like the exciting caress of a feather but as a stimulation of a G spot.

Her claws clenched themselves on the bed, rippling the delicate material as her head tilted up and a soft squirm touched her body.

Spyro withdrew from her neck and nuzzled her affectionately.

"I was sick with worry" he whispered, voice wavering with emotion

Cynder curled her paw against his leg, planting a soft kiss on it.

"Everything is good. I'm right here"

"I should never allow this to happen, I should have kept a closer eye on her, I should-"

"Shhh" she rubbed his leg "Nothing of this is your fault, stop blaming yourself. It's over now"

He let out a deep breath.

Cynder leaned her head against his leg, licking her lips.

"How's Iris?"

She felt every muscle in his leg stiffening.

"I don't care" he rumbled

"Is she dead?" she asked sadly

"I don't care about Iris. You matter to me"

"Please Spyro, if you know something tell me"

He pulled back gently, looking at her "She almost killed you Cynder! Attacked you when you were tired and alone. Why it is so important for you to know what happened to her? She got what she deserved"

She looked at him pleadingly "She is a bitch true but she doesn't deserve to die. Not by my paws, I killed enough of my race as it is, I don't want another dragon on my conscience. I beg you-"

"Stop" he cut her off "You don't have to beg, plead or anything, not to me" he sighed "Amela told me she'll live, I didn't really cared about the details but when I found you two in the training grounds, even with your wounds you looked better than her. If I wouldn't pull her out of there I'm sure she would be dead by now"

Cynder jerked her head back "You helped her?"

Spyro nodded "Yes"

"Why? You just said…"

"That she deserved it, yes. Maybe she did, but honestly I'm not so certain, I just knew I couldn't leave her there, even after everything she had done to you"

He shrugged "I'm scarred, after Boven I just don't want to see people die, even if they are evil and dangerous, naively hoping that I'll somehow make them see some good in their life. I don't know really, I'm just too weak I guess"

"What?" she blurt out as she looked straight into his eyes, her own orbs sparkling with indescribable affection

"You helped the girl who attacked me!" she grabbed his paw, using it as leverage "Spyro I don't know from which heaven you came from and from where you got that heart of yours but I have never loved you more than I do right now"

He looked into the shimmering green emeralds of hers and smiled.

"Really? Helping your enemies earns me points?" he tapped his claw against the sheets and huffed in a show of pretended contemplation

"What would I get for resurrecting Malefor I wonder?"

The pretty glow puffed away from her eyes suddenly, whatever smile she offered disappeared as well, making her look like a girl that just seen a ghost.

Or is looking at one right now.

Spyro observed her with a worried frown.

"That…was a joke"

Cynder rubbed his leg with a weak reassuring smile "You did nothing wrong. I'm just…thinking"

"Seems to me that you really strain yourself, you're pale. What's going on?"

"You remember Creep?"

Spyro flinched at the sound of the name.

She nodded "Exactly that one. You see, Iris knew what she was doing, she went after me well-rested and prepared while I could barely stand. At some point she hit me really bad, I dropped on the ground and just couldn't get up, I was spent"

With every new word he kept on shivering more and more.

"She went for the kill and I was unable to stop her and then suddenly my paw rose on its own and I scratched her and it was over. I felt like a spectator to tell the truth, it were my limbs moving but I had no control over them. All I know for sure, well at least what I could see before I fainted, is that Iris was going through a torment judging from the amount of blood she threw up and that Creep showed up after everything went silent"

He gulped "You're trying to say that creature possessed you?"

She bit her lip, that was a possibility she considered but didn't want to accept. When talking about that odd dragon nothing can be taken for granted.

"Maybe…I don't know"

"Okay that's it" he stomped his paw firmly yet gently "I don't like the sound of that, taking someone else's will is evil to the core, no matter the motive. You need to get rid of that thing"

Cynder frowned "Where _I don't want to see people die even when they are evil and dangerous _go?"

"People Cynder! People! There's a subtle difference between…I don't know, ghost and living creature!"

"Creep is not a ghost"

"Monster, demon, whatever. Nothing changes, you got to get rid of it"

"You're not the judgmental type Spyro, what if he is just like me? Blamed for his looks and unexplained actions?"

He let out a mocking snicker "Pardon? Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't remember you haunting people in their dreams, literary speaking or nor do I remember you turning into a tentacle monster that eats people!"

She narrowed her eyes on him with a hiss.

"Look what a cocky smartass visited me"

Spyro jumped off the bed, to eventually end on looking through the window. Rays of the waking sun slowly intensified on color as they traveled up his purple body.

He let out a deep breath.

"I'm sorry. I snap because I feel helpless, everyone around is struggling with something, have targets on their backs while I can do nothing to help. I don't know anything, don't see anything. I do nothing"

She looked at him caringly, taking a mental note just how handsome he looks in the rays of the climbing sun.

"That's your hero ego talking"

He remained silent.

"Troubles seem to stay away from you, is this really that bad? We all know what happened when evil wanted to charge you in a frontal assault, maybe it learned its lesson. Maybe it knows that challenging you again would be suicide so it avoids confrontation. Maybe this time it's up to you to read through its ploy, it's time for you to take the fight to it"

He kept on staring at the world behind the glass, her eyes never leaving his body, she wondered how much she would be willing to pay to get a glimpse into his thoughts right now.

"Ok fine" Spyro turned around "So what now?"

"Well if you're bored how about you keep me company when I call for Creep?"

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Cynder shrugged "What else can happen? This is the only way, we satisfy our curiosity, Creep gets a benefit of a doubt and when things will go really sour you won't feel helpless anymore. Everyone wins"

He returned to the bed, gently approached her and sat by her side.

"If you're going to do this I'm not leaving your side"

She curled into the warmth his body offered.

"I've hoped you say that"

His tail wrapped itself around hers and with that they both observed the only open space the room had to offer.

"Creep" Cynder finally mumbled, feeling Spyro shiver anxiously next to her, his reaction took almost all of his concentration that she barely noticed that her throat dried

They both looked around the room nervously.

"And?" Spyro swallowed uneasily "Did something change?"

Her alert green eyes traveled across every corner, looking for the tiniest disproportion in layers of shadow…or…or anything that stood out of the ordinary.

She found nothing.

"Nope" she eventually replied

"Oh well, we tried"

"Creep"

Spyro shook his head "But why not try again"

Nothing.

"Come to me Creep!"

Even despite the seriousness of this situation Spyro couldn't stop himself from chuckling.

"Yeah, calling him like he was a pet will surely work"

Cynder glared at him irritated.

"If you have a better idea on how to summon a supernatural creature by all means do it. I won't get in your way"

Spyro winced innocently "Sorry, It was a badly timed remark"

She playfully bumped her side into his rump and winked.

"Creep!"

Silence.

"From what I understand that thing really wanted to see you, a couple of days won't change its mind I believe. Think, didn't it leave a hint on how to summon it, a password or like that?"

"Spyro, this is not-" her voice ended abruptly, eyes widened when her mind darted down the memory lane and returned back with a speed of light.

"Creep" she licked her lips "I need you"

Both of them focused on the room with renewed vigor.

It was empty.

"This will be an uneasy confrontation Sugar" a low, hollow voice boomed across the room, coming from ever corner at the same time

Cynder instinctively threw herself up on all fours with a startled gasp, even despite the sore pain coursing through her bones.

"What's going on?" Spyro blurt out worryingly as he also rose on his legs, paws feeling heavier than usual

"He's here" she whispered

He felt like a lump just grew inside his throat.

"Why?" Cynder asked, intensively scanning the room "You have something to hide?"

"This projection is for your eyes only"

"I don't care. Show yourself"

"You're talking with it?" Spyro whispered, eyes never leaving the room

"Yes"

He focused on the room more intently, but found nothing of interest.

"I don't hear anything" he muttered

"Sugar, your wish will be difficult for some of us to understand"

Her determination remained unchanged.

"Doesn't matter. Show yourself, I need you"

She didn't have to wait long for the effect, the shadow underneath the window spat out dark tendrils as a fire would spit embers. The sound that walked side by side with the image made her tail impulsively jump on the bed.

"What's going on?" Spyro inquired, uneasiness clearly audible in his voice

"The shadow" Cynder whispered "Under the window"

Spyro saw nothing out of the ordinary.

The same thing couldn't be said about her.

The black object of interest she mentioned spat out more dark tendrils with a squeak, shriek, scream, basically a sound very familiar to her Siren's Scream, scary and otherworldly. The shadowy arms joined up some distance away from the window, when all were beginning to intertwine with each other like copulating snakes.

That ominous union gave birth to an even more intimidating being, the slithery black tentacles started to form a scarred draconic body she so very well remembered but wished she would not.

The wounded draconic body started to appear from the top while the swirling tendrils went down. First was the head with two closed eyes, then the back, thighs, tail and eventually paws. The shadowy tentacles didn't disappear but instead began to swirl from underneath the drake's legs. With a tongue of shadow jutting out from the back of his paws while spreading little, as if burning, whips from the rest of the dragon's paws.

He opened his eyelids, shadowy smoke crossed his eyes to evaporate through the corners of his brown orbs in a thick smoke like from a lit cigar.

Then his eyes focused intently at her.

"I am here" rumbled the low, hollow voice of the dragon.

Something changed in the room.

Did it get darker all of a sudden?

Spyro shook his head and focused once more.

Everything was back to normal.

It must have been his strained imagination playing tricks on him, but he would swear that the rays of the sun seemed to dim for a brief moment like a flame on a dying candle.


	81. Chapter 3 Book V

Chapter 3

Even before he truly reached his destination the influence of the continent to which he was heading was spread by the constantly blowing wind as some radiation cloud. The cold, nearly bone freezing and if you're not careful, deadly influence was like the most intimidating of invitations.

Dante's Freezer.

Dragon Realms are truly a majestic world, there is place for everyone here, no matter the differences everyone can find a place here, be it fauna as well as flora. As a scout it was his duty to rely on nature, consider its wishes and listen to its warming, only then it offers the cloak his profession so desperately needs.

Nature is like a dragon, beautiful and deadly at the same time, imposing when need be, but serene most of the time. Loving and scary and always dangerous. And just like dragons he found nature fascinating, to see that its single whim is enough to change the area around completely from lush green to solid ice, changing the surrounding life as a result is worthy of respect.

Only a true fool would ignore that.

When a cold breeze blew from the approaching frozen continent Hunter chuckled when on his provisional raft he crossed the practically still river. Even despite his fur and two coats, one he bought while still in the green area around Warfang, the freezing cold fingers still played on his bones. Making his every limb twist with a cracking sound of bone as if he was hundred years old and his body on the mercy of rheumatism.

Clearly nature, in all its magnificent glory didn't care if you respect its power or not. Living on the land it has to offer means equality. Whether you accept it or not.

There were times when he couldn't accept this simple fact.

Like many other things.

* * *

_"This is stupid!" he exclaimed, kicking with his leg so fiercely that a part of grassy earth got ripped off the soil_

_Only the sound of teeth biting off a chunk of apple was heard_

"_Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" his protests seemed to have no end_

_"The only thing…" he spun around so fiercely at the sound of the feminine voice that his feet started to burn, wrinkles of fury adorning his young furry face_

"…_that is stupid around here is you" _

_His blue eyes burned with youthful rage as he glared at his trainer, taking every inch of her figure into a furious and unfair scolding examination. She didn't seem to mind his specific attention, as if expecting it or already being used to his behavior. Her covered in hide armor body was like an insulting display of her feelings, calm and unmoved, filled with ignorance as her back was leaning against a trunk of a massive tree._

_And the annoying sound of her biting on the fruit that made his young sensitive ears flicker in aggravation!_

_And that wasn't the worst of it._

_His ears just couldn't stop bouncing to the noise of her moving teeth as she was munching the apple. _

_"Could you stop doing that!" he blurt out, small razor sharp teeth in full display during the roar, his pointy ears tightly gripped in his hands as he pulled them down _

_She swallowed just to take quite a considerable bite soon after._

_He growled, fur bristled on the back of his neck. "When I'll be chief I won't tolerate such behavior! I'll make you regret everything!"_

_Both of her ears straightened up together with her brown eyes growing wide as she looked at him. The apple she was chewing on stopped moving inside her mouth, the hand holding the fruit fell limply to her side._

_He stared at her, triumphant and snarling at her well-deserved shock caused by the fact that his intimidating protest got inside her tick skull._

_And then she burst out laughing._

_His head jerked back impulsively and so suddenly that he heard delicate sounds of vertebrae that make up the spinal cord around his neck area snapping. Nothing remained of his aura of dominance and imagined authority. The held down ears shot straight back up, hands rose up defensively, not to mention that his eyes definitely radiated fear instead of confidence._

_He was so strongly smitten by shock to which he so badly wanted his trainer to fall prey to that he didn't even mind that pieces of the chewed fruit bounced of his nose and the combination of saliva and apple's juices moistened his whiskers._

"_Blessed ones be damned!" she squeaked in between laughs, dropping the apple, she clenched her hand and pressed her gloved fist to her mouth tom muffle the fierce coughs that began tormenting her throat_

_While still being ravaged by amused coughs her other hand rose up and a forefinger straightened up, the clawed tip of which pointed directly at him. _

"_I should have made an assassin out of you!" she uttered between dying coughs, before pressing the recently used fist to her breastbone while tasking a deep whizz of air_

"_Oh boy! Such talent" she giggled, letting out the recently inhaled breath "You almost choked me!"_

_The significance of this situation finally got to him, the earlier dumbfoundedness was replaced by another, yet this time less cocky, show of anger._

_He stomped his foot on the ground._

_Not even the grass reacted to the gust of wind his leg created._

"_I'm not kidding!"_

"_Neither am I" she replied, poking the earring on her left ear delicately, the tiny emerald in its socket gleamed with each gentle swing_

_She folded her arms below her breasts "You do have talent"_

_Whatever sign of good humor decorating her expression vanished into the morning sky._

_There's was hardly time for a chit chat with her, meaningless and friendly dialogs didn't exist between them. Thanks to the uncountable amounts of hours, whether he liked it or not, that they spent with each other taught him to be watchful for certain signs._

_Signs that foreshadow business._

_And there were lot of them._

_Like this one for example._

_He learnt that during this periods of tutoring, which usually meant practically the whole day, there is no room for his young spirit to rebel. So harshly and rudely that is, she accepted his disagreement towards certain aspects of his lessons, as any good tutor would, but there was a line that she never did allow him to cross._

_It was a fair bargain, when he really thought about it._

_And what's most important, it was a sincere trade._

_That is why her words, which would seem mocking to many considering the rest of her sentence, filled him with a certain amount of pride instead of pushing his youthful spirit into a chaotic, blabbering rampage._

_He crossed his arms on his chest, looking at her with corner of his eyes while rubbing his left elbow shyly._

"_I do?"_

"_Oh yes, it's not the sense of tact however" she removed her arms from her chest, only to point at the middle of her armor where a symbol of a bear claw was sewn into her outfit_

"_You should think twice when you start spilling out threats, otherwise a lesson you will never forget, or probably never get the chance to repeat will happen"_

_He frowned "So what? I should always agree with people so I won't make them mad?"_

"_I didn't say that, provocation is as good weapon as any steel, yet it has to be applied with care, not like you did now" she pointed at him "You're a Falcon" she aimed her thumb at herself "I'm a Bear"_

_And then suddenly, even before his eyes could properly record what is happening she reached behind her back swiftly, removing the spear that was neatly folded there. With a blurry, quick twists of her hands and wrists the pointy end of the wooden weapon found itself inches from his body._

_He only retreated when the sharp tip gently poked his chest._

_He stared at his tutor with wide eyes as he rubbed the recently stung spot, a good jump away from the weapon this time._

"_From this distance I would pluck your feathers boy and rip you to pieces"_

_He observed as she practically with the same turns of her hands and wrists withdrew her weapon back, following the same path it used to get here but this time backwards, yet instead of returning to its original spot the weapon was impaled into the ground right next to her._

"_Just because you belong to a different clan doesn't mean I couldn't defeat you in melee if our skills would be comparable"_

_She looked at him curiously, leaning against the tree once more._

"_Oh? Have you been sleeping on your history lessons?"_

"_History has nothing do with it" he sighed seeing her unchanged reaction "Look, relying on symbols and tales of old makes us limited. We learn that we make lousy fighters just because we're Falcons, that's wrong, we can be as good melee combatant as any other warrior out there. We don't need categorizing and symbolism to dictate who we have to be, a single stupid tree for example shouldn't be responsible for telling if our people have a future or not. It's just a tree!"_

_He turned around, spreading his arms wide as he spun "I don't need also this! I don't have to dig through mud, don't have to eat worms, or roll in the dirt! I will be chief, far above any of this and I will bring change!"_

_His fiery, blue yes once more landed on his tutor "No more stupid superstitions! Under my rule we will be the masters of our own fate, no symbols or nature will tell us how to live! This-"_

"_Hush" she raised her hand_

_He wasn't sure why, but whenever she hushed him he always complied, it wasn't different this time either. The words of protest, or whatever people want to call them, turned into nothing than a whizz of his own breath. The hush rendering them meaningless and worthless._

"_This is the culture of our people you are judging here" she continued, eyeing him intently "Whatever your beliefs may be you have no right to discard years of formed customs of our society on a whim. We cheetahs are our own country, our own religion, a colorful oddity in this dragon infested world. Our society thrived on the beliefs we ourselves formed when all the rest was plunged into blind dragon worship, this fact alone should be respected"_

"_I've spoken with the dragon that visited us recently for very long and learnt many interesting things, like lack of any limitations. They do not worship trees or gods, they pay their respects to their Ancestors, dragons who actually lived, passed and erected a milestone in their lives so to speak. They do not worship them, they live as they always did, not following in anyone's paws but living their own lives. A healthy approach to life"_

_She snorted "They have no faith, and faith is not a limitation but strength, it pushes you beyond your limits, you do things you would never think you are capable of in the name of it. Those dragons you revere so much don't believe in anything, but their own heroes and leaders. During battle if they fall their morale is hindered, when our leaders fall we press onwards, because we don't believe in people, but in what they represent. Symbolism, faith regarding those symbols, this is what drives us"_

_She tapped her finger against the bear claw on her armor "This doesn't mean I'm a berserker just like your feather doesn't mean that you are a stalker. This our the symbols of our people, the claw is strength, the feather is cunning. We're like the limbs of the same body"_

_He looked down, sliding his hand underneath his shirt and yanking it forward, getting a good look on the bird's feather sewn into his clothing._

"_If that's the case than the loss of one cripples the rest. Where's the strength in that? As individuals we would never have been slowed down"_

"_We would never have been strong either" she looked up at the sky through the dancing leaves of trees above and sighed deeply_

"_Faith Hunter is something beyond explanations of mere cats like you and I. You either have it or you don't, whether it gives you strength or weakens you…let's leave that for life to decide"_

"_I would rather not. As chief-"_

"_What if you won't become chief?" she cut him off, aiming her brown eyes at him_

_He jerked his head back, ears straightening up once more "What?"_

"_Did you forget already that you have a competitor for the seat? Just a hint, I'm tutoring both of you"_

"_Prowlus?!" he growled, nose wrinkled by an angry snarl "You think Prowlus is better than me?"_

_She shook her head "You younglings have a strange habit of putting words in my mouth" she gestured at the wood surrounding them "Why do you think we are here?"_

_He followed her silent hint and looked around, commenting his surroundings with a shrug._

"_It has something to do with symbolism again?" he uttered, words coming out of his mouth with a tired sigh_

"_Not the way you think at least" she pushed away from the tree, gently moseying across the grassy ground, hands folded behind her back_

"_Here, in nature's embrace it doesn't matter if you're a god, king or a chief. Here we are all equals"_

_He eyed her with a smirk "Equals you say? Then how about you tell me your name?"_

_She stopped, looking at the ground, if her intention was to hide her reaction by playing with her earring she was doing a poor job at it. Even through her moving hand he noticed her smiling._

"_You're a Falcon, whether you accept it or not" her brown eyes returned at him, the seriousness he got so used to see returned back to adorn her expression_

"_I allow you to address me like we are good acquaintances, this is enough for now. Maybe in the future, when your lessons will be over it will change. If you think that it's unfair and I'm being a hypocrite, don't bother, I don't care. We will keep this professional, this was the agreement and I'm not planning to change it"_

_He nodded "Fine. What were you saying about nature again?"_

"_You have a talent for listening to nature's wishes, obeying its rules, even if you don't really know it"_

"_You're referring to that hunt for a rabbit? I've crawled through every possible hole, dirt and mud was filling my ears and even after all this torment it still escaped. If these are the nature's wishes I rather stay far away from them"_

"_Tell me this Hunter, what will you do if you fail in the race for the throne? Or you decide that it's not worth it?"_

"_I will never quit!" he protested_

"_Okay then. What will you do if you fail?"_

"_I…" another sound of protest died somewhere deep inside his throat, the result of which forced his hand to rub the back of his neck_

"_I never thought about it. I just know that I can win against Prowlus, I'm better than him"_

_She folded her arms "I see. So let's call what we did here an alternative, a plan B if you will"_

"_Isn't this a waste of time? Shouldn't you focus on preparing me for the chief position foremost?"_

"_Is my hearing going bad or you're teaching me how should I be doing my job?"_

_Her stern response forced him to look at the ground, his hands started to rub against each other in shame._

"_No…of course not"_

"_Good. Now catch"_

_His ears bounced on top of his skull even if they were flattened against it, sound similar to that of a flipping coin rang inside his head. Instinctively he threw his hand up, just in time to grab something flying through the air. His pointy ears immediately went up as he dragged the clenched fist in front of his blue eyes and opened his palm, revealing a small, round object within._

_It was a coin of sorts, from both sides colored in the same way. Black and white filled the round object, the colors seemed to be in some sort of unity, each of them occupied exactly half of the coin, the only distinctive thing about them was the fact that a white circle was located on the black color, while the similar black orb was on the white hue. The two colors filled the coin in such a way that they resembled a painter's palette._

"_What is this?" he asked, eying the object curiously_

"_That's a yin yang symbol"_

_He looked up at her, contempt clearly visible in his eyes._

"_Another symbol…" he whined_

"_It's yours now"_

"_Why? Didn't you hear what I said?"_

_She once more leaned against the tree with a mysterious smile._

"_You're going to need it"_

_The hand holding the tiny object dropped limply to his side "I don't care about symbols"_

_She shrugged "Perhaps you don't, but that doesn't mean you can't give it a chance, yes?"_

_He sighed, deep inside knowing that he was on the losing side of this argument, there was absolutely no possibility he would convince his teacher to see his point of view. All he could do right now was to play along._

"_What does it represent?" he asked uninterested_

"_The symbol was passed through generations I was told, until it founds its way to my clan. It accompanied me through some of my very difficult journeys, journeys necessary for my profession. I don't knows it's true meaning, but when I received it all I heard was one line"_

"_Hope will always be with you"_

"_Hope will always be with you?" he repeated "That's it?"_

_She nodded "Pretty much"_

"_Not much symbolism there. Why I'm going to need it anyway?"_

"_You'll going to need a companion on your lonely adventures"_

_He snickered "I will never be lonely, as chief I will surround myself with many people, probably too many to count"_

_"If you decide in the future that you no longer need it, simply throw it away"_

_"That future you speak of will arrive sooner than you think"_

_She smiled, pulling her spear out of the ground._

_"We'll see about that"_

* * *

Hunter gasped when an extremely cold gust of wind brought him back from the memory lane. His whole body shivered fiercely, partially because the wind was really cold, but mostly because he felt like his soul was pulled back into his flesh.

A large shadow grew over his raft, fingers that rubbed the yin yang symbol withdrew from underneath the first coat and impulsively grabbed the wooden frame of the bow on his back.

He raised his gaze and without even knowing it his mouth parted open. The massive fortress surrounding practically the whole island was looming over him like some sort of a golem. He couldn't get his eyes off the structure, he only saw it from a distance before and now it was at hand's reach.

Then suddenly the wooden ground started to shake under him violently, almost toppling him over. The sound of breaking ice rumbled inside his skull. The shaking lasted for a while and then it stopped, with the noise of splintering wood the raft halted its destructive sea floating.

He reached his destination.

Rearranging his equipment Hunter looked up once more, the fortress was intimidating and important, yet it already left its mark on the cards of history. Today was not the time when the history will be re-told, his destination lied past the fort. His destination was the cloud of darkness behind.

He had an unquenchable feeling that whatever he finds there will be the revealed deck of cards of the history they are writing right now. Cards are on the table, after today it will be up to them what hand they are going to play.

Hunter made his first step, his leg crunched the snow below. He continued onwards, feeling uneasy, sensing, but not truly believing, that his small step was a stride in today's history of the Dragon Realms.

* * *

"He is right in front of us" Cynder said, her eyes never leaving the supernatural creature ahead, creature that seemed to be uninterested in absolutely everything, even in her. That simple hunch wasn't changed even by the fact that he was looking straight at her

Spyro focused, tried in every way possible to see a silhouette or at least some kind of ripples in the air which would betray an invisible creature.

There was no such thing.

"I see only an empty room"

"This confrontation will be difficult" boomed the dragon's voice

"This is so unreal" Spyro continued

"I warned you Sugar"

"Nothing good will come out of it"

"This projection is for your eyes only"

"Is he still there?"

"Are you certain Sugar that you need me?"

"Of course he is, he wouldn't just disappear when you just called him, right?"

"I like-"

"Stop!" Cynder yelled, throwing her paw up, she didn't even notice if both dragons gave her any sort of confused stare. Her paw immediately found its way to her forehead and began to rub it intensely, trying to calm the rumbling echo of both draconic voices bouncing inside her skull

"We'll get nowhere like this. From now on one it is one dragon at a time. Everyone gets their turn to speak" she turned her attention towards Spyro "Please?"

He stared at her, there was no better way to explain this, he was staring. In disbelief, shock, she couldn't find the right word, he looked at her like at some kind of freak. She didn't blame him, after all how many times someone asks you to wait until someone stops talking with himself.

Most likely despite his better judgment he nodded. His consent, as innocent as it was, filled her with joy, worry and a peculiar wonder. Is there anything he wouldn't do for her?

Her gaze fell on the shadowy dragon next.

"Is it ok Creep?"

He did not react, as always, she wasn't sure if he didn't understand the question, agreed with her in his own specific way or simply ignored her words. Whatever the case may be, she took that for a yes.

Spyro cleared his throat, breaking the silence that befell on the room.

"May I ask something?"

She turned towards him, it was clear that this whole situation was uncomfortable for him, his restless eyes shifting from side to side, as if trying to find the right dialogue participant, betrayed him. Yet he fought as best as he could with that discomfort.

It made her smile reassuringly.

"Of course you can"

Yet another uneasy shift of his amethyst orbs.

"Why you can only see it…I mean him?"

"I believe Creep is better suited to answer that question"

Both their attentions focused on the supernatural drake…well as best as Spyro could manage to focus.

The dragon remained silent, his unblinking, fixed brown stare was unnerving, taking nothing into consideration except her.

"Creep?" she asked, sounding surprisingly calm

"Sugar?"

"Didn't you hear what Spyro said?"

The dragon didn't even offer her partner a fleeting glance.

"I am here because you need me. I like you Sugar"

"Fine. Why can I see you while Spyro can't?"

"This projection is for your eyes only"

Cynder sighed.

"What's wrong?" Spyro asked concerned

"He might be a supernatural being, but it is so difficult to talk with him. You need to ask the right questions or you get stuck in a stupid circle with only two even stupider answers. Like we did right now"

"What kind of answers"

"This projection is for your eyes only" she poorly mimicked the dragon's low, hollow voice "or more popular…" she cleared her throat "We are one" another pitiful mimicking attempt

The dragon didn't mind from the looks of it.

Spyro cocked his head "We are one? What does that mean? He's a part of you or something?"

"Are you part of me?" she addressed the dark drake

"No"

Cynder shook her head.

"No?" there was surprise in his voice, but also that powerful tone of relief "Then what does it mean?"

"I already asked him those questions, the answer never changes, it's always _we are one. _You are one too if it makes you feel better"

"Me?"

"Yep. You are not the same, but you are one, like everyone else I think"

"Not the same how?"

Cynder shrugged and once more shifted her attention to the magical dragon.

"Why is Spyro not the same?"

"I don't like him" Creep replied emotionlessly

The answer caught her by surprise, at first she was mad and filled with a more overpowering feeling of distrust towards the dragon. However when seconds flew by everything started to make more sense, she remembered the deal they made first time they talked. The realization made surprise go away, yet the mistrust and alertness remained.

"You're not the same because he…" she made a pause, licking her lips "…doesn't love you"

Cynder noticed his eyes growing wide, it was obvious he didn't know what to say, or perhaps he couldn't decide on one idea of most likely hundreds flying through his head right now, if the steam wafting from his nose was any clue to his hard thinking that is.

"Well… I should have expected it" he stated calmly

His words and the way he said them made her head tilt back.

"I fell in love with a magnificent girl, it's normal you have other suitors, there aren't many who could simply ignore you. Fate wanted an invisible, mind haunting, supernatural creature to be my competitor, guess after Malefor he would be next in line to make my life gg interesting"

He shrugged with a smile "Bad luck seems to be part of my life style"

Each word struck her directly in the heart, the longer she listened to him the more she couldn't believe that they are a couple. It was clear as day that her revelation freaked him out, yet he didn't allow himself to give in to that feeling. Knowing that it would make things only more difficult for both of them.

Instead he turned it all into a joke and he did it all for her.

That was also clear as day.

"Thank you Spyro" Cynder commented with a voice ringing with loving and grateful attention "I'll make it up to you I swear"

He smiled, a honest lighthearted smile, yet a delicate hint of nervousness still found its way through the peace.

"Seems only fair that I look into the eyes of my competitor so I can judge my chances"

"I'm challenging him for a battle of stares, nothing else"

She smiled inwardly, proud of him, he is listening to her advice, he is trying to face this peculiar evil, not waiting for it to act first. The ball is on Creep's side, and a literal creature like him can have problems seeing through the cleverness.

Her attention shifted to the black dragon, she had her mouth opened, prepared to say something, but no words came out. Her hesitation was caused by the stupidest of things that she most likely imagined and even if she didn't, she shouldn't be worried.

And yet, strangely, she was.

She could swear that usually unmoving brown eyes of the dragon moved, she could see the orbs jerking back to their original place the moment she looked at him. Everything would be the same if not for the gentle shaking.

As if he was making the impression of a prey stuck in a web made by a spider that were her eyes. Pretending to be helpless while she watched him, but shaking the web when she wasn't looking to eventually shift the fake roles finally.

"Do you hear what Spyro says?" she asked, narrowing her eyes on the dragon, she trusted her intuition. Creep ignored Spyro this whole time like he couldn't hear him or see him and yet she saw something completely different.

A creature that supposedly didn't lie to her once. A perfect test.

"Yes" the dragon answered

He passed, yet still it didn't make her any calmer.

Why?

Did she wanted him to say no?

"Do you accept his challenge then?" Cynder continued

"No"

"No?" she repeated after the drake, eyeing Spyro curiously "Why?"

"I am here because you need me Sugar. I am here for you only"

"He says he won't do anything, because I'm the one that needs him and he is here for me only"

Spyro bit his lip the moment she related the last word, he stared into the distance thoughtfully.

"Soooo…tell him to show himself to me, tell him that this is what you need"

Cynder nodded impressed, this actually sounded like a very good idea. Kill the dragon with its own sword solution so to speak.

Very clever.

Her emerald orbs moved once again, she could feel a delicate, annoying drilling deep inside her, a protest of her nerves to finally stop moving. The unnerving feeling was gone the moment her gaze landed on the supernatural dragon, a silent gasp escaped her throat.

This time she wasn't imagining things, Creep was definitely looking at Spyro, which despite the fact that he's invisible to her partner, he's still a part of this conversation, actively listening to what Spyro has to say whether he likes it or not.

There was hardly anything to find in the shadowy dragon's expression except a blank, emotionless stare. This time was no different and yet she felt a cold finger of fear creeping along her spine.

When his brown eyes focused on her again the feeling of dread only intensified, his stare was technically normal and creepy as usual, his snout with no trace of expression. However the longer she gazed at him the image of his snout began to shift and soften, as if her eyes were beginning to fall asleep.

Only to be awaken to the sight of her own image appearing ahead, the silhouette carried the features of Creep, however his head was no longer his, but hers.

She was staring into her own, twisted reflection.

And that second Cynder had her brown eyes narrowed on her, her expression wasn't blank and empty as Creep's. The snout ahead was wrinkled by a threatening snarl, wrath mixed with a hint of fear, as if the strange figure ahead was pushed against the wall by her, knowing that it will die, but also warning that if she makes the fatal swing she will regret it.

Whether that threat was real and if it was real, just how much believable it was, didn't matter currently. All she could think of was the snout's moving lips. The second Cynder was speaking a silent monologue, so easily to read from the moving mouth.

_Don't you dare._

"Cynder?"

She blinked at the sound of Spyro's voice, her eyes were still aimed at Creep, the old, cold and scary Creep as she knew.

"Can you-"

"This is not what you need" Creep cut her off, his voice seemed to rumble louder than ever

His interruption didn't surprise her as much as she thought it will, instead of shock most of her attention circled around one other sensation.

Suspicion.

"And just how do you know what I need?" she hissed

Spyro looked at her curiously.

"Because we are-"

"No!" she blurt out, the shadow underneath the dragon's paws seemed to cringe slightly

A purple tail next to her side started to slide uneasily from side to side.

"I don't want to hear the same excuse over and over again! I want you to show yourself to Spyro, because…because…I. Like. Him!"

"I cannot do that. This projection is for your eyes only"

"Then show him a different projection!"

Creep visibly retreated, the backward step caused the black tendrils below hiss and snap like angry snakes before evaporating completely. During his withdrawal Cynder noticed his brown eyes giving Spyro another one of those looks that she didn't like so much.

However this time the gaze seemed to be completely different than the last couple of ones she seen, from the outside it looked like always, emotionless and distant, but she sensed there was something else behind it. The almost aggressively swirling shadows from below the dragon's paws only solidified her argument.

"I cannot like him Sugar"

Cynder jerked her head back "What does that mean? Why can't you like Spyro?"

The mentioned dragon licked his lips apprehensively "Is there a problem?"

"I don't know yet"

Creep turned his attention towards her, he seemed bored and frightened.

At least that's what her…intuition? Told her.

"My nature is complex, tied like a knot"

"You told me that already!" she shouted "I just want this conversation that we are having here to be more civil and…and normal! Is this really too much to ask? Just show yourself to Spyro and we'll be done with it"

"I CANNOT!" for the very first time Creep growled, from behind him, on the wall, rose the familiar shadowy silhouettes of the tentacles she observed swallowing the mole the other night

He grunted agonizingly, his features were wrinkled by a painful expression, claws dug into the sterile floor, shadows burst from underneath his paws. The shadowy tentacles on the wall hissed and started to shake violently as if they were on fire.

All she could do was to stare at him in horror.

It didn't escape Spyro's attention who pressed his body protectively to hers, the frantic beat of his heart clearly audible.

"What is happening?" he asked even despite the fact that he knew it was nothing good

"I…"

"KNOT" Creep growled, rising his gaze, his brown eyes were gone, the draconic eyelids were filled completely with dark and otherworldly oval shapes, so pitch black like the darkest of onyx

The sight made her gasp.

"Tied" he uttered with his normal voice once more, eyes shifted back to normal brown, however a stream of blood started to flow from one of the cracks on his legs, like a wound had just reopened

"Unravel it Sugar. Do not force to clasp"

"I'm not doing any such thing!" Cynder protested, voice filled "I only want-"

Creep howled painfully, wound after wound started to gush blood, legs wavered underneath him, but he kept on standing, clearly fighting a battle of sorts, a struggle she did not understand.

The horrific sound of that howl sent a powerful shiver through her whole body.

"What is going on?!" Spyro yelled, ready to pounce at anything that moves

"He's in pain!"

Another howl.

Cynder shook once more.

"Why?!"

"I don't know! It's like I'm forcing him to commit suicide"

"DO NOT CLASP. DO NOT DESTROY" the supernatural dragon's voice boomed like a thunder across the room as some other part of his scaly body burst open with a wet, loud smack

"How are you doing this?"

"I don't know!" she shouted again "I'm not doing anything!"

"THIS IS NOT WHAT YOU NEED. THIS IS NOT WHAT YOU NEED. THIS IS NOT WHAT YOU NEED"

"Creep! What the hell is wrong with you!"

"UNRAVEL THE KNOT. UNRAVEL THE KNOT. UNRAVEL THE KNOT"

Every rumbling voice came in between agonizing grunts, the pain was practically palpable. The dragon wavered, desperately fighting with the constantly weakening legs. More and more wounds cracked open, stream after stream of blood gushed through the holes. Shadows began to dance all around his form, as if trying to mend the injuries and keep him aloft as if the floor was an invisible drop into oblivion.

The dark tendrils were unable to control the havoc however.

"How?! What kind of knot?!" she shouted worryingly at the, what seemed like, dying creature

"IRIS. POWER. CONTROL. CLAW. ROT. MALEFOR. MEMORIES. APES. CHILDHOOD. BE WHOLE"

Cynder swallowed, all of these loud words, all so very peculiar.

"What are you talking about?"

"Cynder talk to me!" Spyro jumped in front of her eyes, judging from the glimmer inside his purple eyes he didn't like her reactions even a tiny bity

"Do we need to get out of here?"

"No. Wait" she gently pushed him to the side

She wasn't certain but Creep seemed to be looking a little bit healthier than some minutes ago, the wounds were still there of course, the shadows still busy mending them, but his cracked legs didn't shake so much anymore.

"IRIS. POWER. CONTROL. CLAW. ROT. MALEFOR. MEMORIES. APES. CHILDHOOD. BE WHOLE. IRIS. POWER. CONTROL. CLAW. ROT. MALEFOR. MEMORIES. APES. CHILDHOOD. BE WHOLE"

The longer she listened to the practically shouted words she slowly began to lose track of Creep's hollow voice. The male tone changed to a feminine one, to her own, his lips moved but she heard her own voice reciting the words inside her head. As if deep down that was what she really wanted to know, that is what she really wanted to talk about.

"THIS IS WHAT YOU NEED. This is what you need. THIS IS WHAT YOU NEED. This is what you need"

Spyro jumped off the bed, stopping in a spot where he believed Creep was. His guess was almost accurate, if the dragon didn't move in the first place, Spyro's body would exactly join with the invisible, shadowy one.

"Ok Cynder, I no longer care if he shows up or not. I don't like how his presence is influencing you. You look both scared and worried at the same time, unfocused, not to mention that his complete reluctance to cooperate is suspicious to me. I propose you ask the questions and make him go away. As fast as possible if you can"

The sight of her partner made her forget about Creep completely, he was the only voice of reason in this whole mess.

"You're right, let's get this over with" Cynder looked past him, at the supernatural creature behind

Brown eyes were once again aimed at her alone, orbs belonging to the dragon she remembered, perfectly still and cold like a statue with no trace of blood. It was odd, but she didn't want to dwell on it.

"What is the meaning behind all these words you shouted earlier? Are they related with the fight with iris and the dream I had?"

"Yes"

She noticed Spyro opening his mouth, another question forming on his tongue, but he never uttered a word, instead deciding to listen. Deciding not to prolong this uncomfortable moment.

"Explain. What did you do to me in the training grounds?"

"You needed me Sugar, I protected you, I like you and will never allow to see you hurt. We were very weak Sugar, we were unable to vanquish our oppressor"

"I didn't want to kill her!"

The dragon cringed, together with the shadows dancing from below his paws.

"Required sacrifice. Had to act, had to protect. Death awaited if I did not. You must live Sugar. I like you"

"You took control over my body! This is an intrusion I just can't accept"

"Had to protect. Forced decision. Necessary one for Sugar to live"

"What did you do to her anyway?" she sat up on the bed, pushing one of her legs forward "What happened to my claw?"

"I offer power"

"How? You said you're not my element"

"We are one, this is the way it is"

Cynder sighed, during this exhale of air she thought of another appropriate question on how to proceed with the started topic. Her eyes accidently found Spyro, who simply didn't know what to do with himself. He kept shifting from leg to leg, stretching and folding his wings, eyes mostly focused on her but just as his legs occasionally shifting from side to side.

Not to mention that he scratched himself practically everywhere, as if every part of his body was itching him.

She smiled comfortingly at the sight.

"This will be over soon"

His chin raised up, his mouth opened, even from here she heard the gentle snapping sound of his jaw moving, as if his teeth were remembering how to form words that aren't filled with tones of terror and worry.

Spyro tried to return a smile but failed miserably.

"When this is over…just tell me about everything? In private" " his amethyst orbs scanned the room meaningfully

"REAL private"

She nodded, concentrating on the draconic being.

"Creep, are the dreams I'm having, especially the last one, true? What did you mean by saying childhood?"

"You know the answers to these questions. If confirmation is what you seek, then I can offer it. Those are not dreams, but memories"

"True! How much of it is true?" she asked, excitedly

The dragon stared at her for a second, then two, ten and twenty, all this time remaining silent, having obvious difficulties finding or properly thinking of a good answer.

"Those are not dreams, but memories" he replied eventually

"I've been running through a building filled with apes! Apes! Dragon killers and bloodthirsty mercenaries and none of them attacked me! They treated me like…like…I don't know! They were nice and good, mostly, how is that possible?"

Once again Creep offered her that emotionless and somewhat dumb look, once more he fell silent, but this time the break lasted longer and longer. It was clear that an answer wasn't coming.

"Speak!" Cynder demanded "How is it possible that the apes in my dream were good?"

"I do not understand"

She growled "You mentioned childhood, being whole. Did they were nice because you tricked me like you did in the pond? Made me see what I wanted to see?"

Even if she didn't concentrate on him now, she still heard Spyro swallowing hard.

"Death is far. No forced actions necessary. I never lie to you Sugar. I like you"

She shook her head with a sigh "Ok forget it. if that was my childhood I want to know more. Can you show me more?"

"You need to be made whole"

"With memories?"

"Yes, but not only childhood. Uncontrollable. I have power to lend, the holes fill on their own"

"Fine, whatever. I want to know my past, no matter how ugly it is"

Creep nodded and strangely when his head rose back up for a moment the features of his snout changed. For a brief second she was once again staring into the eyes of the second Cynder who was offering her the same gaze as Creep does. However it was not her eyes that were important but here lips, they were stretched, forming a thin line of a…

…smile?

"I have-" he abruptly stopped talking

The creature straightened up, now more than ever resembling a statue, his eyes aimed themselves at the wall of the room, the shadows from underneath his paws stretched and grew, reaching almost the half of his body where they danced and swayed in every direction. As some tentacles of a blind monster which was locating its prey by the delicate vibrations in the air.

"…failed?" he uttered, for the very first time looking sincerely confused

He turned towards her, both his eyes and tendrils of shadow aimed themselves at her.

"I am here" his voice was different, dazed would be the appropriate word

"I know you are here Creep. I see you" Cynder replied

"Not here. Corridor. Outside. Separate. Knot…where is the knot?" the tendrils slipped back below his paws, eyes once brown turned completely dark

"Sugar" with that last word, strangely ringing with suffering and disappointment, he disappeared in a puff of dark smoke

"Creep!" she shouted after him

He did not appear again.

"Creep!" she looked around the room

"What happened?" Spyro asked alarmed

"He…vanished" she looked at her partner dumbfounded

"That's a good thing, right?"

"I'm not sure…he acted weird. Said something about being here…Spyro, can you check out the corridor?"

"Corridor?" he impulsively looked at the door "Why?"

"He mentioned it, as if he was there"

"Alright I don't get it, but I won't try to understand. Are you sure you want to bother yourself with it?"

She shrugged "I feel it might be important"

"If he's really out there how will I be able to help? I can't see him"

"Just check it out, if there won't be anything out there come back here, whatever troubled him he will have to deal with it himself"

"I'm not leaving you here alone, in case he would come back I would like someone to be by your side. I'll call Amela first ok?"

She smiled gratefully "Thanks"

"And Cynder…that dream you mentioned earlier…I would like to hear about it. I would like to hear about everything"

She dropped on the bed and nodded, all sort of thoughts rumbled within her head.

"Of course"

Spyro approached the door and pressed the handle. He froze.

Cynder looked at him curiously "What's wrong?"

He stared into the hospital's corridor outside.

"Funny, I don't know why, but I'm not certain that I want to cross this doorstep"

"Why?"

"I don't know if I want to awake"

He looked behind his shoulder, on the room, the bed and his partner and perhaps future mate lying on the sheets. Instead of happiness he felt nothing but emptiness, as if the image behind was nothing more than an imaginary picture of a drunken and wishful mind.

He entered the corridor and closed the door behind himself.


	82. Chapter 4 Book V

Chapter 4

"Alright! I'll stay with her!" Amela jumped forward with a giggle at another delicate feeling of horns poking her lower back

She turned around, the walls of the corridor she was being pushed through flew before her eyes. She smiled at the young purple dragon ahead, waving her finger at him in a playful scolding manner.

"You're forcing me to go against my own rules darling"

Spyro stopped practically in front of her moving finger, the claw of which delicately grazed his nose.

It wasn't that gentle contact that made her hand press against her heart with an audible _Awww_. His eyes were the reason for that. They were huge and round, so begging and cute that they no longer resembled draconic eyes but seemed to belong to a purple eyed bunny like in some zootopian world.

Like that could be EVER possible.

"Amela please" he pleaded, voice almost heartbreaking "Just this once, this is very important"

With the unchanging kind smile she put her hands on her hips.

"Would you look at that. Not so long ago you could barely talk with me and now you're ordering me around. That's what I call progress!" she giggled

It didn't take him long to blush, in fact it didn't even last a second and he was already red as a fire dragon. She was afraid, and probably for a good reason, that if she would touch his cheek right now she would burn the fur on her hand.

"Can we…" he poked her again gently, this time on the legs"…go?"

She laughed and with a spin began walking down the hall, hands folded behind her back, each step slow and made in a crosswise fashion, each foot ahead of the last one, like in some sort of a special dance.

"You're rushing me like something happened" she said, head aimed up, swaying from side to side as she observed the ceiling above as if there was something fascinating about it

"Nothing happened!" he blurt out from behind her

"Ohhh I'm sure everything is just fine and in your deep overprotectiveness you want me to check on Cynder, just in case"

"Yes!" Spyro exclaimed excitedly, exactly in the moment when the last word left her lips, the echo of which still vibrated in the air if someone would listen closely

"This is EXACTLY what I have in mind!" he tried to sound as honest as possible, and in his opinion he did a very good job

In fact he didn't, but she already knew that.

A smile crept over her mouth, one of that youthful, playful devilry she occasionally missed.

"You know my rules after all regarding patient's rest. I'm certain you waited patiently as I asked in front of her room as to not disturb her. You're such a polite and dutiful boy after all"

The eyes of her aimed upwards face shifted to the corners of her eyelids, it was enough to spot the frame of the young purple dragon walking behind her. A frame that slowly disappeared with each made step, it was not her that sped up her walk, but it was Spyro who slowed down.

He had his gaze aimed on the floor, he was practically dragging his wings and tail behind him, the blush that covered his cheeks, which was weaker just some seconds ago, flared up once again with a fierce red color.

Shame wasn't the whole reason behind it, guilt also played its role very well.

"Amela I need…." He rubbed his leg shyly with a gulp "…to tell you something"

The healer turned around, the complete frame of the drake that pushed into the foreground of her vision. The smile disappeared from her face. He looked so beaten up that her conscience did not allow to continue her little parental game.

"I know darling, you don't have to say anything"

He looked up at her, his purple eyes seemed to calm a little, but not because the shame or guilt were gone. This duo was still here, their presence perhaps even more palpable than before. His eyes calmed because they no longer had to carry the weight of deception and secrets that just don't fit with him.

"You…do?" Spyro mumbled, his voice was hoarse as if he wouldn't be drinking anything for days

"I was joking" she scratched her earring with an ashamed wince "It tends to get the better of me sometimes, especially during the days when we successfully save all lives"

She nodded with an apologetic smile.

"So yes, I knew you wouldn't listen to me and honestly I didn't expect anything else from you"

"Oh"

She laughed "That's it? _Oh? _You have to be a true male if you want to be a partner to someone like Cynder"

Spyro looked at her in terror.

"Come on! Scold me for my behavior! You see me as hers mother-in- law after all, keep up with the cliché scenario!"

He cringed, looking even more miserable and ashamed than before.

"I…I don't want to…"

She giggled again "Relax Spyro, as I said I'm only joking, that, and you look absolutely adorable when embarrassed"

She spun around once more, playfully throwing her hand in the air "I can't control it, besides things can't be simple, just like you I have a protective nature" she winked

Spyro began following the healer, the moment the surface of his paw pressed against the somewhat cold tile of the hospital's floor she burst out in another laughter.

"Look at me" she spread her arms wide, making another turn, this time while still walking

He observed the cheetah with a shy smile.

"I don't remember when was the last time I was in such a good mood" she turned towards him, walking backwards she patted her chest, precisely her doctor's gown

"This is a very merciless profession darling, the last time I had to deal with wounds as serious as both our girls arrived with recently there was always at least one bed with a bloody sheet drawn across it. And now?"

Amela clapped her hands and spread them wide, her claw tips practically scratching against the walls on both sides.

"Everyone almost healthy or on a good way to recovery. Not a single fatal case! This is-"

"Watch out!" Spyro shouted suddenly, he was so focused on the cheetah that only now he realized that they were passing through an intersection.

It was too late. Two surprised grunts filled the hall, one belonged to Amela who fell on the ground on her side. Someone bumped into her from the opposite corridor. Spyro's whole attention was centered on the cheetah, his mind only barely recorded the features of their unexpected guest. All he could tell for now that the other victim is of draconic origin, malachite scales told him that.

Luckily the impact wasn't strong, Amela hit the ground with a painful groan of course, but before she collapsed she put both of her hands on the ground, dampening the impact.

"Are you hurt?" Spyro exclaimed, jumping towards the fallen cheetah

"I'm so very sorry" a low, guilty voice filled the hall, the body to which it belong to preceded him in assisting the healer

He made an impulsive step back, not wanting to be a nuisance, two in this situation already is a crowd. The stepping back had a perk however, he could accurately determine what kind of creature is the willing and guilty assistant.

A dragon. Just as he thought.

It was no wonder that Amela couldn't remain on her legs when he bumped into her, the dragon was massive. His age had nothing to do with it however, from the looks of it he was still fairly in his adulthood, that period of life makes him at least two times smaller than a fully grown dragon in his prime during adult age.

This particular dragon seemed to genetically rub off the well-worn paths of draconic evolution. Only the practiced eye of a fighter and his life unfortunately granted him that sight, could see that the dragon purposely advanced that process on his own. Such dedication required no doubt great determination and sacrifice. One could only wonder just what kind of goal the drake set before himself to develop his body in such a way.

Spyro caught himself admiring the dragon's well-formed muscles, not because of sexual attraction of course, but because of a deep rooted feral impulse of male rivalry, instinctively knowing that physical superiority grants the most attention.

The same instinct forced him to quickly evaluate his own physical condition, and as in every such inward examination the result was far from acceptable. In that brief moment everything that Sparx said about him, that he is girly looking and fat started to make sense.

Such revelations leave no room for objectivity.

Objectivity that would tell that minds of people, be it dragon, mole or cheetah, work in a strange way. Always pursuing something that is popular and by society considered beautiful, striving to be exactly like somebody else.

Failing to realize one simple and truly beautiful truth.

We are not the same.

"I don't know what I was thinking" the dragon lowered his head, letting the old cheetah drag her arm across his neck

Spyro kept staring at the drake, all those thoughts from earlier didn't matter no longer, this time his silent observation was motivated by something entirely different. He was certain that he saw the dragon somewhere, he seemed familiar, perhaps they met on the streets once or twice.

The longer he observed the dragon the more certain he became that this feeling of familiarity had nothing to do with eye contact weeks or months ago. There are many green scaled earth dragons. This familiarity was of different nature, he had no idea of what kind exactly, but he was sure he dealt with someone like that before already.

He wasn't certain if he liked that feeling.

"This is all my fault" Amela hissed through clenched teeth, supporting herself on the dragon's powerful neck as she rose on her legs

"Can you stand miss?" the helpful dragon asked worryingly

She giggled "Of course, I'm old but have enough strength to walk, yet" with a smile she removed her hand from the drake's neck and bowed gratefully

"Thank you for your help" she straightened up and when that happened an audible snap of bones could be heard

Amela hissed with a laugh as she pressed her hand to the back of her neck.

"Damn old bones, even the tiniest of cracks make my body feel like it was going through an earthquake"

She pointed her finger at the malachite dragon and then at Spyro.

"Remember to stay young as long as possible" she rubbed her neck for a while and then giggled once again "And if by any chance you'll figure out how to do that don't forget to call me"

Both males impulsively looked at each other. The earth dragon smiled friendly.

The smile was pleasant to look at, the grey eyes of the dragon were also sincere and sympathetic.

And yet, in that moment Spyro felt great dislike for the dragon.

Suddenly he remembered that he saw him flirting with Cynder once.

This was not the reason for the dislike however.

What was then?

Spyro returned the smile. At least as long as the dragon looked at him, when those grey eyes turned their attention off him the smile vanished from his snout.

"Are these yours?" Amela asked, crouching down

"Allow me!" The dragon interjected, placing his big paw between the cheetah and the object of interest on the ground

Spyro's eyes went down, noticing a bouquet of flowers on the floor, some lost a petal or two during the accident

"You suffered enough on my behalf already" the dragon said with a smile, clenching his paw on the flowers

The cheetah returned the smile "Who would have thought that my day will get even more better. I had one sweet boy around me and now I have two"

The malachite dragon smiled, flashing his pearl whites in such a way that it was hard to get eyes off his mouth, only by looking at his snout for a couple of seconds was enough for your own face to be influenced by it.

Exactly that thing happened to Amela. Both of them were smiling and chuckling. A typical, friendly, cute atmosphere.

Spyro couldn't bare it any longer.

Which was odd considering the fact that he is typical, friendly and even cute for some.

He couldn't help it. This atmosphere strangely made him sick.

He cleared his throat, the sound that emitted from his throat cut off the giggles and happy chatter like the fiercest riposte. Four eyes turned towards him, seemingly indifferent to his interruption, but in truth very well concealed under the layer of politeness. No wonder since the meaningful tone of his delicate cough was even for the deaf to hear.

Amela clapped her hands, the ears that flopped after his interruption straightened up again.

"It was a nice chat," she smiled at the malachite dragon with a gentle bow "but there is a matter that requires our attention"

"But of course!" the malachite drake threw his paw up defensively "Don't let me keep you"

The healer pressed her hand to her chest "Seeing politeness developed so beautifully in such a young soul always warms this old heart"

Spyro inconspicuously poked the cheetah with his claw, all the time wearing the mask, a very cracked one, of shared sympathy.

Luckily Amela took his hint, she started to walk, even if slower than he wished.

"You're not that old miss"

She laughed "Not old you say? And yet you call me miss"

With a barely audible grunt of irritation Spyro once more gently poked the cheetah. Their walk again returned to the unbearable slow pace.

The cheetah waved at the dragon without turning around.

"If you'll ever need me look for Amela"

"I will. It was nice to meet you Amela and you too our Savior"

Spyro for unknown reasons shivered, he did know why but he felt like a caught thief who wanted to sneak his way out of harm's way.

"Like-"

He ended abruptly, the mouth that was forming the words was left hanging open, tongue rolled down his lower lip, eyes that wanted to focus on the malachite dragon shifted their attention elsewhere, past the dragon.

He spotted some new visitors.

Moles. A pair of them.

He had no idea why these two particular moles were more interesting than the other people walking the halls of the hospital, but for some unknown reason he couldn't get his eyes off them.

They were walking…

"_Wow Spyro! They're walking! Sue them!"_ he heard his own voice inwardly mocking him

…walking down the corridor the big dragon currently occupied.

Everything seemed to be weird about these two moles. For starters they were walking the same corridor as the dragon, their walk alone seemed to be weird. It was like some invisible paw would be pushing them forward, making them shuffle forward, practically dragging their legs across the floor instead of raising them to make a step. As if they were blind.

"_Those are moles Spyro! Moles! They are practically blind! And due to this state they decided to travel through the corridor the dragon actually walked. Like…like…many people before them!"_

Their helmets were also weird, too big for their heads, almost blocking their eyes.

"_Like you are a fashion expert! You paid so muuuuch attention to how the moles dress in the past after all!"_

Goggles were weird too, this ones seemed to be too small in fact, erratically dragged across their snouts, as if the eyes weren't located in the middle of the skull at both sides, but rather in random direction, like a genetically shaped into the skull strabismus.

"_Moles are miners! Workers! They do not care about outside appearance, technology and hard work is all that matters. These two look like they had just left a construction site!"_

The two rodents started to move past him, their noses aimed in the same direction, they didn't even care about his purple eyes following them constantly.

"_You're staring at normal people like some kind of murderer! They should be the ones bothered by your looks!"_

He couldn't take it any longer, he had to gain their attention. He might have done that if not for the malachite dragon appearing in front of his vision, removing the little rodents from his sight. He craned his neck from left to right, from up to down but the big draconic body seemed to follow his every move. Slowly and deliberately.

"_People have their own lives! It is you who stand and stare like an idiot when you should be walking! Goodbyes were already said!"_

The malachite dragon eventually moved out of his line of sight. The moles were no longer there.

He turned his head hectically from side to side, spotting the rodents walking farther ahead, traveling the corridor as they were since he first spotted them. Their path was unchanged and straight as an arrow, not even the tiniest sway in their motions could be seen, as if they would be pulled by an invisible string or hypnotized to walk as emotionless machines.

"_Look whose talking! Like you are an example of normality!"_

"Spyro? Darling?"

He woke up from his trance with a fierce shake of his head, all of his attention was momentarily dragged in the direction of the incoming, familiar feminine voice.

Amela. And she was quite the distance away from him.

The cheetah smiled at him "Did you forget that you were making sure I reach Cynder? Quickly I might add?"

"No…" he uttered "…I…" he turned around once more, scanning the intertwining corridors once again

Besides some random people and a big green tail of a dragon disappearing behind the corner the pair of moles was nowhere to be seen.

"…didn't" he turned his body again, head cocked slightly, eyes frowning thoughtfully

The hand that was playing with the earring dropped to her side, concern took control of her expression.

"What's the matter?"

Spyro looked behind his shoulder once more, eyes aimed on the wall ahead where shadows of people passing by floated across the stone like clouds on the sky, rippled only by the dancing flames of torches.

Only one shadow, the size of him, didn't follow in the wake of all the others, its gloomy features were wobbling on the wall, it was remaining there idly, just like he was.

It was his shadow.

It was fascinating to look at it, not because he didn't see it earlier, but because of the nagging uncertainty if he is really looking at the dark reflection of himself. That thought was only intensified by the fact that another shadow, a tendril, sprouted from the original shadow's chest and dragged itself across the wall, pointing down the corridor as some ominous finger.

A quick flash of enlightenment flew across his head.

The moles went that way.

"Did my company tire you?"

The sound of the hurt voice made him blink, when he opened his eyes anew the shadow ahead was back to its normal self.

Just like it always have been.

That is his shadow after all.

The tendril he saw had to be a simple illusion, perhaps someone dragged something across the torchlight.

If that is the case then where was the shadow of that person?

"Of course not Amela!" he blurt out sincerely, almost deliberately forgetting about all this creepy encounter and imagined shadows

Almost.

If not for the nagging feeling that he has seen all of this once before.

And it was not a joyful thought.

Her ears flattened on her skull, she nervously started picking at her earring "And yet you're still standing in place"

He opened his mouth, ready to voice another apologetic excuse, but nothing came out of his throat. Instead his eyes went down, towards his paws, claws of which were curled into hooks, as if they wanted to dig through the floor and anchor him to the ground.

It was clear as day that where the old healer is going is not his current destination.

He aimed his determined gaze at the cheetah.

"You'll find your way to Cynder's room?"

She flinched at the question, at first he had no idea what caused her to react like that, but after a couple of seconds he heard the echo of his own voice vibrating inside his head. The rough, unpleasant tone of it.

Commanding even.

Spyro cleared his throat "I mean…" he looked at her pleadingly "…please Amela? Can you go to Cynder's room? No detours? I have something I need to do"

The cheetah folded her arms behind her back and nodded, the sadness in the motion was practically palpable.

"As you wish"

"Thank you!" he exclaimed gratefully and immediately turned around, only when he was about to round the nearby corner he stopped

"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you Amela, it has nothing to do with you I swear! I just…need to check something. I'll be back in a minute!"

The cheetah commented his words with a simple smile before turning around and continuing on her way. The way she walked really resembled him of the moles.

Lifeless.

He rounded the corner, quickly walking down the corridor the moles went. He didn't see the rodents, nor did he see any strange shadows on the walls.

Just like he didn't see a malachite dragon returning to the place of the accident, he didn't see the drake throwing the bouquet out of the window, nor did he see the dragon heading exactly along the same path Amela went.

* * *

Four delicate knocks on the door forced her eyes open.

Pulling back from her half-asleep state she raised her head from her crossed on the bed front paws and looked at the door. It was an impulse, lately when she fell asleep strange things happened, she instinctively wanted to know that she didn't imagine the sound,

Another two gentle knocks.

"Come in!" Cynder exclaimed happily, even before the door opened fully she already knew who is on the other side

With a smile that she so greatly adored Amela entered the room.

She began pulling herself up from the bed.

"No" the cheetah said firmly as she raised her hand, palm opened in a clear signal of stop "Don't get up"

The dragoness obliged without a word of protest.

The smile returned to the healer's face.

"How are you feeling Sweetheart?"

"Better now"

With a nod Amela closed the door.

Cynder's eyes widened as she looked past the cheetah and at the door like they were some kind of portal to another dimension. She noticed a shadow filling the crack underneath the door some seconds later, as if someone was on the other side and soon will open the door and enter the room.

The shadow was still there and yet the door remained closed.

Seems like it's not a person that causes this change of light after all.

She aimed her surprised gaze at the cheetah.

"Spyro isn't with you?"

The feline's arms slumped down in front of her chest, one hand landed on top another, rubbing it bashfully.

The kind smile she usually wore like favorite jewelry wavered, stretching and shrinking simultaneously as if someone would be playing with a string.

"I might have overstepped my bounds"

Cynder's brow raised in reaction to Amela's revelation.

"What do you mean?"

The healer chuckled, in shame turning her head to the side.

"Seems like my good mood is toxic"

"That's not true! You always cheer me up, when you're happy it's like you're a different person, even better than your usual nice self. Like…like…"

Amela cackled.

"Like I would be young again?"

Cynder let out an amused sigh as she gently narrowed her emerald eyes on the feline.

"That's not what I meant. You aren't old Amela"

The ears on her head, bent like a pair of withered flowers straightened back again.

"I realize now my mistake"

The cheetah approached the window, looking at the terrain outside, her shoulders raised and lowered in accordance with her deep sigh.

"I made a stupid false assumption that I have the same influence on both of you. Even if I noticed that I intimidate Spyro slightly I still allowed my self-control to take a hike as you youngsters say. Even if you were right that he looks adorable when embarrassed I believe I crossed the line"

Cynder giggled "Really? You tested it?"

"I think I did and I scared him off"

She snorted in amusement "Yeah, that sounds like Spyro. Don't worry, he'll come around"

Amela tapped her claw on the glass.

"I'm not sure about that, I think he's a little mad at me"

The dragoness eyed the cheetah curiously, as she stood there, in the morning light, Cynder with the eye of her imagination could see every wave of emotion wafting from the feline, as some sort of aura. Amela seemed somber and she felt every strand of that sensation, as if every feeling coursing through Amela was of the same importance and size as hers. As the emotions thudded through the air she felt every rumble those emotions created when they eventually reached her, pushing her into the same somber mood.

As the two of them were the first and last of a series of swinging spheres of a very special cradle.

"Spyro can't be mad at you" Cynder replied warmly "He adores you"

"Maybe I'm really exaggerating?" she shrugged "When he ran off with _I need to check something _excuse I thought I hurt him. And pain is something that I swore I will never again sow. I became a healer for a reason"

"It all makes sense now, I can assure you that Spyro's reaction had nothing to do with you" Cynder gently scratched the sheets "It's my fault, I asked him to take a look at something for me and you can guess how crazy he gets when he tries to help me"

Amela nodded with her eyes closed, the loving, kind smile appeared on her face

"You can't blame him. He loves you dearly"

She impulsively reached down her magenta chest where she felt the beat of her heart, so suddenly warm, slightly nervous perhaps but at the same time proud and unafraid.

"You know?" she asked, even if deep down she already knew the answer, it became clear the last time they talked

The healer laughed, fondling the earring as she slowly made her way to the bed.

"Spyro told me it was supposed to be your secret, but…" she shrugged with a smile as she sat on the edge of the bed, right next to the two black paws

Cynder instinctively crawled forward, lining her snout with the cheetah's face.

"…he can't hide it. No matter how hard he tries" she tapped her claw against her face twice, just below the right eye

"We girls can see things like that. Don't blame him"

She chuckled, for a moment aiming her shimmering, emerald gaze on the bed, mildly abashed by the situation.

"I don't. I'm kinda glad you know. I hate having secrets from people close to me" she looked up, straight in the feline's kind eyes

"And I consider you one of the closest I have"

"Really? You flatter me"

"Oh? Then wait till I finish" Cynder found the feline's hand on the bed and clenched her paw gently against it

The furry hand remained in place.

"Know that if you run away you'll break my heart and will cause a great deal of pain. Remember what you said about pain"

"Using my own weapon to kill me are we?" Amela commented with an amused snicker before placing her other hand on top of the soft, scaly black paw. Nothing remained of the ironic grin as she looked into the dragonesses emerald eyes.

"I'm not going anywhere Sweetheart"

The young draconic girl smiled and in that moment Amela realized that this was the most beautiful and grateful smile she has ever seen in her life.

The scar above her right eye started to burn suddenly when she ran her finger along one of the draconic silver claws. The old wound was practically screaming at her, demanding to know what she was doing, cursing her for her actions. Amela with great difficulty fought the urge to scratch the itching scar and grant it the attention it wanted.

She ignored it instead, like many other things in the past, fearing that if she would touch it she will remember how it was to be the person she used to be. She didn't sacrifice her identity to walk that path again, she was no longer the cheetah she used to be.

She changed, like the sweet girl in front of her changed.

She realized that a long time ago, now she only became more certain of it. She felt a peculiar pull and attachment to this young girl, for her, of all creatures walking this world.

The cheetah she once was is no more and there is no possibility of a comeback.

Not after this.

And she was thrilled about it.

"You're like a mother to me" Cynder said, she averted her gaze the moment the confession came out, for a moment losing all of her natural confidence. She wasn't the type that holds back her tongue, she always speaks what's on her mind

With an exception or two.

That thought build her courage back up, she suffered enough because of unspoken feelings, she won't repeat the same mistake. However her confidence didn't return to the same natural level, she impulsively bit on her lower lip as to prevent her bravery from shrinking again and looked at the cheetah with scared, huge eyes. Expecting the healer to sprint across the room any second now, not towards the door, but the window.

Amela remained in place. For now. Perhaps processing the information in her own way, or most likely mumbling a silent prayer for all of this being only a nightmare from which she soon wakes up.

The furry hand slid from the top of her paw. Followed by the other one from the bottom.

Here it comes.

The cheetah's body moved ever so gently, for Cynder however it seemed like an eternity. Her eyes only grew in terror with every delicate shake of fur and material. She could see even the smallest waves of vibration in the air the clothes and fur created. This is most likely how Spyro feels when using his Time powers.

She hated it.

Amela leaned forward cupping her black head in both hands.

The moment the hands touched her cheeks a one very crazy thought flew across her head.

_"Headbutt! She's going to headbutt me!"_

The world swirled in front of her eyes for a moment, but not because of a smack to the head, but a kiss. Soft and so deeply caring.

"I love you too" Amela whispered as she gently let go off the dragonesses head and looked into her eyes

The green, draconic orbs were shaking and glowing like a pair of genuine emeralds. The shimmer, beautiful to look at, was getting more intense by the second. She knew that it was not the natural sparkle of eyes that created a gleaming effect like that, such glow could only be achieved through tears.

And many of them were filling Cynder's eyes.

"Oh no Sweetheart" Amela huffed lovingly, delicately grabbing the girl's head and pressing it to her breast

"Don't cry" she whispered, gently rocking back and forth

"Too late" Cynder tried to chuckle but her attempt resembled a snort like sob

"Shhh" Amela cradled the dragoness firmer, petting the back of her head gently. A burning, familiar sensation was filling her closed eyes

"Careful or I'll start crying too" a salty tear slid from her closed right eyelid and made its way down her dry, wrinkled face

"Quickly" the dragoness let out another overjoyed, shaky sob "Let's change topic b-before I'll l-lose control"

"Very wise" Amela pulled back from the embrace with a sniffle, one hand swiftly ran across her moist, feline eyes.

"Let's c-check your w-wounds" she sniffled again as she bounced on the bed slightly farther to line herself with the dragonesses wounded body. Only her calves and feet dangled from the edge of the mattress

"Yes. Ok" Cynder blurt out with a shaky voice while rubbing her eyes, straightening her body and looking away, aiming her gaze anywhere but not at the cheetah

The moment the healer touched the black bandaged body a strong shiver ran along the draconic silhouette only to end with the dragoness covering her mouth, holding back a sob.

"You're fine" Amela announced with an emotional, barely audible voice while fiercely pulling away as if the body ahead electrocuted her

"H-how's…" Cynder mumbled throwing her head up, tears were soaking her snout, flowing from underneath her tightly closed eyelids like blood from a recent cut "…Iris d-doing?" she licked her wavering lips, feeling the salty taste of tears on them

The cheetah put her hands together, with claws pointing upwards she pressed them to her nose.

"S-she can't eat n-normal food" she said quietly as if she wouldn't be talking but praying "Vomits e-every time. Body a-accepts only liquids. S-she will l-live"

"G-good" Cynder whimpered

Both females went silent after that, at least when it came to talking, since all the other weeping and sobbing sounds seemed to get worse.

"A-Amela?" the dragoness finally mumbled with a squeaky tone, her chin now shook beyond any control "It d-didn't help"

The cheetah chuckled, or at least tried to, a weeping, happy snort was all that her throat managed to emit.

"I k-know"

Cynder finally turned towards the healer, meeting her tear filled gaze with her own.

The cheetah sniffed once more and spread her arms wide open.

"Come here"

She didn't have to tell her twice, in a moment's notice Cynder curled herself into the feline's warm body, only to be locked within a loving embrace soon after.

Both females began to cry. Sincerely and affectionately.

Everything was how it was meant to be, be it the relation between the two of them or the fact that the light greeted the bond they created with all its glory.

Even through the crack underneath the door.

* * *

Two moles.

I'm chasing after two moles!

With each click his claws made when his paws touched the floor one after the other, he still couldn't believe what he was doing.

And yet he never slowed down.

He couldn't rely on his nose, it didn't stink in the hospital, but the peculiar and rather heavy smell of medicine mixed with sweat, detergents and who knows what else, made it quite difficult to pinpoint the right direction by smell.

However deep down he knew where he was going. Not because of intuition whispering silent words of directions like the most quiet of guides. Something else led him, the flickering shadows on the seemed to be always ahead of him, their forms rippled and unsolid, constantly shifting as if unable to decide whose reflection to depict.

These corridors were like a part of a deliberately constructed maze, he had been here already a couple of times, but it seemed like now he is finally learning the construction idea of this building. He never believed the hospital was SO big.

The thought was both relaxing and frightening.

Warfang seems to have enough healing staff to take care of lots of patients. That the city actually needed so many beds and healers was the scary part.

He couldn't shake off the feeling that no matter if he catches up with the moles or not, healers will get more work to do anyway. He sensed that his actions will have more impact on the beds, will help deciding which to use.

The ones heading to the operation table or the catacombs.

He finally caught up with the two rodents, completely ignoring that he was slightly panting, or that people were giving him weird looks. Seeing a purple dragon running through the halls like crazy wasn't a common sight after all.

Did I really ran?

Solving that mystery was unimportant right now, his whole focus was concentrated on the pair of moles who were standing in front of a door, a resting room like Cynder's. They looked like they were trying to remember how to operate the handle.

Good work detective.

It seems they are visiting someone and are most likely thinking about what to say. Preparing a surprise perhaps, going against Amela's rules had a special, intimidating charm to it.

His eyes focused on the door, a curious frown appeared on his snout. His head turned from side to side, examining one side of the hall than the other.

He had been here already, not so long go in fact. It all looked so very familiar.

Didn't they bring Iris here?

The sound of opening door brought him back to his senses, he recognized that noise instantly. It was definitely where they brought Iris. He never believed he would remember such a detail, especially during the circumstances that occurred when he was here before. Back then he was too busy running after the healers that were transporting Cynder when he dragged her here from the training grounds.

For some reason it came back to him and he wasn't the type that usually questions his intuition, especially now when he got here following….

What exactly?

For a brief moment his eyes scanned the walls, but there was nothing on them, only his own dark reflection. This time he was certain of it.

The decision on how to proceed from here is on his shoulders alone.

He didn't owe Iris nothing, she deserved every bit of crap Fate has in store for her after what she has done. He stared at the slowly closing door, the gentle creaking sound they were making was like nothing he had ever heard before. He could swear they were talking, screaming even, voicing only one word over and over again.

_"Hypocrite! Hypocrite! Hypocrite!"_

Who gave you the right to decide who deserves saving?

The door closed.

He once again stood before the opening portal to the Dark Master's prison.

Spyro rushed forward, basically jumping at the door, pushing the handle so forcefully down that he heard metal screeching agonizingly, there was also the sound of snapping wood. When his paw released the handle the simple mechanism never returned to its original place.

The door flung open releasing a rumbling thud through the opening, so much similar to the noise of a body dropping on the floor.

When he barged into the room everything slowed down.

The two moles had their backs turned to him, one was already circling the bed, both had their right arms extended, holding something in their claws. The second moved to the side, revealing the bed fully.

The bed was a disaster, the sheets were dragged across the whole length of the crunched mattress, only to flow down from the opposite side, like somebody rolled across the bed and dragged the sheets with him.

Only the pillow remained.

And it had two small crossbow bolts sticking out of it.

Spyro's eyes widened when suddenly a bluish feathery wing rose from behind the bed on the far end. The first mole that was circling the bed had already his arm pointed down, together with the device in his hand.

It was a crossbow, a small one, special device of the moles, perfect for their frail muscled race. The bolt, with something green dripping from the tip was ready to be fired.

Without thinking Spyro channeled his Time powers and slowed down the world, exactly in the moment when the crossbow's string was set loose, filling the practically frozen world with an unending, constantly pulsing noise of a snapping rubber band.

He charged forward, shoving his flank into the first rodent, sending his body slowly flying at the nearby nightstand. As he ran past the rodent he used his tail to snatch the weapon from the attacker's claws.

The grip on the weapon was strong however, far exceeding his expectations, not to mention that he would never believe that a mole could be so strong.

The weapon didn't fall from the rodent's tight grip, however the blow was strong enough to yank the hand away from its supposed victim. It has to do for the time being.

He went for the other unbelievable assassin, ramming his body into the rodent, feeling dead weight being sluggishly raised from the ground on impact. He then focused on the weapon, jerking his body up, putting his paws together and slamming the doubled fist into the extended crossbow. He noticed the claws unclenching themselves, a visible crack appeared on the weapon, the tip of which slowly spun towards the ground.

He then focused on the mole anew, grabbing the small creature and hurling it towards the door through which he recently entered.

By that time the world started to speed up, without wasting any more valuable time he rushed towards the first fallen mole. Punching him in the face to dazzle him, Spyro could see every drop of spit shooting from the rodent's shaking face.

He tore the crossbow from the mole's hand and flickered it behind him, out of reach before he grabbed the would be murderer and flung him in the same direction as his other friend.

Everything returned to normal till then.

A couple of chaotic thuds could be heard when finally the sound caught up with everything that happened. All of those sounds were nothing compared to the noise the door made when they were torn from their hinges by the two small bodies flying through the doorstep and onto the corridor.

Spyro turned towards them, sinking down on his legs, adopting a defensive stance.

"You're not touching her" he snarled

The thrown moles were back on their feet in an instant. A throw that was strong enough to break such small creatures like them in half if they would be really unlucky didn't seem to have any impact on them. They got up like nothing happened, just like they would slip on a banana skin instead of being thrown by a dragon.

The moles advanced straight at him without hesitation.

Spyro licked his lips anxiously, seems the role of an intimidating dragon got him only so far.

"Stop" he warned the rodents, trying to sound as confident as he could manage

They did not stop, in fact they seemed to pay him no attention, their eyes were focused on the bed, or more likely on the dragoness behind it, it didn't matter that you couldn't really see her from here. Their eyes were already absent to begin with.

He definitely saw something like that before. The two of them really reminded him of one specific hermit.

"Hey!" Spyro advanced, pressing his paw against the chest of one of the moles, the other walked simply past him

"Stop" he repeated, blocking the other rodent with his tail

Physical attempt to halt their advance was also futile exactly like words of wisdom. The rodents kept on pressing on, pushing through his blockade.

Eventually they succeeded, the mole held back by his tail was the first who broke through. Spyro noticing him reaching behind his worker's outfit as he approached the end of the bed.

"Wait!" Spyro growled, jumping after the rodent

He never got the chance to reach him since suddenly the familiar sound of snapping rubber band was heard, followed by a wet crack. Spyro gasped, seeing the mole freeze on the spot, body ravaged by one final spasm. He had a small crossbow bolt sticking out of his forehead, delicate streams of some green liquid started to flow from the edges of the recently made hole.

The body of the mole, thrown back by the force of the impact fell numbly on its back.

The rodent was dead even before his back touched the floor.

Spyro turned his head, noticing Iris holding the recently fired crossbow in her shaky, weak paw. The weapon slipped from her claws seconds later, her diamond, piercing eyes were aimed arrogantly at him.

He turned away from her, knowing that there was no point to argue about the value of life. Her eyes were obviously showing that she didn't care about things like that.

The second mole was practically in front of his nose, hand already holding another crossbow, the rodent wasn't even shaken by the death of his friend.

Spyro deliberately threw away any chance for reasoning, instead deciding on a harsher action to save the mole's life. He charged his Electricity powers, creating a shocking orb around himself and grabbed the mole.

The rodent's body began to shake violently, the initial shock, instead of paralyzing forced the mole's limbs into a chaotic, powerful spasm. He didn't even scream when his mouth opened, in fact he didn't make any other sound.

Spyro noticed that the mole had no tongue.

The dragon hissed when the claws on the mole's other hand, flung by the shock, scratched his shoulder. The mole kept on going, only after Spyro got accidentally struck by the small assassin the mole finally stopped.

Suddenly something changed in the rodent, eyes no longer were blindly aimed at the wounded Iris, but shifted towards him, even despite the fact that the mole was constantly shocked by electric pulses the hand holding the crossbow began to rise.

Driven by instinct Spyro cut off his elemental energy and jumped to the side, gluing himself to the wall.

Somewhere during his leap a bolt was released, the deadly projectile flew across the air only to shatter on the wall in the far end of the room.

He finally got a good glimpse of the eyes. They were mad and lost at the same time.

Exactly like the eyes of the hermit.

Exactly like the spark he once noticed in Brill's gaze.

"Stop it!" Spyro yelled, seeing as the mole was preparing another projectile

"You have no enemies here!"

The rodent kept staring at him, while hands kept working on the weapon. His lips were moving, but no sound was coming out of his throat. In that moment Spyro realized that the mole has probably more things severed than just the tongue.

"Lis-"

His voice of protest was cut off suddenly by droplets of blood splashing on his snout. When he opened his eyes he noticed a bolt sticking out from the side of the mole's head, face frozen in mad expression. The weapon he was holding clattered on the ground soon followed by the rodent's lifeless body.

With his mouth hanging open Spyro looked to the side, on Iris who crawled from her hiding place, sprawled on the floor like a dying fish, holding the second crossbow of the earlier fallen mole.

Just like before the weapon didn't remain long in her paw.

"We're even" she rasped, her voice barely audible, but still carrying the same authoritative, cold tone. She was holding her head aloft with great difficulty

He stared at her for a while, completely dumbfounded, however the longer he stared into her eyes the earlier confusion was slowly replaced by raw fury.

"You didn't have to kill them!" he roared as he dashed towards her, his head pulsing, not really knowing what he wanted to do

Even despite the obvious fading strength she didn't lose eye contact.

"I wanted to and I did"

"Just like you wanted to kill Cynder?!" he roared again, practically straight in her snout

He felt his own breath colliding with her scales like waves with rocks and yet she didn't even blink.

"Yes"

Spyro clenched his paw, with last ounces of will preventing himself from hitting her he believed.

"I should have let them k-"

Once more he didn't finish his sentence, now stopped by the sight of blood behind the dragonesses body. Her bandages adopted a thick, dark red hue, the wounds had to open when she forcefully jerked her body off the bed, or during the impact with the floor. She was bleeding badly and yet she still dragged her body, leaving a trail of blood behind her, to kill that mole.

Whether she did it out of gratitude or not didn't matter now.

One thing was for certain.

It had to hurt a lot.

Spyro's expression softened.

"You're bleeding. Badly"

Not waiting for her response he gently began to circle her around, getting ready to lift her.

"What the hell do you think you're doing Goldie?" she hissed at him

"Taking you to a healer. Who knows in what those bolts were dipped. That stuff is all over the place"

He clenched his paws on her shoulders.

"Don't touch me!"

"I want to and I will"

He lifted her up, making sure to slid underneath her. With the support of his wings and calculated moves of the rest of his body he flung her across his back.

She grunted something, but he didn't care, instead started to walk out of the room.

"Wait!" Iris dug her claws into his flank to gain his attention and pointed at the bed

"Go there"

"I won't-"

She drove her claws deeper.

Spyro groaned painfully.

"Now" she added

With a sigh he approached the bed, Iris tore the mattress apart, not wasting time to lift it up. After a short while she retrieved a broken, tarnished medallion.

"Go"

He rolled his eyes.

"I don't know why I willingly let myself to become your mule"

He left the room, carrying the bleeding dragoness on his back, not knowing that on his way out he passed through an invisible projection of a injured brown eyed dragon with shadows twirling from underneath his paws, who observed the dead moles with his head cocked to the side.

And tail wagging nervously.


	83. Chapter 5 Book V

Chapter 5

The freezing wind and vicious snowflakes were mercilessly bombarding Dante Freezer, like they always did and until the world ends, they will still do. This mountainous terrain was a sight to behold for any wanderer, it's massive icy hills, bluish and practically transparent, as if made from hollow scales of an ice dragon, reached practically towards the sky. If there would be anyone brave enough to scale their peaks he would be able to stick his head above the clouds.

Traveling Dante's Freezer through lowlands was an impossible task, every valley, every piece of land suitable for settling, if someone had such a wish, was separated by bigger or smaller hills. There were wider and shorter pathways sculpted through the mountains, some were higher, some were lower. Wingless creatures were doomed to scaling these natural elevations if a trip across the snow filled land was their wish.

Circling the cold island by ship was perhaps even more deadlier than exposing oneself to its chilly climate. Long spikes of cold rock, squeezed so tightly that even a fly wouldn't slip through sprouted from the border hills of Dante's Freezer like tips of spears of a well prepared phalanx formation. The sea itself was also unstable around the unlikely shores, waves upon waves tossed themselves at the hills, beginning to ripple the sea far away from actual land, making any sea approach apart from the known safe bays very dangerous.

The island had several good spots that could be approached safely by boat, it was a rather welcoming sight in the overall inhospitable aura of the place. The docking points seemed to be perfectly protected by the treacherous wind and unstable waves. In those places rock formations were jutting out of the water, forming a protective barrier that prevented any relatively deadly whim of nature.

Whether it was some well-crafted plan of forces that created this world or just pure coincidence the creatures of the Dragon Realms never tried to find out, obeying the unwritten laws of Dante's Freezer. That and fright of drowning in a blood freezing water with who knows what beasts dwelling in the depths was also a very effective way to scare off any sailor.

Dante's Freezer was meant to be traveled by land, the island gave no other choice. Either you scale the mountains, which seemed like a slap to the face for many considering the already uncomfortable temperature, or you turn back.

The land wasn't only a merciless and brash oppressor, as if knowing that even the toughest of travelers is only that, a traveler made of bone and flesh, both of which break and tire easily.

Hence offering places of respite.

The hills were filled with many openings, caves, both small and big, granting invaluable shelter in this harsh environment, be it from the weather itself or predators that tolerate even such a freezing tundra as this.

Airborne creatures had a little easier life around here, yet even them knew that wind in Dante's Freezer can be treacherous. There were some that rose above the smaller or medium hills, but the highest mountains were something completely different. History has yet to witness a creature that reached their peaks and survived to tell the tale.

The screech of one such airborne creature echoed together with the fiercely blowing wind.

Hunter set his lecture down as he looked towards the exit of the cave he currently occupied. In the distance, among the strongly blowing snowflakes a bluish winged dot soared above the ground. The beast in the distance let out another cry, usually the shrill cry of a Dreadwing was a painful noise for his sensitive ears.

Now however his ears remained standing. In between his shallow breathing, rumbling sound of wind bouncing off the cave walls and the almost thudding noise of the snow beating against the icy terrain, the sound of the Dreadwing crying was almost enchanting.

Danger had a special charm to it, not many know how to enjoy it, but here, on this cold island it was perfect, like the final touch of a delicate instrument in the already well composed song. Tone of which sends shivers through skin and bristles fur.

Hunter looked down at his hands clutching a thin tome, a guidebook around the many different landscapes of Dragon Realms only to focus on his claws.

Chipped claws.

He smiled.

Danger had a special charm to it.

He reached down his belt, into a nearby pouch and flicked the contents at the fire ahead with a quick flick of his wrist, the natural heater blurt out fresh, fierce flames, he shivered underneath his double coats. The guidebook proved to be accurate, who would have believed that you can start a fire in these cold caves.

Another shrill cry cut through the wind.

The Dark Army made the fortress at the shore their home, that part of land belonged to them and even despite the fact that he used his concealment skills to the best of his ability he was still quite certain that they caught his scent at some point. If they noticed his camping spot or not didn't matter currently, they knew where he was heading anyway.

Exactly in the same place they were.

Towards the unnatural fog of darkness.

He threw the tome into the fire, it served its purpose and if he is to beat the road ahead he needs to carry as little as possible. Taking advantage of the recently roused flames he stretched his arms ahead, warming his hand near the fire.

He turned them slowly around as he observed them, even despite that he prepared himself and wore fingerless gloves parts of his fur still died from the cold and fell of, revealing the flesh below. He hasn't fired a single arrow and yet his clothes were already shred by some delicate cuts, he really doubted that his hands got the worst of it.

Once more a cry cut through the sky, this time however followed by some other distant ones and an occasional bark.

The cheetah sighed deeply and dragged the hood on top of his head, next one of his hands burrowed itself below his coat and found the symbol within and caressed it fondly.

"Allow me to continue treading this path" Hunter whispered reverently

He got up, throwing the quiver and bow on his back and moved towards the opening ahead, pulling both gloves on his wounded and burning hands. As he reached the edge he took another filled with awe scan of the surroundings.

More and more of the dots appeared in the distance, not to mention that below him a quite considerable group of apes was making their way towards him, following the path he worn down.

And yet they were gaining on him.

This is their land, they know its secrets better than anyone.

The feline looked to the side, just at the end of the hill he currently stood on was another one of those short corridors he used before. These shaped naturally shaped pathways were a blessing, reaching them was a pain, but once you did you had a good half an hour of peaceful march, with no cold, strong wind cutting your stealing your breath.

He decided not to go that way.

Instead he looked up, mentally preparing himself for a vertical climb, this way was shorter but at the same time more dangerous and tiring. Who knows, he might need his strength for whatever is to come, but he also knew that if he won't speed up the Dark Army will catch up with him and from the two he is more willing to put his life in the hands of nature.

He jumped, stretching his arms as far as they would go before grabbing one of the popular icy spikes dotting the hilly landscape. He felt another one of his claws breaking when it clicked against the icy surface.

Gritting his teeth tightly he pulled himself up, muscling his body above the spike, feeling the sharp tip leaving a burning scratch against his chest as he slid across it. Placing one of his feet on the vertical wall he managed to eventually climb atop the spike, keeping his head low to avoid hitting more of the sprouting obstacles.

He climbed a level higher, and then one more, when he finally decided that he is high enough from his starting position he withdrew his dagger. He began chipping the nearby spike, the longest one and seemingly the most comfortable to reach from below.

It was a tiring assignment which not only weakened his muscles but ruined the dagger, by now it would have troubles cutting through paper. However it did its job, weakened the structure, so when enough people start to pull against it, and as he touched the yin-yang symbol he was almost certain that this will be the path the apes will take, it will eventually break off. Surprising the one currently holding it and everyone below.

It isn't enough to stop the Dark Army, it was already too late for that, if there was a chance at all to begin with, but it will undoubtedly slow their progress.

Not much as he would like to, but it will have to do.

He sheathed his dagger and renewed his climbing session.

Whatever awaits at the top must be worth all this pain.

* * *

"This is unacceptable!" Terrador roared, pacing nervously around Cynder's room

"I tell you, it's Brill" Cyril commented calmly

"In the hospital no less! Where people have the right to feel safe!"

The Guardians weren't the only ones present in the room. Spyro and Cynder were also there, the first was sitting on the bed while the second was laying behind him. Their eyes kept following the furiously strolling dragon in silent respect. Cynder unaware of her actions was picking at the purple tail in front of her that kept sliding across the sheets annoyingly from side to side as if developing a mind of its own, trying to run away from the irritating silver claws since the purple owner of its body seemed to be currently cut out from this world.

No matter what the tail did, the claws caught up with it.

"Let me repeat myself Terrador" Cyril sighed "Let's pay Brill a visit and make him confess"

"You want to invade the most sacred temple on a guess?!" the Earth Guardian stomped his paw fiercely on the ground, leaning closer towards the ice dragon "What proof do you have that he's involved?"

Cyril shrugged "Insane mole killers are enough for me"

"With such attitude you will be accused of bigotry. We have no proof, this is the most important fact"

"I've heard the asshole talking about eradicating the taint. Weeks later we have mole assassins walking the hospital halls. It can't be a coincidence"

"Then explain this. Why they went strictly after the ice dragoness when she isn't even from our timeline? How can she have anything to do with taint when the embodiment of it is right in this room?!"

He growled, pointing an almost accusing finger at Cynder.

The dragoness jerked her head back, paws gripped the tail tightly making Spyro straighten up as if a bolt of electricity struck him.

The dragon realized the weight of his words the moment he heard her audible gasp.

"Forgive me" he bowed his head apologetically "This is not what I meant, my wrath gets ahead of me and I don't know what I'm talking about. You have my complete trust Cynder, what I meant is that Brill sees you as embodiment of evil. Everyone in this room thinks the opposite"

"It's okay" she replied "You made a fair point"

Cyril tapped his claws against the small icicles protruding from his jaw in silent contemplation.

"Maybe they wanted to create a distraction"

All three dragons looked at him with interest.

The Ice guardian looked at the two young dragons.

"Your friendship is no secret, all could easily assume that you Spyro would be skulking around Cynder's room even despite the rules of this hospital. Nobody would want to cross a purple dragon, so you needed to disappear and get out of their way"

The Guardian nodded, obviously pleased with the deduction he came up with.

"We all know how special our new guest is, with her being in this hospital, also wounded, she was a good target for a distraction and a retaliation strike in one. I don't have to explain her charming personality for you to understand that she might have made more enemies than there are dragons in Warfang"

Terrador pointed at his old friend, nodding his head slowly.

"You might be onto something here Cyril. If you are right then that means Brill's influence reaches farther than we believed. Someone from this hospital must be his follower"

Spyro looked in alarm at Cynder, examining her from top to bottom, looking for any sign of danger.

"I know what you're thinking" she replied with a smirk "but there is one healer here that I trust and I know won't hurt me"

"Amela" Spyro added

"Are you certain we can trust her?" Cyril inquired

The dragoness looked at him confidently "Yes" she replied without hesitation, even insulted by the question

"It's your life. If you think you can trust her then so be it, from now on I would advise that you seek medical assistance directly from her hands. Just in case"

"What do you think Spyro? Terrador asked, tail wagging nervously "You were the one that encountered the moles. Do you think Cyril's theory is correct?"

He looked at the floor, with every bit of his soul he wanted to say _yes_, what he would give for things to be so simple. And yet he couldn't force himself to form the three lettered word.

"I'm…not sure"

"Why?" both Guardians blurt out startled

"Can we wait for some information about the moles first? I need to think about it"

Sadly the time reserved for sorting all of this in his head was a short one, it wasn't long before the door opened and Amela stepped through the doorstep with her typical, kind smile.

"What an audience today, I swear Sweetheart you're becoming popular by the day, you pull them all towards you, no matter the age"

Cynder snickered, hiding her blushed snout behind Spyro's back.

"What have you found out?" Cyril asked without any hint of amusement in his voice

Amela fondled her earring "The most important thing, nothing bad happened to Iris, her wounds opened during the attack but other than that she is well. The attackers however were in a terrible shape even before they initiated their murder attempt. Their tongues and vocal cords were severed, pitifully I might add, but successfully nonetheless, they couldn't utter a single word"

"It's not like they haven't tried however, from the amount of blood gathered in the throat I can assume that they had a lot to say. The surgical operation was so badly done that with every stretch of their necks the wounds pushed more and more blood out, that would eventually lead to death by suffocation. It was a surprise that they managed to fight in this state, a normal person would be rolling on the ground, gasping for air"

"They weren't drugged, at least not by natural means, they might have been under an influence of a spell of sorts, but I'm not an expert in this field and I believe it's too late now to tell for certain anyway"

She licked her lips "As for the weapons themselves. The bolts were just too small to do any harm to a dragon even such a young as Iris. Draconic scales are thick, a natural armor capable of stopping projectiles before they reach vital organs. With all of you representing dragonkind I don't have to go into detail how exactly this process works, unfortunately you felt it on your own skin more than once"

Cyril burst out laughing "There's nothing to worry about then! With worthless assassins like that we can sleep peacefully, they are more than welcome to offer a scratch like that every now and then"

Terrador shook his head in disbelief "Before I scold you for interrupting I just want to mention that your mind works in a very strange way. A very disturbing way"

Amela chuckled "As I was saying, the bolts themselves weren't dangerous, however the substance they were dipped in was. We need to examine it further to know exactly what it was, as for now I can safely say that this was some sort of poison, a very deadly variety considering the state Iris is in currently. Her organism is already fighting off a very versatile toxic intrusion, a dose of another such substance would definitely prove fatal"

Cynder rose from behind Spyro's back.

"Why go through all the trouble? She's weak, wouldn't it be simple just to skewer her with bolts. Or slice her throat than mix some vile poison?" she inquired

"Despite the general, disgusting idea of murdering someone in a hospital bed it was a reasonable approach" the Earth Guardian commented, eyeing his battle worn paw as he raised it close to his snout

"There are so many ways to make sure that your enemy stays dead, poison is just one of them"

Spyro rubbed the back of his head.

"I still think that Brill has nothing to do with it, or at least not in the way we believe"

Both Guardians looked at him curiously.

"What makes you think that I'm wrong?" Cyril snapped

The purple dragon looked up, acting like he didn't hear the aggressive tone in the Ice Guardian's voice.

"Because we met with Cynder someone who behaved so much like those moles and Brill was far away from there or he hasn't crossed the Veil yet in the first place"

Cynder crawled forward, next to her partner, eyeing him with great interest.

"We did?"

"The hermit"

A mocking laughter filled the room "You're comparing our problems to some secluded freak?" Cyril blurt out in between giggles "Get some rest Spyro"

"Cyril!" Terrador admonished his friend

"I'm serious. They really acted the same way, one of those moles wanted even to attack me when he accidently scratched me, I'm not sure they even seen me before that. They were so focused on murdering Iris that they didn't even pay attention to me when I tried to stop them. Amela is right, they behaved like they would be charmed or something"

"Mind controlling magic is a fairytale" the ice dragon added coldly "Corruption is the only such curse, with Malefor's death there is no one capable of wielding such power"

"In our timeline maybe, what about the other ones? Can you say for certain that nothing like that existed?"

"If there would be some wild magician in Warfang we would know about his presence by now"

"it doesn't have to be a person. We've seen the Veils transporting whole buildings"

Cyril snorted disdainfully "If not a living, breathing creature then what? Please, enlighten us"

Spyro shrugged "I…don't know"

Another full of contempt snort.

"Before Cyril you fall into a circle of self-praising where your words and ideas are laws, just consider for a moment that Spyro is right" Terrador replied, eyeing the ice dragon angrily "We still know nothing about the portals, what they are capable. We must consider the possibility that perhaps an artifact of some sorts crossed into our world"

The Ice Guardian rolled his eyes "Even if there would be an ounce of truth in this it still changes nothing. if there is an artifact, it's not in our possession, meaning someone incapable is wielding it and we have to get it back. The temple is our destination nonetheless, this is the only place where something like that could be hidden"

Terrador nodded "It's settled then, we're going to the temple immediately. Spyro, we need you"

The purple dragon shook his head fiercely "Oh no, sorry Terrador, but after what happened I'm not leaving Cynder here"

Cyril directed himself towards the door "You won't have to. She's coming with us"

"What?" the three other dragons blurt out simultaneously

Amela made a step back, folding her arms on her chest and blocking the door "As her healer I can't allow that. She's still not in her best shape"

The Ice Guardian narrowed his eyes on the feline, a puff of icy smoke wafted from his nose.

"She'll heal, she's a dragon, struggle and pain is in our blood. I know my kind, we are not meant to lie in beds like meek sheep. We stride forward no matter what" he learned forward, closer to the healer, snout wrinkled by a fierce snarl, sharp teeth showing in an intimidating manner

"Get out of our way cheetah"

"HEY!" Cynder growled, jumping from the bed "Don't you dare to speak to her like that!"

"I'm a Guardian girl!" he growled as he turned his burning, cold eyes at the black dragoness "You will listen to what I have to say" his eyes shifted at the feline "Both of you"

"I think you're forgetting that you're not the only Guardian here" Terrador interjected, his baritone voice rumbling with intimidating, commanding tone "Just like you're forgetting who is the head Guardian here"

"Spare me the talk about how Ignitus proclaimed you to be his successor. He's dead and he doesn't care. If you insist on keeping anyone out of harm's way as to avoid them breaking their little pretty claws then I have to step up!"

"Cyril, watch your tongue"

"Can't you see what is happening?" the Ice Guardian roared, temperature in the room dropped considerably

"Our city is being ruined, our enemies enthrall our own people, somehow convince them to do the impossible while we do what exactly?! We sit on our assess and worry about the well-being of our subordinates, like they are our family. Let me tell you this, they are not!"

"We as Guardians rule this city, we give orders, we do what is best for this city. Warfang has to thrive, dragonkind has to thrive! None of this will happen if we keep worrying about our own wounds, about our own safety. The enemy knows how to make the hard choices, knows what's at stake while we smile and laugh like good friends, believing that everything will sort out itself"

"Mutual respect. This is what Ignitus taught us"

"He isn't here anymore!" Cyril roared once more, the glass of the window on the opposite side of the room shook slightly

"He's dead, bugs made short work of whatever was left of his corpse!"

Audible gasps filled the room.

"See? This is what I'm talking about! How can we save our city when we're still cringe at the sound of someone insulting the dead!"

"How can you speak about Ignitus like that?" Spyro exclaimed "He was your friend!"

"Exactly! When I die I want to meet my friend and have the courage to look into his eyes, tell him I did my best to protect this city. Tell me Terrador, if you would die today, would you have the guts to tell him that?"

The aggression vanished from the Earth Guardian's snout, he didn't say a word but even the blind would read the words from his expression.

"We are simple minded leaders my old friend, no matter how hard we try we don't have the spark Ignitus' had. We need to use our best soldiers to win this battle, even if they won't like our decisions. We should respect them and at the same time not care, draw a line between leadership and friendship, we aren't good enough to combine these two"

He turned towards the black dragoness "This is why you are coming"

Cynder met his gaze confidently, she made her mind way before he addressed her.

"Ok"

"You speak of respect but you're still sending Cynder as bait when she's wounded and weak!" Spyro protested

The Ice Guardian directed himself towards the door once again.

"She's a dragon, I believe in her, just as I believe in the three of us. I believe in my race. if I wouldn't know what it means to be a dragon I would order you to stay here. We are the world changers, we don't wait, we fight until our whole strength is gone, we live on this fucking world to show it that we can walk despite the obstacles on our path. If you waver I'll make sure you will keep on walking, If worse comes to worst this is how I'll show my respect"

His eyes once more met with the cheetah's, this time however she didn't protest but simply moved to the side.

He pressed the handle "You need to start believing in your kin Spyro. We were created to withstand pain for a reason"

Before he left he exchanged another look with the feline healer, the brief moment was enough for Amela to understand what the reason was.

The spark was in all of them.

"I'll wait outside" Cyril's voice echoed in the room for a while after he closed the door behind himself.

* * *

He might have screamed at some point and probably still was. All he knew was that he opened his mouth, in fact it was still opened, when he focused he could see his fangs pointing out of his maw, yet no sound was coming out from his throat.

Just like no sound was coming from the horrible Dreadwing's snout ahead, it was snapping just inches away from his noise, splattering poisonous saliva all across his face and chest. The only thing preventing it from biting his head off was luck and his strength. The beast got stuck, it kept thrashing wildly, trying to reach him and most likely it would succeeded if not for his hands tightly gripping its horns, pushing it away.

His head hurt more and more with each passing second, the creature kept parting its maw as if roaring, but all he could hear was the increasing in strength shocks of shrill sound that only intensified the already nauseating ringing in his skull.

He dragged his legs below the creature's chin, propping his feet against its chest and then with all the strength build up in his legs muscles he pushed, pushing the beast away, even if slightly.

The Dreadwing popped from its holding place, ice shattered on top of his body from the edges of the ice hole he was thrown into. The beast charged with another screech. The time he bought with his move was enough to prepare himself for the attack, the moment he pushed the beast away he reached down towards his belt swiftly, arming his hands in daggers.

Hunter let out a roar of his own, at least that's how he remembered it was done, he couldn't hear his own voice. He turned his wrists inwards, the sharp edges of the small blades glistening like tubes ready to be inserted into Frankenstein's head.

With a delicate shard of ice cutting his cheek the Dreadwing made another attempt to make a lunch out of him, when it was in range Hunter powerfully pushed his arms together, impaling the daggers into the creature's head, right through the temples.

Whatever sound the creature was making died the moment when a blood filled spit gushed from its mouth and splashed straight into his face. The creature's rabid, blue eyes turned momentarily glassy and lifeless. Body was shook by one final spasm, silencing every vibration created by the thrashing. Two droplets of poison dripped from the creature's exposed fangs.

And then its whole weight landed directly on him.

The already weakened outward surface of the small crater collapsed underneath the heavy, dead weight. Hunter closed his eyes, protecting them from the shooting shards as the body of the creature dropped on top of him.

He groaned agonizingly, pressing his forehead to the dead creature's head, the ringing noise inside his skull reached its highest peak that he could feel cracks appearing on his brain. Seconds flew by and the sound slowly died down, more and more sounds pierced through the shrill sound, starting from the loudest like the whizzing wind to the barely audible like droplets of blood dripping on the ground from his ears.

With one final groan he pulled his daggers out with a wet smacking sound, dragging tongues of blood behind their sharp tips. He pressed his closed fists against the motionless body and pushed, tilting the corpse just enough to be able to squeeze the left side of his body above the winged back.

It wasn't difficult after that to free himself completely, the lifeless corpse dropped down, with him landing on top of it. With one deep breath Hunter sheathed his daggers and jumped, pressing his hands on opposite sides of the ice hole before lifting himself up, foot found the snowy ground not long after.

Hunter straightened up, his ears suddenly stiffened up, from the distance looking like a pair of small antlers, spitting blood on the snow as they recognized a familiar sound cutting through the fiercely blowing wind and snowflakes. It was his duty to recognize such sounds as a bow wielding scout.

He momentarily threw his body into a spin, followed by a forward jump. With a corner of his eye he managed to see an arrow flying from the small elevation ahead, cutting through the snowflake fog. The projectile collided with his fluttering cloak, cutting through the material just right next to his back, the force it created as it tore through threw him off balance, forcing him to drop ungracefully onto the snow.

With his face covered in the white fluff he looked up just to see an ape revealing itself from the mist, an arrow was sticking out from his right shoulder and it looked like his left arm was broken. It had to be the raider he shot down from the Dreadwing that attacked him, the snow covered grounds of Dante's Freezer had to dampen the fall, crippling but at the same time saving the ape.

His enemy didn't decide to take another shot, most likely realizing it would take too much time to nock another arrow in such condition. The ape instead started to run directly in his direction, his war cry barely audible due to the fiercely blowing wind.

Hunter noticed the ape reaching behind his back, just to hurl a small hand axe at him, he sprung forward, stretching his body to the limit, leaping forward like a wild cheetah, with a roll springing back on his feet with snow clinging to his outfit and wetting his fur.

The ape attacked, swinging at him with another axe, Hunter swiftly dived down and with a quick sidestep gathered a considerable pile of snow in his hands, that he hurled at the ape as he straightened back up. The whitish fluff blinded the raider, Hunter too advantage of the confusion and withdrew two arrows from his quiver before sprinting into the snowy mist.

The blizzard effectively quenched every sound.

Only when the white fluff finally swayed down and joined the snow on the ground everything became clear. The snow revealed a body of an ape lying on the back, delicate streams of blood were flowing from the corner of its eyelids, not even able to run the snow below red since momentarily more snowflakes made sure that the ground remains white.

It will eventually cover everything under its thick veil, the corpse of the ape with two arrows sticking out from his eyes, just like it will cover the cheetah kneeling just behind the corpse's head.

Hunter had his head aimed at the ground, observing the dropping snowflakes from above with labored, misty breaths, his ears slowly flattening on his skull with more and more additional white weight pressing them down.

He was clutching his stomach, looking down at his hand he noticed droplets of blood splashing onto the snow one after the other like from a dying spring. He unglued his hand from his body, only to see a streak of crimson matting his fur, both on his hand and belly.

As he prepared to take another heavy breath a burning bolt of pain shot from the wound making him groan in agony, pushing his body into an impulsive contraction that only forced more blood out of the wound like from a disgusting, huge popped pimple.

With a snarl he pressed his hand back to the wound, feeling the wet and unpleasantly soft severed tissue under his touch. The ape managed to injure him with that axe after all.

He reached behind his back with his other hand, severing the material of his cloak with his claw, making it flutter loosely on his right side. He grabbed it and pulled, using enough strength to tear it off but at the same time forcing his body to jerk fiercely. He hissed when another burning pain shot through him as the wound pulsed once more, pushing more blood out through his fingers.

He prepared himself for a provisional treatment by removing one of the medical pouches from his belt filled with all different small flasks. He applied a thick greenish paste to the wound from one of the flasks, groaning all the way through the endeavor. The wound pulsed under his touch, clearly unhappy with the attention, but luckily no more blood pushed through the freshly constructed barrier.

He then wrapped the torn cloak around his body, gluing it to his body with the use of the same paste.

Medicine has all sorts of uses, he learned that the hard way.

With one final hiss of pain Hunter got up, shaking his head, snow flew in every direction like dandruff from a giant's head. He squinted his eyes, focusing on the terrain ahead, here, so high above the ground the blizzard barely allowed to keep one's eyes open, let alone see far ahead. Yet he did manage to see a black discoloration among the flying snow.

He found his way.

Hunter reached behind his coat, finding the yin yang symbol there with his cold thumb.

"May this journey be a prelude to many more" he continued onwards

Time flew differently in this blizzard, what one would take for an agonizingly arduous, worthless pace, here, in Dante's Freezer it was like a trek around the world. This is why Hunter didn't count his steps, he measured progress by distance to his destination. Here with snow reaching practically to his knees, every small step was worth every precious wasted second.

When his right leg crunched the snow underneath his ears flickered suddenly, sensing a peculiar change of tone in the air. Hunter froze, tuning his hearing to a higher sensitivity.

"Get the cat!"

His blue eyes widened at the commanding order traveling with the wind.

And almost popped out from their sockets at the sound of barking.

Hunter started to run, at least that's what he kept telling himself, the snow didn't allow for much. His eyes remained stuck at the shifting, dark discoloration ahead, his perception regarding time flow and value of steps changed drastically. He started to move his legs quicker than ever before and somehow it didn't seem like he was getting any closer to his destination.

He didn't know for how long he ran, yet in this moment that's not what bothered him.

He didn't hear anything besides the blowing wind and the sound of crunching snow under his weight.

Hunter looked behind his shoulder, not slowing his escape in the slightest. One of his hands found its way to his belt where it touched a dagger's handle. His narrowed feline eyes scanned the terrain behind.

Besides the thick mist and even more strongly falling snowflakes nothing was there.

No silhouettes creeping through the mist.

And yet, he couldn't shake off the feeling that he is being watched by hungry eyes.

Suddenly there was a crack.

Hunter froze with a nervous gulp, eyes vigilantly observing the terrain behind.

There was another cracking noise.

Only then he realized that it wasn't coming from anywhere around him, but exactly from underneath his feet.

He looked down, surprised to see that the snow was slightly less thicker here, he could see the form of his boot below, surrounded by a special bluish hue.

Ice.

Only then he noticed the cracks spreading from below his foot like a spider web. He quickly shifted his weight to his other leg, sound of cracking ice filled the air.

He realized that there was no getting out of this trap he put himself into.

Something heavy landed on the snow somewhere ahead of him, he felt tremors traveling across the ground.

The ice felt them too.

It collapsed under his weight.

Hunter gritted his teeth as tightly as he could as to muffle the groans coming out from his throat, as he fell down he bumped into one or two very thick icy edges that send his body into a spin.

A spin that ended with him powerfully landing on his back on another icy surface.

A strong bolt of extreme pain shot through his spine, he put the handle of a dagger in between his teeth to silence his agonizing scream. Three fingers on his left hand became numb for a moment.

He opened his tears filled eyes, the snow was pleasantly sticking to the fur on his face, slightly making all of this less painful.

It was extremely bright here, he noticed a bluish light reflecting from the blade of his dagger. Hunter looked around quickly, walls of thick ice surrounded him, some were straight, some curled and round like ramps. Many different ledges dotted the icy landscape, some higher, some lower. He found himself in some sort of a crater, strangely resembling a mine of sorts.

The rough edges however betrayed that this crater wasn't made by deliberate work of some miners, it was like this hole was created by something big falling from the sky at great speed.

As he looked down his eyes widened, there was still quite a fall ahead of him before he reaches the bottom, but that was not what caught his interest. There was something at the bottom of the crater, something was standing out from the snow covered floor below, as if nature dragged its special sheet across a body.

And it was a huge body. Completely covered by snow.

Just next to the enormous bulge was most likely the source of the dark clouds hanging in the air. A tongue of dark smoke was raising to the sky, he didn't see what was creating this effect, a fire lets out a similar smoke.

But starting a fire in the open was impossible.

Not to mention that traditional smoke doesn't stay in the air in such a fierce wind.

It has somehow mixed itself with the air, creating the illusion that if was farther than it really was.

However only from here he noticed that the bulge of snow, just like the dark tongue weren't moving at all, as if frozen.

It was the blizzard that created the illusion of dark clouds.

Hunter rolled around delicately to get a better look.

Only then he heard the familiar sound of ice cracking and noticed more dark spider webs appearing from underneath his body.

He quickly returned to his original position, aiming his eyes upwards. Snow flew down from the edge above, like milky water of a waterfall. His mind immediately processed all the facts that led him to this vulnerable positon.

Hunter shifted his body ever so slightly, tilting it so he could reach for the bow on his back. The ice screeched agonizingly and more cracks appeared on its surface. He grabbed the wooden frame and with a single swift motion he withdrew the bow.

The ice screamed again.

With a delicate breath of relief he put the bow on his chest and reached for an arrow, eyes never leaving the edge above.

He withdrew the projectile.

The ice cracked again. This time Hunter felt that the ledge he was lying on went slightly lower.

Squinting his eyes, as to shield them from the dropping snowflakes, he grabbed the bow and straightened his arms, nocking the arrow before drawing the bowstring. With his weapon perfectly prepared he aimed it at the ledge from which he fell.

Besides the falling snow there was nothing there.

Hunter's pose didn't change, his arms started to burn, but he didn't give to discomfort.

He trusted his instinct.

Silence.

More snow started to flow from the artificial, white waterfall.

Hunter kept his arms extended, the bow didn't waver even an inch, even despite the burning feeling shooting through his joints. Snow practically covered his whole furry face, blue eyes were the only thing that pierced through the white snowy curtain.

And then with an ominous growl a Death Hound jumped from the ledge above, its enormous maw opened fully, ready to swallow him whole.

He let the arrow loose, it impaled itself into the beast's neck. The hound whined, the force of the impact threw its body into an uncontrollable jerk. Instead of landing on top of him the creature toppled on its side, colliding with the ice just next to him.

The icy ground shattered under the combined weight.

He fell down, his back hit something on the way down, throwing his body into a spin like some sort of a ragdoll. Through pain clouded eyes he noticed the hound bouncing off one of the ice spikes also, the impact sent its body flying in the opposite direction of his.

He screamed when he landed on another icy ledge, the Death Hound however fell even lower down the crater while he instead of following the creature began to move in a completely different direction.

Forward.

He landed on one of the slippery, icy ramps. With pain pulsing through his body as if suffering developed a heartbeat, he could barely register what was truly happening. Instinctively he removed another dagger and thrust it into the ice, it went down till the hilt.

He felt pressure on the blade, it got stuck and with a powerful jerk stopped his uncontrollable slide. However when his whole weight was put onto the handle the blade of the small dagger, already weakened by the thrust, broke with a clinging sound.

He slid farther down, scratching his side against some thick icy spike protruding from the slippery surface. At some point he hit his head into something, after that everything was a blur.

He felt his body being lifted into the air, Hunter in his dazed state stretched his arms to both sides and started to flap sluggishly. His stupefied mind put a smile on his face, he was flying, the ramp curled at the end and he was shot from it into the air.

And now he was flying.

That's how dragons must feel when they sore the skies.

He was a dragon.

That is until gravity dragged him down to the bottom of the crater, where with a muffled thud and snow shooting upwards like lava from a volcano he glued himself, face first, to the snow blanket covering the ground.

By the time his lungs started to scream for air, unwillingly dragging his shutting down mind from its blissful and final road to rest his body was completely buried under layers of snow. Hunter threw his head up with a gasp, snow shot in every direction like from a shaken Christmas tree, also into his mouth.

He started to cough fiercely, every bone, organ, and muscle screamed in agony. His head hurt like hell. He pressed his hands against the ground below and hissed, something sharp got stuck into his palm, probably a shard of ice. He ignored the pain to the best of his ability and lifted himself to his knees, feeling extremely heavy as he did that.

Snow flew down the sides of his form, from a distance he looked like some sort of a snow golem waking to life from its natural element. First thing he did was to look into the sky, ice and wet snow matted every strand of his fur, and take a deep, painful breath.

When Hunter opened his eyes the blurry sky above was perfectly misty and cold.

The dark clouds vanished.

His snow stuffed ears flickered with life.

He dropped his chin down, aiming his sight ahead. In the shaky, blurry vision his eyes offered him he noticed many approaching silhouettes. Apes, the Dark Army caught up with him. They climbed down the crater somehow and from what he vaguely remembered it most likely wasn't a simple feat to accomplish. He must have lost consciousness.

Strangely in his current state, he felt no emotion from the inevitably drawing confrontation, his body was so battered that all it wanted currently was to simply shut itself down.

Hunter automatically looked to the side, starting to tap at his knee with one of his bloodied, numb, shivering hands, looking for his final dagger.

It was then when he noticed movement in the snow just next to him with a corner of his eye.

Something was sliding underneath the snow, his tired bluish eyes followed the moving bulge until his head could turn no more. Without anything else to do he looked ahead again.

The silhouettes stopped moving.

He had troubles connecting facts, but when he heard huge piles of snow dropping onto the ground behind him he was pretty certain he found the reason for the Dark Army's sudden stop.

Hunter threw his head up, making it practically rest on his back shoulders as if his head was about to sever itself from his neck.

The misty cold sky above was gone once more.

This time however no artificial dark clouds replaced the natural aura of Dante's Freezer.

But a black scaled chin.

A tremendous roar echoed across the cold island.


	84. Chapter 6 Book V

Chapter 6

The door of the hospital opened, letting sunlight illuminate the main hall of the building with all its power, some of the healers who due to the nature of their , that only was prolonged by recent events, spend countless hours running through corridors and rooms illuminated by torchlight only had to shield their eyes from the reaching out yellow, bright rays.

The opened door not only carried natural light with it, but also extremely pleasant gusts of morning wind that nicely dispersed the thick, bitter atmosphere of suspicion that settled in the hospital after the earlier confrontation.

Two old dragons were the first ones who left the hospital, Guardians, one green the other blue, walking next to each other, muttering something between themselves.

A bit later another two drakes appeared on the lively streets of Warfang behind the Guardians, following the old dragons slowly. They were young, much younger than the two dragons ahead, a purple male and a black female, with the latter slightly limping. They were also walking next to each other, but with practically no space left between them, their scales and tails occasionally grazed against each other as their bodies swayed with every step they made.

Some would consider that an invasion on personal space.

Not these two however, lovers know no such bounds.

Cynder lowered her head as to level it with Spyro's, she looked around, checking if nobody is watching. When she was certain that she is safe from niggling stares she quickly turned in his direction and offered his cheek a loving lick before returning her snout to its normal position.

With a smile observing his surprised reaction with the corner of her eyes.

"What was that for?" Spyro asked, his mouth automatically stretching into a smile the moment he noticed her cheery expression

"A reward for coming back to me and a thank you for fulfilling my request"

"I'll always be here for you. You don't have to reward or thank me"

"Careful. You might regret those words one day" she winked

His amethyst orbs shifted from one side of his eyeballs to the other, scanning the surrounding area.

Nobody paid them any attention.

He pressed his body to hers, gently, as to not put any pressure on her injured leg. Their walk immediately became slower, her muscles responding to the tender caress exactly as both their souls expected, knowing that the time for innocent intimacy is very limited. Every part of their beings wanted to prolong it to the best of their ability.

Spyro nuzzled his partner affectionately, with great care rubbing her cheek with his own, every now and then adding the gentle touch of his nose.

Cynder giggled, slightly intimidated, her eyes squinting both in pleasure and unconscious awareness, carefully observing the pair of old dragons ahead.

"Oh no, you won't defeat me that easily sharpie. The threat remains"

He chuckled softly with his nose delicately pressed against her cheek, despite the warmth emanating from his breath he could still feel a shiver running through her body when it touched her tender scales.

He pushed back slightly, enough to free his nose from her beautiful snout, but not far enough to not feel small, warm gusts of his breath bouncing off her scales.

Only then, by using his tongue he returned the affectionate touch she blessed him with earlier.

"I yield" she purred

Both of them chuckled, returning to their normal pace as if nothing ever happened.

"That was quick" Spyro commented with a kind smirk

She looked at him with a fake pose of an offended princess.

"Are you questioning my resolve?" she asked haughtily

His wings cringed in a display of false intimidation.

"I wouldn't dare my lady"

Cynder snickered "My lady? For that I need looks and respect"

Spyro shrugged "I don't see a problem"

She smiled at the compliment "No?" she nodded towards the busy street "Then ask that cheetah over there if he thinks the same. Or anyone else for that matter"

Impulsively his eyes shifted to the side, eyeing the passersby without much interest.

"I'm not an expert, the only female before you that managed to hug me without me basically fainting from the experience was my mother"

The dragoness giggled.

"But shouldn't this…umm…what is between us…make the opinion of others unimportant? Let them talk, what we think and feel matters"

"The _thing_ between us is called love. The words you just spoke only prove how crazy you are about me" she bumped her rump into his playfully "I've wrapped you around my claw"

"Not true" he protested dishonestly "Who ran after me constantly and couldn't utter a word? Not me, I was just blind and stupid"

"That little detail? Please, I was giving you a chance to man up. Be glad that I didn't get bored, I could have anyone I wanted"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Better yet, people wouldn't have anything against such a deep relationship"

"Interesting. Where would you find such lucky males?"

"At the cemetery"

Spyro's eyebrow raised in reaction to her words.

She nodded.

"I'm telling you, people wouldn't have anything against if I would share a grave with one of them. Hey, they would even bless our union today"

He laughed sincerely.

"Dear Ancestors Cynder…"

A smile crept over her mouth at hearing his explosion of joy.

"I'm not kidding. Your girl is popular, watch out or some cold paws might steal me from you"

"Lucky me that I got to you first"

"You bet. If you waited longer you would stand no chance, I heard that dead people make for lousy talkers, but shhhh. That's a secret"

Spyro giggled, shaking his head.

"How can we joke about things like that? What happened to us?"

Cynder shrugged, smile never disappearing from her snout.

"We're both crazy. It only got worse now when we're together. I for once don't mind at all, who knows how deep we will have to dive in this mud we are right now. I rather laugh than cry"

"Sounds good to me too. Some distance from this crap won't hurt"

"We've never did anything crazy…"

He threw her a meaningful, amused glance.

She poked out her tongue at him before playfully shoving her rump into his.

"Shush. You know what I mean. That sort of crazy normal dragons in our age do. Walking their own way, dye their scales or run out of the window of their home, escaping from nagging parents"

Spyro smirked "I don't know that dragons in our age still have to run from their parents. Too old for a curfew"

"Hey, don't blame me. How can I know things like that, I was a Corruption addict since I was born"

Spyro winced, despite the cheerful tone in her voice he felt like he crossed the line.

"Sorry"

She sighed longingly.

"And there goes the mood. I should really think before I opened my mouth. I swear it sounded funnier in my head"

"Forget about what I said. We all have a dark side, not my fault that mine is stupid"

Cynder leaned closer, nuzzling him gently.

"Want to know what my dark side is saying?"

He nodded eagerly.

"Let's bail"

He threw his head back in surprise.

"Let's run away, right now, escape from our depressing lives. We did enough, the world no longer need us. Maybe we still have time to catch up with all the years we lost"

Spyro's eyes immediately focused on the Guardians ahead, part of him, he couldn't tell if the bigger or the smaller one, dreamed and desired to follow his partner's advice. They deserve it.

An image of Boven flashed before his eyes together with it came visions of the atrocity he committed. The burn that awoke through the scar on his heart was not a warning, but an even stronger pull to do the unforgivable, to ditch all these people leave them to deal with the problem on their own.

Life is not all sunshine and rainbows.

He smiled at her apologetically.

"I would love to run away with you, spend every minute with you, but I can't. People need our help, I can't just leave them to their fate"

Her eyes shimmered with indescribable pride.

"I know" she whispered "That is why I love you" she snickered "And I would really kiss you right now to show how much you mean to me if I wouldn't feel the gaze of the dragon behind me burning through my skull"

Spyro impulsively looked behind her, spotting the mentioned drake who averted his gaze the moment he noticed his amethyst, scolding stare.

"It just reminded me of the temple and what a bad idea is to take you there. Some of these people can't simply see how beautiful you are. Outside and inside"

He turned his attention towards his partner, looking straight into her emerald eyes as if taking a peek at her soul.

"Their loss"

"You're such a charmer"

"Charm has nothing to with it, I'm not saying this because we're together. I'm telling the truth, despite your black scales you make this world a brighter place"

She looked down with a delicate blush.

"Watch out or I might throw myself at you"

"Maybe that's what I'm hoping for?" he whispered enticingly

She threw her head up, not caring if somebody is watching she blessed him with a loving kiss on the lips, before quickly pulling away.

"Did you find Creep?" she rasped, holding back the squeaky, emotional tone of her voice

Spyro briefly, but at the same time very affectionately ran his tail across hers, gently clamping it in his purple embrace for a moment. Without words showing that he will respect her unspoken wish.

"Nope" he finally responded

She nodded, smiling at him in her own special way, maybe it is an ordinary smile for many, but Spyro didn't see it that way. It was the most charming display of gratitude and surprise put together in a single smile he ever saw in life.

"No?" the leg on which she was limping found its way to her choker that she scratched thoughtfully. The action didn't slow her ungraceful walk even for a bit.

"I don't understand. He seemed really nervous about that. Oh well, maybe I misunderstood him, he's not really what you call an erudite. At least we tried, so maybe I avoid the crying about that knot the next time we see each other"

"Remember that just because I didn't see him doesn't mean he wasn't there"

"I guess. Still I find it a bit curious that you would follow a pair of moles to Iris' room of all places"

Spyro shrugged innocently "I find it odd myself. I had a hunch and I followed it"

"They really reminded you of that hermit a while back?"

He nodded confidently.

"Yeah"

Cynder snorted "Guess there's no limit on crazy when it comes to both of us" she bumped into him playfully once more "We're wild you and I"

"And here you complained that we aren't capable of crazy"

"You think that's crazy? Then check this out. How's Iris doing?"

Spyro's eyes widened slightly "I didn't expect you to ask about her to be honest. Once yeah, but twice?"

"And I'm completely serious"

"Well, she's still herself, if you hoped that you beat some good manners in her then you're for a huge disappointment"

"So that means she'll still try to go after me?"

Whatever joy was present on his snout disappeared instantly, replaced by such rough seriousness that Cynder doubted a joke, no matter how good, would be able to shatter this expression in this very moment.

"I won't let her"

She couldn't decide if the confident tone of his voice was heartwarming or scary.

"She killed those moles without even trying to reason with them" Spyro continued "I know that they may have been beyond helping and there was no other way it could end. But still, it showed me that she has no regrets, when she sets her mind onto something there's no convincing her otherwise"

He growled quietly "Could we stop talking about her?"

"I see how angry it makes you to just think about her, don't be mad at me but there has to be a reason that you saved her life twice. I doubt that scar you carry from Boven had anything to do with it, if that would be the case you would leave her"

He let out a deep breath, even if he wanted to he couldn't be angry at her for pursuing the matter further.

"What do you want to hear Cynder? I don't understand what are you getting at"

She leaned closer, her emerald eyes emitting their green glow straight at his snout.

"What if she's like me?"

His head reared back in what seemed to be abhorrence.

"What? She's nothing like you"

"Why? Just because she attacked me we can't be alike? I also attacked many people"

Spyro shook his head, barely understanding what she is talking about.

"What's your point?"

Cynder poked him with her tail tip.

"You see good in people. You didn't have to save me but you still did"

"Even if I do, so what? What does that change?"

She looked at the ground.

"I don't want any more enemies Spyro"

The irritated expression that adorned his snout smoothed itself after hearing her sad voice.

"We're going to a temple, a sacred place and you were still against the idea, correctly assuming that I'm not safe there. In a temple! I don't want temples to be some kind of proving grounds, same goes for the streets. I live in Warfang and every day I feel more and more daggers piercing my skull from the hateful stares. I don't want any of it, but I know I deserve it, I have lots of redemption to do, I'm not delusional, I know it's going to be hard. That is why I ask you about Iris, to make sure I have a chance to make at least a tiny step forward"

"I can't see what role Iris plays here, you acted in self-defense"

"The recent dream I had, it was from my childhood, whether it was true or not doesn't matter. Only after that I realized what loss means. How important memories are, might seem silly for you, but when you have nothing, memories are like a treasure"

Cynder licked her lips, inwardly scolding herself for taking too much time on walking around the point of this matter.

"Iris has this ugly, old medallion hanging around the neck. Amela said it is most likely a memento, considering the gold, shiny bracelets Iris' wears Amela might be right about that"

"You see, during our fight I got my paws on that medallion. Iris started to scream at me, only when I thought about that battle while in bed I realized just how much fear and pain was in her shout. I didn't hear it back then, or simply didn't care, I destroyed the necklace"

"You should have heard her roar after that. Soooo much agony, I would feel the same if I knew what I was losing"

She looked straight at him.

"That is why I'm going to apologize to her"

Spyro's eyebrows rose in reaction to her revelation.

"Excuse me?"

"I will apologize for what I did, I feel bad about it. If luck is on my side I will have one less dragoness to worry about"

"Saying sorry won't make your problems with her magically go away. Not with Iris"

"I don't expect us to become besties. I hate that bitch and she most likely feels the same way about me. My apology won't make me not to want shove that ice tail of hers up her ass for her attitude and especially for manipulating poor Flare. All of this doesn't change the fact that she didn't deserve the pain I caused her"

Cynder shook her head in discouragement.

"I know it sounds stupid, but I need to do this. I've took enough from people already, thanks to you I know I won't waste my time. Good people, they have something they love and I'm not going to take any more of it from them"

"You give me too much credit. Ominous simply is attractive to me"

She jerked her head back, eying him with a mischievous smirk.

"Aren't we kinky"

Spyro blushed, averting his gaze.

"It's true, you were always attractive to me I guess, even in your adult form. You have absolutely no idea what pictures my imagination created"

Cynder laughed "I can't believe it. You had dirty thoughts about me!"

"No!" he protested, blushing fiercer "It's not….like…that! Bad word…combination! It has…nothing to…do…with attractiveness!"

"Oh don't tell me you kept imagining how it would be if I turned out to be your friend, or how would you convince me to ditch Malefor. I won't believe it!"

"Alright!" he snapped and gulped "I thought also…about…other different things"

She burst out laughing again.

"I knew it!"

"But only rarely!" he blurt out, cheeks practically melting from heat

"Yeah, yeah! Keep telling yourself that!"

"I swear!"

"You're dirty! And nothing you say will change that!"

"That was a long time ago, I was a stupid, curious kid! After we managed to push the Corruption out of you I stopped thinking about having sex with you"

"If you would fantasize about mating with all the time that would be sick"

Spyro nodded hectically "I swear that I grew out of it! We're together now and sex is the last thing I think about"

Cynder cocked her head with a sardonic smile "Now THAT'S what every girl wants to hear"

He frowned, looking at her surprised "You really mean that or was it sarcasm?"

She shrugged with a bashful grin "You tell me"

"Forget it" he hissed annoyed "I've opened up here and you're making fun of me. How about you?"

"What about me?"

"Did you fantasize about me sometimes?"

She snorted in amusement "I'm not answering that question"

"Tell me!" he begged

Cynder shook her head confidently.

"Not gonna happen"

"That ain't fair! I've told you about me!"

She grinned, throwing her head arrogantly up as she turned her gaze away.

"So what?"

"Hey! That's mean!"

She winked mischievously at him.

"We girls have our secrets Spyro, and there's no way I'm going to spill them out to a boy"

He narrowed his eyes on her, evaluating every stretch on her snout.

"I think you did" he announced proudly, much more bluntly than he wanted to

Cynder eyed him from top to bottom with great scrutiny.

"Careful. Your chest is puffing out, take care it won't burst"

He snorted "You absolutely did, you've been stalking me for quite a while, there's no chance it didn't cross your mind"

She put up a kind smile "I wasn't stalking you. I was giving you time to come around"

"You did. I can see it"

Her head cocked itself playfully to one side "Maybe I did" her head tilted in the opposite direction "Maybe I didn't" with a shrug her snout returned to its normal position "Without me actually confessing anything all you can do is guess when I know for certain"

She looked at him with the corner of her eyes, smirking, and bumping her flank into his.

"Now isn't that a bummer"

Spyro narrowed his eyes on his friend and partner who for a brief moment he considered the most vile being in the whole universe. An annoyed, gentle growl rumbled within his throat.

"I'm not telling you anything about me ever again"

"Come on, don't be like that. I'm just messing with you"

His eyes widened hopefully "So you're gonna tell me?"

She grinned "Nope"

He snorted in irritation and to show just how annoyed he is, his purple legs that carried his body around stopped moving, with him ending on intent observation of his walking partner.

Cynder eventually looked behind her shoulder, surprise painting her expression.

"Whatcha doin'?"

He remained silent, his intense gaze never wavering from her features.

"Deciding if I still love you" he replied bluntly after a while

She laughed, turning around, continuing her walk. Tails and hips waving tauntingly.

"I know you do" she squeaked in between laughs

"CYNDER!" a loud shout rumbled from top of the nearby staircase, coming from their right

All four dragons turned their heads, Spyro being the one that halted his advance founds himself staring into a building.

Cyril rolled his eyes "We'll wait for you by the temple. Do hurry, will you?"

Cynder acknowledged the Guardian's subtle order with a nod of her head. Her whole concentration was drawn to the fiery figure at top of the stairs. Smile stretched her mouth impulsively.

Flare stood at the top, eyeing her with his fiery eyes for a moment before he sprang from the staircase and spread his burning wings wide. People that were just some steps below him had to drop to the ground, cursing the drake for his reckless and uncaring move.

Even those that weren't afflicted by his impudent action turned around, in amazement following his gliding body and the fiery sparks his wings left behind, children mostly were the ones that voiced their thrill loudly. When the peculiar dragon landed at the bottom of the stairs and folded his inspiring wings all the eyes focused on the one thing that had the power to interest such quaint creature.

Whether really impulsive or not, angry frowns dotted practically every stare that landed on the black dragoness below. A pulse of memory and loss traveled through every interested head, messaging only one single thought.

One more special thing was stolen from them by Shadow.

It didn't matter currently that no one considered the peculiar fire dragon to be anyone's property or a true inhabitant of Warfang.

Until now.

"Cynder!" Flare shouted again while dashing in her direction

"Hey you" she responded warmly

"I've just heard!" he gave her a quick once over and gasped, the shock jerked his body back and pulled one of his paws into the air

"You're hurt! Badly! You're limping!"

She looked herself over, the bandages that covered her body were mostly gone, only one remained on one of her flanks. There was also one tightly attached to her hurt leg, which she probably injured during the fall. It was just here to stabilize the bone, the healing process already begun so it might seem like an unnecessary precaution. However Amela insisted on putting it on, her protests weren't efficient enough to change the cheetah's mind.

"It's worse than it looks really. It just stings a little"

"I've heard you got into a fight!" he darted again in her direction, stopping right in front of her "It took me a while to get this information out of people, the ones I asked were mostly laughing all the time telling this story, they were many versions of it that I didn't know if they were joking or not!"

Cynder giggled despite hearing the ugly news, she was in such a mood that she paid more attention to Flare's funny, breathless way of speaking, much resembling Volteer's, than the fact that people enjoyed hearing about her suffering.

"Relax Flare, take a breath"

He did as he was told, dragging air into his lungs with a shrieking whizz and a smack of his lips/

She giggled again "Where did you hear about that?"

"At the City Hall I heard guards cheering about what they called a catfight or something like that, a fight between bitchy and bitcher as they said. I asked them about the bitchy cats and they gave me some really weird looks. They only said that one is black and the other blue, both will be soon worms chew"

"Nice rhyme" Cynder gruffly

"I said the same thing!" Flare replied excitedly, clearly not recognizing the meaningful tone in her voice

"When I did that they looked at me even more weird than before, they said its surprising that a pet retarded hellhound would be happy for its mistress downfall"

Whatever ounces of sarcasm and joy decorated Cynder's features vanished in a blink of an eye. Her expression turned cold and wrinkled itself beyond the point of pretty. Like cracking stones of a dam that hold the water behind with last ounces of durability.

"What?" her voice was as audible as a whisper

Flare nodded hectically.

"I didn't understand it either. They said that it, I mean that hellhound whatever that is, wouldn't be able to tell without her which of its fiery holes would be used for shitting. And then they really looked me over and I mean it, just like the healers in the hospital, as if suddenly I was like VERY interesting, but the healers weren't smiling like they did. I don't know if they thought if I was that hellhound or something. I know it sounds silly, I'm a dragon after all!"

"Anyway…" he whizzed, gathering just enough air in his lungs for another paragraph of his excited tirade

"…eventually I learned from them that the catfight happened in the training grounds and I was like _Hey! That's where I practiced with Cynder!_ Then they looked at each other, they were staring into each other's eyes like for an eternity before they finally asked me if I had anything to do with the cats and the fight between them. I was really surprised by that question, I don't even know what a catfight or cat is!"

Cynder shook her, every notion was full of pity and anger.

"You should have stopped talking with them"

"And I did! Soon!" Flare exclaimed triumphantly

"Eventually I asked them about the best place where I can find more about this cats, I remember them saying something about finding them in the place where I lost my brain cells. I don't know what they meant by that, I didn't lose anything. They weren't much of a help after that, they kept saying things I didn't understand so I stopped talking with them as you said!"

"Oh, Flare…"

"Don't be sad!" he uttered between swallowing whatever saliva he had on his tongue while at the same time taking another whizz of air, sounding as if he would be breathing through a gas mask.

"I've been reading a book with Volteer about some heroes gathering information in taverns across the world. I did the same thing! I've looked for a place where people drink and eat until they burst"

"I don't think there's a place like that in Warfang"

"There is!" he exclaimed triumphantly "I've found an inn near one of the construction sites. There were no dragons there, that place was full of moles, but I knew I found the right place by the stench of sweat, dirt and alcohol. And the noise! It was exactly like in the books!"

Cynder smiled, the disgusting news of mockery still burning brightly in her mind, but even despite that she couldn't help herself but to give to joy. There was something absolutely adorable about Flare's obliviousness and cheerful, excited approach to life that it was difficult to keep your lips from curling into a smile.

"You learn something every day"

"Yeah! Like there's no point in talking to drunk people that barely sit straight! They understand even less than me!"

She giggled, imagining his joyful fascination.

"People had lots to tell me about cats, or as they said pussies and catfights. Some even wished that their mates should get into one and die, simultaneously was the best result"

She rubbed her forehead, snickering in disbelief.

"Ancestors…"

"Exactly what they said! Usually it went with _Ancestors watch over us, pussies be crazy" _he let out a breath of relief "I'm glad I never met those cats"

Cynder just shook her head.

"Anyway at some point it got really nasty, I swear I never heard some of the curse words that the people there started shouting. I don't even know if it was on topic, I had troubles understanding what they were saying. It was the guy selling the drinks that eventually told me that it was you who got injured. Since then I've kept running, searching for you, with two questions on my mind, one I already asked, the second-"

His voice trailed off as he examined her from claw to horn another time, he seemed even more pleased with the result than before.

"Who did this to you?"

Tiny kindles of flames sparkled within his eyes for a brief moment.

There was a click and another set of draconic claws approached the two of them. Flare's eyes impulsively went down, noticing the silvery blades on the marble floor, blades attached to a purple paw.

He raised his gaze, the temperature around him got slightly higher, every burning part on his body flashed with brighter flames. Legs crossed themselves in opposite directions, two remained in place, while the other two made a step backwards, as if hitting an impasse, not able to decide if to stand ground or run away.

Spyro wasn't amused by the drake's awkward pose, his whole concentration was aimed at the yellow eyes, black slits of which were staring at him intently. Judging by that look and the silence that encircled them Spyro realized who Flare deemed guilty of the deed.

He pretended that he didn't notice the verdict.

"Spyro had nothing to do with this" Cynder said sternly, she has also seen through the meaningful stare of the fire dragon

Flare's eyes widened momentarily, the flames that burned brightly died down back to their natural, almost meek self. Eyes that were filled with sparkling wrath became completely terrified.

"I-I-I did-d-d-dn't m-m-m-ean-n-n-"

"It was Iris" she continued, taking pity on his nervousness

The black slits of his yellow eyes seemed to pulse.

"I-Iris?"

"Yes. She came right after our fight with intention to kill me, take advantage of my exhaustion"

He stared at her with blank eyes, just like his soul was in a complete different place than his body was.

"Did you speak with her before our fight?"

Flare opened his mouth, yet no words came out, his eyes momentarily landed on the ground, both young dragons could picture gears turning inside his head just by looking at him.

"I…I did. It was her idea for us to train together"

Cynder nodded sullenly "You see where this is going? She showed up RIGHT AFTER our fight, I didn't even get the chance to rest after you suggested it. This is not a coincidence, she manipulated you Flare"

He threw his gaze up, his eyes wide and shaking, like that of a child learning that Santa Claus isn't real even despite the fact that there are presents under the Christmas Tree,

"But she was so nice! So much different than usually. She even called you by your real name!"

"It was a game for her!" Cynder protested sternly "She was playing you. You know I'm right Flare, she took advantage of your kind heart. That is despicable"

"But why?" he whined "Why do such things?"

"I don't know Flare"

"But if you fought…" he gulped, terror sending shakes through his muscles "…and you are here. Does that mean…"

"She's alive" Cynder interjected

"Oh! Thank you!" he threw himself at her, wrapping her in a tight hug.

Cynder gasped in shock, giving Spyro a dumbfounded glance, only to be rewarded with the same one.

"You're the best!" he squeezed her harder

"Actually…" she coughed through joyful giggle "…you should be thanking Spyro"

He pulled back, looking at her with a meaningful look that only seemed to ask.

_Are you crazy?_

"Our fight was quite serious, I…managed to injure Iris quite badly, if Spyro wouldn't show up when he did she would be dead by now"

"You really did that?" Flare muttered, his voice shaking and lacking any ounce of confidence

Spyro nodded.

"Umm…" the fire drake looked down, rubbing his foreleg shyly.

"T-t-thanks" he uttered, even from this positon Spyro noticed the wince wrinkling the drake's expression. Obviously saying something like that wasn't easy for him.

"Usually I would say something like _no problem _or _you're welcome_, but not in this case. I'm all about saving people, but back then I really fought with myself, it was the first time I hesitated. If she tries something again I won't raise a claw, I won't let people hurt my friends"

"I know Iris can be…difficult. T-thanks for your honesty. I'll make sure she won't do anything like that again"

Spyro frowned "She's not the type to follow someone else's advice. She might do something completely opposite just to make you angry. She's…how to say this…"

"A freak" Flare finished for him

Both Spyro and Cynder exchanged surprised glances.

"That's…rather…harsh…I" Spyro muttered

"She is, a somewhat different type of freak than me but still a freak"

Flare looked at his wings, unfolding the fiery membranes to examine them in their full glory.

"And I know something about that"

"You are not a freak Flare" Cynder comforted him

He offered her a warm smile.

"Can you say the same thing after our training session?" he turned his attention towards the purple drake

Spyro gulped, surprised by the abundance of attention.

"You…are not a freak. You are just troubled I think…Volteer will figure it out…if you would only allow to help yourself"

"Ok"

His purple eyebrows rose in reaction to the fire dragon's answer.

"Ok?" he exchanged glances with Cynder, who seemed just as surprised as he was, with the difference that a huge smile was growing on her snout

Flare nodded.

"You earned at least a benefit of the doubt"

Spyro licked his lips, not even realizing that his lips became dry.

"T-thanks I guess"

"That's so cool Flare!" Cynder exclaimed, throwing herself at the fiery dragon, returning the hug he bestowed her with earlier

He grunted in surprise, legs wavered underneath the sudden, additional weight. A smile crept over his lips soon later.

"I never was hugged like this"

"What about this?"

She turned her head and pressed her lips to his cheek, putting a warm kiss there with an audible _Mwah!_

A fierce flush gathered on his cheeks, the moist spot burning hotter than his fiery body parts, which cracked warm flames of joy.

"N-n-n-no" he stammered, looking at the ground and his bashfully shuffling paw there.

Cynder squeezed him once more before pulling finally away.

"Thank you"

He smiled, his body bent like that of a happy dog, pleasantly warm flames cracked from his fiery parts like from an unending firecracker show.

"I-I-I'm g-going to c-check on I-Iris" he slowly slithered away

Both young drakes observed the moving, overjoyed fire dragon with genuine smiles.

"And Spyro" Flare looked behind his shoulder "I was wrong. You're really different" and with that he continued on his way, putting his paws on the ground as if he was drunk

"Wow" Spyro exhaled astounded

"Yeah" Cynder sighed "Look how he walks!" she giggled "Boys…one innocent kiss is enough to turn your world upside down" she grinned "I'm so hot"

"Ehhh" he grunted

"Oh you mean bastard!" she punched him with a laugh

He chuckled, looking in the direction where Flare went, reliving every recent moment once more.

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around what just happened"

She looked in the same direction, scratching her choker thoughtfully.

"Yeah, was there ever a part of our lives that was normal? Spent on common bullshit talking?"

Spyro shrugged "I guess not. What's wrong with this chapter?"

Her tail wagged happily "I have no idea, but I like it"

His own purple one didn't remain far behind.

"Who in the right mind would worry about having a bit of peace? Sometimes I feel like someone on purpose tries to make our lives miserable, just to excite some invisible crowd, or himself"

"Yep. I don't care if this is boring or not entertaining enough. People live like that their whole lives. We also deserve a moment where everything is just right"

"Despite your constant poking me with a stick I really enjoyed our talk"

She poked her tongue out at him.

He chuckled, nodding in the direction the Guardians went "Come on, Cyril will kick our asses if we won't show up soon"

"So eager to return to hell?"

He took the lead. Eyeing the sky with a contemplating sigh.

"I feel like we have no choice"

"Yeah" she jumped next to him using her healthy three legs "But I swear if something happens on our way to the temple I will be the one that starts kicking asses"

As it turned out nobody's ass got kicked.

Whew.


	85. Chapter 7 Book V

Chapter 7

His right hand burned.

He was no longer sure just how many apes chased him, at first he thought that only a couple made through the telltale ice canyon, then his eyes showed him just how wrong he was, there was at least fifteen of them.

When he blinked however, and then blinked again and again that number seemed to multiply by two, three maybe more. What was once a group of fifteen, soon became a mob, then a legion just to end on formations counting number of soldiers way beyond his arithmetic capabilities. The last number he recalled clearly was tens of thousands apes, all craving for his blood.

Of course if his sight wouldn't be so blurry, and the figures ahead wouldn't swirl like smoke he would have a much better chance of understanding what is truly going on.

All of that was rendered unimportant the moment the loud roar stopped ringing inside his skull, he watched, with barely maintained fascination, the moving scaly, ominous, black chin above. The whole leathery armor slithering forward like the biggest of serpents, filling his vison with the blurry gleam of gold.

Then his sight went completely dark the moment something smacked directly into his face.

Hunter impulsively threw his head down with a whine, throwing his arm to touch his head, only to find out that it was buried under a pile of snow. He wiped it off, throwing it down on the ground with a muffled slap. His hand found its way to his fur tousled forehead.

Only now feeling the throbbing painful pulses of a dagger inside. The ringing echo of a Dreadwing's shriek from up close came back to him as a boomerang. It threatened his skull with notions of agonizing implosion, but also brought back those shreds of clarity he's dizzied and tired mind could still understand.

It allowed him to discern that the tremors that ran across the snowy floor weren't created by an wakening up volcano, but by a living creature. A big, living creature, the reptilian leg of which just crunched the snow just next to him.

His bluish eyes admired the massive leg next to him, the snow gathered up on the scales and the flexed muscles, not registering really the exact features of it like color for example. He was only able to come to one obvious conclusion, this leg was reptilian of nature, not the ordinary type, but magical, draconic.

That was a dragon's leg.

For unknown reasons Hunter smiled.

"Apes" a deep, breathy voice filled the air, smooth and alluring, mysterious and filled with that special ominous swoon worthy pull

Hunter's ears perked up automatically, drawn to the sound of the enticing, whispery voice.

"Look at you, little colorful furballs, coated in all that shiny armor, looking almost like real soldiers, is it your moment of glorification or a desperate cling to fading pride I wonder? Tell me fluffs, does the title of Dark Master sound familiar to you?"

"We are our own masters!" one of the apes shouted and stepped in front of the row of soldiers, the characteristic painting on his armor and magical variety of weapons depicting him as the commander

"You are trespassing on ape territory! Submit willingly or face the same consequence as the cat!"

"A cling it is then" the dragon sighed "A pity, I had a secret desire to see the army that decimated my kind. History books never give a complete image"

"Your worries are of no concern to me dragon!" the commander snapped "Submit and give us the cat"

Hunter noticed a leg raising from the snow, dragging a tail of it behind as it most likely found itself on the dragon's chest.

"I'm given the chance to cooperate while this cheetah here does not? A rather corrupted sense of justice don't you think?"

"I'm tired of your prattle lizard!" the ape roared, rest of the soldiers readied themselves for an attack "I'm interested in the crystal stuck in your chest, how we going to extract it is entirely up to you. Last time reptile, are you friend or foe?"

The only sound that was heard besides the typical noises of Dante's Freezer was that of draconic claws tapping against a gem like structure.

"Truth is I am neither"

The world darkened, this time it had nothing to do with his physical condition however. The black body above moved, blocking every piece of light. Hunter impulsively squinted when moments later the cold light of Dante's Freezer struck him again, only partially blocked by the soaring, snow covered tail above that soon slithered out of his sight also.

Only to gently smack into the white, fluffy ground ahead.

"That is not an answer!" the ape growled commandingly

"But it is" the dragon replied in his own calm, ominous, enthralling way "It is an answer that would prevent this ground from turning red. Unfortunately for you I am quite hungry"

"I've killed many like you lizard! Attack!" the commander cried out.

The soldiers charged, arrows and crossbow bolts were sent flying.

The drake snickered "I assure you little ape, you did not"

All that Hunter registered for certain after those words was the smacking, wet sound of projectiles being impaled into scales, also the tremendous draconic roar that followed soon after was hard to imagine as well.

The snow vibrated around him.

With the fiercely blowing snow it was hard to see anything, Hunter wasn't really bothered by that fact. He seemed perfectly calm about the situation he found himself in.

Maybe except one nagging little detail.

It was so damn cold.

He narrowed his eyes, trying to pierce through the through the unendingly flowing curtain of snowflakes. Everything seemed so distant, the sounds, supposedly loud, part of his mind was certain of that, were like a thud of a drum echoing through the mountains with sinusoidal crescendo as it bounced off the rocky surfaces.

Reminding of its significance, but at the same time never crossing the line that would wake up even the dead.

He was able to recognize a pile of snow shooting in the air every now and then, like a perfectly white wave colliding with the shoreline.

Or perhaps like a shark rippling the sea as it dragged its fin across the water.

It could be also the effect of a rock bouncing off the surface of the water as it was hurled from the shore.

One thing was certain, whatever it was it seemed to be in the shape of a body. A big body.

Like that of an ape for instance.

He couldn't concentrate, everything suddenly became a complete blur, with every blink of his eyes he felt like he would be losing consciousness and then shaking himself back.

His right hand burned.

The world ahead was only colors, black, gold, blue, red, lots and lots of red. All mixing themselves chaotically as if a couple of different artists would be using the same piece of paper at the same time, all wanting their vision to come true, all passionate about it.

Except one.

The red painter was everywhere, while all the other colors seemed to focus their chaos on a single point of focus, the red one ignored such boundaries. Splashing red dashes in every direction, far more faster than the other artists. One of those red lines splashed directly into his snout.

He could feel the paint dripping from his chin!

Funny thing, it was really warm.

Like blood.

He blinked.

The world once more was pulled away, the snowy image drawn back into blackness far and far away. It shrunk until it was no bigger than a dot. A white dot, as a flicker of light at the end of a very long tunnel.

His eyelids felt heavier than usual, he had to grit his teeth to force them to move.

The dot suddenly became bigger, with a whizzing sound it was dragged back to him until with a rumbling noise of many sounds colliding with each other, filled his entire vision.

His right hand burned.

The dot was no longer the same.

The snowflake covered scenery was blocked by a massive black shape.

"Hunter I assume" a hypnotizing breathy voice touched his pointy ears "I must say that after hearing stories about you I expected someone less…miserable"

The cheetah tried to open his mouth, but only ended with his lips parting slightly. His teeth started to rattle against each other, with each scrape of fangs his body was shaken by uncontrollable shivers.

"It's only fair that I wake you up from this stupor, just like you did with me"

His eyelids started to lower themselves down.

"Now, now…" he felt claws gripping the fur on his head, claws that soon jerked his head backwards, making a small bone snap somewhere in his spine

His eyes snapped open once more.

"…we both napped enough. Show me your palms"

The cheetah's eyes went down, aimed exactly in the spot where his hands supposed to be, all he could see was part of his arms, the joint above the elbow. The rest was buried underneath the snow.

"Yes, those furry sticks are called arms, there is a hand at the end of each. I need you to show them to me"

Hunter grunted, the snow vibrated slightly.

"There you go. A little more if you would be so nice"

He didn't know why he listened to that voice. His mind acted like it wanted to obey, like it begged for it. It's job is to think, to put the body into motion. It's job is to hold to even the tiniest strand of life.

With another grunt the snow finally cracked open like earth after an earthquake. He freed both his hands from the dark clutches.

"Right palm"

His eyes immediately focused on the hand the voice mentioned. There was something sticking out of it covered by frozen blood. It was a shard, but not the common ice one, but black like onyx.

There was a sound of something sharp tapping against a gem.

"I don't understand it either if it makes you feel better. I think I abused that power somehow, it froze me while you are being poisoned by its fading magic. Seems like this bauble is toxic in more ways than one. I should probably thank you for destroying it, even if by accident most likely, however being grateful is not my style"

Hunter observed the shard protruding from his hand with some sorts of dreadful and dizzied fascination, it drew his whole limited attention. He barely noticed, basically he didn't even feel the touch of two big draconic claws at his opened palm.

He also missed the fact of them locking the blood stained crystal in their sharp grasp.

A breath of both perplexed amazement and intoxicated agony left his throat when he felt a stinging pull on his hand and observed the shard moving upwards in a rough, shaky manner. Like prey freeing itself from the sticky grip of a spider web.

His mouth kept on parting with every inch of the moving shard, another breath build up within his throat. This one however was not a singular exhale, but a steady escape of air, increasing in strength with each new stream of blood gushing from the growing and constantly pulled wound.

His ears flickered and began to slowly drop down on his skull, wakening up to life with the lazily increasing noises of the surrounding area. Sounds that were distant before, now were gaining on incisiveness.

A disgusting sound of breaking tissue filled his head.

Tears wailed in his eyes as he observed the removal of the shard. He suddenly remembered the name for them.

Those were tears of pain.

Sounds started to return to him, one by one, each tone with a accurate description. That whizzing noise for instance, that was the blowing wind. That crunching noise, it was the snow underneath his wavering knees. The sound coming out from his throat, not a prolonged breath but a growing in strength scream.

There was a loud, wet pop and the shard jumped out from his palm with one final jerk, shooting blood and strands of flesh in every direction like fuel from a rocket's engine.

Hunter screamed at the top of his lungs, his kneeling body crunched forward so his eyes were aimed at his crotch, in front of which his hand was located with a bloody hole right in the middle of it. The other hand was clenching the wrist of the injured palm tightly. He could see his own snow covered and partially frozen pants through the hole, as if by looking through the biggest of key holes.

His whole body started to shake violently, he felt he was cold before, but now, it seemed like he was freezing.

"I despise failure, and this little trinket offered me tons of it"

Hunter ignored the deep, breathy voice. He rose on his knees, snow fell down from his shoulders like dust from a forgotten furniture, he felt lighter in a moment's notice. The cheetah drove his healthy hand into the pile of snow, locating his belt buried below and soon after the cold pouch he was looking for.

With a wavering groan he threw the practically frozen bag on top of the pile of snow just in front of his knees before thrusting his claws into his clothes and tearing a considerable piece of fabric. He rolled the material on the snowy ground, poured the whole contents of the pouch on it and then pressed it to his wounded hand.

With a hiss of pain he began wrapping it around his pierced palm, fighting through the agony and uncontrollable shaking. The provisional bandage and the same medical operation was a success. The hole disappeared under the layer of cloth.

"Obliviousness is amusing"

Hunter looked up, his mouth already opened to voice some…he forgot what he wanted to say the moment he laid his blurry sight, not because of fading consciousness but tears, at the figure ahead. Whatever air gathered in his lungs wafted from his gaping maw in a breath of awe.

Death stood right in front of him.

Hunter blinked.

Nothing changed.

On the snowy ground ahead stood a dragon, a big one, one that recently reached adulthood and is currently in his prime of draconic existence. The drake wasn't in any way especially muscular, the build of his body was almost of a normal dragon. Almost.

If not for that single noun pushing itself against the tongue.

Perfection.

The dragon's body seemed to be sculpted by the invisible hands of several artists. Not with the taste for excessive but dignity. His muscles were visible through the layer of scales, not too much, just enough to trigger curiosity and air of alluring mysteriousness that called to you to come closer, towards the dark aura. Only then they would reveal themselves to you, in perfect shape and strong form.

The dragon had an unnatural grace to him, not often seen in males. Even while he was standing, every now and then lifting his paws from the constantly increasing layer of snow, you could see how light and at the same time strong his moves were. Every receptor in his body seemed to be tuned to one perfect tone, every fiber of his body working with perfect harmony with all the rest.

Radiating the confident and arrogant aura of a strong male, but at the same time caressed by the gentle touch of grace and seduction of a female.

This is a breed of dragon the world has never seen before. An egg created by undoubtedly extraordinary mates.

Symbol of elegance and draconic pride that even the falling snowflakes seemed to avoid.

You came to such conclusion just by looking at his figure, even when there was still so much more to say about the dragon.

Like for example that his scales were black as coal.

He had his big wings opened, mouth parted slightly, perfectly white razor sharp teeth showing in such enchanting and intimidating smirk that you simply couldn't take your eyes off it.

The black membranes of the big wings were surrounded by the typical for dragonkind hollow bone, this particular one however was golden. Running from the top until it reached the base in the place where it connected itself with the dragon's back. Two, big silver blades protruded from the wing thumbs. The tips of both were gently gold.

Similar delicate golden trim was running across his whole back, at its edges, as if clearly separating it from his flanks. The upper part of his tail was adorned in the same way. There were small golden fins dotting the length of his tail, starting from the base protruding from his rump and running to the tip, getting smaller and smaller the farther they reached, eventually ending on one that a mole could easily clench in his hand.

The tip resembled a metallic blade, curled like a scythe. It had a gold end.

The bottom side of the tail was covered in golden scales, they adorned the bottom side of the dragon's body, ending right past his front paws, almost close to the chest where they shrunk to a small, thin line to eventually stop stretching completely.

The exact golden trim as on his wings ran down the insides of his elbows and knees, stopping right before reaching both clawed front and back paws.

There were two silver little horns protruding from the corners of his cheeks. Similar two, yet far more bigger jutted from the top of his head. Each of them had a delicately golden tip.

The chest carried the same symbol of every time traveling dragon. This gem was black as its unwilling host, yet it was not a permanent discoloration. There were purple lines flowing inside the crystal's dark surface, looking like tiny skittish dragonflies.

A small magenta line was running from the top of his head, in between his eyes and down towards the tip of his nose.

The toes of his paws weren't completely dark as the rest of his body, they were a mix of purple and black. With the bigger influence of the first, but retaining the unfair balance. Not overpowering the second color.

Every hue, every blade and horn, everything seemed to fit perfectly, as if the dragon was engineered to become the proud representative of his specie. There was however one exception.

It was his eyes.

They were black, like a pair of genuine obsidians.

If you were perceptive and observed the intimidating dragon for a while you couldn't shake of the feeling that those eyes didn't belong there. They were a flaw, even if they seemed to complete the image of ominous black dragon perfectly.

They were unnatural.

"Forgot your tongue kitty?" the dragon asked, his voice never wavering, never losing the breathy, enchanting tone that only greatly added to his already swoon worthy dark looks

"You aren't the first"

"Who…" Hunter mumbled, the moment he opened his mouth his whole body was thrown into an uncontrollable shiver, he was reminded mercilessly just how cold he is

"…are…" his teeth rattled, he fought desperately to prevent them from shattering against each other "…you?"

The dark drake snickered "Why, a mole on steroids obviously"

The cheetah stared at him in silence.

The dragon shook his head "Pardon, sometimes I get reckless and dumbly witty. Ridiculous genetic flaws I inherited unfortunately"

The drake's wings folded themselves on his back as he pressed his black paw to his chest, directly on the black gem which he unconsciously rubbed.

"Name's Danox"

Despite the shivers ravaging his every muscle the cheetah bowed slightly.

"H-H-Hunt-t-ter" his teeth rattled

The dragon smiled, the way his lips curled were somehow so very familiar to Hunter.

"Now that we have pleasantries behind us how about you tell me a little about what is going on here"

The cheetah wrapped his arms around himself, the touch instead of giving a comfort of warmth only intensified the sensation of turning to ice.

Danox took a deep breath, looking around the snowflake flowing scenery before exhaling the accumulated air in a long misty breath.

"You've got fur, it substitutes for loss of blood well, besides it isn't so cold here. You're a survivor, you'll manage and if you do well I'll repay you by fulfilling one of your most secret desires that honor prevents you from pursuing it itself"

Hunter looked up at the drake, his body quaking beyond any reasonable control. The creature ahead, undoubtedly magnificent, didn't tug his fascination as dragonkind usually does. Most likely it was due to his condition, his mind was just too busy keeping his nerves alive to concern itself with unimportant crush of curiosity, or perhaps it was the drake's completely indifferent approach to his unfortunate position.

He wouldn't be the first dragon that didn't care about the well-being of others, but he would be the first one that promises to make dreams come true when just arriving through a time shifting portal.

"You…time traveled…that crystal…in yo-" he paused when a breath stealing shiver shot through his body, arms that were curled around his chest started to massage his flanks, deliberately ignoring the pain in his right palm

"…your chest…is the…proof"

There were another several taps of a claw clicking against a glassy surface.

"Let's skip the part about the gem. I've had enough of thinking about crystals for a while" the dragon's neck went up, with one swipe of a paw that dragged snow behind it he gestured at the surroundings

"I want to hear about this place. About this world. I want to know where I am"

"Pardon my…boldness, but you…seem awfully…calm…about the fact…that you…just crossed…a veil…between…worlds"

Danox chuckled "You know the funny thing about proverbs?"

Hunter cocked his head in reaction to the sudden change of topic.

"Everyone knows them. No matter how old are you, or from what place you hail from. You know Common, you know the proverbs, you understand them and eventually fuse them with your manner of speech. A couple of words replacing a whole sentence while at the same time exactly presenting the meaning of the thought in your head you just wanted to voice"

The black drake tapped his temple "All you need is here, even a tiny bit is enough. Understanding. Such a useful skill, saves a lot of breath"

He chuckled again with a shake of his head, once more that warm, familiar smile appeared on his snout.

"Proverbs. You can't possibly imagine how they grow on you and it comes from me, a cynic at heart. Shows how faithful I am to myself"

He looked at the cheetah, the paw that was in the air dropped on the snowy ground without a sound.

"Don't tell anyone, but I have a favorite of mine. Just give me a second to remember it" his paw reached his throat where a claw started to scratch his scales

"Oh yes!" he exclaimed, the claw fiercely jerked away from his throat, in that brief moment his expression shifted. Dropping the amused look, for a split second making room for a wrinkle of complete disgust before returning to the same dark way of carrying himself

"I believe it went something like this…" he cleared his throat "Curiosity killed the cat"

Hunter swallowed, another shiver run through his body, this one however had nothing to do with cold.

Danox snorted "But I digress and to make things worse I interrupted you" a pair of dark eyes landed on the cheetah, radiating absolutely no emotion "You were about to tell me about this place if my memory serves me right, yes?"

His healthy hand dived into the snow, cold fingers impulsively groping the belt underneath the pile of white fluff. Ignoring the paralyzing effect of cold his fingers started looking for a weapon but unfortunately found none.

"We…are in Dante's Freezer…the most cold…island in Dr-r-ragon Realms. Cur-r-rently…inhabited by the…remnants of the D-D-Dark Army…"

"Stop right there" Danox chimed in as he drew another shaky breath

The dragon waved his paw dismissively "Forget about the Freezer. Tell me of Dragon Realms and this Dark Army. Focus on the milestones in history of this Realm, don't bore me with general information like who is who or who is the good guy or the bad guy, stuff like that. I'm smart, I'll figure it out. Milestones kitty, milestones. This is what makes history and I'm very much interested in it"

The dragon's exceptional interest was most peculiar to put it mildly, instead of being curious about how he got here or how come there was a portal that transported him to this time in the first place he is more interested about the events of the current era.

Hunter found that suspicious, but seeing that his hand resurfaced from the pile of snow completely empty he knew he had no choice but to cooperate. A brief history lesson never hurt anybody, silence on the other hand was not a safe bet.

"Dark Army…belonged to the…Dark Master…Malefor…a purple d-d-dragon who terrorized the…R-R-Realm with his…insatiable…hunger f-f-for power. He was defeated…twice…the last confrontation…resulting in his…death. He-"

"That's enough" Danox interrupted once more "Thank you. Now please move on to the Dragon Realms"

The feline shivered, thinking of a milestone that could satisfy the dragon.

"Besides…the war…the last…Year of the…Dragon was spectacular. The e-e-eggs…of two most…powerful d-d-dragons…were brought…into our…world. Spyro…a purple dragon a-a-and Cynder…a b-b-black dragon-n-ness. They a-a-are the living…milestones of o-o-our Realms, they…made history a-a-and they are…our h-h-history"

Danox smiled "Spoken like a true admirer, your fascination with my race is honest and not a delusion of a sick mind. I'm truly impressed. Tell me now Hunter, have you ever met these milestones of yours?"

The cheetah nodded "I have…the honor…to call them…my f-f-friends"

The dragon looked up into the sky, his eyes were closed, expression locked in a state of silent thinking. A paw rose from the ground and moved towards his neck, yet stopped in midair just half the way to his throat. His eyes snapped open, the two black gems narrowed themselves on the risen leg, he growled in disgust gently.

The paw acted like it had a mind of its own, understanding the hint behind the dragon's growl it quickly jerked itself back and dived into the snow. Like an ostrich sticking its head into the sand.

"Yes" the drake huffed "I think this will be enough. Thank you, you've been much helpful"

Hunter stiffened on his knees, blue eyes aimed at the dragon.

Danox looked at the cheetah and laughed "Why look at you, ready to accept death with dignity of a warrior. Too bad for you I guess that I'm not here to kill you, or perhaps your dreams have changed?"

His right pointy ear creaked, throwing bits of ice as it shook itself into motion and bent itself in confusion.

"Your look is enough of an answer for me" the dragon looked around the cold, mountainous terrain "How do you feel about leaving this rock?"

The feline impulsively raised both his hands, his head went down observing both palms, especially focused on the one with the recently wrapped provisional bandage.

"I agree" Hunter's head snapped up at the sound of the deep, breathy voice "With that hole in your hand climbing these chilly mountains would be quite a feat"

Danox looked up into the sky, wings spreading wide while he took a deep breath "Tell me Hunter, have you ever wondered how it is to fly?" a single dark eye observed him

The cheetah followed the dragon's gaze, eyes shimmering dreamily.

"More…than…o-o-once"

"Perfect. My bargaining chip has value then, good, I like a fair trade. Favors are pathetic. You already paid your share, now it's my time to even the bargain"

He approached the cheetah, Hunter's bluish eyes observing his every move. Danox craned his neck, lowering his head to look at the cheetah.

"Would you like to taste the wind in your fur kitty?"

Hunter swallowed, ears perked up at the sound of the meaningful offer, yet it was not a completely honest display of excitement. His tear filled blue eyes were aimed directly at the drake's black ones, spotting absolutely nothing inside.

The window to one's soul they said.

A perceptive look is enough to tell what kind of person is truly in front of you they said.

Eyes are betrayers and true lovers they said.

They speak louder than words they said.

The two black windows ahead were barred shut, board upon board nailed to each other that even the tiniest strand of light couldn't break through as if it was a barricade of sorts, protection from an infestation.

Or a trap.

He imagined his wounded hand knocking at the barred windows.

Lips of his invisible mouth voicing only one question.

"_Soul? Are you home?"_

Hunter's head nodded impulsively, his neck more likely dragged by the constantly changing direction of the wind than actual deliberate impulse of his mind.

Danox smiled, turning around so his left flank was aimed at the kneeling cheetah. He laid gracefully on the snowy ground, one of the wings sprawled on the chilly earth like a ramp.

"Have you ever rode a dragon Hunter?"

The train of thought he was raiding stopped suddenly, throwing his imagined entity back into his body, snapping him back into reality. Hunter's ears perked up together with his forcefully dragged by shock head. The cold that kept traversing through every part of his body evaporated somewhere, letting a slow stream of warm excitement flow down from top of his ear down to the claws on his feet.

His mouth once more opened itself in a display of utter bewilderment.

Danox chuckled "It is funny to see how simple things for one can be seen as tremendous for others"

He kept staring at the gracefully laid form in front of him, he began examining the black body way more intently than it is suitable for a heterosexual male. He simply couldn't take his eyes of this symbol of perfect elegance.

Ominous symbol of perfect elegance.

Glimpses of which he was certain he already seen somewhere before.

"I'm aware that during a trade you need to evaluate the offer carefully, but you would make me immensely happy if you would make your mind before my chest freezes to the ground"

Hunter gulped.

"You are a dragon…mounting is…"

The dragon rolled his eyes "Disrespectful, shameful, hilarious, dreadful, despising, bla, bla, bla" he sighed "Meaningless adjectives. Couldn't care less about them"

He wiggled his splayed on the ground wing invitingly.

"My offer stands"

"Where do you want to go?" Hunter asked, probably letting suspicion in his voice to be more palpable than he wanted to

Danox offered another one of his alluring, dark smiles.

"Assertive, whether intentional or not I respect that, I wouldn't trust a creepy, strange dragon myself. I'll make things simple. Take me to the most important place in this world, capital or something like that"

Hunter looked to the side, frowning.

"I suggest you lead me straight there, I would find my way there anyway, I just want to avoid time stalling my steps, it's irritating. I assure you I have no vile intentions" he nodded at his sprawled body "Why, this should be proof enough"

His gaze returned to the dragon, unfortunately realizing that the drake had a point. He was way too curious about this world to lose his way. Hunter got up, surprisingly without difficulty, it is amazing just how much strength give the notion of knowing that you are a couple of steps from fulfilling one of your greatest dreams.

It changes your perspective completely.

Make you forget about many things.

Like pain.

Or thinking about how a dragon arriving from the past could know his most secret desire.

Wavering on his legs Hunter eventually reached the sprawled wing, touching its scaly surface. This wasn't the first dragon he touched in his life, there were many before him and yet a warm gasp of rapture wafted from his practically gaping mouth.

He pressed his foot against the wing and froze, looking worryingly at the dragon.

Danox nodded "Go on. Fire away, I'm not made of glass"

He dropped on all fours, carefully scaling the wing, absolutely forgetting about his wounded hand. It burned of course, his whole body did actually that he no longer could tell the difference if pain is causing this. As he climbed slowly up he felt the wing lifting and curling itself behind him, making the feat so much simpler and at the same time preventing him from sliding down.

The moment he climbed on the black dragon's back he was grinning broadly as a happy cub.

"I would advise you to move up my body, to the end of my neckline. That's the more stiffest spot on a draconic body during a flight. Bones are so thick there that it's nearly impossible to feel any movement. This is why it is so difficult to break a dragon's neck"

He did as he was told, sliding up the black scales, looking like a brownish ant in comparison to the massive body below. He didn't even know when he found his way to the pot the dragon mentioned.

Danox smiled "Good"

The drake lifted his body from the ground, another gasp of excitement escaped Hunter's throat as his eyes hectically looked around, especially observing the shrinking ground below. The drake wasn't lying, the spot he was sitting on didn't transport even the slightest vibration.

"I would hold on to something if I were you"

Hunter began to look around, finding absolutely nothing he could grab. His heart started to race, beating with disappointment and fear at the same time.

"Feel my neck, slide your hands from bottom to top of my scales, some should have ridges you could easily grab with your little hands"

He did as he was told, it didn't take him long to feel some of the scales slightly standing up on edge, serving as perfect handles.

"Found them" Hunter whispered, his heart skipped a beat

"What was that?"

He cleared his throat "Found them"

Danox chuckled.

"You could hold on to them, but I would advise more safer way anyway, especially since it's your first time and you have claws. Now that you put up the ridged scales you should see a small opening near them. Drive your claws there"

Hunter stiffened in terror.

"It will allow you to have a better grip and you could easily press yourself to my body while in air. Wind currents are strong here, you might accidently lose your head up there"

He licked his frozen lips. "I…don't want to hurt you"

"Awww, how very sweet of you, but do as I say. Pain makes me feel alive"

He thought about protesting, wounding a dragon, no matter how small the injury might be was against his code of honor, especially when he had no reason to do so. Yet at the same time he knew that if he disobeys the dragon's wish the opportunity to make his dream come true might slip away.

Even now when he was so close.

A little selflessness never hurt anybody.

He founds the spaces between the scales without a problem, he located the small openings even before the dragon mentioned them. With another chilly swallow he reluctantly brandished his claws, gently driving them into the holes.

His expression changed to that of utter self-despisment when he felt droplets of warm blood matting his fur. His hands went down up to his wrists, it was then when his claws eventually locked on to something, it wasn't flesh, he could still feel the leathery armor of draconic scales.

"Good" Danox let out an excited breath "Now we fly. Don't worry, I'll be gentle"

The dragon took off the ground in a moment's notice. Hunter's eyes shot wide open when he felt the strong gusts of wind striking at his body, noticed the ground becoming smaller so quickly and the clouds growing so fast that he could nearly touch them.

With last ounces of male ego he hold back a squeak.

The drake remained in the air for a while, obviously letting him get used to the feeling of being in the air. Words simply couldn't describe the bliss he was in currently, everything was so fantastic that he nearly forgot about his instinct.

An instinct that even despite the increasing piles of snow and the constantly falling snowflakes made him see a trail of something red on the white ground below. A red dash, blood, that led to something now nearly buried in the snow.

Then his eyes jumped to another piece like this and then another and another, he couldn't really tell what it was. He recognized only one thing, a part that laid under a rock, avoiding the unending torrent of snowflakes.

It were the bloody remains of a severed torso.

A cold chill run through his body which roughly reminded him that the being below him isn't a toy.

"Why?" Hunter mumbled

The dragon turned his head, a single black eye watching him curiously

"Why what?"

"Why did you let me mount you?"

Danox smirked "Is that fear speaking through you?"

"I don't understand, being mounted by a creature like me is considered as humiliation by your kind. I know you said that it means nothing to you, but I can't understand why"

The dragon shrugged "I have no pride or shame"

Hunter frowned surprised "No pride or shame? That makes you…"

The drake grinned "Special I know, you don't have to tell me that"

He opened his mouth, only a whizz of air escaped from within. He nodded, impulsively agreeing with the dragon.

Even despite that he thought about a different word.

He could hear it being transported by the strong gusts of wind the moment the dragon started flying.

The wind kept repeating the word his tongue wasn't able to form.

Dangerous.


	86. Chapter 8 Book V

Chapter 8

"Took you long enough" Cyril grumbled when finally the two young dragons he was waiting for appeared in earshot of his usually annoyed voice

"Sorry for that, next time we'll remember to pull out the extra set of legs" Cynder replied briskly, a friendly mischievous smile present on her snout

The Guardian glared at her as if trying to turn her into a brick of ice by using only his eyes.

Spyro pinched her thigh with his tail tip, making her gasp faintly. Her indignant gaze landed on his meaningfully shaking head.

"You think that our visit here is a joke? That our dignity as dragons is a joke? Our-"

"I think that will be enough Cyril" Terrador stepped in, interrupting his friend's growing in strength monolog of annoyance

"Enough?!" Cyril snapped back coldly "Out of sheer politeness we left those two alone so they could indulge in their worthless social endeavors while we, the GUARDIANS of this city, sat like a pair of confused hatchlings by the temple's door for Ancestors know how long, waiting for our immature friends to kindly show their tails, only to be shunned into the corner of this…"

He waved his paw around the beautiful, thriving, colorful scenery around him, a small garden, well taken care of by the temple's faithful caretakers. The temple's greenish and clean landmark was a sight to behold for every passer-by.

"…sickeningly…flowery…" his nose curled in abhorrence "LOVE GARDEN!" he roared, clenching his risen paw into a shaking fist

"WHILE THIS…" he ferociously pointed an accusing, shimmering with drops of ice claw at Cynder

The unexpected, aggressive move made her head jerk back, even from here she felt the chilly gust of wind the swinging icy blade created.

"…this…GIRL…mocks me with stupid JOKES?!"

"I really suggest Cyril that you calm yourself" Terrador placed his paw on his friend's stiff shoulder, eyes scanning the surroundings, noticing many shocked stares directed at them of the people walking by

"Or we might have extreme difficulties convincing people who is truly in his right mind here"

The Ice Guardian shook the paw off angrily.

"Don't lecture me Terrador"

"All you do is complain, take a deep breath and take in the peaceful scenery and air, it will do you good. The temple will still be here when you exhale"i

Cyril snorted, a puff of icy mist wafted from his nose.

"You must be insane if you think that I will delve into anything Brill and his insane lackeys have to offer. For all we know the air around the temple might be the thing that messes with that rodent's already idiotic head"

Terrador looked at his friend with disbelief shining in his eyes.

"Don't be ridiculous"

"Am I? Maybe you are already under the influence of that little shit. You sure rise my eyebrows with all that mediatory nonsense you spit all the time whenever I think about that fuck"

"Spyro! Cynder!" The Earth Guardian exclaimed happily as he moved towards the two slightly stunned young dragons

"I'm so glad to see you! Why won't you entertain my friend over there while I'll drown myself in that pond right behind you"

Both young drakes looked at each other, before turning their heads behind their shoulders at the same time, spotting the very pond the Earth Guardian referred to.

After a quick examination of the pool of water their young eyes met once more. A single glance was enough to drag a merry chuckle from their throats.

Cyril rolled his eyes.

"Another fool, that's what we all need right now"

Terrador approached the two young drakes, letting out a tired sigh of relief.

"You have no idea how glad I am to see you" he said, making sure that the Ice Guardian some meters behind didn't hear him "As much as I like my friend I had enough of his whining for years" he smiled "Now with you two here he will direct his charming attention to you and I will finally catch a breath"

"Is it really that bad?" Spyro inquired, throwing, as he hoped, an inconspicuous look at the ice dragon ahead

The smile on the usually stony face of the Earth Guardian grew wider.

"After you"

The purple drake turned his attention to his female companion with a smirk.

"Ladies-"

"Not a chance" Cynder cut him off "I already got slapped. You're the only one from the three of us that isn't mentally scarred. Yet"

Terrador chuckled under his breath.

"Fine then" Spyro sighed and moved to the front of his two friends "I'm sure it won't be that bad"

"Hey Cyril, I'm sorry that we're late, but-"

"Spare me the apologies" the ice dragon rumbled "If I wanted to listen to sweet, meek voices and watch huge puppy eyes I would go to the nursery. After I would puke my insides out of course, something that you are very close to triggering"

The young drake stopped in his tracks, one of his legs bent and frozen in midair as he stared at the Guardian dumbfounded.

"Don't put it all on me" he finally said after a moment of brief pause to gather his thoughts "It was your idea to wait by the temple for us"

Cyril's eyes widened in utter incredulity.

"So now it's my FAULT?"

"No, wait, I didn't say anything like that"

"Well excuse me oh mighty hero, next time I won't be so polite. I'll remember to foresee another unexpected encounter with your talkative friends or anyone else willing to speak to you for that matter. In the meantime I'll also freeze the moon and hold the sun in the sky as to avoid…"

His expression darkened, veins of fury appeared on his neck.

"…WASTING. ANY. MORE. TIME!" he roared, mouth parting wide, rays of the sun reflecting from the moist with saliva sharp razor teeth

Spyro stared at the Guardian, eyes huge as saucers "Wow" he exhaled before swallowing "Just wait a moment"

"WAIT?!" Cyril snorted, bluish wings spreading open as he swung his paw, almost slicing a tree next to him in half with his claws "All I do is WAIT!"

He narrowed his eyes on the purple drake "What now Spyro? Is there anyone else willing to drag you into a pointless conversation? In which you will gladly participate, after all you have no duties as a purple dragon, you can spend every hour on frivolities. All the troubles of this forsaken world will wait for you, for all eternity if they have to"

"AS I DO!" a rumbling blare wafted from, the tree managed to avoid the sharp tips of the dragon's swinging downwards claws

However the nearby flowers weren't so lucky. Several severed colorful tops jumped into the air, being the unfortunate victims of the ice drake's ferociously returning to the ground clawed paw.

"What is the meaning of this?!" a petite dragoness jumped from one of the side entrances of the temple, bluish robe wavering on the air turbulently, in accordance to her squeaky voice

Cyril glared at the female, luckily she was too far away to read the murderous glimmer in his eyes.

"Guardian, you of all people should know that this is sacred ground. This temple demands respect from everyone, society stature is irrelevant in this holy place"

"Respect?" the ice dragon whispered, voice pulsing with steady rhythm of wrath "You speak about respect?" Spyro noticed layers of frost appearing on the grass below, the wounded flowers died momentarily

Cyril licked his lips "You?" he growled, every tone of hardly clinging docility disappeared into cold oblivion of his chilly personality "I am royalty. YOU W-"

"We'll keep our voices down!" Spyro exclaimed, jumping in front of the ice dragon

He knew Cyril long enough to tell that when he mentions his supposedly royal blood, which thanks to the scarce information Iris provided might not be a complete imagined leap of a power hungry mind, things always go awry.

During typical daily chit-chats people just lose interest in a conversation, even if it was a very interesting and important topic. He has never been around when Cyril's highborn, whether true or not, stature was brought during a fit of anger and since life taught him precaution he wasn't going to test what the consequences might be today.

"Who do you think you are to speak in my name?" Cyril snapped at the purple drake

Spyro smiled at the dragoness ahead, with difficulties ignoring the practically mad Guardian behind his tail.

"We had some really roughs days, emotions still boil within us. This is why we came to this temple, to calm our heads, we just need time and your generous patience to let it atmosphere of serenity influence us"

The dragoness looked at him, then shifted her gaze at the Guardian behind who was breathing so heavily that he reminded Spyro of the evil train engine Steam and its Conductor under the service of the evil Cynder, a pair that he battled in Munitions Forge to save Terrador all those years ago.

The female's gaze returned to him in a moment's notice. She was still displeased to put it mildly, but his words, or presence, had an effect. There was no sign of the deeper wrinkles of anger he noticed when he laid his eyes on the girl for the first time.

"Very well" the dragoness responded "But it better be the last time you ruin the Ancestor's rest!"

Spyro bowed with a grateful smile "Thank you. It won't happen again, you have my word"

With a deep scowl the girl for the last time acknowledged the Guardian's presence, making it quite clear just how she thrilled she is about his visit before returning back into the temple.

"Very impressive young Spyro"

He turned around at the sound of the cheerful baritone voice, spotting Terrador and Cynder, both were smiling at him warmly.

"It was nothing" he replied sheepishly

"You don't give yourself enough credit, it's no secret that the City Hall perimeter and the temple grounds don't have much sympathy for each other. And yet that priest listened to you, a member of the opposite camp so to speak, who even we wouldn't be able to calm down"

"Yes!" Cyril blurt out indignantly "Bowing to those creeps is really impressive! We walk here on our own terms, we are here to stop whatever mind controlling thing Brill is cooking up inside, not kneel before them!"

"We are not here to make enemies"

"Of course not, we don't have to since they are already our enemies!"

The Earth Guardian sighed, rubbing his forehead "Ok have it your way, they are our enemies. That doesn't change the fact that a little understanding, modesty and respect can sway them, well maybe not to our side, but at least make them listen to us. Spyro showed us what we can achieve by simple charisma"

"We are the Guardians!" the ice dragon stomped his paw fiercely, ice shot from underneath his leg "Nobody is going to teach us how to behave and order us around!"

"Your arrogance and impertinent ego makes you blind Cyril. Whether you like it or not that priest was right"

"Wha-"

"Let me finish" Terrador interrupted his friend by raising his paw, moments later it returned to the ground where it belonged

"This is the final resting place dedicated to our Ancestors, you might not be the religious type but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't grant this place a tiny bit of respect. Forget about all those people in there and think about the statues, our Ancestors, the struggle they had to endure their whole lives so we could be where we are now. They fought through their entire existence so we could taste peace. Peace that they deserve also, if not more. Their fight is over, they didn't suffer for so long for us to stir havoc in their home"

The dragon turned his attention at the temple, a spark of reverence combined with a tear of longing shone in the corner of his left eye.

"Ignitus is among them, we might not care about the dragons that we never met, cruel but understandable, but if we deliberately forget about our old friend then we should be damned. Ignitus was a bridge, he connected Spyro's fate with our own so he could save us from Shadow's grip. He was the one who challenged the Belt of Fire, allowing our young heroes to make the first step into the realm of the Dark Master, hence saving our lives for the second time in a span of a couple of years"

"I don't know how about you but I will respect the priest's wish. Our friend deserves some rest"

Cyril's eyes landed on the temple even before Terrador truly got into the monologue, only when his old friend finished he gave permission to his mind to force a blink. Giving his eyes the well-deserved break, a break which his late red friend also earned.

His head dropped in resignation.

"Damn you Ignitus" he mumbled defeated

The Earth Guardian smiled comfortingly "Come, things will go well and if not we always got Spyro and his silver tongue to even the odds" he winked at the young dragon before making his way towards the temple's entrance

Cyril following in his tracks.

Only Cynder remained in place, observing her partner with a proud, loving smile.

"Did you hear that?" Spyro blurt out excitedly when his eyes landed on the black dragoness after they stopped following the two Guardians the moment they disappeared behind a statue.

"I'm persuasive!" he started to make his way after the two old dragons

"I know that. How else do you think you managed to catch my interest?"

"Thanks to my good looks?"

Cynder snorted.

He kept on walking, sliding his tail across her chin, only to gently pat the side of her nose with the flat end of his tail tip the moment it popped up from underneath her snout.

She giggled at the display of loving punishment, playfully smacking his tail away before following in his tracks.

The four of them had their minds busy with so many different thoughts that neither of them noticed that people began stopping whatever they were doing. Like they didn't notice that every single eye belonging to each recently frozen person started to observe them intently as they approached the door.

Terrador acknowledged the young dragons presence with a short nod.

"Here goes nothing" he reached towards the big, ornate door

"You must not!"

The eyes of the four dragons widened simultaneously at the sound of the practically mad and desperate shout, shimmers of shock clearly visible in the shadow of the looming statue above their heads.

"You must not!"

They turned around, spotting a mole approaching them, her arms were extended forward, fists shaking and clenched imploringly.

"Guys" Cynder whispered "They are all staring at us"

Only then the male part of the group looked past the mole, noticing the stares of the many people in the garden. There was a couple of passers-by that didn't seemed to be bothered by them, but most just observed them intently. Not lowering their prying gazes even when the dragons became aware of the uncomfortable attention.

"No matter" Terrador responded, eyes darting between every soul in the garden, a bulge of radiating anxiety saliva gathered on his tongue, he swallowed it bitterly "Remember that diplomacy is what leads us"

"Yes, let's us pretend that we don't see them and the screaming lunatic walking our way is just an importunate fan. Great plan" Cyril hissed sarcastically

"Taint cannot touch this holy ground!"

"Heeeey" Cynder squealed in fake delight "She's talking about me!" she grinned "I think that I just wet myself from the excitement. A fan! Oh boy! I'm so happy!"

Every trace of fake joy disappeared in an instant, making room for the honest, gloomy expression.

"No sudden movements" Terrador muttered calmly "We'll talk our way out of this"

"Taint must be stopped!"

When the female mole touched the marble tile just some meters ahead Spyro winced suddenly, nostrils invaded by a horrid stench.

"Ugh" he grumbled "Someone didn't bathe in a while"

The rest of the dragons smelled it too after a short while, all noses curled themselves in disgust, no matter how polite they tried to be and ignore the smell, mind reflex was quicker than them.

"Taint is not allowed in here!"

"We came here in peace" Terrador said the moment a few steps separated them from the mole

"And just want to talk" Spyro added

All four of them gasped when the mole's extended hands landed on Cynder's throat just below the silver choker.

"Taint must be stopped!"

She rolled her eyes "Now that's a surprise"

The three males exchanged dumbfounded glances between each other.

"We came here to pay our respects to the Ancestors" Spyro said, turning his attention to the newly arrived female

The rodent kept on walking, making the black dragoness move backwards until her rump hit a wall and she couldn't go any farther.

"The Taint must not spread its corruption!" the mole shouted directly in Cynder's snout

"Oh gods" she gagged, shutting her eyes tight as she turned her head to the side

She felt like the rotten stench of the mole's breath laid eggs all the way to her stomach.

"We are here to find answers to the troubles that unnecessarily divide our city" Spyro tried again

"Taint must be stopped!"

Cynder's eyes snapped open.

"Umm…guys?" she cleared her throat

"Please, all we want is to find some middle ground here. Warfang is big, there is room for any belief here"

"Taint must be stopped!"

"Guys…" Cynder rasped

"I don't think she hears me" Spyro announced resigned

"Taint must be stopped!"

"She's choking me"

All the male attention turned towards her.

Cynder coughed, sliding a claw underneath the rodent's clenched hand.

"Yep" she rasped once more, her voice barely audible as she used her last ounces of uninterrupted air "She's chocking me"

"Taint must be stopped!"

"This won't be tolerated" Terrador's commanding baritone voice rumbled in the air as he approached the mole

"I order you to release Cynder"

The black dragoness coughed "I don't think she listens" she whizzed

"Taint must be stopped!" the mole kept on screaming

"I won't repeat myself"

"Not…working" Cynder huffed

With a growl the Earth Guardian grabbed the moles hands in his paw and pried them away from the feminine scales.

"Are you ok?" Spyro asked worryingly

She coughed, taking a long and deep swig of air while impulsively rubbing her painful throat.

"Yeah"

"You must not!"

Terrador pushed the screaming and thrashing mole away from the group, holding her tight so she wouldn't get away.

"For open hostility on the streets of Warfang I place you under arrest, hopefully the prison bars will bring you back to your senses"

"You must not!"

He turned towards the group "As of today we will place guards on the surrounding walls, scared ground or not this is unacceptable. You go inside while I'll escort our troublemaker to the authorities"

"Diplomacy is overrated" Cyril added coldly

The Earth Guardian's eyes landed on the two young drakes "I'm counting on you two to stop him from doing anything completely stupid"

"You must not!"

The ice dragon snickered "You heard the lady"

"I'm serious" Terrador started to retrace his steps, the thrashing mole being pushed by his massive body "Behave"

The three remaining dragons observed the slowly shrinking form of the green Guardian and his newly found companion. A pair of amethyst eyes were the first that shifted to the side.

"These people" Spyro mumbled, observing the frozen temple visitors, none of them seemed to react to the recent events, their eyes were still aimed in the same one direction

"They are not watching us. They are staring at you Cynder"

Immediately she felt all the burning gazes of the people on her, as if a hammer would be pounding her head, pushing her deeper and deeper into the ground until she was no bigger than an ant.

"This should be fun" Cyril commented cynically as he pushed the round ornate door open

They creaked ominously.

* * *

"MURDERER!"

Her eyes snapped open, she found herself staring at an empty wall, her stomach rumbled. She rolled around, onto her belly, driving her head into the soft pillow. World went dark again.

"IT'S YOUR FAULT!" roared the one eyed white snout

"MURDERER!" again

"IT'S YOUR FAULT!" and again

She lifted herself on her shaking front paws, freeing herself from the soft embrace of the pillow and the screaming image of that traitorous motherfucker. Her diamond eyes observed the white, crunched pillow below.

"IT'S YOUR FAULT!" a hollow voice rumbled within her skull

She growled and punched the pillow.

"MURDERER!"

Another strike.

"IT'S YOUR FAULT!"

And another.

"MURDERER!"

One more.

"IT'S-"

Again.

"M-"

Again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

The rumbling voice disappeared and yet she still kept on punching.

Again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

Until nothing was heard besides her furious growling.

With one last swing of her paw she drove her claws into the pillow, rippling the material with a characteristic sound of cracking sheets. She hurled the pillow at the wall that greeted her when she opened her eyes with a shout full of suffering, filling the room with a rain of white, soft feathers.

With a swift spin she rolled herself on her back, one paw landed on her forehead, the other hectically patted the mattress under the sheets until her claws clicked on an object she would recognize even in the dark. She removed it from underneath the covers and pressed her tightly clenched paw, with the medallion locked inside directly to her heart, the grip was so strong that she cut her paw.

A lazy stream of blood slid down the corner of her tightly clenched clawed fist.

Silence.

You vengeful bitch.

It makes you reminisce old memories, relive every single hour of your horror filled life, remember every sound, smell and taste. You start to think, every single time you start to think and you can't stop. It doesn't matter that you already went through every scenario, it's an never ending cycle. Yet whenever the boomerang of thoughts return its impact is stronger than before.

It hurts so much that you want to tear your brain out.

Silence.

Go fuck yourself.

"Hush…" she licked her lips, her peculiar voice rasping like an ancient dragon "…Hush my love…" she sang slowly, making pauses after each word as if they were all a different sentence. Her voice lacking any kind of melody to it, or practically any sound, coming only as a whisper

"…Hush my love now…" she took a wavering breath "Hush my love now don't you cry...e…" the clenched fist gently struck her chest "…every-thing will be all right…" her voice faded away, only humming remained, continued in the same slow tone

Her paw striking her heart to the rhythm she so perfectly remembered.

She remained like that, humming to herself for what felt like an eternity, a complete empty vast space, with no thoughts and no memories. Only the sound of this comforting humming, each word solely for her soul to hear.

Eventually even the humming ended and the paw clenching the medallion opened, dropping the delicately blood covered object on her chest. She rose the wounded paw to her snout. A hollow cut ran at the corner of her leg, lazy streak of blood coloring her bluish scales.

A thought crossed her head in a speed of light.

_You have blood on your paws._

She pulled the leg closer, when her tongue touched the blood a pitiful whimper escaped her throat. She impulsively swallowed, dragging the metallic taste of a droplet of her life giving crimson liquid with her saliva.

Another whimper.

She smacked her forehead with the other leg.

Again.

Again.

And again.

She started licking at the wound, narrowing her diamond gaze furiously at the paw whenever her tongue finished its cleaning slide. Several licks later no trail of blood was present on her paw, only the cut slightly pulsed with reddish hue.

She dropped the injured leg onto the sheets, with the other one she reached for the medallion, impulsively dragging it in front of her eyes where it froze. Her diamond gaze intently evaluated every inch of the tarnished jewelry, especially focusing on the new, shabby red color of blood.

She stared at the nearly wiped streak for an uncountable amount of time, until her eyes finally sparkled with overwhelming feeling of hate and loathing.

She pulled her second leg into her line of sight which she greeted with a brief glance before she drove the rough edge of the medallion into the previously licked cut.

Blood pushed out from the wound.

With the object ledged into her flesh she drove it backwards, with the cracking sound of scales she enlarged the previously small cut almost to the other side of her paw. She pulled out the medallion fiercely, droplets of blood and bits of scales shot after the rough edge of the jewelry with a wet sound.

The cut bled profusely.

Her cold diamond gaze landed on the bloodied, tarnished round object which after a few seconds received the hot and wet attention of her tongue. This time the combined metallic taste of both her blood and shabby gold had no impact on her. She intently cleaned the medallion while her injured paw dropped on the white sheets, momentarily turning them red.

After a few very precise licks the medallion shone solely with her saliva which she wiped off with the bottom side of a second pillow. When the cleaning was done she put the medallion back on her chest, jerked her upper body to the side, prepared to return the pillow to its rightful place.

And then her paw froze.

She narrowed her eyes on the soft like a cloud piece of material as if trying to burn a hole right through it with just her sight.

Minutes passed.

After which she swung her paw, hurling the pillow at the very same wall that greeted her today. The pillow hit the solid surface with a muffled smack, second later joining its torn companion on the ground below.

Feathers blew up in the air.

She pushed herself to a sitting position, covering more and more of the white mattress with her blood as she plunged her wounded paw underneath the sheets from which she soon fished a broken, tarnished gold chain. Carefully holding it in her claws as to not stain it.

With both pieces of her necklace, each one in a different paw, she dragged the sheets towards herself using her teeth. On which she reverently placed both parts, as if they were a work of a renowned artist, ready to be forever locked in a display case.

She intently observed the broken necklace, her mind calculating the best approach as how to fix it.

Her stomach rumbled.

In that very moment the door to her room opened.

"How are we feeling today?" a happy feminine voice filled her room

A young cheetah pushed the door open using her rump, her furry tail crossed the doorstep first. She was halfway into her spin the moment her first leg stepped into the room. Even when her face was still turned towards the corridor it was obvious that she was holding a tray of food.

"Talkative as a-" the happy voice momentarily ended abruptly the moment the cheetah's eyes landed on the blood covered bed and the satin blue dragoness sitting on it. The feathery mess escaped her attention at the moment

"What happened?!" she yelled loudly in alarm, dashing into the room, putting the shaking trey onto the nightstand

She jumped towards the bed, hands intertwined on her forehead.

"There's blood everywhere!" she shouted, caring and stressed eyes quickly finding the answer for this unexpected mystery

"Your paw! It's bleeding badly! Did you cut yourself?" the cheetah impulsively reached for the draconic leg

"Leave it" Iris stated fiercely

The girl's eyes widened, hand froze in midair.

"Leave it?" she muttered

"I made myself clear"

"But you're bleeding!" the frozen hand pressed onwards

"Leave it!" she snarled at the healer, making the girl jump back startled

The feline pressed her hand to her chest, calming her racing heart.

"You can't risk like that!" the cheetah protested "Your body is going through the strenuous process of fighting a very potent poison of sorts! You need your regeneration ability to fully concentrate at that!"

Cold, white eyes directed themselves at the cheetah.

"Are you mentally retarded or did fur got stuck in your ears that you can't understand simple commands? I told you to leave it"

The cheetah's meek and friendly face was rippled by a wince of sheer aggression. Not everyone possess high tolerance for snarky remarks.

"I'm trying to help here and you insult me?"

"I don't want your help"

"That's part of my job!"

"Then help yourself to the door"

One of the feline's hands clenched into a fist. She quelled down a growl.

"You are under a good care here, this is your idea of being grateful?"

"Grateful? You want me to thank you for doing your job?"

The cheetah folded her arms on her chest "Seeing as you still breathe I would say you should thank us for doing a VERY good job"

Iris pointed her claw at the nightstand.

"What is that then?"

The girl frowned, following the draconic pointer which aimed at the tray of food she just brought.

"That's food" she responded indifferently, face carrying the same frown as she looked back at the dragoness

"With only one bowl of soup"

The feline shrugged "So?"

"What did I say about my food you incompetent fool?"

The girl growled, this time letting her anger to be heard clearly.

"Listen you rude-"

"I'm a dragon" Iris cut the cheetah off by raising her accent filled voice to such a cold level that each word felt like a freezing icicle

"I eat more than you weaklings, what kind of a very good job you are doing if you starve me? I ordered you slaves to bring me three bowls and throw away the rest of the crap. I can't digest it moron"

"This is the standard dish for your case!" the cheetah snarled "You can't eat more than one bowl of soup! The rest is here to remind your stomach that there is more to food than just soup! We have orders to-"

"Exactly" Iris cut in again "I ordered you to bring me three bowls"

The cheetah narrowed her eyes on the dragoness indignantly, lips wavering, sharp fangs sticking out from her mouth.

"You know what? Screw you!"

Iris aimed her cold shimmering with hate gaze on the feline. The temperature in the room dropped slightly.

"We are working our assess off to make you sure that your every need is taken care of without any discomfort for your healing body and this is what we get?! I'm done!"

The girl stormed towards the door and then opened them with such a force that they nearly slammed into a wall. She stopped in the doorstep.

"I was about to propose to change your sheets but now you can drown in your own vile blood for all I care!"

The door slammed shut.

Fools.

* * *

"What an ungrateful bitch!"

Everyone that currently occupied the main hall of the hospital looked in the direction of the corridor from which the furious shout rumbled. It didn't matter if you were a healer or a patient, a dragon or some other specie. It didn't matter if you had fur thick as a bear, just like that cheetah sitting on a small bench on one side of the hall. It didn't matter if your body resembled a burning, walking fire, looking exactly like the peculiar red dragon sitting in the opposite side of the room.

In this very short moment everyone was struck by the same bolt of surprise.

A young cheetah appeared at the end of the corridor, veins of raw fury covered her arms, even visible through the fur. She completely ignored the many stares directed her way, constantly muttering under her breath as she made her way behind a desk. One of two chairs was already occupied by a dressed in white mole, a typical outfit for every healer in this hospital.

Someone clapped their hands and the hospital as if by a magic touch, returned to its typical and for most people here normal, raucous atmosphere.

"I warned you youngster" the female mole said with a delicate tone of pride in her voice "Some people are simply toxic"

"I didn't even get a thank you!" the cheetah confided angrily "All I heard was insults!"

"From the look of your face I guess you had a ride with the Ice Queen" a second female cheetah commented with a giggle as she joined the two healers at the desk

The young feline scowled "Very funny"

"Hey, you insisted on going there. We all have been in your place"

"We're going to need to find another ambitious soul" the mole added, offering a patient that approached the desk a bandage and some ointment for the cuts the unwilling customer complained about

"It was still about the soup?"

The young cheetah nodded.

"Soup and her injuries. There's a cut on her paw and it's bleeding badly, she's sitting in a bed that is completely red by now. She still didn't let me help her"

The other girl's ears flattened on her skull "Blood? That's a new one"

The mole turned towards both females, obviously intrigued by the news.

"There is nothing in the room that would be able to make a wound like that if struck by accident. Seems to me the cut was self inflicted"

"You mean she did that to herself?" the recently traumatized cheetah shuddered "It must hurt like hell. The wound is pretty deep"

"We can't ignore this, it might be symptoms of a psychic breakdown"

The other cheetah snorted.

"Please, symptoms? That bitch is mental already, no doubts about that"

The mole shrugged "Whatever the case may be, self punishment still sounds serious"

"Listen, you want to help her? Be my guest since I doubt you will find any other volunteer, we've sorted through the whole personnel at this rate already. So I wish you the best of luck, just remember that from what I understood she didn't want any assistance"

The rodent shook her head "Amela won't be pleased"

"I doubt that she would blame us. If she wasn't so busy I'm sure she would be sitting with us here now. I mean just look…" she turned around, pressing the side of her opened palm to the corner of her mouth

"Hey Mel!" she yelled, in the loud atmosphere of the hospital's main hall her shout didn't provoke any attention, in fact considering the current busy situation her loud shout was like a whisper

The girl named Mel was occupying the opposite desk. She had the chin of her long snout rested on her opened in the shape of a letter V hands, elbows of which were tightly pressed against the wooden frame of the desk. Nose protruding like a canon, goggless eyes staring at the wall ahead.

"Hey Mel"

"Touched you…felt you…" Mel mumbled

The cheetah spun around, bestowing her two companions with a meaningful look.

"See what I mean? Of course you might say that I'm full of shit since Mel is known for her occasional shutting off, it's a mole thing I think, they have to recharge their geek batteries somehow"

"That is not-"

"Whatever" the feline cut off her mole friend with a dismissive wave of her hand "What's really important is that you could always wake her up, all you had to do was to snap your fingers, but now…" she whistled

"It all started when Mel over there had the unfortunate bad luck for her duties to also include the Ice Kingdom, when she left that room she was never the same. The Queen got to her, harder than to any of us. It all started with a small mistake in that day's food service, Mel being blind as a bat"

She nodded at the mole next to her.

"No offense"

The rodent shrugged, impulsively rubbing her goggles.

"Instead of squeezing an orange to fill a glass of juice she accidently shredded a piece of bread into it. Don't ask me how she confused the two. However she did a very good job of processing that thing, I mean, I saw the tray and I couldn't see even the smallest of crumbs! That's huge, since, you know, I'm a cat" she pointed at her eyelids "Baby got eyes"

"She brought the tray to our princess and as you very well know, she can't digest anything that doesn't have consistency of piss. You can imagine what happened when she took a sip of that juice. Poor Mel had to clean all that disgusting stuff, that spew still has blood in it ugh. She had to keep the room sterile you know, I can't even imagine what insults she had to stand. She broke her I tell you"

"Mel cleaned the room at least, while we talk, leaving our patient sitting in an unhygienic environment" the mole muttered guilty

"Serves her right!" the recent visitor to the Ice Kingdom shouted "Look what she did to Mel!"

"I still think we treat her far better than she deserves. It's only fair that we get some payback" the other feline female added

"I still think we can do better" the young cheetah smiled malevolently

"What do you mean?"

She nodded towards the main hall. Both females turned.

"That burning guy over there" the youngest feline continue "He is still sitting here even when we told him that no visits will be taking place. What if we changed our minds?"

"That's against the rules…" the mole mumbled gloomily

"Please! Don't tell me that you aren't tempted!"

The rodent sighed.

"I knew it!"

The other feline clapped her hands "Let's see how she reacts to an unwelcome visitor" she looked between her two companions

"So who's going to have the honor?"

The younger cheetah momentarily lifted herself up, ironing the outfit she was wearing with her own confident hands.

"I will"

* * *

He kept staring at the floor, out of boredom counting the passing shadows, until one surprisingly grew up, reaching his paws. He looked up, meeting eye to eye with a politely smiling, young cheetah.

"Flare, was it?"


	87. Chapter 9 Book V

Chapter 9

"Last door on the right"

His eyes followed the moving claw of the cheetah, a small smile curled his lips as he looked down the corridor.

"Thank you for your help"

The feline folded her arms behind her back and bowed gently, the grin on her face was so huge that it warmed Flare's heart. How simple gestures of good give people so much satisfaction will never stop surprising him.

"It was my pleasure. Remember that there is no rush, stay as long as you want"

His snout lightened up even stronger than usual, if not for all this fire surrounding him already someone could say that he is about to self-ignite.

"Thank you!" he blurt out overjoyed

The young cheetah bowed once more as she began to walk away.

"I just hope that your visit will be as satisfactory for you as bringing you here was for me" she waved with the back of her hand

The smile on his snout grew wider, it felt like his mouth cracked at its corners, just to be able to fit all this display of utter happiness on his draconic maw.

He jumped his way through the corridor, literally, as if his legs had springs instead of bones. This was the second time this day that patience showed how generous it can be if you just allow it to do its silent and most of the time hard to bare work.

Holding back from releasing all that burning hate towards the purple dragon showed that even they can be tolerable. Now this, countless minutes or even hours spent sitting on his ass when everyone told you to go away proved to be effective.

Patience is awesome.

He stopped in front of the door and without thinking opened them like he would be walking into his own room.

The natural reddish light he emanated filled the interior.

"Perfect" a feminine, disgruntled voice reached him even before he truly crossed the doorstep

"The circus' main clown has arrived. Vengeful sluts"

"Hey Irissssssssss-" Flare's voice died down with a whizz, in perfect accordance with his widening eyes

The bed she was on was filled was a bloody mess. It reminded him of the bloodbaths he had to endure.

She didn't seem to care, she was working on that old medallion of hers like everything would be just fine.

It felt like time itself stopped flowing with the silence that befallen on the room.

"You're bleeding!" he screamed finally, every part of his burning body spit out flames as if startled by his shout

Iris stopped what she was doing.

"Really?"

"Yeah!" his muscles tensed "It's all over the bed!"

Her cold gaze landed on the blood covered sheets, diamond pupils examining them in prolonged slides through their whole length.

"This is bad" she muttered

Flare dashed into the room worriedly "Bad?" he gulped "How bad is it?"

Her whole body swayed, as if she was about to lose consciousness.

"You need to get help"

"Help?" his yellow eyes darted behind his shoulder, aiming at the spread wide open door "I can't leave y-"

"You must find a healer"

"Where?" he whined pitifully

She looked up at him, for a moment in her drowsy gaze a spark of complete contempt flared up, in that brief second he noticed the same lively in her cold and hateful way Iris he got used to see. Lose of blood didn't affect her in the slightest.

"This is a hospital" she mumbled, her cute accent, for his great displeasure, lost somewhere in that whisper "Healers are aplenty here"

"Right!" Flare exclaimed, jumping back in sudden enlightenment "I'll bring help!"

Iris nodded, her chin practically glued itself to her chest.

"Go"

He dashed towards the door, but stopped when he was about to cross the doorstep. His hectic glance landed back on her.

"Are you sure you're-"

"You must get the healers" she looked around the bloodied sheets "As soon as possible" she mumbled devastated

His heart skipped a beat, with flames bursting into the air from his hocks he sprinted into the corridor.

"Is anybody here?" he shouted, his panicked voice rumbling within the halls

_"As soon as possible"_ he heard Iris' voice echoing in his skull

"Hello?" he shouted again, his run slowing down to a walk

"_As soon as possible"_

"She needs help" his voice lost the loud tone, getting weaker and weaker with each spoken letter

_"As soon as possible"_

"My frie-" he stopped moving, voice coming as a whisper

_"As soon as possible"_

He looked behind his shoulder, down the stretched corridor with many doors dotting both sides of its walls, his eyes especially focused on the last ones on the right.

He frowned and turned around.

_"She manipulated you Flare"_ Cynder's voice resounded in his head

He retraced his steps, all the time thinking about the blood on Iris' bed. It was definitely real, this smell he will never confuse with anything. Yet there was something that just bugged him the wrong way. As his claws clicked quietly down the hall one sentence kept swirling inside his head.

It's a game for her.

He stopped right next to the door, instead of walking right through he simply craned his neck forward, taking a peek into the room.

She was sitting right in the same spot, entirely concentrated on breathing delicate icy streams of magical air at the piece of jewelry in her paws. The breath was weak but steady, her posture didn't betray any sign of tiredness that she showed earlier.

She played me again!

Flare growled, wings spat out angry flames as he stepped into the room.

"Does manipulating me makes you happy about your sad, miserable life?!"

Iris gasped, the magical breath she was releasing died momentarily, the freshly created ice block, still not fully formed cracked like an egg shell. The part of the chain she tried to put together dropped back onto the bed.

She jerked her head in the direction of the growl, eyes widened in surprise. The burning drake she thought got rid off for a while returned way too quick for her liking.

She blinked the shock away.

"Your wit fuse is unusually long today Dynamite"

"What?"

"If only by an inch"

He stared at her for a while, room getting hotter by the second, steadily, as if somebody would be controlling the temperature, preventing it from getting too high.

"Stop playing your games with me! I was really worried about you and you treat me like garbage!"

"You don't deserve any better"

"Yeah? You think you're better? Nobody likes you Iris! So if I'm garbage than what are you?"

Her diamond eyes narrowed themselves on him.

"Don't you dare comparing yourself to me trash" she hissed

"See? This is what I'm talking about! You're so full of hate that you don't even want to tell me, the only guy in this room or maybe even in the whole world that isn't your family who cares what's the matter with all this blood!"

She snarled, elemental energy pushed into her veins, ready to be unleashed, but the moment she opened her mouth she started to cough and all that magic disappeared.

She wiped her mouth with an irritated growl.

"If you would shut up then you would know"

"Just know what exactly?" he snapped

Her eyes shimmered differently, they were hurt and ashamed. It was impossible to tell if she was faking it or not.

"Can you really not tell? I'm in heat"

Flare gasped, her revelation caught him completely by surprise. Momentarily his heart started to beat faster and a flush crept on his cheeks.

"I-I-I-In h-h-h-heat?"

She nodded embarrassed.

"You know what that does to a girl?"

He rubbed the back of his head, eying the blood on the bed.

"I-I'm familiar w-with the b-b-basics"

"It's not enough to understand and I'm not going to lower myself to your level and start explaining it. That is why you must get out of my room. Right now"

Flare impulsively retreated, however the moment one of his back legs touched the ground a suspicious frown appeared on his snout.

"Wait a moment. How can I know that you are not trying to trick me again?"

"I wouldn't. You're way too clever for that"

He observed her very carefully, yesterday he might have believed in her words, but his perspective changed completely when Cynder revealed what the dragoness in front of him did. He didn't trust Iris, she was trying to fool him again, even the compliment didn't change his mind.

"You know what? I think you want to make a fool out of me"

She indifferently turned around, slowly turning the broken medallion in her claws.

"I have no intention of digging a grave when there is already a pyre in flames"

His head immediately tilted to the side, a dumbfounded frown showed itself on his snout, gears in his head automatically started to turn, processing the recently voiced words. It was not a smooth work, the gears started to grind against each other, louder and louder black smoke rose up from the machinery, pieces of which started to break with ringing, snapping sound of metal.

And then there was an explosion, the whole machine laid in ruins.

Flare shook his head fiercely.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, but I know for certain that female heat doesn't work that way. I've spent some time around females to know that they don't bleed like you do. So either you are making this up, or you have a hole the size of a crater down there. Without me actually seeing anything I can't really be the judge"

The medallion slipped from her claws, paws froze in midair, her head remained hanging in one place for several seconds. Then her head turned, neck cracked as if it was an ancient tree, her white, piercing eyes shinning brighter than ever before.

She would freeze the whole world with that look, if only it would be possible.

"What did you just say?" she pronounced each word slowly, threatening tone radiating from her sentence for anyone willing and able to listen

Flare was neither.

"I've said that without actually checking what is going on you might want to try to sell me whatever stories you come up with" he replied casually, oblivious to the aggression in her voice

"Did you just ask if you can look under my tail?"

"I did-" his eyes widened momentarily when the sound of her question and the ringing echo of his unfinished response resounded in his head. As if knowing, his voice disappeared back into the throat, running from the situation his clueless and inconsiderate nature created.

A fierce blush crept on his cheek, throwing his head back as if it was burned.

"N-n -no! I-I-I mean t-t-that wit-t-t-thout evidence it's h-h-hard to b-b-believe y-y-you"

"You are just like all the rest of them" she responded coldly

He shook his head "N-n-n-no ! I didn't m-m-mean it l-l-like that!"

"Caught in the act and you still go into denial. Typical"

He shook his head one more time "A-a-a-again, that is n-n-not what I-I-I meant!"

"Want to know why I bled so much?

Flare nodded with a nervous gulp.

"I grew a second cunt'

"Whhhhhat?"

"It's right in front of me"

He scratched the back of his head, with difficulties fighting back the urge to turn around and look for whoever or whatever she is referring to.

"It's really getting on my nerves. You would also want something that makes you sick go away, wouldn't you?"

"I-I guess"

She rearranged herself on the bed, whole body turned confidently in his direction, eyes narrowed on his features.

"Get the fuck out of my room cunt"

His head impulsively jerked back, as if her toxic voice was literally a stinking cloud. In the fragments of books Volteer read to him, even in the parts he pitifully managed to stick together himself, every beautiful heroine never ruined her image, only occasionally showing up flaws that didn't suit her attitude and posture.

No matter what many may think, Iris is also one of such heroines, all that bile didn't suit her. The only thing that made her different from the book heroines is that she willingly tainted herself. There aren't many it seems who can stand her repulsive oddity.

Whoever or whatever she was referring to right now, with that last sentence of hers would most likely feel the same way.

He wasn't one of them.

People look at him differently too.

It takes a freak to know a freak.

His train of thought was interrupted by this uncomfortable itching at the back of his skull, her piercing eyes, aimed on him like that felt like the stone turning gaze of a medusa. He couldn't help himself but to look straight into those cold diamond orbs. His body didn't turn to stone, yet the longer he stared into her eyes the peculiar grinding sound of massive blocks crumbling filled his head.

The noise was coming from the back of his mind, imaginary stone wall was shaking and cracking, letting rays of clarity pierce through. Light of which eventually filled his mind with one rebounding thought.

She is talking about me.

"You want me to leave?" Flare mumbled devastated, voice filled with such suffering that no good heart could pass it indifferently

Iris' gaze remained unchanged.

"Dynamite, you're sparkling bright today. With such quick thinking you can easily race against a retard taking a shit"

He was completely uninterested in what she just said.

"You really want me to leave?"

"Was I too subtle?" she cleared her throat "GET. OUT. NOW. I DON'T HAVE PATIENCE FOR IMBECILES"

The devastated expression on his snout deepened.

She didn't care.

"There. Clear enough?"

He turned around and made a step forward, the moment his recently risen leg touched the floor he stopped. Every strand of his wounded pride urged him to leave. To allow the bitter dragoness drown in her own bile.

He might have done exactly what his pride wanted.

If not for a single thought.

He wasn't one of them.

"No" Flare said

One of Iris' brows raised in reaction to his statement.

"What?"

He turned around, sitting confidently on the ground.

"I've said no"

"Don't test me Dynamite" she snarled

"I think you got to used to playing people as you see fit. You speak and act as nothing has any consequences, as people around you were nothing but sacks of meat. They are not"

"Shut your trap or you're going to regret it moron"

"See?!" Flare blurt out, pointing a claw at her "This is what I'm talking about! You insult me even if I'm here to offer you support"

Streaks of ice appeared underneath her paws, making the sheets below moist.

"I don't need you or your stomach turning lessons of empathy" she pointed at the door "Get. Out"

He shook his head twice, sharply from side to side.

"Not gonna happen"

Iris' mouth opened with a growl, her weak muscles flexed and wavered, obviously at the brink of collapsing. The temperature in the room dropped, a trail of ice appeared within her gaping maw.

And then she started to cough fiercely, collapsing on the bed.

Flare remained in place, only squinting his eyes when the cold waft of magical air combed his fiery mane.

"Iris please, behave, just this once and you won't have to suffer"

"Shut up!" she roared, as she pulled herself on the sheets, white eyes shimmering with fury

"I don't want you here! Why do you torment me?"

"You torment yourself, fighting when you don't need to. Friends help, that's what they do"

"I don't have friends!" Iris snapped "Especially I'm not friends with an imbecile like you"

Flare sighed "Look, we already decided that I'm staying, you might as well stop insulting me every time you speak. It doesn't work"

"_We _haven't decided anything! You barged into my room uninvited and without asking pollute the air with your stench. Get in that stupid head of yours finally that I don't want you here!"

"I've been in a very similar situation that you are now currently, I hated the whole world also, to regain some touch with it and not to go mad and destructive I remembered the words of my…" he swallowed "…friend. It helped me to pull through some really tough time"

His eyes sparkled hopefully "You can contain all that wrath. You're too pretty to let it take over"

Her paws clenched the sheets, tips of sharp claws tore through the material.

"Stop calling me pretty" she growled "If you really want my tail so bad you horny fool then come and take it. Know that I will first bite your dick off before ripping your throat out"

"For what I would need your tail for?" he asked confused "I have my own" and as if trying to prove his point Flare swung it in front of his paws, making it clearly visible for anyone interested.

Nobody was.

She watched him with clear disgust in her eyes.

"Now try to think why you don't deserve my attention"

Flare frowned dumbfounded.

"Troubles with the thinking part? As expected. Get lost. I won't repeat myself again"

He snorted "Insulting and mocking me will get you nowhere. I'm way to used to that"

She stared at him what felt like an eternity before finally turning around, returning to her aborted work.

Time flew by in wordless atmosphere.

"You're going to ignore me now?" he asked

Iris didn't respond.

Flare sighed "We both know that it's not going to work, from the two of us I'm the more patient one. Bigger chances are for you to eventually snap than me leave. Besides you like the sound of your voice, which is cool because I like it too"

Her diamond orbs shifted to the corner of her eyeballs where they flickered with a cold, fierce light and there seemed to be a icy mist wafting lazily from the corners of her eyes.

"Being defenseless sucks doesn't it?"

"What the hell do you want?" she hissed at him

He shrugged "Nothing. I came here to help you. No wait!" he blurt out, throwing his claw in the air "There is something I want"

Her tail curled around her thigh.

"Surprise, surprise" she growled

"I want you to leave Cynder alone. I want you to stop hurting her"

Whatever signs of fury that earlier occupied her features vanished completely, tail relaxed and returned to its original position.

"Did Tat tell on me?"

One of his brows risen up in confusion.

"Who's Tat?"

"No, she wouldn't simply cry on your shoulder. You must have whined to her like you are whining right now to me"

Flare's eyes widened in sudden realization.

"You're talking about Cynder! Why do you come up with those strange names?"

"She wanted to get rid of you so she sent you to pester me"

"Hey!" Flare protested "She didn't send me away!"

Iris tapped her claw on the sheets "Is that so? Did she try to hide what happened? Or perhaps spat my name out with no hesitation?"

"She…didn't spat out anything. She-"

"The latter then" she snorted disdainfully, cutting him off. She once more picked up the medallion in her claws "You see Dynamite? Nobody wants you around"

"That's not true!" he snarled, pushing himself up on all fours fiercely, muscles tensed and burning body spitting out angry flames

"She would never do anything like that! We're friends!"

Iris rose the chain to her eyes, examining it calmly.

"Tat is pathetic, that's why she indulges in a conversation with you and all that pretended friendship so she won't feel so bad about herself"

"Yeah? And just how do you know what she feels?! You don't talk with people!"

"I did my homework" she narrowed her eyes on him mockingly "When we got stuck in the library. You were doing the dirty work and I was reading a book. You remember? Or it is impossible for you to strain your already scarce brain that much?"

Flare frowned, a quiet growl rumbled in his throat.

"I remember" he replied annoyed

Iris' eyes widened "Really? Prove it. Since the skill of reading is impossible to reach for someone of your limited intelligence I'll ask a question you ask when you want to get information from retarded people. Truth be told, you also fit in that category"

His claws scratched the floor below, leaving small hot cuts on the ground. He might have said that insults and mockery have no effect on him, it was the truth, the ugly names she called him didn't bother him in the slightest.

This however was a complete different insult. Her voice was so lofty, her accent, so interesting and pretty earlier, only added more to the already sickening layer. She was speaking like she knew everything, like he was nothing more than an ant. He was aware that he isn't the brightest dragon, but being treated like an…not ant. Being treated like nothing.

He isn't nothing.

"How did the book look like?" she continued in her unnerving tone

"It was thick, black, with engraved letters in the color of shadow" he replied in the same, cold, almost mechanical voice

"Would you look at that, you passed. You must be really proud of yourself, it's a common trait among you little, meaningless bugs. Achieving a goal that for you seem like scaling the peak of a highest mountain while your betters conquered thousand hills like that must feel really rewarding"

"I was right. You really like the sound of your voice"

"In a perfect world my voice would be the only one hearable, all fools would be silenced"

"Perfect worlds don't exist"

Iris looked him over, abhorrence wrinkling her nose.

"So it seems"

Flare narrowed his eyes on her, this time he perfectly understood the meaning behind her words, or simply became more sensitive to the specific aura of disdain surrounding her that he learnt when it sprouts tentacles that touch him.

"I've passed your stupid test"

"The book was about Tat, about the many things she has done and much more"

He shrugged "So what? Everyone has a past, sometimes you just have to do things you don't like"

"Doesn't matter. The fact is she despises herself because of what she did. Don't believe me, ask her, it's clear as day. She keeps you around as a toy, decoy, a clown so people will look at you and not at her. She keeps you around because you are pathetic and naïve, buy every word she says. She keeps you around so she can forget about her past, all she needs is to make you talk, it becomes clear how miserable and worthless you are. It makes her feel better"

He shook his head confidently "Cynder is not like that"

She swung her paw from left to right, as if drawing through the whole length of the room.

"And here you are when she is runnin' around with that purple dragon"

_Purple dragon._

_As soon as possible._

Another words were added to the pool, keys that he knew opened the door called Manipulation.

A keyhole to which showed him no one else but Cynder.

Flare pointed his claw at her.

"I know what you're doing!"

Iris frowned.

"You are incapable of understanding me"

"You're trying to mess with my head! Want me to run off after Cynder! Make me distrust her!"

She said nothing to these accusations, she only stared at him for an unaccountable amount of time, he didn't know what she was thinking about, he wasn't sure if he wanted to know. If somebody would tell him to guess he would say that it wasn't anything pretty, if the flickering cold light in her eyes and the slight, nervous jerks of her tail were any clue.

"I trusted you once" he broke the silence, his voice back to its normal, soft self "It ended with Cynder landing in the hospital. I'm stupid but not without a brain, your words won't fool me twice"

"This mockery of a visit is your idea of a revenge isn't it? You want to punish me for what I did to your girlfriend?"

"No!" he whined, almost pleadingly "No, no, no and no!" he impulsively jumped towards her stopping at the edge of the bed, his move making her jerk back with a faint gasp, one paw bend and risen in the air

"Why for you everything is about anger and punishment? I came here to talk, nothing else, I simply came to talk Iris"

She stared at him with her mouth slightly opened, something changed within her eyes briefly, the diamond, brilliantly shinning orbs lost their scary layer, the glow now more visible than ever. The prism he noticed when he first saw her healed all its scars, letting her diamond eyes shine with all their pristine light.

He heard his jaw cracking open, if not for the bones he was certain that it would drop on the ground. Something built up from within his chest, went up his lungs until it eventually reached his mouth, leaving a numbing after effect behind.

It was a soft sigh.

Iris' bent paw moved and touched the spot where her neckline began. She blinked hectically when her paw touched the scales, her eyes quickly darting at the extended leg just to swiftly land on the ruined medallion on the bed moments later.

Paw returned on the sheets ferociously, a soft thud could be heard when it landed. The moment her eyes went back up everything was the same as before. When his gaze met with those fierce, kind of scary glare a dreadful thought crossed his mind.

It was all just a sweet illusion.

"I don't want to talk" she eventually replied, her voice carrying the usual, bone freezing chill with it

His opened mouth closed with a loud click of his teeth, head slightly tilted to the side as he observed her thoughtfully.

"You know what? I don't care what you want"

She growled, the air got colder once more.

"Could you repeat the last part?"

Flare rolled his eyes.

"Stop with the threats already, you're too weak to hurt me. I can do whatever I want and there's nothing you can do about it"

He didn't even properly exhale the gathered up air after his last sentence before Iris roared and sprang forward. Teeth and claw ready to strike.

He jumped back with a startled gasp, feeling and hearing the snapping teeth and the swinging claws as they missed his scales. However he still patted himself all over, looking for any injuries.

The bed creaked underneath the fiercely dropping draconic body landing on its edge. Iris grunted when her underbelly hit the thick, wooden frame below. Wings impulsively spread themselves open. She landed so unfortunately that her upper body bend over the edge making her front paws and tip of her nose touch the ground of the room while her tail, rump and lower side of her back remained on the bed.

She started to cough fiercely.

"Iris!" he blurt out in worry and sprang towards her

"Leave me!" she snarled at him when he approached, making him stop in his tracks. Her piercing eyes clearly showing that she means it

"I'll help you!" Flare pressed onwards

"LEAVE ME!" she cried out so loudly that he froze in literal fear, his tail slid in between his legs, every part of his burning body seemed to dim itself to barely a flicker

Coughing and groaning Iris fought to scramble back on top of the bed. She was progressing towards her goal, but she was wavering and sliding constantly that the backwards climb seemed to be a feat only achievable by an experienced hiker.

It was painful to look at.

She eventually achieved victory, her whole body found itself on the bed, chin resting on the wooden edge, chest heaving with muffled pants, eyes directed at the red legs ahead.

"I'm so sorry" Flare muttered sadly

"I don't need and want your pity"

He bent on his paws slightly, craning his neck so his worried eyes were looking directly at hers.

"Can I make you feel better somehow?"

She growled, presenting rows of sharp teeth.

"I don't want your help"

"Making people hate you is not the way Iris. People are not the same, believe me, I know. I finally learned it today"

"I don't remember asking for your opinion. Spare me the moral lectures. Nobody is going to teach me what I should do and what not, especially not someone like you who has troubles telling which hole in his body is used for shitting and which for talking"

He frowned, for a moment wanting to focus on the mentioned hole problem he supposedly has, but he quickly decided not to dwell on the matter. At this point, so far down the insult train, he doubted he could make any sense out of any confusing thing she says.

"That was not an opinion, but a friendly advice" he replied softly

"I didn't ask for either"

"Iris listen-"

"Shut up!" she blurt out, punching the wooden frame of the bed, the smacking sound echoing in the room serving as an argument to make her point across

"Do me a favor and cut your tongue out, I'm tired to listening to its wagging"

Flare impulsively touched his mouth "Cut my tongue out? I wouldn't be able to speak then!"

She rubbed her forehead.

"Idiot. Why do you even are still here?"

"We're friends"

"I told you already that we are not!" she roared at him, the bed receiving another blow

Flare winced.

"You should stop doing that, it has to hurt"

"We aren't friends you fool! You clung to me like bear to a honey! If you wanted me then you would already try to make a move"

He cocked his head.

"How could I want you? You're not an object, I can't make you mine"

"You don't understand absolutely anything! How is it possible that you're still alive?"

"Purple dragons usually said that I live only because I'm a real pain in the ass. Whatever that means" he replied indifferently

"Sounds about right. If my ass is not what you want then why did you clung to me?"

Flare looked down at his paw, confusion wrinkling his nose.

"I didn't cling to you, my paws are right over here" he waved one of his legs at her

"At besakne!" Iris howled at the ceiling, the almost begging tone in her voice and the sudden lack of accent made his head jerk back in surprise.

"Why?!" she blurt out in his direction, her voice returning back to the normal accented tone "Why you are here? W-H-Y?!"

He blinked away the shock.

"You're very interesting and I like you"

"You can't like me! I attacked you! And will do so again when you get close enough!"

Flare shrugged "Aggression won't chase me away"

She clenched her paws on the frame of the bed, claws dug into the wood, lifting curled splinters like a knife used to carve from wood.

"Tat doesn't interest me"

He frowned once more, at first not realizing completely what she meant by that, but the longer he spent staring at her in complete silence the more time his train of thought had time to catch up with the sudden change of topic. When it finally did, his eyes widened.

"That means you won't attack Cynder anymore?" he asked hopefully, each word ringing with a tone of joy

"I didn't say that"

Whatever signs of happiness were present on his snout vanished in a moment's notice.

"So you still want to hurt her?"

"I didn't say that either"

Another moment of silence, he once again started to stare at her, confused as much as one can be confused. This time however he didn't find out the exit from this maze of bewilderment.

"I don't understand. You will attack her or not?"

"I may and I may not. Depends if I'll want to"

"That's not an answer"

Iris shrugged.

"That's all I've got. I don't care whether you like it or not, you won't get any better from me"

Flare shook his head fiercely.

"This is not enough"

She growled "Know my generosity moron! I'll only add that she's not my target"

"Really? How can I know that you're not fooling me again?"

"I'm not. My priorities shifted, thanks to you. This should be proof enough for you, I don't acknowledge the assistance of others easily. Lowering myself to such things only to provoke someone is below my stature"

Flare smiled, his features brightened, he was almost glowing with pride.

"Seriously? I made you change your mind?"

She narrowed her cold gaze on him.

"You certainly expanded my possibilities"

"Woo!" he blurt out excited, completely ignoring the peculiar glare she was giving him, wings spitting out joyful sparks as he made a happy spin

He stopped suddenly when something caught his attention, an object on the floor next to the bed.

"Hey, what's that?"

Iris dropped her head onto the bed with a groan as she spotted him moving in the direction she didn't want him to go. In fact she didn't want him go anywhere besides towards the door.

"I did what you wanted" she whined into the sheets

"It's a medallion. Isn't it yours?"

Her head sprang up from the sheets forcefully that some bones snapped in her spine. She momentarily pushed herself up with a spin, pushing the sheets down onto the ground. She swiftly returned to the bloodied position she occupied earlier.

It was empty.

It wasn't here.

She started to hectically dig through every soft material, pushing pillows and every other part that made the bed soft onto the floor.

Nothing.

She must have kicked it off the bed when she sprang at the cretin.

Her eyes darted towards the fire dragon, completely ignoring his idiotic, dumbfounded expression, focusing only on his paw and the tarnished, gold object held within.

Her eyes widened in terror.

"Give it back!" she let out a squeaky blare at him

"It was on the floor-"

"Give it back!" she cut him off, sprinting forward. However she once more forgot that he body has a very limited amount of strength, her legs momentarily wavered and gave away under her weight

In a chaotic twirl of limb and wings she dropped forcefully onto the bed, chin hitting directly into another, thick wooden edge.

The sound of rattling teeth made him wince.

"Iris ar-"

"GIVE IT BACK!" she screamed at him, spitting out droplets of blood, she obviously bit her tongue

"Here!" Flare yelped in fear, extending his paw

She snatched the medallion swiftly and pressed it to her chest, she looked down at the tightly closed paw, loosened the claws a little to take a peek inside, with a gasp that sounded like a relief she pressed her leg again against her chest, with her eyes closed she froze in that position.

A single streak of blood was flowing from her mouth and down her lower lip.

"You have something-" he whispered, pointing at her mouth but his voice abruptly died somewhere within his throat

"I did what you wanted" she muttered, pushing herself up and slowly returning to the position he found her in this room today

She put the ruined object on the now empty mattress.

"I know" he replied gently "The truth is however that worry for Cynder is not the only thing that brought me here"

"I don't care about your personal feelings towards me. If you want the same from me you won't get any"

"I want to help you. Sorry for pointing this out again but you are in no position right now to stop me. I'm doing the best I can from the chance I have, exactly like you did when you sent me to tire Cynder out"

"You're going to regret it moron" she replied, this time however he couldn't hear any trace of threat behind her words

It was almost…endearing?

Flare smiled.

"You know, I couldn't help but notice that the medallion is broken"

"No" she interjected bluntly

He balked surprised.

"I didn't say anything yet!"

"I'm not giving it to you"

"I don't want to take it! I only wanted to offer to repair it"

"No"

"I may be stupid but I'm not clumsy! Besides it's already ruined, it's not like I can do any more harm to it"

"No"

"Come one Iris!" he pointed at the tarnished object "Just look at this thing! The ice you tried to meld it with shattered when it hit the floor, with your powers so weak currently there isn't much you can do, whatever layer you add won't last. Even if you regain your powers ice melts, you will have to remember to patch it regularly"

Her posture remained unchanged.

"No"

"Just let me finish!" he cleared his throat "When I was locked up in that prison of mine I used my fire powers for more things than just killing. I learned some very cool things. I can easily repair your necklace, we would only have to replace some parts of the chain as to avoid making it too small for you to wear it again. I would melt your old chain with the new one and attach the medallion later on, it would work and you wouldn't have to worry about forgetting to patch it. There are no workarounds when it comes to fire, whatever it does, it does it permanently"

Her eyes remained focused on the broken jewelry.

"You're not touching it"

Flare growled irritated.

"Why not? Is it really that important to you?"

She didn't answer that question.

He snorted.

"Fine. Tell you what, I'm not leaving until you tell me what's the deal with that medallion"

She remained silent.

He did the same, waiting for her to start talking again like she did so many times before. Minutes passed and she still didn't say a word

Then more time elapsed.

More.

And more.

Deciding that it was time to act he began to whistle and tap his claws against the floor.

Minutes passed.

More.

And more.

When he still didn't get any reaction from her, the concert he was giving only grew in power.

Minutes passed.

More.

And then Iris let out a defeated sigh.

In that moment he knew that he had won.

A broad grin appeared on his snout.

"My mother gave it to me"

His eyes froze on her silhouette the moment the devastated and full of suffering voice left her throat. The grin from his snout immediately disappeared, he felt a fist clenching his heart and bleeding his soul with guilt.

He felt like a jerk.

"I-I-I'm sorry I-I-Iris" he stammered "I-I-I didn't k-k-k-know"

She ran her claw gently along the surface of the necklace.

"I'm a mess Flare"

He swallowed when he heard her saying his name. Strangely this time he didn't hear any voice warning him that she is tricking him again.

He couldn't utter a word.

"I never told this to anyone"

"Not even your uncle?" he pried gently

"Our relations are…complicated"

He winced, averting his gaze while rubbing one of his legs. He felt embarrassed, he felt like he was trespassing on a territory that he didn't belong to and the only way he gained entrance was because he tortured the guard.

"S-s-sorry" he mumbled

She took a wavering breath.

"This is all that still remind me of my mom. I'm very protective of it"

"I never knew my parents, but I think I understand"

"Those memories are everything that make me remember how good my life once was"

Flare nodded, offering support, he couldn't do anything else, his memories were a complete opposite.

She gently tapped her claw against the round medallion.

"You know, I feel strange just by talking about it, strange in the good way. Perhaps you would like to hear the rest of my story?"

He gulped, shocked by the offer.

"I-I don't know if I-I will be a-a-able to-"

"Right now I just need a good listener" she chimed in "What do you say? Wanna listen to my story?"

He licked his lips.

"I-I-I would l-l-love to"

Iris patted the mattress just next to her.

"Then come, sit next to me"

His tail flew from side to side nervously.

"Didn't you s-s-s-say that y-y-you would a-a-attack me i-i-if I g-g-g-got to c-c-close?

"My claws and teeth won't touch your scales"

Flare shuffled on his legs, hesitation filling his every muscle.

"I'm too tired to speak like this all the time, this is a long story and I need to save my strength. You wanted to help me? This is your chance"

His eyes remained locked at her, time seemed to slow down for him, mind desperately looking for advice. There was no sound in his voice, he couldn't hear Iris' insulting manipulative voice that would wake him up, Cynder also remained silent, nobody was there to offer their support.

Only after a while he understood why.

He didn't need anyone's advice because he already made his mind.

Flare circled the bed around and jumped onto the sheets, when one of his paws touched the spot she offered him a shocking bolt shot through his whole body as if trying to scare him off.

He ignored it.

"W-w-what n-n-n-n-ow?"

She looked at him, he expected to see the breathtaking glimmer in her orbs, but surprisingly it wasn't there.

_Where is the glimmer?_

"Are you nervous?"

He lowered his gaze, focusing on her claws. They remained in place, like she said they would.

He nodded.

"Before we start could you do me a favor?"

His eyes went up, he just couldn't look into her piercing, intimidating eyes from this close. His yellow eyes kept shifting nervously from side to side.

"Y-y-y-yeah?"

"I'm quite hungry, could you grab some food from that tray over there?" she nodded at some spot behind him

He was relieved to turn his gaze away.

"The soup?"

"No, no" she disagreed confidently "Soup won't fill my stomach"

A spark of mischievous triumph crossed her eyes.

"Give me the bread"


	88. Chapter 10 Book V

Chapter 10

When the door opened they expected many things to see. For example Spyro pictured that the walls would be covered in glyphs, prayers, chants, anything that would serve as a ward against evil and the…

Oh how he hated the word.

Taint.

Cynder after the encounter just by the door expected hordes of angry believers standing in formation, pitchforks at the ready to skewer her the moment she puts her head over the doorstep.

Cyril was prepared for absolutely anything, there was no single picture fixed inside his mind, images were flipping and flying, as if his invisible paw would be flicking through a really gruesome and vivid picture book.

He believed that the water filled cavities would be flowing with blood, bodies of those Brill accused of being possessed, or however he called it, lying dead on the marble floor. The mole's faithful clerics jumping all around, stabbing the corpses to make sure they never get up .

He was certain that these people were crazy. Zealots only take it a level further.

No one from them expected that the temple will be the same as they used to remember it.

Excluding the little details.

Like the present dragon carvings in every pillar dotting the main hall and the new wall erected in the middle of the temple with a couple of aggravated draconic snouts engraved on it, with text in the middle, carved in bold, gaudy letters.

EXPEL THE TAINT

Only Cynder from the group noticed the changes, Spyro was already familiar with them so they didn't provoke any reaction from him and Cyril…Cyril couldn't care less.

Besides those little differences the temple remained unchanged.

The floor remained marble like that in the courtyard, the water in the cavities was still flowing lazily and peacefully. The braziers were still giving that dim, atmospheric glow. The door and entrances remained in the same positions, no new ones were added. Statues representing the fallen dragons, worthy enough to be called Ancestors, remained in their lifeless vigil, eyeing the temple with their artificial, stony gazes. The whole interior was still beautifully illuminated by the columns of light entering through the even more prettier stained, colorful windows.

Even with the minor changes and the overall familiarity with the temple the eyes of every visitor were still drawn to what's truly important here. To the statues and the show of candlelight at their feet, now every stony figure had the same amount of candles placed at its base. The flames danced enthrallingly, spellbinding even the most fervent unbeliever.

The sight of dancing candle flame was simply majestic to look at.

The temple was surprisingly empty, which was hard to believe with the encounter just outside this holy place still fresh in their minds. There was only a handful of people here, all were lost in their own world of prayer near some of the statues, they had their backs turned towards them, nobody turned to see who just walked in.

There was only one single caretaker walking around the temple hall, the young draconic cleric's claws clicked on the marble floor so silently and regularly that one had to really focus to hear it, like the deliberate knocking against a tree of the most shy of woodpeckers. The young dragon was making his chores around the statues, replacing old candles and lightening up new ones, for a task many would consider boring and tedious the caretaker was displaying a great amount of zeal. As if the candles weren't only simple symbol of respect, but an object holding the rains of life and death.

Deep down the three recently arrived dragons felt that in a way it was the truth.

After all nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.

"It's so peaceful here" Spyro muttered in outright awe

"Don't allow this pretense to fool you" Cyril hissed anxiously, his cold eyes scanning the serene hall intently "They only wait for you to lower your guard"

"Doesn't smell like a trap to me" Cynder added, like before mesmerized by the pretty columns of colorful light illuminating the room through the even more beautiful glass

The Ice Guardian's gaze turned towards the young black dragoness, eyes shimmering with scorn.

"With your dreamy stare you are unimaginably reliable source of information"

She frowned, her emerald orbs losing the fascinated glimmer in a single blink, she momentarily glared angrily at the old dragon. She's an expert in reading sarcasm, and even bigger one when it comes to contempt, the combination of the two released a ringing, waking sound, like a rumbling bell, impossible to confuse with anything else.

"With your attitude you are unimaginably useful addition to our group" she responded with the same amount of scorn flowing in her every word

"Guys!" Spyro hissed through clenched teeth as he looked behind his shoulder, silencing the building growls within the throats of his companions

"Remember that we're in this together"

"Are we really?" Cyril snapped back, impulsively keeping his voice down "It seems like I'm the only one who is concentrated here, while you to daze off simply by looking at the pretty scenery. Ugh" he snorted disdainfully

"Nobody is dazing off here!" Spyro protested "We're just giving our opinion here, don't tell me that you're not surprised by this" he waved his paw around the serene interior "I'm sure all of us expected to see something completely different. I agree with Cynder here, it doesn't look like a trap at all"

The Guardian rolled his eyes "Of course you agree with Cynder, nobody expected you to do anything else"

"What THAT supposed to mean?" the dragoness snarled

He raised his paw, the bottom side dismissively aimed at her.

The gesture made her tail sway from side to side furiously, a roar rumbled within her throat.

"Perhaps one of you would be so kind as to tell me why do you think everything is soooo dandy here?"

Spyro rubbed his forehead with a sigh "A little team play would be welcome Cyril, seriously"

"For starters I'm still here. See that mister concentrated?" Cynder snarled at the Guardian, aiming her claw at the columns and the gaudy three worded sentence "Seems important to me and yet I didn't burst in flames"

The Guardian's eyes only for a tiny second took the text into consideration, before ridiculing the black dragoness soon after.

"I feel safer already"

She frowned, raising her paw next to her nose, pushing two claws together, with only a little space left in between.

"If for a moment you would looks past your paranoid delusions you would consider the possibility that we might be wrong. These people look ordinary, they simply came to pray, that mole outside the temple, or the ones that got into the hospital might be exceptions. Many people have a lose screw after all"

"This place" she quickly looked around the temple "Doesn't look like a battlefield at all, have you considered the possibility that we actually might be the ones that will turn it into one?"

Cyril shook his head slowly in disbelief "I can't believe that after what you've been through, seen the world for what it truly is, you can still be so naïve"

"Guys, please" Spyro mumbled, tying to sound as calm as possible

"Spyro" Cyril addressed the young purple dragon "Tell our lovely…friend over here that the text on that column is a plain threat. Because it seems voice of reason of someone of higher social status hits deaf ears"

His eyes immediately traveled towards the engraved text, the last word filling him with the same amount of anger as always, yet he simply couldn't force himself to agree with the Ice Guardian. The calm surroundings, the peaceful, glowing light, everything so tranquil.

Why would the column radiate such a blunt threat in such company?

Something didn't add up.

"Maybe we're looking at this the wrong way" Spyro said, narrowing his gaze on the big letters thoughtfully "We came here certain that we found our criminal, the one responsible for everything" he cocked his head "What if we became so terribly absorbed by that idea that it made us blind?"

Cyril sighed tiredly, rubbing his forehead "What are you babbling about?"

His paw went up, claw tapping at his lower lip. "Listen" he turned towards his companions "The last time I talked with Brill I was so pissed at the guy, when I saw that stupid taint text it made me even more furious, something similar you are experiencing right now Cyril. I was so certain of myself that no matter what he said I took his every word as bunch of paranoid crap"

The ice dragon nodded "As you should"

"But now" he spun around again, amethysts orbs aimed at the column "when I leave all that wrath behind me the writing doesn't seem so bad to me anymore"

"If I wouldn't know you Spyro I would say that you were already converted by that smelly rat. You sound exactly like one of his zealots"

"Look at it from a natural point of view. What if the text is no battle cry as we believe? But some sort of a motivational speech? You know, like a motto, like _don't succumb to evil _stuff_, _that kind of thing_"_

Cyril snorted, a puff of ice wafted from his nose.

"A plausible explanation for anyone with nothing more than a peanut inside the skull"

Cynder rolled her eyes "Perhaps instead of insulting our intelligence on every step you might enlighten us on your theory. Please, really, really please" she whined the last words with a clearly fake plea

"It's not a theory, but a fact children"

"Oh!" she blurt out indignantly "We're children now?"

The Guardian shrugged nonchalantly "Not my fault that you act as one"

"I have enough of this!" Spyro growled, his commanding, irritated tone clearly audible even through the clenched teeth that hurt because of the strong press

"Stop mocking Cynder Cyril! Stop mocking me! Us! I know that you're mad, but you have no right to let your anger out on us!"

"First wipe the milk from under your nose boy before you dare to talk to me like that" the ice dragon hissed back, eyes narrowed on the purple dragon, wounded pride clearly shinning within them

"After everything I've been part of, you still consider me a boy?"

"Of course, past deeds mean nothing if you came out from the experience with the same naivety you began with"

Spyro's eyes sparkled, the wagging tail swooshed indignantly.

"Oh, I've learnt plenty don't you worry. For example I've learnt that as a purple dragon it's my birthright to become the voice of my people"

Cyril chuckled in wry amusement.

"Don't embarrass yourself Spyro more than you already did" he smiled at the drake, his stretched mouth radiating the same aura as his laugh earlier "What now? You'll start barking out orders?"

"No! Of cou-" his voice ended abruptly, head lowered itself down, a thoughtful frown adorning his expression. In a moment's notice his head went back up, eyes narrowed on the Guardian confidently

"I will"

The smile disappeared from the Guardian's snout, his icy blue eyes widened.

He wasn't the only one who was surprised.

Cynder also gave the purple dragon a wide stare, perhaps a little less palpable than the Guardian's was, but in her case her cocked to the side head completed the image of shock.

"You certainly must be kidd-"

"You will stop with your snide remarks" Spyro cut off the Guardian unhesitatingly "That's an ORDER"

The shock was gone from the old dragon's snout, his expression adopting the image of barely contained fury.

"Wha-"

"You will stop treating us like idiots" he interjected again "That's an ORDER"

"Sp-"

"You will start considering our opinions" he chimed in once more "That's an ORDER"

After the third interruption Cyril didn't utter a single word, instead his body began speaking in his name. Trails of icy smoke started to rise from his claws which curled themselves backwards, like bird's talons ready to snatch its prey. His chest started to heave faster, instead of a normal breath, mists of cold clouds started to waft from his slowly panting mouth like steam from a train engine.

Cyril couldn't believe what he just heard, he felt like every part of his being demanding to show the impudent kid his place in this world, he was already at the brink of showing where exactly he has the boy's orders if not for that single pull holding him back.

Respect.

He hated that feeling, but there it was. No matter how many things he can say about the purple dragon in front of him one thing remains unchanged. Spyro did the impossible, exactly as he expected for a legendary dragon to do, after all is someone like him, of his spectacular bloodline notices a spark of greatness, it has to be true.

And it was.

Perhaps now the spark he noticed is starting to turn into a brightly burning flame.

About time.

To Spyro's great surprise Cyril's expression softened, well at least as much as his cold natural demeanor allowed to.

"Very well"

He blinked with a startled gasp, from all the things he expected the Guardian to do, he never believed he would comply. And without some screaming to top it all. He impulsively sought advice, turning his dumbfounded attention towards his feminine friend, her expression unfortunately offered none, body language pronouncing only one single sentence.

Don't ask me.

"You really want to know why your opinions are worthless?"

Spyro swallowed, suddenly being in the center of the ice dragon's attention made him really uncomfortable. As if through the pair of those two blue eyes the whole world was staring at him instead of a single, breathing creature.

"You're going to tell us? Just like that?" he asked, bewilderment clearly audible in his voice

"As much as I hate explaining myself, it's about time you took the reins of responsibility in your paws. Our race deserves a worthy leader"

Spyro rubbed the back of his head.

"Thanks…I guess"

"It was not a compliment. You still have a long way ahead of you" the Guardian retorted bluntly

"Uff" Cynder let out a sarcastic breath of relief "Good that nothing changed, it was really starting to get creepy with all that politeness here"

The Guardian's blue orbs shifted to the corner of his eyes, aiming themselves coldly at the dragoness.

"If the circus of Annoyance finished its show then perhaps I might be able to continue"

She smiled, prepared to counter- attack with another snide comment , but in that moment her eyes impulsively searched for Spyro, as if instinctively sensing his amethyst gaze on her.

Her instinct was correct, he was indeed looking her way.

The begging stare he was giving her wiped away every trace of smile from her mouth. His look and the recently spoken scolding words of the Guardian resounding in her head told her that this was a really poor time for a sarcastic remark. She was told that dispersing thick atmospheres with well-timed cheerful comments was her specialty.

It hit her rather bluntly that in this particular case there was a problem with the well-timed part.

She felt like Cyril for a moment and the feeling was enough for her to lower her head, curl her tail in between her legs and shuffle one of her paws across the floor shyly and in complete, total, embarrassing shame.

"Now as for why I think you're opinions are only sweet delusions" Cyril continued turning his attention indifferently from the dragoness and towards the purple drake before pointing his claw at the massive door through which they passed recently

"First. People outside and the looks they were giving our entertaining friend over here. You can't possibly believe that they were also exceptions, or simple worried stares"

Spyro impulsively turned his attention towards the door.

"For us maybe it was weird, but to better understand them I think we should look from their perspective"

"Their perspective? Dogs on a leash don't have perspective, they just wait for their master to give them a signal to lash out"

Spyro winced "That's a pretty…harsh comparison"

Cyril shrugged indifferently "There's no room for sentiments in truth"

"D-" he licked his lips, the thought of insulting people, even if he didn't really mean it and only wanted to keep the conversation on track, made him disgusted with himself no matter the motive

"Dogs" he finally muttered "not only obey commands, but also protect their territory. Somehow there is no one banging at the door right now"

The Guardian narrowed his eyes on the mentioned door, as if expecting them to explode soon and let a horde of rabid, bloodthirsty hounds inside. When nothing happened, Cyril's tail began to wag anxiously.

"They must be waiting for something" he mumbled his pensive thoughts out loud

"Maybe they are simply afraid" Cynder added her on ideas to the conversation

"Frightened people don't challenge their horrors for a battle of stares. They run"

"To where? If your faith was as strong as theirs, where would you run? What place would you consider to be safe?"

"A temple" Spyro answered the question

Cynder nodded jauntily "Exactly. Wouldn't you be afraid if a known murderer entered your home?"

"Cynder…"

"Look from their perspective right?" she chimed in, interrupting Spyro's caring mumble "For them I'm evil incarnate, my stinky, dark paws crossed the doorstep to their most sacred haven. You understand now their fear? They're afraid that I taint their temple, if I was a stout believer I would get cold paws also"

Cyril let out a disgruntled snicker "You quickly forget that one of those _scared_ people tried to choke you to death"

She raised her paw into the air in such a way that only a single claw pointed up.

"One. One of how many again? Besides, as I already said, one person doesn't make the image of the whole, some take matters way too seriously. In truth I'm not really sure she WANTED to kill me, all she wanted was to prevent me from getting inside. She simply took it a little too far" she shrugged "People aren't the same"

"That mole most likely was on a different level of indoctrination, very much similar to the drooling rodents that visited the hospital"

"We don't have any evidence linking those moles from the hospital to Brill" Spyro added

"Who else could it be?" Cyril growled, turning his head sharply at the dragon, leaving a trail of icy smoke hanging in the air behind his moving nose

"Nothing like that happened in this city, everything changed when that little fucker showed up here. That's all the evidence we need"

"That's not evidence, but guesses"

"Spyro" Cyril rumbled, pressing his claws to his forehead as if trying to calm a pulsing headache "I follow your orders as you wanted, don't force me to desert. I swear, you two sound exactly like Terrador."

"What if these people are innocent?" Cynder asked

"That's the whole point!" The Gurdian exclaimed, his muffled shout radiating relief

Both young dragons looked at each other in confusion.

"You lost us" Spyro pointed out the obvious

The old dragon pointed his claw at the dragoness,

"Cynder just hit the jackpot"

"I did?" she mumbled surprised

"What has innocence to do with anything?" Spyro asked, expression adorned by a thoughtful frown "Weren't you just talking just how all these people resemble dogs?"

Cyril nodded.

"I did, that was my first argument why you are delusional. My second argument is innocence"

Once more the young eyes met and once more they radiated nothing but confusion.

"Nope" Cynder said with a kind smile "We're still not following"

"No surprise there. You are incapable of understanding this" Cyril closed his eyes with a wince, already feeling the angry looks of his young companions on him. His paw jumped up in the air defensively "It came out wrong, I meant no disrespect. You are simply too young to understand some things and I'm not calling you childish here, just for the record. This is just the way it is"

"Then help us understand" Cynder pleaded politely

With a sigh the Guardian's eyes traveled up the pillar of light, until they reached the beautiful stained window on the ceiling, depicting a flying dragon in all his glory on a cloudless sky.

"When this city was being built" Cyril began his monolog, his tone of voice becoming more soft as he recalled old memories "you weren't even in the plans of your parents. It's common knowledge that Warfang was constructed in our name, but only a few truly understand what it truly means"

Something unexpected happened second later, that shocked the two young dragons. A truly, happy and honest smile stretched the dragon's old mouth.

"You should have seen our race then. Proud, confident and strong. Generals in the likes you will never meet now. Those statues that surround us now, I knew some of these Ancestors personally and I'm proud to say so. That was a great generation, and the greatest of them all not so long ago walked this very earth. Malefor"

Both Cynder and Spyro looked at each other, slightly disturbed by the fact that someone can call a mass murderer the greatest example of the draconic race. However they didn't dare to interrupt the Guardian in reciting history.

"I know what you're thinking" Cyril said, as if he was reading their minds like an open book "Back then the name Malefor represented every trait that was the essence of a dragon. The good ones. You hear people saying that Warfang was constructed before Malefor and that is also what you find in history books. The truth is however that Malefor was very much alive when the first blocks of the city were put together. Sadly that part of his life was forgotten, no wonder, since the impact on the world he left as Malefor that many are familiar with was far more…noticeable"

Spyro and Cynder heard some time ago that the Dark Master had a different side to him. Spyro wasn't entirely convinced, more due to personal beef than anything else, but he was able to acknowledge, even with great difficulty, that perhaps things were different one day.

Cynder on the other paw didn't believe in any word about Malefor actually being the good guy. Only hearing the praising voice of the Guardian when he mentions that wicked name which turned her life to hell made her furious.

Cyril sighed, clearly announcing that the little digress is over.

"We stood against creatures which names are already forgotten, and creatures that still walk this soil. We defeated them all, gaining more and more land, eventually earning the respect of all the lesser races. We earned their devotion, we earned the respect we deserved. Years flew by in an atmosphere of peace. That's when Malefor in his, I believe, great wisdom, changed it all"

Whatever strands of politeness holding her fury back snapped.

"Then he was sick from the beginning! You were just too blind to see it!" Cynder blurt out, only with extreme difficulty holding back the roar building up within her throat that would most likely shake the very foundations of the temple.

"You call going on a bloody rampage wisdom?! That bastard ruined years of peace! Thrown this world into chaos! What's wrong with people wanting peace?!"

"With peace? Nothing" the Guardian replied calmly, unmoved by the dragonesses outburst "With innocence? Very much"

"There is absolutely nothing that Malefor did that in any way benefited our world!"

"I already explained to you once how Brill and his city, Warfang, city constructed in the name of divine creatures, us, messed with people heads, so excuse me if I won't go into details again. All you need to know that people no longer thought about fighting, forgot about the bloodshed, memories of past wars were only that, memories. It was expected from the lesser races to hide in the shadows of their betters, but it was not expected from us to meld into that shadow ourselves!"

"People forgot about bloody wars. Simply tragic!" she exclaimed sarcastically

"Brill not only made us forget about the wars, but also made us believe that they never happened in the first place!"

Cynder snorted disdainfully, her head shaking fiercely, obviously unable to see logic in the Guardian's words. If there was any to begin with that is.

"What's wrong with that?" Spyro stepped in, automatically taking his partner's side, releasing her from burden to stand against the horrors of her past alone

"This is not our way!" Cyril growled, clenching his paw firmly

"Forgetting about horrible past is a normal thing to do. Wounds heal over time"

"That's the problem Spyro! People started to treat past experiences like wounds while in truth they should become our scars! We are defenders of this withered world! We are not meant to forget and become meek sheep, we are meant to be hardened by the experience to become golems. We are creatures of warfare!"

"There is hardly any warfare to find in peace"

"Wrong!" Cyril blurt out, pointing his claw at the purple dragon challengingly, as if expecting to hear this argument and trample it into a pulp at a moment's notice

"Life is a constant warfare! Even during peace!" he moved his eyes between the two young dragons, sadness radiated from his blue eyes "Can't you really not see this? We are creatures capable of wielding the elements of the world itself! Our every move should leave an impact on this earth! We are creatures indescribable by words! Symbols of magnificence!"

"In peace, when we discuss the future the whole world trembles, ready to be shaped according to our will. In war, when we march the earth shakes below our paws and the sky cracks under the strong flaps of our wings. When we love, every flower withers, waterfalls freeze, sun dims, the world stops, unable to stand against the beauty of our feeling. When we mate the earth itself cracks underneath our rolling, sweating bodies, the sky splits and clouds skitter away at the sound of our blissful roars!"

"Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Wrath, Envy, Pride. This is what defines us! Nothing else, nothing more! There is no place for innocence here!"

Cynder spun around, eyes glowing with pained fury.

"These are destructive traits! More likely leading us into oblivion than the pedestal of glory you so badly dream of!"

"That's no mere fantasy girl" he waved his paw around "Look around you, we were on that pedestal! Malefor led us there"

"What pedestal are you talking about?! He led people yeah, but to their doom! Nowhere else! He slaughtered millions! And you worship his name as he would be a hero!"

"He snuffed out a generation of worthless creatures, treading a path for a new one to thrive. I'm aware that many of those deaths were an unfortunate collateral damage, but most were a necessary remedy"

"You're right!" Cynder exclaimed, her eyes widening in a dripping with sarcasm expression that even the blind would see. Her stifled shout making those praying at the sides of the temple wriggle nervously

"We should really construct his statue here, why he deserves all the respect for the bloodbath he caused!"

"Come on Cyril!" Spyro chimed in, his voice far more aggressive than he wanted it to sound "The guy is dead, gone, there's no point bringing his cursed name here. Let's bury that part of our history, it has nothing to do with our current problems anyway"

His purple eyes impulsively turned towards his partner, offering as much of silent support as possible. Even if she didn't pay him much attention, panting heavily like a bull, her glowing green eyes constantly aimed at the ice dragon, he hoped that she felt his support.

Just as he felt the pain and the blood dripping from the freshly torn scabs on her soul.

"That part of our history has everything to do with our today's problems Spyro. Everything!" Cyril extended his claw, drawing an invisible line across the row of statues to his right

"Ancestors watch us day and night, and you know what they feel? Shame" his paw fell back down on the floor devastated "Our proud race reduced to dust, struggling against apes. Apes!" he shook his head in disappointment "Fiery hearts turned to glass"

He furiously spun around, paw landing on the nearest pillar, claws digging into the stone with screeching noise.

"This meekness is Brill's fault. He turned us into worthless creatures. Malefor was the cure and hopefully, if Ignitus was right, the cleansing ended with you Spyro"

Cynder tapped her paw against the floor, the slapping sound very similar to the sound of clapping hands.

"Ok then! Statues of murderers coming right up!" her head started to turn from side to side in a mocking manner, keeping the false pretense of searching for something

"Where are the rocks? Such magnificent symbol can't be ignored!"

Cyril's claws stopped moving, his blue eyes narrowing on the scratches they left behind. A smirk stretched his lips.

"Then you better not forget about your own statue"

Spyro cringed, with the eyes of his imagination seeing the wounds behind the freshly peeled off scabs bursting open, sending waves of blood flying. His bent down silhouette turned, eyes in fear aiming themselves at his friend.

Her whole figure was completely frozen in a pose of utter shock. The bandaged, injured leg bent and hovering above ground. Mouth parted open, eyes so huge that they nearly popped out from their orbits.

Invisible currents of agony crawling behind scales like snakes.

"Cynder…"

"You are the extension of his will after all"

His pitiful mumble carrying her name was killed somewhere in between the arrogant words of the Ice Guardian.

The wince only deepened on his snout, when he opened his eyes the temple seemed to get darker, as if the moon itself would push the sun out of the way. People that visited the temple let out gasps of fear. Heads of the people kept turning around, scanning every part of the temple, either above or below.

Only when they finally spotted the reason behind this uneasiness in the air they all huddled close to each other, mumbling something, words only for their ears to hear, their nervous whispers mixing with the temple's special atmosphere. Every eye landing on the trio of dragons.

"I wasn't given a choice"

Spyro's eyes landed on the one responsible for saying this words. The shocked expression disappeared completely from Cynder's features, replaced by a mask of fury and total contempt for absolutely everything.

Her eyes were no longer wide and startled, their physical appearance was nothing out of the ordinary.

It was what hid inside that drew a dagger through his heart.

Her emerald orbs lost the shimmer that he so adored, the once happy eyes, sparkling brighter than ever after their shared night were gone. Now turned completely lifeless, looking so very much alike the green eyes of Cynder driven by Corruption. With gaze like that and the shadow that stretched from underneath her body and crept from every darkened corner of the temple covering rock after rock in complete blackness, one would believe that the sun will never wake again. It's the time when your horrors are brought to life.

He wasn't afraid of the stretching shadows, or the murderous gaze, because with bond such as theirs he knew that it was simply a mask. The rekindled darkness wasn't aimed at anybody, it was simply a reflection of her own battle with her own horrors.

He was afraid of the fact that he knew that there is absolutely nothing he can do to make this right.

"He used me" Cynder continued, voice as dark as the growing shadows, surprisingly kept low and quiet, unconsciously perhaps following the unwritten rules of respect of the temple

"Precisely" Cynder added, with unhidden fascination observing the shrouded in darkness temple

"Turned me into a monster"

"Semantics. People are mostly too stupid to see the bigger picture"

The room got darker even more, the old dragon's words and the way he pronounced each and every one of them…so cold and sure of himself…made her want to spit all that shadow in his direction and suffocate him.

"Ruined my life"

The Guardian pressed his paw to one of the pillars, a part that was still quite bright. With an indescribable spark in his eyes he observed as the slithering shadows from the bottom of the pillar crept over his leg.

"I would disagree with that"

"Cyril that's enough!" Spyro growled, sick of this situation

"Forced me to murder thousands of people" Cynder continued in her constantly darkening voice

"One generation has to end for another to thrive"

"Enough!" Spyro shouted again

She made a step towards the Guardian, paw sinking into the splotch of darkness that followed her.

"He made me his slave"

He observed her with a glimmer in his eyes that betrayed awe, even if every other part of his body desperately clung to indifference.

"The end justifies the means"

"Enough!" Spyro roared, however once again his voice reached deaf ears

Another step, black paws sunk deeper into the gladly following magical pool of shadow.

"He took away my WILL"

Cyril shrugged callously.

"For the job to be done you had to become him. You killed Brill, I say that proves you became like your master"

"I AM NOT LIKE HIM!" she roared, shadows around the temple pulsed like a dark heart, her rumbling, intimidating blare made all the people in the temple scream in horror, forcing those close to dash towards the main door, the rest scattered in every other direction.

Cyril observed with disgust the scenery of cowardice unfolding all around him, his eyes especially focused on the young draconic caretaker, who seemed to be the most frightened of them all.

"At least this shortens our time of waiting for that fucker to show up"

The temple brightened momentarily, shadows shrunk back from the walls and pillars, sliding back underneath Cynder's paws where they belonged. Stretching only from her body, in the direction the braziers wanted.

Everything went back to normal.

When Spyro's head finally stopped moving around and returned to its original, natural spot he noticed Cynder's eyes aimed directly at him. Eyes full of hurt, but also of almost palpable gratitude and indebtedness.

He wasn't certain, but he thought he noticed a crack of a smile appearing on her serious snout.

Green eyes shifted back at the ice dragon.

"You know why I'm not like him? I have something that asshole never had. I have unwavering TRUST which I have no intention on shattering. You should be glad for that, who knows, maybe that's why you're still breathing"

Cyril smirked, surprisingly not offended by the insulting threat that in any other situation would provoke him.

"Perhaps you are not like him as you say, but you have the traits I mentioned embedded within you. Traits HE personified"

"Bullshit. Somehow I don't picture Malefor fighting against the odds for people's forgiveness"

"Gluttony" Cyril pointed out proudly

"Neither do I imagine him wanting it"

"Lust"

Cynder frowned, she was pretty certain he was provoking her.

"Being such a bumptious dick as he was, he would never bare the fact that someone opposes him and lives to see another day"

"Pride"

A growl rumbled within her throat, the thought about giving up never crossing her mind.

"He never wanted a life of peace that many people live"

"Greed"

The cocky tone of his voice made her furious.

"War and death were always on his mind, no matter how well he hid it, people don't become power hungry idiots the next day just like that. Peace didn't exist in his dictionary"

"Envy"

Whatever notions of restraint snapped away.

"OH FUCK YOU CYRIL!" she roared straight into his snout, letting out all her boiling emotion in that single blare "Fuck you and your condescending tone! Your idol rots in the hell he deserves and I hope you'll join him there soon!"

With that she stormed off, making her way to nearest rows of statues, tail wagging furiously from side to side.

Spyro opened his mouth, but no sound came out, he simply felt that this was not the right time to say anything. Independence needs its space, especially in situations like these.

"Wrath"

He frowned at the sound of the arrogant tone, lips wavered as he turned, revealing his sharp teeth that only added more intimidating touch to his angry snarl.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Spyro snapped at the Guardian

Cyril's eyes landed on the purple drake, eyes radiating nothing but cold boredom.

"What the hell were you thinking by bringing it up?! You said you'll stop with your insults!"

"If you would only look past the shackling impulse of friendship you would see that I followed your every given order"

"Like hell you did!" he accusingly pointed his claw in the direction his friend went "If that would be the case you wouldn't have offended Cynder!"

The Guardian rolled his eyes "I don't remember you ordering me to hold back from speaking the truth. If there are some who can't handle it…" he shrugged "Not my problem"

"Who gave you the right to say what is true and what not?! Your arguments can be interpreted as obsession with Brill as well!"

Cyril laughed "I just showed you the proof Spyro and you still go into denial"

"You praised Malefor for Ancestor's sake!" he blurt out, stomping the floor with his earlier risen leg

"I tried to open your clouded by feelings eyes. I didn't praise him, don't take me for a fool, I remembered what he did. By his example I showed you what it means to be a dragon"

"What's the difference?! You have an almost fatalistic view about our race. It all leads to the same thing!"

Cyril sighed, rubbing his forehead tiredly "Spyro spare me the sickening moral talk, I had enough of hearing it from Terrador's mouth as it is. Just accept your potential, directly if you will"

"I don't plan on doing anything for you! You hurt my friend!"

"And yet you are still here!" the ice dragon exclaimed, flaring his wings open in irritation "You unconsciously follow the role meant for you"

He did not respond to that, clearly showing that he is not interested in the role the Guardian has in mind.

Cyril didn't care.

"Can't you really not see this? Ignitus was right about you"

Spyro threw a brief glance at the statue that represented his late mentor. He really wanted to tell the Ice Guardian to screw himself, but he just couldn't force himself to do it. He owed something to his foster father.

"I just showed that Cynder represents all those traits I mentioned"

"That's not true" he replied confidently "There is no kindness there and she showed plenty. She is so much more, impossible to describe with six words"

"Motives! You are talking about motives!" Cyril practically whined "Those may differ from dragon to dragon. The essence remains the same however"

"I saved Cynder when I got the chance. How that fills into the so called essence?"

"Exactly!" he blurt out obviously relieved "Even if you also represent the true definition of a dragon you managed to break the shackles! You stopped the cleansing, not once but twice! You also turned the first nemesis into an ally! Ignitus said you are a way of nature to balance itself and I stand by his words"

Spyro lowered his head, thinking about what has just been said. Ignitus was wise, even through his somewhat blind belief in his powers he could perfectly argument his every word that you simply could not agree with it.

And yet now, hearing Cyril recalling with awe the very same words Ignitus used many times filled him with nothing but doubt.

"You marked the beginning of a new generation" Cyril continued "You and Cynder will show what it means to be a dragon. You will pass your virtues onto your offspring, truly a great future is ahead for our race. I say this from the deepest part of my egotistical heart"

"What if you're wrong?" Spyro asked, making the Guardian gasp slightly "What if all those things that you say are only a battle between good and evil? What if simple morals are in play here?"

"Please, destiny and prophecy, both of them are real. Don't insult Ignitus' memory by doubting that"

"If they are real then what is Brill doing here? He was killed was he not?"

Cyril growled, claws leavening deep scratch marks on the floor "An unfortunate coincidence, nothing else"

"What if he is the one that is supposed to help us? Expand the definition of dragon?"

"He is here to corrupt it as he always did!" Cyril rumbled "And I won't allow this city to be turned into a pasture for meek sheep"

"I would rather see it burn first"


	89. Chapter 11 Book V

Chapter 11

Eventually things became relatively quiet, most likely because of tiredness than anything. The argument they having seemed to have no end, so when the opportunity arose to slip away Spyro didn't hesitate even for a second. There was no chance they would convince each other to change their point of view anyway.

Bluntly put, it was a dead end.

Even Cyril seemed to get tired to listening to his own voice, of course he didn't confess it, in fact the Guardian threw some snide remarks when Spyro withdrew from the conversation. He didn't really remember what the old dragon had said and Cyril did not make any other attempt to force his words to sprout roots in his young head.

This was proof enough that the Guardian had no intention on continuing this debate any further.

Spyro was glad for that, he had enough of this toxic conspiracy theories, he was aware that the peace is a temporary one, lasting only till finally Brill himself decides to show up. In this moment of silence he lost interest in completely everything they just talked about, his concentration was entirely focused on something else.

The black figure sitting ahead.

When Cynder stormed off she immediately took position in front of Ignitus' statue, as if being pulled by it. Being so roughly reminded of your past deeds you would rather want to forget about is nothing pleasant. Especially when the wounds just don't want to heal.

He felt her pain, his heart urged him to do something, anything, urged him to take that pain away. Yet, this time, out of respect for her, as stupid as it sounds, he did nothing. Independence is important for her, he was certain that if he would ran after her immediately, convincing her that none of what Cyril said is true, would make the situation even worse.

She has to come to such conclusion herself, those are her demons to fight. Unfortunately.

Even if he knew all that he simply couldn't leave her alone, he simply waited for the worst to subside, circling the temple, trying to make himself look busy while in truth observing her intently.

Especially her tail.

At first it was sliding from side to side aggressively, as if it wasn't a natural part of a draconic body that most of the time you don't even feel moving, more likely acting like it had a mind of its own. It looked like a dog jumping from side to side, warning everyone that biting is in order for everyone that gets too close.

Over time the furious jerks became more calmer, reaching almost the point of stagnation, as he observed the tail he imagined it whining.

He took that for a sign.

There are still many things he doesn't understand about Cynder, what it truly means to love someone like her, or females in general, but now he simply didn't care about that. Instead of participating in the unending fight of deciding what is right or wrong he simply acted, kind and charmed heart serving as his only guide.

Spyro as silently as he could approached her from behind, with her tail in between his legs he stopped right behind her.

"Is it safe for me to be so close?" he whispered kindly, practically resting his chin on her shoulder

He noticed a trail of white teeth when the corner of her mouth stretched into a smile.

"You're learning" she praised him lovingly, one paw reaching up, gently rubbing his nose

He smiled, placing a brief, affectionate kiss on top of her shoulder, as he pushed back he noticed her lips wavering.

"You didn't give me any other choice" he replied endearingly, sitting next to her

Cynder chuckled, playfully bumping her flank into his.

"Ass"

"Hey" he whined, rubbing his shoulder as if it was aching beyond imagination

"What was that for?" his snout covered wrinkles of fake offended and hurt expression

She grinned.

"That was for calling me a shrew"

He winked.

"Speaking of which" Cynder continued, looking around the temple "Where's Grouch?"

Spyro shrugged.

"Somewhere on the opposite side of the temple I guess, that's where I 've seen him heading. Most likely trying to bring one of the unlucky Ancestors to life, with his oratory skills he might actually succeed. He has the necessary charm to wake up even the dead"

Cynder snickered.

"You can be mean when you want to"

He straightened up, every piece of scale on his snout stretched, forming the pitiful image of Cyril's natural expression.

"That was a compliment" he mimicked the Guardian's voice with relative success

She laughed, out of respect covering her mouth to muffle the joyful sound coming out from her throat.

"Thanks Spyro"

"Thanks?" he blurt out amused, jerking his head back with a smile

"If you're thanking me for that then Cyril is about to get a prayer I think"

She pushed him playfully with a giggle.

"Stop it! I'm serious"

With a chuckle he cleared his throat. Making it obvious that he is listening.

She smiled lovingly.

"First I want to thank you for cheering me up, people usually say that that this is my specialty, not sure if they would still think like that after hearing you"

She lowered her head, observing her gently shifting paw which soon landed on top of a purple one. She squeezed the leg below gently and with such affection that the purple paw couldn't remain idle. It responded by tensing all the surrounding muscles, the pleasant initial shock lasted for a second then the purple paw relaxed and delicately wiggled in her caring grip, like a cat turning its body around to be pet exactly where it wanted.

"Lastly" she whispered, raising her head, eyes glistening with the breathtaking power that stole his freedom

"I want to thank you for allowing me to deal with this myself, to allow me to retain some scraps of my independent will, it means a lot" she chuckled wryly "Now I just have to lie to myself that it actually worked"

"You don't have to thank me for that" he replied softly "I'm right here Cynder, you don't have to do anything alone. You don't have to carry this weight on your own. I'm here to lift your burden, allowing me to do that is not being dependent on me, I signed up for this. I am your personal pain mule, use me for carrying the heavy stuff, that's what I'm here for"

She shifted closer to him, her paw that was holding him slithered up his leg, below his shoulder just to stop directly on his chest, exactly in the same spot where she placed her head when they first kissed.

Both dragons let out longing and blissful breaths, perhaps unconsciously knowing that their souls returned to that moment at the same time and just for that one fleeting moment everything was perfect.

Her eyes sparkled as she observed her paw pressed against his golden chest, not even aware of the gentle coaxing her extended leg performed. Her whole focus drawn to the rhythmic thuds she felt pulsing below her paw.

"I don't want to spoil your treasure" she replied, smiling shyly as she cocked her head, lips parting as if spellbound

He took her paw into his, planting a soft kiss on top of it.

She smiled beautifully at him, a full of love smile never leaving her snout.

"It's not mine any longer. I gave it all to you"

His words warmed her soul.

"Aren't you a romantic" she tried to sound sassy, but when she spoken the last word the next swig of air was a shivering snort of emotion. Even if she would really want to believe in her intentions she would be unable to convince herself

"I'm not fooling around" he guided her paw back to his chest "Don't you feel how it beats? It doesn't pound like that even when I'm tired" he smiled, lowering his eyes down at her leg, rubbing the extended limb affectionately

"Sometimes I have a feeling that it would jump out of my chest when you would only show the intention of grabbing it"

The space between her lips became even bigger when a breath of excitement wafted from her opened mouth, desperately holding back the nudge to clench her paw and test the theory. Her eyes sparkled with every pound of his magical heart, she felt it playing against her paw and she was certain that it wouldn't have anything against her if she would pull it out.

"N-n-no" she stammered, the emotions freezing her lips like ice. She patted his chest delicately.

"You can't change" she rolled her body around, enough to be able to press her lips to the same spot on his chest where her paw was earlier

He instinctively combed her head, the warm lips caressing his chest made him shiver.

She raised her head, glistening pairs of colorful eyes meeting each other for a brief moment before hiding under the cover of their eyelids as their lips automatically locked with each other. They caressed each other slowly and passionately, at the border of erotic even. For the very first time letting their tongues dance on the ball in the other's mouth.

They have never done this before, but nevertheless it still felt so natural. They didn't care if somebody will see them, nor they weren't bothered by the place they were in. For some it might seem inappropriate, but for them it felt simply naturally. If there was a place in this temple where they could truly be themselves and feel safe, it was here

Under the stony watch of the late Fire Guardian.

She was the first to pull away, biting on his lower lip before finally retreating.

"I agree" he whispered blissfully, opening his clouded eyes "Let's run away"

She giggled "What? That's it? A simple erotic kiss and you'll do everything for me?"

"Yes" he replied automatically

Another giggle escaped her throat "You're such a male"

He smiled "Good to hear, with you being so fierce I was having doubts about my masculinity"

She burst out laughing, her cheerful cry rumbling within the temple, only when the echo of her laugh rebounded within her head she remembered where she actually was and what it really meant. Eyes opened up widely, one paw momentarily smacked into her mouth, muffling the chuckling sounds from her throat.

He couldn't help himself but to smile broadly at seeing her expression.

She shook her head.

"They're going to torch me for sure" she muttered through the toes of the still pressed black paw to her snout

He chuckled.

"There's nothing to laugh about!" she blurt out with amused indignation, playfully smacking his shoulder with the paw that previously was plastered to her mouth

"We laughed and kissed in a temple Spyro" she whispered, craning her neck forward, eyes looking around for possible enemies soon to appear

"There couldn't be a worse place to do that! It's like starting a party in a cemetery. Some things you just don't do"

He cocked his head from one side then to the other.

"Ehh, I don't know"

She looked at him with a surprised frown "You don't know? Seriously? Ancestors are watching and all that?"

"It's not like we did in on purpose right? We didn't have any intention to deliberately scar the aura of this place, besides it's not like we did something really that malevolent. We kissed under the statue of Ignitus"

He looked up at the mentioned figure, he felt a dagger stinging his heart.

"This is the natural ground in this place if you ask me, here rules don't matter. I don't know how about you, but I feel he would be pleased if he would see us now, after all he is the one that made this happen if you consider everything. At least now he is definitely certain that his work was not pointless. We owed him that much I guess"

She swallowed and looked behind her shoulder, aiming her eyes at the stony snout of the late Fire Guardian. Her eyes didn't linger there long, she felt somewhat intimidated by the artificial stare of Spyro's foster-father even if she couldn't feel any sense of guilt rising within her.

There was only that peculiar and hard to describe feeling of being a welcomed stranger in someone's other family.

"That and this is a holy place" Spyro continued "Holy things happen and are welcome here. And I consider you and the feeling that connected us to be sacred"

Her whole body tensed, head that was already low went even farther down, his words stiffened her neck so badly that the jerk of her head practically hurt. She was flooded by an overwhelming, pleasant numbness, drowning her senses and soul simultaneously.

All she could feel was the temperature heating up her cheeks and the instinctive sense of admiration for Spyro and his perfect timing considering the place and situation they were in.

All that time she was sure that she was the one who won his heart and not the other way around.

Now she felt like it was her heart that was defeated, once more her fate being directed by someone else.

This time however, despite her nature, she had nothing against it.

She turned her head ever so gently, not fully facing him, just enough for her sparkling green eyes to see him. Snout completely red by now.

"Do you always know what to say?" she whispered alluringly

His heart skipped a beat, maybe more, or even stopped working completely the moment she turned around, he wasn't sure anymore. One thing he was certain of however, there was something undeniably beautiful and magical about her embarrassment.

Perhaps it was the fact that for someone like her, a spirited, determined and independent character, that strongly dislikes being considered frail and controlled, the state of being embarrassed feels like being shackled, after all it's the feelings and emotions that cause this.

And it's rather common knowledge that being chained in any form is what she hates the most.

And yet he got the chance to look past the barrier, lingering there for far longer than he remembers and if it would be up to him he would remain there forever.

Those chains of embarrassment…she looked absolutely stunning in them.

"Now you forget your tongue?" Cynder asked, taunting smile wavering at the corners of her mouth

"You are so beautiful" he replied, words coming out with a breath of awe reserved only for addressing divine beings

She heard her jaw cracking open and air being sucked out from her lungs, leaving her speechless. He complimented her more than once before, but never this way. It wasn't about the words, they were nice of course, but they were plain in comparison to the tone behind them. It was the tone that shook her, she couldn't describe it, but after hearing it she felt like the most important dragon in the whole universe.

And simply knew it wasn't just her imagination.

"You-"

"Shhhh!" she blurt out suddenly, springing forward after hearing his voice again, her own tone filled with what seemed to be begging terror.

He only grunted in disbelief, eyes shooting wide open when she joined her front paws and plastered them directly on his mouth. Her body stretched, upper body leaning against his snout, supported only by his solid footing, his startled muscles the only thing preventing her from toppling on the ground.

"No more" she uttered pleadingly, looking directly into his wide, surprised purple eyes

"Not here, not in this place where I can't repay you. Please Spyro, don't make me love you more than I already do. Not now"

The shocked expression softened, his eyes radiated nothing but care.

She looked past him, noticing Cyril's shadow shifting on the wall on the opposite side of the temple.

"Just nod if you understand"

When her eyes landed back on him he nodded.

"Thank you" she smiled gratefully, once more briefly scanning the area behind him

When she was done she gently pulled her paws away, but before they slid back on the ground she planted a quick kiss on his lips.

When her paws touched the ground she hissed painfully, bandaged leg shot in the air as if shocked, pain reminding of itself in its typical way.

"Cynder! Your leg!" he blurt out worryingly

"It's ok" she hissed with a smile, jumping around on the three healthy legs, holding the wounded one aloft and shaking it to disperse the ache

"It was worth it" she giggled

He quickly jumped in her direction, spreading his Ice power gently in her direction.

She moaned in pleasure and relief, putting her pained leg directly on the way of his magical breath.

"I forgot about that" she began to observe the icy mist of his breath crashing softly against her wounded leg "Not only your heart is gold, but also your skills. It's good to have you around, unlike me"

"Cynder" he raised his head, words coming out from his mouth with last clouds of his icy breath. He already knew where this was going

"Don't do that to yourself"

"To myself? Me?" she asked surprised "Have you seen a pitchfork in my paws lately?"

"You know what I mean"

She limped forward, placing her wounded leg on his cheek, rubbing it fondly.

"You don't know how it is. You say all those nice things and I can't do nothing to show you how much it means to me. Public places wrap chains around me that I can't shake off, it's agony"

He touched her leg, caressing it fondly.

"Let's go outside, I'll show those people how much you mean to me. I don't care what they might think"

"But I do!" she muttered at the brink of shouting and pushed away, tail wagging angrily as she spun around, in the direction of the rows of statues

"You have their attention, in the good way" she said as her eyes stopped on the statue that was currently covered by white sheets.

Both of them perfectly remembered who it represented.

"Too much perhaps that it might get tiring" she limped towards the loosely hanging sheets "It's perfectly normal for you to want to get rid off some of this burden, you would still have plenty anyway"

"Cynder…"

Her eyes landed on the pedestal, a perfectly clean and shining pedestal, with no words etched on its surface.

An audible sad sigh left her throat.

"Call me a mood breaker, go on I deserve it"

"I would call you many names, but all of them might seem to be too reverent for you in this situation. I'll leave the truth for later"

"How can you be so certain that you speak the truth and not the people?"

He stopped right next to her.

"You said I can't lie" he whispered softly, his voice ringing with worship again

There was that tone again, not as palpable as earlier but still strong enough to put a smile on her snout.

"I don't deserve you"

"Don't say things like that"

"You warm my heart with every word even if that's not your intention. What I'm doing besides dragging you into my hell?"

He tapped a claw against his chest.

"Place your paw on my heart again and you'll see"

"Stop talking!" she blurt out indignantly, jumping away from him, she wanted to sound stern but just couldn't hold her lips back from smiling

"This is exactly the problem I have in mind" she continued, not looking his way, afraid that her indignation would fade away behind a grateful, loving smile

"You keep bombarding me with words that make me dizzy and I desperately fight back the urge to scream to the whole world that you love me"

"May I say something?"

She winced, she would prefer he wouldn't but at the same time craved to hear his voice.

She nodded.

"Love is new to me, the bond we share is new to me, I'm an amateur not an expert in the matters of heart, but shouldn't we stop caring what other people might think? What we feel, now that's important, the rest shouldn't matter"

"It's easy for you to say, your life was normal, social wise"

She turned around, looking at him sadly.

"That and I don't want to ruin your life"

"You-"

"Shhh" she whispered, pressing her claw to her mouth

He obeyed the meaningful, subtle order.

"You have the respect of the people, making them see you with me, more intimate than usual, would make them question you. I don't want to be the one for who you ditch everything you worked so hard to achieve. I don't want to be the dragon parents would tell about to scare their children"

She approached him, sparkling eyes never leaving his purple ones.

"I want a statue like you have, or at least a flower on my grave put by a complete stranger. I want children to read about me like I was the good guy not the villain. I want to prove to you how much you mean to me. I want to kiss you standing in the middle of a crowd that would cheer instead of throwing rocks and curses at us. I want my kiss to be considered a blessing of an angel not the one that would pull you down"

Her eyes started to glisten with tears.

"I'm shackled Spyro, I have chains that I can't get off. And it pisses me off"

He pulled her into a hug, feeling his own eyes being filled by tears.

"Everything will be alright"

She remained in his grip, rubbing her chin into his scales delicately.

"Tell me, honestly, do you think I will have any of those things?"

He wanted to say yes, but they both knew that it would feel fake. None of them knew how the future will look like, but at least he knew that he will do everything to make that future as bright as possible.

"I don't know Cynder" he whispered back, feeling her sigh as if she expected the answer "But I swear I'll do my best to make your life good"

She burrowed her chin deeper into his scales, making their embrace tighter. Even if that wasn't what she wanted to hear she was glad for the bit of honesty. She was especially glad about the promise, she simply knew he didn't say that to make her feel better, it was the truth.

She opened her moist eyes, noticing Cyril's shadow growing on the nearby column. She pulled out from the hug, brushing her cheek against his to show how much it meant to her.

"I'm sorry Spyro, by now you must be tiring of my constant whining"

"I will never grow tired of you, no matter what you do. What you call whining I call another sparkling gem of your bright personality"

A weak smile appeared on her snout.

"You sure you weren't reading some romance guide in your spare time?"

He shrugged innocently.

"Guess you bring out the best of me"

She pressed her paw to her chest, clenching it on her soft, magenta scales as if trying to grab her heart. A heart that pounded with such force that it left her breathless occasionally, it was perhaps due to such sudden lack of air that made him glow.

For a moment she wondered just how many times during their conversation she fell in love with him again.

"That's enough" she said spinning around, making her way alongside the rows of statues, her swaying hips displaying pretenses of a bored, strong character, that got tired of listening to obvious comments

The front of her body however showed something entirely else. Here she was sweating, smiling so broadly that it felt like her cheeks were about to crack. Here she desperately fought back the urge to leap towards the ceiling, flipping, spinning and crying out loudly in utter joy.

She so badly wanted to give up to the feeling, be weak and let Spyro know just how important he is to her, just how much his words affected her.

Be the damsel in distress once more.

Only last strands of pitiful arrogant pride were holding her back from that disgusting role. That is how she explained it to herself, not wanting to acknowledge possible fact that she was already in character for a very long time now.

"Let's change topic for a more depressing one"

"Haven't we done that already? We talked about your-"

"No!" she blurt out, cutting him off "I mean a topic that doesn't include me" she limped forward, waving her wounded leg at the row of statues

"Let's talk about the Ancestors, let's speculate how much disastrous it has to be for them to see their future being in the hands of a zealous mole" she spun around aiming her claw at the practically towering sheets

"Let's talk about our history, if Brill wins will dragons still be considered heroes? Will there even be a place for heroes?"

"Cyn-"

"Let's begin a guessing game!" she chimed in his trail of thought once more "How many fanatical followers Brill has? How many of them are preparing to stab us as we speak?"

"Cynder" he called her name sternly, advancing in her direction

"Let's talk about Brill himself! What exactly will he do when he shows his scrawny ass here?"

"Cynder!" he slowed time to get close to her, just when his mouth stopped pronouncing her name he was already holding her leg

She squeaked in surprise before narrowing her eyes on him angrily.

"Cheater" she protested but made no move to break free

"I respect your independent spirit, it's there don't you worry, I can feel it because I love it. You are not obliged to do anything, you've been struggling all your life and you got so far to taste happiness, I hope, I can provide. This is true strength, to reach so far despite the odds which my immense stupidity only strengthened. Allowing yourself to be happy, no strings attached, is not a sign of weakness. It's a reward for being victorious in an impossible fight"

She swallowed, saliva having a really tough time sliding down her throat. She opened her mouth, yet only a wet gag came out, like from the throat of a well fed hatchling. Part of the saliva she tried to swallow went back up her throat, making her spit herself. She swiftly pulled away from his grip, turning her head in embarrassment as she wiped her moist lips.

He snickered.

"That was kinda cute"

"Shut up" she scolded him with clear amusement ringing in her voice "Or you're going to kill me"

She leaned against a nearby column, one paw rubbing her chest, claws sliding in a pattern. Forming a smile.

"I don't want to do that" he whispered gently as he leaned against the opposite surface, that turned out to be nothing but a base of a statue

"I don't make you feel like I feel when you compliment me. I don't make you laugh, I don't make you cry, I don't even make you feel important" she gently slammed her head into the column

"What do I bring into this relationship?" she muttered resigned

"That's not true" he protested pushing off from the statue, tensing his muscles as he stopped in front of his partner. Stiff body explaining for him how serious he is.

"For example you made me laugh many times"

She sighed.

"A chuckle is not a laugh. I'm talking about a laugh that you feel boiling within you, all you need to do is to let it out for everyone to hear. Even then you wouldn't stop laughing, not until your lungs would burst from the excess of cheerful agony"

"This is not a competition Cynder!" he snapped painfully at her

"That's!" she exclaimed, pointing her claw at him, as if trying to challenge his voice "That's what I bring into this relationship. Misery"

"How can you say that? You did hear my heart didn't you? You make me want to live, isn't that enough?"

"You don't understand"

"Yes I do! You are broken, you said it yourself"

She chuckled sadly "Misery one o-"

"Let me finish" he cut her off "It's perfectly normal for you to experience things far more strongly than anyone else. All the rest of us had already a tiny portion of that happiness in our lives, or happiness in general. All the laughing and crying we did when we were kids"

"So I'm boring"

"No! You make me want to live, didn't you hear? I didn't say that to make you feel better, it's the truth" he gestured at the holy walls surrounding them "You made me kiss you in a temple, break the rules! The only time I willingly got close to doing something like that was when I tried to steal the brush on which I practiced kissing from my Mom's closet!"

She lowered her head, he saw her mouth twitching, he wished it was because she tried to smile.

"I've made a bad boy out of you"

"You gave me courage" he stated firmly "Thanks to you I feel like I can do everything, fight with anything, because I know it's worth it. I know that when I'll be done I'll get the chance to come back to you. You are the reason why I will keep on fighting"

He made his way in her direction, lowering his head to follow her eyes while sliding a claw under her chin. Gently raising her head.

"You make me indestructible"

She had her eyes closed, yet the moment her chin slid from his claw and rested on his opened paw her eyelids snapped open. They stared at each other like that for what felt like an eternity, in reality however only mere seconds flew by.

They didn't need words any longer, no more displays of gratitude and care. They simply needed to look into the window leading to each other's most private room, after that their souls did the talking in their own silent way. Their hearts were the only possible way to sample some part of this conversation and judging from their powerful and ecstatic beats the silent dialog was going more than perfect.

Cynder was the first one to blink, her eyelids were closing in slow motion and when they finally hit the limit her mouth parted slightly, letting the hiding tongue there roll out. When the eyelids went back up the extended tongue lashed out, licking the purple nose ahead from bottom to top.

Spyro winced at the unexpected, pleasant sensation, eyes squinting as if hit by direct sunlight. When they opened up fully the tongue that caressed him was nothing more than a protruding red tip from her mouth. It disappeared with a cute slurp soon after, only to be replaced with the sound of clicking jaw, by a grin of pearl white teeth.

"You really wanted to steal that brush?" she asked, her chin happily bouncing on his paw

He smiled, shrugging innocently.

"It was the only thing that truly understood me back home"

She giggled.

"From your technique in kissing I can guess that you stole it away more than twice"

He snapped his teeth playfully, as if wanting to bite her nose. She jumped back with an amused squeak. Only to start laughing when she was a safe distance away.

His own voice joined her thrilled one soon.

"Spyro" she called his name lovingly, tapping a claw against her heart "Thanks for the reminder"

His paw automatically found its way to his chest, his heart beating in perfect harmony with her moving claw as if it was with it by an invisible string.

He nodded, smiling pleasantly, throat emitting no words yet lips silently forming one sentence.

"You're welcome"

She opened her mouth, however only a whizz of air came out of her as her body suddenly tensed and head balked.

"Did you hear that?" she whispered, only her eyes shifted, rest of her body remained frozen in the same position

He began to listen intently, quite sure that she heard footsteps of the approaching time traveling mole. His tail wagged anxiously, the confrontation their were prepared for is at paw and he didn't like it one bit.

Strangely however there was only silence.

"I don't hear anything" he whispered back, somewhat relieved

"I think I heard a giggle" Cynder added

Spyro cocked his head with a frown.

"A giggle?"

"Yeah, a girl's giggle"

His head tilted to the other side.

"Perhaps it was your own?"

She looked at him, eyes narrowing in irritation.

"I can still recognize my own voice when I hear it. I'm not THAT delusional"

He winced in shame.

"Sorry"

"Come on" she waved at him to follow before she herself spun around "I think it came from over there" she limped towards the entrance leading to the Catacombs

"Even if you heard someone laughing" he sprang after her "So what? It's not like we haven't done it"

"Exactly! I'm not going to let some girl to take the moment away from us"

"What moment? What are you talking about?"

"About my impact on this relationship, I made you laugh in a temple, it was special and I'm going to make sure it stays special"

She stopped in front of the spiral of stairs leading down, he automatically froze behind her as if she was the motor that made them move.

"Meeting that girl won't change anything, what you did will still be special"

"Come on" her claws clicked on the first step as she began her descent

"I don't think we're allowed there"

Her tail began to sway in a rhythmic motion, immediately drawing his attention to her rump as if his chin would be dragged by the blade tip. His eyes instantly focused on the perfectly shaped swaying hips, that moved far more alluringly than ever before.

He swallowed, saliva suddenly becoming way too hot for his throat to bare.

It was an exciting sight.

"We weren't allowed to do many things" she said as she looked behind her shoulder with a smirk

"And won't be allowed to do many more. Will that stop us?"

His eyes remained stuck on that one beautiful place.

She cleared her throat.

Only then his eyes shot back up with a hectic jerk of his head, making something in his neck snap painfully. When he met her meaningful look all her words resounded loudly within his head, together with a fierce and burning blush filling his cheeks.

He quickly averted his gaze.

"N-no" he whined

The sound of a muffled laugh gently filled the dim staircase.

Both young draconic heads shot upward.

"You heard that?" Cynder asked, instinctively looking around

"Yeah" Spyro confirmed, his purple eyes landing on the lower part of the stairs "It didn't come from down there"

She nodded "It sounded like it came from behind a wall" she turned around, nose practically touching the, cold solid surface now in front of her eyes

"This wall" she raised her paw and knocked at the wall characteristic thudding sound filled the corridor

She jerked her paw back as if it was shocked.

"Hollow"

"That didn't even sound like real stone" Spyro added as he moved next to her, voice filled with excited curiosity

"We better turn back"

"Now?!" he whined pleadingly, like a hatchling begging their parents to let him stay just a while longer, the pained look he gave her only intensified the image

Cynder snickered.

"Relax, just wanted to see your reaction"

His snout wrinkled itself, displaying every possible way a snout could show indignation, before with a sharp turn directing his eyes at the wall. Not forgetting to snort in the meantime to show just how offended he was.

Exactly like a little hatchling.

She grinned, shaking her head, turning her attention to the wall.

"That was kinda cute"

"Shut up" he scolded her with the same tone as she did a while back

"Teasing is awesome" she admitted happily, letting out a content breath as she scanned the wall "Look for a torch or something, maybe it will turn out to be a lever"

"It would be too cliché" yet despite his own words Spyro patted the nearby torch

It didn't budge.

Cynder shrugged indifferently "Was worth a shot"

"Any other ideas?" he asked, eyeing the wall from top to bottom

She scratched her choker thoughtfully, eyeing every stone carefully. Her paw went up and she started knocking at the wall, creating a steady uncharacteristic rhythm, interchanging two fast knocks with one slower one.

He observed her moving paw with a dumbfounded frown.

"What are you doing?"

"Giving the signal, duh. For all we know there can be someone on the other side waiting for that special knock"

Her paw began playing a different rhythm.

"That's stupid, who would wait behind a secret door?"

"Maybe the same person who laughed behind that very wall"

Spyro cocked his head, it made no sense, but a hollow wall on the way to the Catacombs didn't either.

"Are you going to help me or not?" she pulled her paw back, shaking it in the air "Damn, nasty wall" she hissed, maintaining the shake of her sore paw

With nothing currently coming to his mind Spyro raised his leg with a resigned sigh. Playing a tune on the stones that he remembered from his childhood.

He lost his every strand of hope during his impulsively played melody. The wall remained still just as he expected, the knocking wasn't proving to be an effective way to unlock this secret door. He only continued for the simple sake of finishing something that he begun.

"This is pointless" he said, knocking with resignation at the stones, slower and slower with each new touch "There is no way for us to get behind this w:" he knocked for the final time š

The wall suddenly slid down without a sound, disappearing into the ground.

Both dragons froze, a purple paw that recently punched the stones remained aloft, still knocking, yet instead of rock it struck empty air. Both young jaws dropped to the floor as they looked inside the relatively small corridor, with a small cavity on the left side, light stretched in thin lines from that direction, obviously sliding beneath a door.

"What…did…you…do?" Cynder pronounced slowly, due to shock losing the feeling of her body, paw still sluggishly twirling in the air

"I…" he swallowed "…don't know"

"How did you know the secret knock password?"

"I didn't"

She shook her head, slowly waking up from the initial shock.

"Then what was it?"

Spyro lowered the risen paw in front of his eyes.

"Strange"

"What?" she jumped forward, eyes intently observing the small room ahead "What's strange?"

He twirled his leg around, eying every piece of purple scale.

"That was the first thing that came to my mind, when we were kids me and Sparx came with this special knocking. It was a password for getting inside our super sneaky hideouts"

"How is it possible that an idea from a stupid childish game opens up a secret magical sesame in a temple of a fanatical mole?"

"I'm not su-"

He never got to finish his sentence since suddenly a thudding sound filled the surrounding area, the discovered interior ahead was filled with streams of light. Something swung wildly from the cavity, it was definitely a single wing of a door.

A figure burst through the door, laughing almost maniacally, smell of clay filled the young dragons nostrils momentarily. It was a young light blue dragoness, most likely in their age, she was wearing a brown robe, very similar to the ones the mole workers occasionally wear. Pretty blue legs, a part of a light yellow chest, tail ended with what looked like to be the icy variation of a head of a morningstar, stretched like a bat, not a ball and draconic head with two white, curved backwards horns protruding from the top with several little ones sprouting near the tip were the only pieces of her body that protruded from the outfit.

She was completely dirty, covered in clay almost everywhere, like she just rolled in the stuff, making her look like a mud dragoness to be more precise. The laughing girl began to turn around through her right shoulder, exactly in their direction. Laughter died within her throat with a squeaky groan, body tensed, jaw nearly dropped onto the ground, eyes in the color of a sun widened, threatening to pop out of their orbits.

And it was because she stood snout to snout with a pair of adequately dumbfounded dragons.

"I'm not done with you!" a very familiar shout came from the room the dragoness burst through

A little glowing, yellowish shape appeared next to the dragoness, in one hand carrying what seemed to be still wet clay. The shape momentarily turned its small head in the direction of his staring female companion. The sparkling glow the figure was emitting seemed to dim, clay slid out from its hand and smacked into the ground.

"Sparx?" both recently arrived dragons muttered in disbelief


	90. Chapter 12 Book V

Chapter 12

Not even the tiniest sound could be heard coursing through the staircase to the temple's catacombs, same ironically loud silence spread into what appeared to be a passage carved from a part of the wall. The very same atmosphere encircled the four creatures currently occupying the area, creating parties of two that stood the length of a dragon's tail across from each other.

They were completely still, just like the sound. Bodies, not even eyes betraying a minimal motion, pupils of which were constantly locked on the ones facing them from the opposite side.

They were like gunslingers, looking like being prepared for the final standoff, only waiting for the church's bells to start ringing and a ball of tumbleweed roll in between them.

Those were pretenses however, ready to be sold to anyone from the outside who would just arrive and notice the scene.

In truth these particular gunslingers were more pale than corpses.

"What are you doing here?" three of four gunfighters fired indolently at the same time, each and single one of them knowing the other perfectly

Only the blue scaled dragoness remained silent.

There was another moment of silence, the trio that just spoke balked, startled by the sound of their own combined voices.

"How did you find this place?" Sparx was the first one that broke the silence, his voice making everyone around wince, waking them up from whatever stupor they were in

"We heard your…" Cynder mumbled, looking the dragoness over, the girl ahead cringed under the weight of her stare, wings flicking nervously from underneath the robe, stretching it, tail sliding in between her legs. If she could she would polymorph into a ball

"…friend laughing" the black dragoness continued

"What?!" Sparx balked "Cor! You said that this wall is soundproof!" he exclaimed indignantly at the dragoness

"No…" the girl whispered, due to her nervousness it was difficult to hear her, something she obviously realized since momentarily she cleared her throat, the cough sounding very appealing

"I've said…" the dragonesse's voice returning to its normal tone, it was modulated and silvery, very pleasant to listen to, especially with the young tone as a result of her age still brimming behind it

"I THINK this wall is soundproof" the voice was empowering in a very attractive way, not by authority as one might think, but with understanding serenity. Making you feel safe and secure even when words formed by that throat had a stout emphasis put on them

A mark of a true and dedicated cleric.

"What?!" the dragonfly blurt out, throwing his arms in the air, the still wet droplets of clay that clung to his hands splashed onto the girl's head and horns

"What kind of priestess are you if you don't know your temple?!"

She shook her head fiercely, throwing off whatever bit of clay that was still possible to move.

"A very patient and helpful priestess that…" she raised her paw with the intention to wipe her head, yet the leg stopped right in front of her bright like sun eyes "…spends her every free second with you…"with a wince she dropped her paw, deciding that with it being as dirty as it was there was absolutely no chance she would clean the mess from her head "…instead of learning the layouts of her working environment"

Cynder's eyes sparkled, head pushed itself higher, a sunny smile spread her lips wide as her pupils jumped from between one member of the pair ahead to the next.

"EVERY second you say?"

The two stared at the black dragoness for a while, as if letting her words to properly sink in, when they finally did both their eyes grew even wider than the first time. The heads of the two snapped sharply to the side, their startled eyes meeting each other.

"Whatever you're thinking about Cyn" the dragonfly said with a gulp "Stop thinking about it"

Cynder however squealed excitedly, covering her mouth with her paw.

"Stop thinking about it!" Sparx exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at her

"Do you see this Spyro?" her voice still was prolonged and resembling a mouse's squeak as she turned her head at her partner

View of who changed her expression drastically.

"Spyro?" she muttered in amused shock

The trigger that woke them up from their trance seemed to work slightly differently for Spyro, he did wake up from the initial stupor, but the shock of awakening seemed to put him into a completely different trance whatsoever.

His jaw seemed to want to literally drop to the ground, it was held aloft only by the stretched to the limits scales and bones that Cynder could swear snapping gently under the pushing weight. He was hardly breathing, his gaping maw really resembled that of a dead fish, if flies decided to buzz inside his mouth it was highly doubtful he would feel them.

The hilarious picture completed his huge eyes, eyebrows of which were shaking, just as the bones of his jaw so did the eyebrows fight with an impulse that would reach behind the natural limit of one's body. Behind that boundary was a zone called disfigurement.

Unreachable for everyone without a hammer in paw and yet Spyro was very close to be the first one to accomplish such a feat without the help of any second tools of whatnot.

Cynder snickered, not able to contain her amusement.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Leave him" Sparx darted past the two recently arrived dragons and pressed his hand to the wall just next to the newly opened entrance

The wall slid back into place, obscuring the stairs behind.

"He's having one of his special strokes"

Cynder craned her neck forward, observing Spyro's snout from up close.

"What do you mean by special strokes?"

"My bro over there always wanted to be like me you see"

She cocked her head, eyeing the dragonfly with disbelief shimmering in her eyes.

"Yeah, right"

Sparx shrugged "Fine, whatever" he flew back towards the cleric, spreading his arms and shrugging with his back turned towards the black girl "You don't have to believe me if you don't want to"

"Sparx" the priestess said with her typical, empowering, silvery voice making the dragonfly stop in place "I believe it's only fair if we let some truth slip after they discovered our hiding place"

"Do you really have to be such a priestess?" he whined

"You knew what were you signing up for"

"It was a safe risk!" he protested "Nobody should ever find us here!"

"Someone actually did"

Sparx sighed, shoulders slopping down.

"Fine"

Cynder turned her attention at the bright eyed dragoness, her mouth displayed a loving, friendly smile.

"That is very nice of you. Thank you"

The dragoness nodded "I'm glad to be of help"

"Seriously, it's about time someone forced Sparx to finally grow up"

The dragonfly snorted, arms folding on his chest, feeling insulted.

"Very funny Ink Scale"

The cleric chuckled, her laugh as pleasant as her voice.

"Grow up? Hardly" she looked down, stretching forward the material of her dirty robe on her chest "Look at me"

Cynder giggled "You still got further than any of us. You managed to get him to listen, usually he's like that buzzing mosquito you just can't make shut up"

"Enough OK!?" Sparx blurt out, his glowing shape indignantly hovering in between both girls "You want to know what's going on with my bro or not?"

The black dragoness grinned "As far as I can tell and understand you are in no place to demand a decision on an already solved problem"

"I told you to stop thinking about what you're thinking"

"As you wish"

"Wow" Sparx clapped his hands gently "You finally did something smart. About time. Gratz"

The smile on her black snout turned into a cattily, triumphant smirk.

"Now…did that change anything?"

He looked behind his shoulder, the natural glow he was emanating seemed to flicker brighter for a second, the light it let out was aggravated, probably just as its host. When his head returned to its natural place a defeated sigh escaped his throat.

"When we were young, Spyro was very…spyroish"

"Spyroish?" Cynder repeated with a chuckle "What does that mean?"

"Like you don't know" he replied weighting her up with a knowing gaze

Her emerald eyes kept shifting from side to side, wordlessly looking for an answer they simply couldn't find, or perhaps believably pretended that there was none to find.

"He was dumb and dim-witted" he continued, being true to his obligation "comes with being a dragon I guess, basically whatever I did rocked his world that he could no longer remember his name" he pointed at his brother "That's the face he made when he realized just how awesome his brother is"

She cocked her head, mind traveling back to the moment when Spyro was really excited to tell Sparx about their relationship. All the pieces were slowly forming a clear image of a brotherly rivalry she didn't understand.

"Did Spyro ever stun you like that?"

Sparx snorted indignantly "Don't mock me. I'm too good for that"

She scratched the choker on her neck "I think I'm starting to understand what's going on here"

"Really? Wh-" the glow he emitted pulsed with a brighter, startled light as his eyes suddenly narrowed on her neck "You're wounded?"

"Hmmm?" she mumbled, impulsively freezing in place as she threw the dragonfly a confused stare

He pointed at her raised limb "Your leg"

She followed his gaze, observing her bandaged paw casually.

"It's nothing"

"Don't you guys know what restraint means?" he asked with a scolding shake of his head

"What are you talking about?"

Sparx darted in front of his brother's gaping maw, stopping at the edge of his mouth before pressing both his hands to his face, forming a tube over his own mouth.

"BRO!" his rumbling yell rumbled inside the purple dragon's mouth

Spyro jumped back with a chocking, rough cough, as if he would swallow too much water. Razor sharp teeth snapped tightly and loudly just in front of the dragonfly who didn't even budge. Spyro grabbed his neck, jumping slightly backwards on his three remaining legs.

Cough after chocking cough left his throat, only when he finally calmed himself a little he narrowed his eyes on the glowing dragonfly. Amethyst eyes burning with sheer anger.

"I told you to never do this again!" he growled, throat letting out one final cough as his fourth leg returned to the ground

"What in Ancestor's tails were you thinking man?!" Sparx admonished his brother

"Me?" he blurt out offended, pressing his paw to his chest "What did I do?!" he pointed an accusing claw at the glowing shape ahead "You shouted into my mouth!"

"You might want to keep your voices down" a silvery voice sounded from the farther part of the area

The two brothers paid it no heed.

"This!" Sparx darted to the side, grabbing Cynder's raised, bandaged leg and pulling it in his brother's view

Cynder hissed slightly as she jumped after the dragonfly.

"This actually hurts" she whispered bashfully

"This is not how it supposed to be done!" Sparx shook the bandaged leg, getting his point across in the most obvious of ways "Keep your feral brain cells in the gutter where they belong!"

Spyro jerked his head back "I didn't do that!" he let out a defensive, squeaky growl "I would never hurt Cynder!"

"Yeah?!" he dropped the leg, a single finger pointing at the black dragoness "Then how come whenever I leave you two alone lately she always is messed up?!"

"Why you're asking me?! I have nothing to do with this!"

Sparx' eyes widened suddenly, his whole body jerked back fiercely, for a moment his natural glowing ball looked like it couldn't keep up with his moving body.

"Or is it you?" he blurt out dumfounded

Cynder looked around, looking for whoever the dragonfly was addressing, only after a fruitless search her emerald orbs returned back to the dragonfly only to see that his gaze remained in the same place as she left it.

Aimed directly at her.

"Me?" she mumbled without thinking

"Wait a moment!" Spyro protested, stepping forward, eyes aimed angrily on his brother "Who gave you the right to question us? We just found you in a secret room that opened by using some stupid knock game from when we were kids! If there is anyone who should be asking questions here then it's us!"

Sparx folded his arms "I disagree with that"

"Sparx"

The dragonfly winced, hearing the modulated voice addressing his name meaningfully. He sighed with a roll of his eyes.

"Ask then"

"Awwwwww!" Cynder squealed in delight, eyes feverishly jumping between the cleric and the dragonfly "I'm so excited!" she squeaked, covering her mouth

Sparx rubbed his forehead, shaking his head, devastated.

"We'll start with an easy one" Spyro waved his wing around, covering the whole room with a single motion "What the hell is going on here?"

"I would like to explain"

Spyro's eyes narrowed in surprised frown, his gaze was aimed at his brother, it was from him that he expected the answer and yet a quite pleasant and unfamiliar voice offered to diminish the veil of mystery that was the essence of their current family problem.

His not entirely calm eyes shifted at the dirty dragoness in the far end of the room.

"Who are you again?" he asked coldly

Cynder gasped faintly, the deep frown that covered her snout when she turned her attention at him radiated nothing but annoyance and shame.

The dragoness aimed her cute eyes at the ground, head hanging low in respect, her dirty head making her worthless in comparison to him.

"I'm Coriza, no one but a humble priestess for this temple my Lord"

Spyro balked, his whole body tensing as if electrocuted.

Whatever signs of anger and involuntary primacy burst like an overloaded balloon. Everything came back to him and started to make perfect sense. First it was Cynder's look from earlier that the corners of his eyes acknowledged, but pride failed to take into consideration. Then he remembered his tone, so much similar to Cyril's or Iris' when one of the two speaks to someone who they consider to be nothing but a necessary nuisance. Lastly it was the girl ahead, the way she bowed and the tone with which she spoke, so submissive and respectful.

All those things however were just roots and a trunk of the tree of disgust and loathe he felt for himself that seemed to suddenly sprout within his heart. The crown was made from two words.

_My Lord._

Never has anyone addressed him before using a title, not in the way the cleric did. Savior was all he heard, but it was nothing but a name given for him by the grateful people, as much as he didn't like it he was capable of tolerating it.

This was something else entirely, there was no hidden responsibility that would make the girl call him like that. She gave him that title only because of sheer esteem, something that he most likely forced with his authoritative attitude. Being considered better than somebody else, being made into a figure that everybody else looks pale in comparison to is something that he hates and is terrified of.

If he is meant to wield the mantle of leadership this is not the way he will do that.

Everyone is important.

"I'm sorry" Spyro said apologetically, voice meek and honest, begging for forgiveness "I meant no offense"

"None taken my Lord" the cleric replied, head still hanging low

"Watch for that stick Cor, it's sliding back up" Sparx chimed in

"Don't call me…" he swallowed, almost feeling the bitter taste of the word that that just formed on his tongue "…lord. My name is Spyro. Can you…umm…stop bowing, please?"

She raised her head as he wished, when he looked into her golden eyes he felt an immense wave of awkwardness filling him from claw to horn.

"Do I have to introduce myself?" Cynder asked with a polite smile, stepping a little ahead of Spyro while spreading one of her wings slightly, just enough to slightly hide him behind it

She heard him sigh in relief and gratitude.

Coriza smiled, or at least tried to since momentarily her lips parted and presented the teeth hiding behind. Everyone that had their eyes aimed at the dragoness noticed that her natural, sharp blades lacked the typical shine of a draconic smile. They were covered in clay just like the rest of her body, a discomfort she momentarily was reminded of when she noticed all of the eyes instantly shifting at her mouth.

A mouth that soon was covered by an even dirtier paw.

"It's not necessary" the dragonesse's pretty voice muffled by the paw and the occasional gentle slurp of her tongue lashing at the dirty teeth

Cynder smiled, turning her attention at the dragonfly hovering near the wall at her left side, it only took a moment for him to feel her gaze, his eyes in mere seconds landed on her.

"I like her" she whispered, her breath like voice only for her to hear. The only way for anyone else to understand what she said was to read the words from her slowly moving lips, which wasn't really difficult with how she silently emphasized each word, all you needed to do was to pay attention.

Sparx did exactly that, he confirmed it with a frustrated roll of his eyes.

"Please Coriza" Spyro gently rubbed the inside of the black wing that covered him, making it roll back to its feminine owner with what seemed to be a joyful chirp of membranes

"Could you explain what are you two doing here?"

Cynder gently jabbed with her blade tail tip Spyro's thigh, making him jump back with a hurt and surprised expression.

Frown that adorned her snout radiated nothing but a meaningful scold.

"Seriously Spyro?"

"What?" he blurt out, completely not understanding why she chastened him, and as to prove his innocence he made wide, puppy eyes

"Do you really need to be so straightforward? That's rude"

"It was her idea!" he whined, pointing at the cleric "Why do you blame me?"

Sparx flew close to his brother, patting his head.

"Don't worry bro, one day you'll show them"

The dragon glared at his brother.

"Forget about what he said" Cynder addressed the dragoness and sat down, tail bouncing up excitedly, eyes gleaming with sincere, kind interest, smile radiating nothing but friendly curiosity

"Tell us how you met Sparx"

Coriza opened her mouth and yet no words came out when suddenly she realized the meaning behind the black dragonesse's look. Her gold eyes widened, pupils jumping nervously between all three souls ahead, instinctively playing their unexpected meeting with the eyes of the freshly arrived dragons.

Everything came back to her. The laughs, the clay, the words.

It was enough for her intuition to find the hidden meaning between the lines.

The priestess raised her paw defensively "I…believe this is a misunderstanding" her voice surprisingly wavered, losing the modulated tone and yet still remaining very pleasant to listen to.

A fact that she undoubtedly realized herself since momentarily she pressed her paw to her cheek, rubbing it as if trying to diminish the heat that so suddenly warmed her snout. If she was aware that she smeared the rest of the wet clay on her snout as if wanting to hide the blush was a matter for a debate.

"Oh?" Cynder mumbled, tail dropping flatly on the floor with a defeated click of her tail blade

"How did you know?!" Sparx suddenly exclaimed, his febrile outburst drawing the attention of everyone currently present

He flew towards Cynder, poking her forehead, making her wince with each touch.

"This intuition is annoying"

She cocked her head, tail impulsively bounced again, growing emerald eyes jumping between Coriza and Sparx.

"So I was right?"

"I don't th-"

"There's no point in hiding it any longer Cor" he cut the silvery voice off, spreading his arms with a clear resigned shrug, making his way towards the priestess

Her big, gold eyes followed his every move "But I-"

"You wanted to tell SOME truth right? So here it is"

All that the two freshly arrived dragons could see was Sparx hanging for a longer while in front of the girl's snout before he finally took position right next to her. Cynder observed the cleric curiously, the young girl however avoided eye contact.

And she was quite certain that it was because of shame.

"Yes Cyn you nailed it. We're romantically involved"

"WHAT?!" Spyro blurt out, his voice so high that if not for the ceiling it would be heard by dogs even at the other end of the world

The other three souls present in the room with startled gasps placed their paws and hands on their chests, calming their startled hearts.

"Higher bro" Sparx replied, voice dripping with cheeky tone "I don't think all the wolves heard you"

The dragon's amethyst eyes kept jumping between the two recently discovered lovers "But…but….HOW?!" he screamed

His paw pointed at his glowing brother "Y-y-you're a dragonfly!" his paw moved to the priestess "She's….she's a dragon!" by now his paw started to shift from one to the other "How…how do you…think…it's not….she's young, she will grow…how will you…I mean…how do you want…" his voice trailed off, paw still jumping between the two

"WHAT?!" he squealed again, a crack appeared on a window somewhere in Warfang

Cynder giggled awkwardly, scratching the corner of her eye.

"My eyeballs are going to pop out"

The cheerful, shy laugh drew a similar one from the other female in the group.

Spyro's already wide eyes grew even bigger, as if being enlarged by invisible magnifying glasses.

"Don't tell me that's what the clay is for!" he let out a horror filled shout

"Sweet Ancestors Spyro" Cynder groaned with an unpleasant wince, imagination reaching out to very far-away places, dragging images that she most likely won't forget for the rest of her life

"That's disturbing"

"Dude" Sparx said painfully "Your narrow-minded view is hurting us."

The pained voice of his brother stung his heart, eyes shed the almost maniacal veil of disbelief, replacing it with a look of utter guilt.

"Sorry! I didn't want to offend you"

"But you did. Who gave you the right to judge?" the dragonfly practically sobbed

The dagger of guilt that pierced his heart made a painful twist.

"I didn't judge you!" Spyro protested sincerely "I simply don't understand"

"So you make fun of things you don't understand instead of supporting your own brother?"

He looked at the ground in shame "I…I didn't mean to"

"Have you never heard of only spiritual and emotional relationships?"

The ball that wrapped itself around his neck on a chain of guilt and regret pushed his head even lower towards the ground.

"I…I did" he mumbled

Sparx shook his head "I'm very disappointed bro. To do such a thing, and to your own brother"

"I'm sorry" he whispered pleadingly

"That will be enough Sparx" Coriza admonished the dragonfly

The dragonfly snorted in amusement and dashed in the direction of his purple brother, patting his shoulder.

"Chill man, I was just messing with you"

His whole body stiffened suddenly, something snapped in the back of his neck, head remained aimed at the ground.

An awkward silence surrounded the quartet of magical beings.

"What?" Spyro murmured, voice as cold as ice

"Dense is like your middle name. There's nothing wrong with that, it's just the way you are"

"WHAT?!" he growled, raising his irritated head so swiftly that Sparx had to make a dodge to the side as to avoid getting hit by it

"You make me feel stupid and miserable, just because it's fun?" he hissed angrily

The dragonfly spread his arms wide in a sign of total disbelief "After all this time you still gotta ask?"

"Why?"

"Man, really? I'm your awesome brother, I have a reputation to keep"

Spyro narrowed his eyes on the dragonfly "You think you're so smart?" he hissed challengingly

He shrugged "After all this time you still gotta ask? Dude, I see and hear everything"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah"

"Then watch this!" Spyro replied commandingly and approached Cynder who stared at him with a confused stare

Without hesitation he pressed his lips to hers, making her groan in surprise into his mouth. He kissed her but it was a kiss with no emotion behind, it felt more like signing a paper with your name titled _Why I'm cool?._

Business is business.

Even his eyes didn't melt into the kiss, instead his pupils were shifted to the corners of his eyeballs, as if trying to look at the dragonfly through the invisible hole at the back of his draconic head.

In fact it was hard to call the lip meeting a kiss, it was more like pressing a plunger to a clogged sink, as to consolidate the unspoken comparison he retreated his lips with a popping sound.

With a triumphant grin Spyro turned to his brother.

"What about this huh?"

"Don't mind me" Cynder said casually, wiping her lips "I love being a toy in a sandpit of two brothers"

Sparx' mouth was slowly dropping down, Spyro could exactly see every beaten inch, time slowed down for him. The grin on his snout grew wider and wider in perfect accordance with his brother's sliding mouth. His eyes were also getting bigger, and slightly filled with tears.

Spyro heard his own triumphant voice snickering in his head. After so many years he finally got his payback, he finally astonished his cocky brother, he finally has his moment of triumph.

Sparx' mouth reached the limit, Spyro's grin however still kept on growing to the point where it hurt, but he didn't care about such trifles. Only his brother's stunned groan, stutter, gag or anything else, those were the only things that were important to him. Those were the only things he wanted to hear.

Sparx covered his mouth.

Things were getting better and better.

And then a prolonged yawn left the small throat.

"Did you show it already?" the dragonfly asked uninterestingly

Spyro blinked in complete shock, his whole world of arrogant triumph collapsed and was cast down the image of the drain he so recently created with his so called _kiss_.

"Wwwwhhhhyyyy you are not freaking out?" he mumbled

"Because he knew" Cynder added confidently

"He knew?" he repeated, somewhat disconnected from the world

"I knew" Sparx confirmed

"You knew?" Spyro muttered dumbfounded

"Dude, everybody knew, even the blind and deaf. Well…maybe except Flare but I'm not counting him in, he's a different category in himself"

"Oh" the purple drake huffed, turning his head slowly behind his shoulder, eyes aimed at his partner apologetically "I…I'm so stupid"

Cynder winked at him, her lips silently forming only one single sentence of comfort.

_It's fine._

"I'm more surprised that you didn't freak out Coriza" she addressed the priestess

"Why should I?" the soothing voice of the dragoness echoed in the room "Love is a noble feeling, it's reach is unfathomable. If it decided to wrap its tendrils around your heart then it's not my place to try to sever the connection. Your feelings are your own, no one has the right to trespass in that territory, no matter the motives"

Cynder smiled lovingly, emerald eyes radiating nothing but gratefulness.

"Are you sure you work for the right temple?" she teased

The dragoness covered her mouth, lips stretching into an obvious smile.

"Besides Sparx already prepared me for the news"

"Really?" emerald eyes focused curiously at the dragonfly "For how long you knew?"

"You're asking me for how long I've been awesome" Sparx replied with a cocky grin "Simple. Forever"

She scratched her choker thoughtfully "All that teasing…you knew or had suspicions?"

"Cyn, I told you guys already that I know everything"

"That's why you were so mean to me?"

"I'm always mean. That's my life style"

She shook her head playfully "Nope. You're not attacking me anymore as you used to. I think I made you jealous"

Sparx snorted "Of what?"

"A black girl with dubious appeal shows up and steals your brother's attention…"

The dragonfly poked his forehead with his finger.

"You're crazy"

"Cynder's right"

All three turned in the direction of the priestess. Spyro looked curious, Cynder kindly triumphant and Sparx devastated.

"Sparx confided in you?" the purple dragon said, each word pronounced slowly

"I'm a priestess" the cleric stated the obvious

"Why Cor?" the dragonfly whined

"Are you sure you're talking about Sparx?" Spyro inquired further

"Positive"

"It was no other dragonfly?"

The cleric's lips stretched into a toothless smile.

"It was definitely Sparx"

Spyro licked his lips, eyeing the priestess and his brother alternately.

And then he burst out laughing.

"You got whipped!"

The dragonfly crossed his arms on his chest, a deep, angry frown wrinkled his face, almost boiling his forehead.

"Look who's talking"

Cynder smiled apologetically, nodding at the cleric.

"I'm so sorry for this. Spyro usually doesn't behave like this"

Coriza shrugged "I had an older brother I know how it is. Siblings fight. Priestess or not I like to be reminded sometimes how it was"

"Well maybe I am too" the purple drake replied casually "But I'm not ashamed to admit it. While you oh mighty Great Glowing One can't. Where's your awesomeness now?"

Cynder made her way towards the priestess, cautiously, biting her lower lip "Had? Did I…ummm…"

"No" Coriza replied in her typical modulated voice, a tone which made anyone around listening to her become calm "He perished while defending Warfang from the Dark Army"

"I'm sorry"

"This is the result of war and aggression, our feral dominating and ambitious nature. This temple shows us that there is more to dragons than arrogant strife. There's magic in peace, all we need is a wish to grab it within our claws"

"It's still there don't you worry" Sparx replied exasperated, eyes still narrowed on his draconic brother "I showed you a sample"

"We came with a Guardian that wouldn't necessarily agree with your point of view" Cynder continued the conversation with the dirty young dragoness on the side

Coriza's golden eyes remained unchanged, they were still peaceful, pretty and comforting to look at.

"You can't force somebody to see the world through your own spyglass. You can only make them consider it and hope that one day they will look through it"

"Don't get me wrong, I mean no offense, but Brill, your leader, exhorted to spill the blood of the tainted. Perhaps aggression is not only in draconic nature"

"You came to this temple today, crossed the doorstep. Was it truly aggression that you felt?"

She looked at the ground, reminding herself of the serene, almost blissful sensation.

"It was so peaceful"

The cleric nodded "Did it feel like a lie? Was it dreadful or sincere?"

"Sincere"

Coriza looked around the ceiling and walls of the room, letting out a deep, longing breath.

"People built this temple and it's up to people to spread its influence"

"You caught me by surprise" Spyro protested at the other side of the room "Show me something now when I expect it"

Sparx snorted "I don't have to prove anything to you"

"You don't want to or you can't? the drake smirked

The dragonfly joggled the corner of his cheek where it met with his mouth "Wipe off that stupid smile" he snapped, folding his arms on his chest, letting out a prideful snort "I don't want to"

The purple dragon jerked his head back in false surprise "Really?"

"Yeah, really"

"So you won't have a problem if I ask Coriza if that's true? She seems to know a lot and seems like a honest cleric"

The yellowish glow suddenly sparkled fiercely.

Spyro laughed.

"I respect the Seeker" the priestess continued the feminine monolog "I disagree however with his rather radical point of view" she looked at the black dragoness, golden eyes radiating the pleasant aura "Towards you"

Cynder swallowed, tail and wings flicking nervously "Thank you" she looked to the side "It's not often when I hear this from strangers" she chuckled "If ever"

"My disagreement with the Seeker's words comes most likely from not experiencing the horrors of life he had to endure. Or perhaps it's my natural resentment to any kind of force that speaks through me. Whatever the case may be my opinion remains unchanged, I never questioned my judgment and I don't intend to begin now. In this particular case the Seeker is wrong, he sees you Cynder as Darkness, failing to realize in his perhaps selective opinion that the darkness he speaks of is in every single one of us. it's not an entity as he believes it is, it's the dark side of our hearts, the only fighter capable of conquering it is right here"

She tapped her claw against her dirty robes, right where they splayed on her chest.

"Redemption is a noble cause to pursue and you walk its path for a long time now. Darkness, if it would be an entity, would never be able to walk this path for such a long amount of time. Evil can stand Good only for so long after all, even if it jumped on this road only to fool everyone around"

A smile appeared on her turned to the side black snout, an emotional, happy chuckle escaped her throat.

"I don't believe what I'm hearing"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah" Sparx mumbled, each word coming out with more and more derisive tone "Laugh all you want, even when that would be the truth, which ISN'T"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah" Spyro snickered, mimicking his brother's voice

His arm jerked up, palm directed in the direction of his brother "That's only one battle, you still have a lot of catching up to do"

The drake grinned victoriously "Enough to win the war and you know it"

"Nothing exceptional" Coriza said calmly on the opposite side of the room "This is what in my opinion is the truth"

Cynder swallowed, as of late every bulge of saliva that traveled down her throat felt extremely jolly "I don't want to sound ungrateful" she raised her gaze "It isn't the most popular of opinions and yet you seem to be awfully confident about it"

The priestess golden gaze turned at the bickering brothers, especially focusing on the one hanging above.

"I had someone who ignited this certainty in me"

Her emerald eyes followed the gaze of the cleric, when it landed on the glowing shape hovering in the air her eye widened in surprise. She impulsively craned her neck forward, the same bewildered look was directed at the young, robed dragoness.

"Sparx?" Cynder whispered, eyes shifting at the mentioned dragonfly "Sparx told you about me? What did he say?"

Coriza blinked, opening sun like eyes once more kindly directing themselves at the other feminine speaker, making the craned black neck withdrew respectfully.

"Forgive me, but I would rather not say, I'm afraid I betrayed enough already. I hate to speak in somebody's else name. You should ask him if you want to know"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to pry" she turned her attention once more at the dragonfly, his whole form sparkling in complete different colors for her all of a sudden. A happy smile crept over her lips.

"He must really like you"

"The feeling is mutual I believe, we both make ourselves to do things we wouldn't suspect ourselves to be capable of. He made me question the wisdom of the Seeker and helped me to get out of my natural, formal shell" she smiled, for the first time making no move to hide her dirty teeth "Or how he said it…_pull the stick out of my ass" _she looked herself over with a giggle, sliding a claw under her dirty robe to stretch it forward "Something I think I took a level too far"

"Believe?" Cynder mumbled, a question formed inside her head for which she was certain she knew the answer already, but this time, seeing the dragoness smiling like that, it didn't make her disappointed. In fact she felt happier than ever.

"You aren't really a couple like Sparx made us believe are you?"

Coriza winced, letting out a defeated sigh "Shows how well I listened, he warned me that if you ever find us I should watch for my tongue"

"Let me guess, he said something like" she cleared her throat "_That smartass sticks her tail in everything_" she mimicked Sparx' voice

The cleric giggled "Something like that" she straightened up, getting back into the formal shell she mentioned earlier, even if only a little

"For argument's sake I won't answer your question. Trust and honesty are very important for me, I already bent both a little too far for my liking regarding Sparx and the Seeker. The first wouldn't approve If I would start spilling secrets we decided to never mention. The second wouldn't approve of anything that is happening here. Let's just say that I've reached the middle ground here and forgive me but I'm not about to leave it"

Cynder nodded, not offended in the slightest "It's ok, I respect that"

"Don't you have anywhere better to be?!" Sparx whined, a little too loud probably for his liking since he momentarily drew the attention of both females irritation and exhaustion ringing in his voice

"Whyyyy?" Spyro asked with fake, childish innocence "You think I'm annoying?"

"Yes!" the dragonfly blurt out, throwing his arms in the air "You're annoying! Happy now?"

A triumphant grin spread itself on Spyro's mouth with a click of his teeth. He turned his smiling snout around, towards his partner, impulsively trying to show her how ingenious he is and show off his victory, ego prepared for her admiring rub.

Cynder however had no intention in rubbing his ego, or praising him in any other way for that matter. She was looking at him with that kind disapprovement he remembered his mother giving him when he did something extremely stupid, not suitable for one of his age.

Whatever beaming smile was plastered on his snout turned into an awkward and ashamed wince.

"Are you finished boys?" Coriza asked, the silvery voice, seemingly unchanged and comforting, made both brothers cheeks flush at the same time

Cynder smiled, noticing the change in the brothers expression without a problem, something that the priestess was certainly aware of as well, in fact the dragoness believed that the cleric knew exactly what she was doing, her intuition just sensed it. It's surprising how a polite, pretty and a little feminine authority can shake even the most irrevocable of male hearts.

Boys will be boys.

"I hate to be a lousy host" Coriza continued "But I think you came to this temple for a reason and I doubt we are it"

"Wait!" Spyro exclaimed, jerking his head up in alarm "Don't throw us out!"

The priestess smiled comfortingly, her lips forming a toothless line "I'm not throwing you out, you can stay as long as you wish, but I doubt you will find here whatever you are looking for"

"I don't know anything about you! You're my brother's…umm…friend…and I have some…umm...questions"

"Bro!" Sparx pressed his hand to his forehead with an audible slap "Don't be so pushy and stop acting like you are my dad"

"I would gladly answer your questions" Coriza answered "but I don't believe we have enough time left to indulge in a typical private conversation. You are here for the Seeker are you not? With one of the Guardians no less? If the Seeker arrives without finding you a search might be commenced that could result in the discovery of this place and that would be…most troublesome"

"Watch out Cor, it's the speech again. The stick is coming out" Sparx chimed in

Cynder giggled.

"But…but…" Spyro stammered "How did you two meet? How long do you know each other? How…how…"

"All of these questions fall under the category of a typical private conversation Spyro I'm afraid" the cleric ended the drake's troubled stammer "Questions I'm sure we would gladly answer with Sparx in better circumstances" she smiled, covering her mouth "Some other time perhaps?"

"Sure we would" the dragonfly coughed in his hand, words dripping with sarcasm

"Ok some other quick…technical ones if you would be so kind" the purple drake pointed at the entrance "What's inside? And why does it reek of clay from there? What you guys are doing with clay? What is Brill up to? Are you Sparx' source of information from the temple? Are-"

"Spyro" Cynder addressed him with a giggle "Mind that curiosity of yours, I love it but not everyone may tolerate it"

Sparx dashed to the black dragonesse's side, elbowing her gently "I know about you two for quite a while, but can you stop using the L word? It's really creepy when heard aloud"

"Ok" she said

The dragonflie's eyebrows raised in reaction to her answer "Ok? No snide remark?"

"Nope"

He pressed his palm to her forehead, patting it occasionally.

"You have a fever or something?"

"Nope"

He backed away, arms raised in the air, shaking slightly "Ok, seriously, you're starting to creep me out"

She eyed him intently, emerald eyes sparkling happily, a smile on her snout only confirmed what her heart felt.

"Thanks Sparx"

"For what?"

She didn't respond, the gleam of the stuck on him green eyes was all the response he was given. It was quite unnerving seeing her looking at him like that, she had never paid him so much attention before without any sassy plan behind.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" he mumbled

"That room" Coriza spoke answering the question that hung in the air from earlier "is why we are meeting here from all places, it's secluded and hidden behind one of the temple's many hidden rooms. This one is probably forgotten by most of the caretakers, it's on the way to the Catacombs and the living have no reason to walk these stairs. A simple spell allowed us to acquire it for our needs"

She turned around, looking behind her shoulder to focus on the entrance "As for what is inside…it's strictly connected with the clay and most importantly it's a secret which I won't reveal without mutual consent" her head returned to its natural position "I won't speak in the Seeker's name, I'm sure you will learn everything you want to know from him. Lastly, no, I'm not Sparx' source of information, not any longer anyway. I relied some information that was mostly common knowledge for anyone willing to pay a visit to the temple, the rest is as much an unknown to me as it is to you. I spend most of my free time here with Sparx"

Golden eyes directed themselves at the purple snout ahead "I apologize if those weren't the answers you were expecting, but I can't offer better ones. I only hope that I satisfied your curiosity, even if only partially"

Spyro's eyes traveled at the entrance to the mysterious room, snout adorned by wrinkles of sadness and disappointment.

"Are you sure I can't check it out? Only take a little peek?"

"Dude, are you deaf?" Sparx dashed in front of the purple eyes, placing his glowing body right in the line of the dragon's sight

"It's off limits and if you're going to insist…" he pointed at the priestess "Cor here told me that she will mop the floor with you using only one paw. Don't let her stiff appearance fool you, she's a beast"

"No" replied the modulated voice of the young dragoness "I said that if somebody will want to get in that room they will mop the floor with ME using only one paw. I'm not a fighter, which is a very embarrassing trait for a dragon, I'm clumsy to the point that only last week I've mastered the ability to walk without tripping over my own tail"

Cynder chuckled "It's not so bad Coriza, you have a sense of humor. You don't have to worry about that stick"

"The sad thing is that I wasn't kidding"

The black dragoness laughed.

Spyro threw a brief glance at his laughing partner, as much as he wanted to know what he's brother is cooking up inside that room with his new companion he decided that it was best left alone. Insulting someone who seems so nice and treats Cynder as a living, feeling creature would be wrong and unfair.

He smiled with a nod "All that is left for me is to hope then. Maybe one day you will be prepared to reveal what's inside. I can live with that"

Coriza started to bow respectfully, but before her head made a complete full motion she froze and momentarily jerked her head back up.

"Your understanding is greatly appreciated. Before we part ways perhaps you would be willing to allow me to offer you a piece of advice? That's all I can offer I'm afraid, a meager prize for all those unexpected and still mostly mysterious revelations I know, but unfortunately this is all I've got"

Spyro shook his head comfortingly "All help has great value to us and we will accept it but not as a consolation prize, but as a gift from a dedicated and pretty cleric"

Both Cynder and Sparx looked at each other, smiled and then turned their eyes at the purple drake

"Smooth" they said in unison

His eyes traveled between the two of them, his mind hectically replaying the words in his head. His cheeks immediately flushed.

Coriza offered another one of those cute, toothless smiles "Now I begin to understand why there was constantly a line of young girls praying at your statue"

He scratched the back of his head "This…is awkward"

"Don't approach the Seeker with prejudice as your guide" her silvery voice attracted the drake's attention "It is often misleading. Remember that…" she bundled up the black dragoness in her golden sight before turning her whole attention back at the legendary dragon

"Not everything is as it seems"


	91. Chapter 13 Book V

Chapter 13

When the wall slid back in place, leaving the two of them standing back on the gloomy staircase with their tails wagging ever so slowly, moving with unexplained trepidation. What was the reason for this specific anxiety they couldn't really tell. Their eyes however tried to find the answer for that question, by examining the magical wall long after it mended itself with the rest of the structure.

"Can you believe this?" Spyro finally murmured, his voice s a rumbling whisper

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around it" Cynder replied, having a different point of reference than him without a doubt.

Spyro meant his brother, she however was awe struck by something entirely different. Acceptance from a stranger. First Flare admitted to at least partially trust Spyro and now this. Maybe the time has finally come to turn the tables.

"Sparx has a partner" he exhaled deeply, the loud whisper sounding like a gasp for air "And she's a freaking DRAGON!" he cringed when he pronounced the last words, covering his extended in her direction head behind his wing as if hiding himself from intent stares gawking at them through the invisible cracks in the wall

Who knows, maybe he was right.

Cynder smiled, a thought crossed her head about telling him that Sparx simply tried to divert his attention, but she decided not to say anything. The risk of a heart attack was too high and she needs that heart to beat.

"What do you think they're doing with clay?" he whispered again, eyes shifting at his wing membrane that separated his head from the wall, amethyst pupils intently scanning for the tiniest sight of crack

She remained calm, the only thing that betrayed her amusement was the joyful bouncing of her tail. Until her green eyes didn't shift in his direction, when she looked a chuckle burst from her throat that she simply couldn't contain.

He looked like one of those paranoid, old hags plotting over a boiling cauldron.

"Gossip?" she giggled "And here I thought I was the girl in this relationship"

Spyro bit his lip, a disturbed wince appeared on his snout.

"Honestly I can't stop thinking about it. When I accidentally mentioned that it had something to do with…you know…the kinky stuff, all sorts of images keep pouring into my head and I can't get rid of them"

His words were enough to start the cogs of fantasy inside her own head. They immediately jumped into such a high pace that momentarily gross images started flashing before her eyes.

"Hey!" Cynder whined, shutting her eyes and shaking her head firmly from side to side "Don't pass them on me!"

"Sorry, they just don't want to go away"

"Listen here Spyro" she said sternly, gently shoving him out of the way as she pushed herself in between him and the secret door.

"See this wall?" her blade like tail tip tapped twice against the hollow wall behind her, her tail however didn't return to its natural position, it however near the wall. Part of her mind desperately fought back the urge to knock at the magical door like Spyro did when he opened them.

"It's closed" Cynder continued, silencing the voices of her inward struggle "That chapter of our story is finished "By leaving that room we started a new one, and to continue it we must start focusing on it"

Her tail tapped against the artificial wall again.

"Besides, Sparx is in there, he willingly got himself locked up in there. We can't waste such an opportunity, we better be out of here before Coriza's patience runs out and Sparx will have to direct his nagging attention at us"

Spyro's eyes landed on the magical wall, amethyst pupils eyed it from up to down.

"How do you do it?" he asked, question mumbled into the air, not directed at anybody, coming out as an awe struck whisper "The curiosity is eating me up, I can barely stand straight. With last shreds of will I'm holding back from jumping at this wall"

Cynder threw a quick glance behind her shoulder "I'm curious too" her eyes landed on her risen tail, she could hear the knock password resonating from her blade tip

With a shake of her head she jerked her neck back to its natural position, dragging the tail beneath her underbelly. She rolled it around her left back leg until she reached the uncomfortable limit of straining it too far. Her back started to hurt and that itchy, numbing feeling kept pulsing through her whole spine as if an invisible hand would be dragging a feathered needle across her bones, puncturing her flesh occasionally in the right places.

A self-inflicted draconic acupuncture.

She raised her back leg and then pushed it back down, straight on the tail, pinning it to the ground. It started to shake, her body instinctively fighting against the uncomfortable position.

"But" she continued "I like Coriza too much to offend her like that and…well…I owe something to Sparx"

"She really left an impact on you didn't she?"

Cynder smiled teasingly "Look who's talking. Oh _dedicated_ _and_ _pretty_ _cleric_" she poorly mimicked his voice

Spyro blushed, he looked to the side, scratching nervously the back of his head .

"I didn't mean it…you're still the most beautiful dragoness I ever met"

"Too little too late" she replied with an endearing grin

He cringed, in his ashamed state clearly not noticing the humorous tone in her voice.

"Sorry"

"Hey" she whispered kindly, jumping in his direction, reassuringly licking his cheek, it was enough to make his head jerk back up "I was kidding silly" she nuzzled him affectionately, sliding her cheek fondly against his, until her closed eyed snout was reaching behind his neck

"You're so spyroish" she purred endearingly

He gently moved away from the special hug, kissing the tip of her nose on the way, making her giggle slightly.

"What does that even mean? Sparx was sometimes calling me like that"

Cynder smiled, fondling his purple cheek lovingly "That means I love you for who you are"

"As long as you aren't mad at me I'll believe that"

She laughed "I'm not jealous Spyro, innocent flirting doesn't bother me"

"How exactly will you know which flirting is innocent and which not?"

She shrugged "Doesn't really matter if I will be able to tell the difference or not. I'll make sure that it stays what I consider to be innocent" she started to seductively poke his leg, moving her claw inch by inch slowly upward. Her eyes followed its every move, gleaming with almost demonic irony.

"If someone would ever want to get to you they would first need to go through me"

A very attractive, ominous smile stretched her lips, if demons existed, Spyro was certain that they would smile exactly like she is now. Full of mystery, promise, hint of submission and dose of dark threat.

Even if it was somewhat diabolic, he simply couldn't get his eyes off her smiling mouth. What many would find displeasing he found exciting. There was something about ominous and gloomily intimidating side of a female that pulled him closer.

Everyone has a fetish, it seems this is his own.

Her moving claw touched his chest.

"They would learn the true definition of darkness then" her paw stopped on his chest, feeling the audible beating of his heart underneath. Green eyes sparkled with alluring, full of energy determination

"I'm not letting go of my spoils" she whispered with such a reverent and gloomy tone that her words sounded like prayer, or a deliberate promise, both you don't necessarily direct towards heaven

Spyro impulsively reached forward, paw touching her shoulder and sliding down her chest, just to go back up and gently tug on the choker. His paw repeated the caress, feeling every inch of her extremely sensual body, examining it far too carnally than he intended.

He didn't notice her wide, excited stare, nor he felt when his legs pushed him forward, towards her. He observed her shivering body and his claw that just reached her choker again, claws of which slid underneath the slit between her neck and the jewelry, wrapping around it like hooks. He didn't even feel the rather confident tug on it that pulled her closer with a blissful, squealing gasp.

"You're so sexy when you are menacing like that" he whispered reverently, diving his head under her chin, directing his hot breath exactly in the spot he instinctively knew would make her excited. He was ready to accept whatever gift his devil had to offer.

His black devil let out a held back, wavering moan into the ceiling, her eyes instantly shut themselves tight. Paw that was on his golden chest hit the ground just in time to hold her three legged body to topple over him.

"You have issues you know that?" Cynder let out a blissful, squeaking moan, smile following closely in its wake

'I can't help myself" his teeth clicked on the choker, he could feel the trembles of excitement ringing across the silver ring, caressing his mouth in the most sensual of ways

"I love your ominous, dominant energy"

"Dominant?" she purred, biting her lower lip, slowly drowning in the hot waves of his breath bouncing of her sensitive neck scales

"You are basically holding me by the throat"

"Should I stop?" he muttered seductively, holding the bracelet by his fangs only. The question sounded wrong in his head, only by last ounces of clarity recognizing the place they were in and its holy atmosphere

And yet his red tongue danced inside his opened mouth, pushing back and forward like an alligator in its lair playing a game of deadly hide and seek with its prey. It felt wrong, but if she would give him permission to continue he wouldn't be able to hold back.

And the mythical male intuition, commonly waking up only in one situation told him that if that tongue would lash out and touch her scales they both would have far more sins to answer for.

He unconsciously begged for approval.

"No" Cynder rasped

His tongue momentarily lashed out, mind shut itself out suddenly, ability to think breaking like an old machine.

It touched soft scales, very quickly, he licked at them gently in a moment's notice. His mind completely black, he only felt the pulsing heat wafting through his body, beginning from the loins.

It felt great and yet there was that unexplained sense of uneasiness gathering up in him, like a dark cloud covering the azure sky.

It wasn't regret behind the doubt, it wasn't a sudden, last spark of clarity nor it was guilt.

It was the lack of any sound.

Was his male intuition wrong?

It couldn't be.

A bear that sleeps practically all its life and wakes up only when it smells honey can't be wrong.

His eyes opened slowly at first, bringing softly the blurry world back into his senses. The soft magenta scales were still in front of him.

However there was no tongue.

Where was his tongue?

His now huge pupils went down, only now clearly realizing that there was nothing sticking out from his mouth.

Because it was blocked by a black paw.

His tongue slid back into place, dumbfounded and pleading purple eyes rose up. Meeting a pair of beautiful emerald orbs looking down on him.

"But you can't continue" Cynder whispered kindly, her voice wavering with painful yearning "Not here"

Spyro kept staring at her, he felt his mind waking up from its short slumber, their goal, the atmosphere, the power of this place, blame and much more were coming back to him. He groaned into her paw, incomprehensibly begging her to reconsider before it will be too late.

Begging her to open the door to blissful oblivion.

His lips eventually withdrew from her paw.

It was over.

"You were saying something about being dominant?" his lips curled into a small smile

"It has nothing to do with dominance" she replied, eyes briefly taking notice every muscle in his body "I'm still trying to decide if its prudence or stupidity"

"Any way I can help?" he asked innocently

Cynder smiled "Aren't we in a frisky mood. All it took was a reminder of a different girl. I'll have to remember that"

He bit his lip, tail twitched nervously, he felt extremely awkward in this vulnerable position.

She definitely noticed his struggle since a slight chuckle escaped her throat.

"Take that as a compliment, you have a good taste. Coriza has really pretty eyes"

Spyro turned his gaze away, the priestess beautiful sun like stare flashed before his eyes.

"I didn't notice"

She smirked "Sure you didn't, for what it is worth I appreciate the lie though" she turned around, flicking her way in an obvious _follow me_ gesture "Come on, let's go back, otherwise you might try to headbutt that wall"

He rolled his eyes, following his companion patiently.

"Do you need to be such a tease?"

"Do you really need to ask?" she asked without turning around

They walked up the stairs, not really aware of how much time has passed, the only thing that signaled to them that it isn't late was the silence from the hall above. The echo of their clicking claws was the only noise that accompanied them through their climb.

They couldn't see a single soul when they finally stepped into the main room. Both of them exchanged short, worried glances before continuing forward. The silence, pleasant and somewhat becoming earlier felt suddenly more choking and dreadful.

The feeling of anxiety weighted heavily on them as they continued onwards, towards the nearby column, prepared to make a turn.

And then suddenly a big shadow stretched itself over the ground and covered them with its black veil.

Both of them gasped, but it was not a gasp of surprise and fear, but one filled with relief when they immediately recognized who cast this big shadow.

"Finally you decided to show up" Cyril growled at them, sharp teeth sticking out like from a mouth of a furious abyssal beast "Where the hell were you?"

"It doesn't matter" Cynder replied, the Guardian sucking out whole joy from her voice "What's important is that we're here" she looked past the Guardian, scanning the empty hall "And on time"

"Don't talk to me like you have any authority here little girl" the growl rumbling within his throat became deeper "If it was not for your hurt feelings, frail nature and tears we would prepare ourselves properly for the meeting with the smelly rat"

"Cyril!" Spyro's angry voice rumbled within the temple, the echo climbing even the stairs, bouncing off the walls like a drunk "Stop it this instant! You have no right to speak to Cynder like that"

"I'm the Guardian boy, I have the damn right to do everything I want!"

"Girl? Boy?" Cynder snickered "Someone acts here like he would age while we weren't looking, gaining the arrogant wisdom of an ancient, grumpy dragon" she grinned tauntingly "Maybe if we turn around we'll be lucky enough to see you wrinkled and withering, or, what would be more preferable, dead"

"Watch your tongue whelp!" Cyril roared furiously, the feral, predatory wrath so palpable in his blare that even the colorful stained glass windows dotting the temple seemed to dim and loose its colors, becoming nearly transparent

Even the images they represented, normally artificial, looked like they inhaled a breath of life. Following in the wake of its colors the images seemed to cringe and shrink, sliding away from the furious dragon on the floor until they resembled nothing but a dot.

The Guardian stormed in her direction, stopping just inches from her front paws, making her head tilt up basically to its limit as she maintained unwavering eye contact. The shadow he cast grew in size and stretched far behind her, resembling a black frying pan.

Ready to be heated with the fire of his fury.

"Or the next tears I'll squeeze out of you will be the consequence of shattered bones" Cyril craned his neck forward, so close to the black girl's snout that their noses nearly touched

Cynder didn't look away, not even when she felt his cold breath on her snout. His own eyes were constantly locked with hers, fighting a battle of their own.

"Be careful about sudden moves or you might strain your very old back" she replied coldly, tone carrying unwavering, villainous confidence

The Guardian's paw swiftly shot forward, claws spread wide, ready to sink into her throat yet stopping in midair.

She didn't even flinch.

His ferocious claws clenched into a fist, scales cracked on his leg as he flexed it beyond the comfortable limit of every muscle.

"How easy it would be to snap your insolent neck" he growled, eyes sparkled dreamily, seeing in great detail the thought he voiced

She didn't pay his paw any attention.

"You would be wise to watch for that heart of yours, a scream from this insolent neck might give it an attack"

"Enough!" Spyro roared, jumping in between them, shoving the clenched paw out of the way

Claws of which spread open, and made that barely noticeable move against the current, claws ready to slice through anything that stood in its way.

The paw retreated back to its icy owner just when it was about to connect with the purple body.

"Are you insane?" he looked accusingly at the ice dragon

Cyril's lips wavered visibly, displaying rows of tightly clenched teeth. They were pushing against each other so strongly that if somebody would look closely he could see cracks appearing on the enamel.

"We came here as one, to counter Brill's strategy! We won't be able to do that if we kill each other first!"

"You might want to direct this look you are giving me towards your disrespectful she devil" Cyril growled

"He's starting from you out of politeness" Cynder chimed in, provocatively not glancing in the dragon's way, only smiling arrogantly "Old dragons have troubles with hearing I HEARD"

With a rumbling growl Cyril pushed in her direction, the ground whined under his forceful step.

"That's it you little bitch!"

"STOP!" Spyro roared, enveloping himself in a ball of electricity, shocking tendrils of which zapped both of his arguing companions, making them jump back with startled gasps

"Don't you see what you're doing?!" he looked around, eyes jumping between the two draconic figures he separated "You're making our visit here pointless! Where's the sense in putting some sense into Brill's head when we act like the very same moles we use as our argument!?"

"You want us to focus on the job at paw?" Cyril snarled "You better keep your friend in check, preferably with a chain around her neck. Experience showed us that she was tolerable then"

"Cyril for Ancestor's sake!" Spyro admonished the Guardian

"You were-"

"Cynder, no!" he yelled, cutting her off while turning in her direction, stomping his leg against the ground "Not another word. Please!" he exhaled

"I-"

"NO!" Spyro interjected again, this time his roar cutting off the Guardian"Just shut up!" his irritated eyes jumped between both arguing parties "Both of you!"

Cynder frowned, obviously mad at him for not taking her side.

Cyril in fact was no different, at least they can agree on something.

And it's the dislike for his mediatory position.

"The Taint sometimes spreads its corruption in the most subtle of ways"

Both Cyril and Cynder balked at the sound of the familiar, calm voice. Their immediately wide eyes dashed in its direction.

Only Spyro didn't react like the other two. His head instead of sharply turning around with the snapping sound of bones slid slowly towards the floor. His mouth parted and a breath he would never suspect he will feel in the presence of the new arrival left his throat.

It was a prolonged breath of extreme relief.

"Like for instance manifesting itself in an argument "Brill appeared on the staircase standing on its last step, eyes folded behind his back

"You finally decided to show your cowardly nose here" Cyril stated coldly, his expression adorned by a threatening, and triumphantly amused slight grin

"Cowardly?" the mole cocked his head slightly, the golden eye sewn into the robe he was wearing seemed to widen, pushed forward by the crunched material

"This is the holy resting place for the saint Ancestors, in no other place you can feel their divine energy coursing through you

"Don't sell me another one of your fairytales old coot. I'll never believe that it took you so long to come down to us without some excuse behind it"

Brill eyed the Guardian cautiously "Even after so many years I still find your ability to perceive truth with your arrogant blindfold. It's sad however that you peek through it only when chasing after someone your troubled mind sees as a threat"

The ice dragon grinned triumphantly "So you admit to stalling our meeting"

The mole nodded "I do, but not because of the reason your mind undoubtedly thinks about now. I delayed our meeting for the sole purpose of allowing you to experience the dark work of Taint on your own scales"

The rodent's eyes landed on Cynder, the artificial eye on his robe seemed to narrow itself on the female.

"You have unhealthy presumption of showing yourself here, however I am glad to see you"

Cynder returned the cold gesture, not allowing herself to be fooled by the mole's words.

"I can't say that the pleasure is mutual"

Spyro's eyes instantly scanned the temple, he didn't like the mole's words, especially not after their last conversation. He didn't trust the rodent, nor he trusted his intentions. Every word the mole spoke had a second meaning for the young drake.

There was undoubtedly a delicate hint of joy in the priest's voice, yet he didn't believe it came from the actual fact of meeting Cynder, but more likely from the opportunity to end her unholy existence presenting itself.

More than once Spyro could swear that the shadows behind the columns moved, that he noticed pieces of material sticking out from their hiding places. More than once he convinced himself that they were being watched the moment they got here. More than once he could swear that he noticed the silhouettes of people hiding behind the pillars.

Assassins just waiting for the right signal.

And yet he never moved, no matter how hard he wanted to. An impulse held him back, whenever he felt it the pulse pounded with a specific tone, carrying words that someone quite special recently said to him.

_Not everything is as it seems._

He found the name for that impulse.

It was trust.

And Sparx had his unflinching reliance.

Brill stepped down from the stairs, slowly sauntering through the temple, his steps light and barely hearable when they touched the floor, as if he was careful not to wake up the statues.

"Have you finally seen the truth behind your vile existence? Realized how much it corrupts those around you?" he waved his hand around, gesturing at the rows of statues "Are you ready to repent for your sins under the watchful eyes of the Sacred?"

Spyro turned around, tail flicked angrily as he narrowed his purple gaze on the mole.

"Don't answer that Cynder" he mumbled "You did nothing evil that you would need to ask for forgiveness"

"That isn't the truth is it?" The rodent concentrated entirely on the black dragoness, watching her like a parent who caught his child on a lie "Redemption is a beautiful star to aim for"

Cynder's claws drummed softly against the floor, the mole knew which buttons to press, she can give him that. Whether he manipulated her, or was entirely sincere in his approach she couldn't really tell. If he is their enemy, it would be better if he had as little secrets as possible.

"Alright, I'll bite"

"Cynder!' Spyro called her name painfully through clenched teeth

She threw him a brief glance, a gaze that spoke silent words only for him to understand. However when she looked into his eyes it was her that got smitten.

He wasn't blaming her for the curiosity, he was terrified that the mole might fill her head with doubt. A path they both didn't want to tread.

"How could I achieve redemption?" she asked, winking at her partner before turning her head, giving a clear signal that she knows what she's doing

Purposely and with great difficulty convincing herself that the expression she caused to appear on his snout was not that of utter devastation.

Brill looked straight at her, despite everything she heard about him, or heard him saying, here, in this temple he radiated a specific aura. Aura of generosity, honesty and comfort, even respect.

He was at home and he invited you to join him and you knew only good things await you within, as if you would be staying at your grandparents house.

"By death"

Cynder was stunned by his response, not the words itself, but the tone, gentle and lovingly kind. She was quite certain that for a very brief moment there she agreed with him.

Spyro on the other paw became even more uneasy, by now he was practically spinning in place like a drill. If the assassins didn't make a move earlier they will surely attack now. It's only a matter of seconds before poisoned daggers and darts start flying.

No one appeared.

"You confessed!" Cyril exclaimed, the breath wafting from his mouth was like a freezing cloud "You arrogant fool! You might have lured some pitiful whiners to your side but that doesn't change the fact that law is still present in this city! And being the head of an organized crime capable of murder in broad daylight, hiding under the façade of a religious group is a punishable offense!"

The mole shook his head sadly "Oh Cyril, Cyril, you were always too rushed. Always the first to jump to conclusions. Always certain that your point of view is the most accurate one. Always looking down on people who you have authority over"

He raised his head, tendrils of his specific aura embracing the Guardian.

"And you were always wrong"

Cyril visibly flinched, only long enough for a fast and perceptive eye to see. He was the one who was the most aggressively pitted against the priest from the three dragons. Yet, even his stout defense allowed the mole's gentle and yet powerful taunt graze his soul. For no longer than a split second the Guardian's expression softened, head ready to confess and accept the accusations with a nod.

For a split second ready to acknowledge them as honest truth.

"Your encased in an areola of the all knowing, caring prophet words don't work on me rodent!" Cyril snapped at the priest, breaking the weak shackles of whatever spell that was holding him "You might fool all those meek, pitiful idiots without any spark of belief in their own value, but I see through your manipulative nature like through glass!"

"I have never manipulated anyone"

Cyril laughed, bitterness dripped from his laugh like rain from a leaf.

"And what was that about redemption and corruption? I'm sure you brought these words up simply by accident and their popularity in our day to day oratory life"

"There was no hidden intention behind the words I said" Brill responded calmly, his voice soft as the touch of a hand caressing a pet's fur

"Don't insult me mole!" the Guardian growled, ending his laughter efficiently, the anger in his voice emphasized by the sharp tip of his claw pointing at the priest

"You exactly know who stands before you, precisely are aware of every burden each of us carry. Have full knowledge of what drives and motivates us. I tell you now that you are wasting your breath, better save it for someone weak willed because that girl is out of your league"

He craned his neck forward, eyes with contempt rolling around in his eyeballs, scanning the surroundings.

"You think these rows of cold rock have power little creature? If so then how will you call the strength that radiates from that girl over there? You might have control over the artificial and ordinary, but your vile, disgusting methods won't work on the extraordinary and alive"

Cynder blinked surprised, leaning in her purple partner's direction, not losing the battling duo from her sight.

"Did he just compliment me?" she whispered dumbfounded

Spyro swallowed, undeniably sharing her surprise.

"Yeah" he mumbled back

"Bold words for someone who so freely tarnished uniqueness" Brill commented on the Guardian's monolog

"Code of conduct of higher classes is beyond your limited comprehension" Cyril replied arrogantly "You can't possibly understand my kind, no matter how many statues you build, especially you can't comprehend the supremacy of icons of our race that the three of us represent"

"Well" Spyro whispered with an amused shrug "At least he still knows how to rub his own ego"

Cynder giggled.

Brill paced slowly across the nearly sterile floor of the temple, placing his hand reverently on the base of a nearby statue.

"Have you ever considered the possibility that perhaps you are your own worst enemy Cyril?"

"Spare me your prattle" the ice dragon hissed "I'm too old for your tricks"

"There are many dragons serving this temple, the higher class as you called it reaches even here. Uniting us in faith"

"Don't you dare comparing the waste you gathered here to true dragons!" Cyril rumbled in abhorrence "The spineless mewling sheep-things with draconic tails you amassed here are fit only to be turned into stuffed mascots"

Behind the old dragon the two young drakes gasped faintly, their eyes met each other and they immediately knew they were thinking about the same thing.

Sparx' new friend Coriza.

The cleric and every other dragon similar to her, predators that gave up on fighting, how would they feel knowing that their leader was considering them to be nothing more than trash.

Cynder growled quietly, muscles tensing, unfair treatment is something she is very familiar with, the pain it causes can't be compared to any known agony. Whatever respect the Guardian managed to build during his conversation with the mole shattered like fragile glass.

She was going to make sure that he knows that.

"No Cynder" she was stopped by a paw grabbing her leg tightly

At first impulse she wanted to indignantly break free, but the moment she looked into Spyro's caring eyes her expression softened momentarily.

She was in his debt, the earth will die first before she will even think of ignoring it.

"I know it hurts to hear it" Spyro whispered kindly "I also believe that this isn't fair, but Cyril has the right to have his opinion and we can't judge him for that. I sound like a hypocrite now I know, but it will be best if we keep our feelings to ourselves. Don't infuriate Cyril, don't give Brill any more arguments against you. Just let it go"

She bit her lower lip, the fang slid across the soft flesh back and forth, which on closer inspection looked like some sort of silent incantation.

For Spyro the analogy seemed perfectly accurate, he was certain she was performing a ritual, one entirely prepared for her own demons of independence.

"Ok" Cynder eventually whispered back, successfully chasing the demons away.

The mole withdrew his hand from the statue with a forceful jerk, it momentarily clenched into a fist as if struggling against the feeling of touching something disgusting.

"You are a flaw Cyril on the image of dragonkind. The most dreadful thing is that it's not the Taint influencing you. It is your own soul"

Cyril smirked "On YOUR image of dragonkind you forgot to add"

"Talking with you has no point, your arrogance makes you blind to the vision of others"

"That's good, because I grow tired of listening to your nauseating voice. Iron the rag you're wearing mole. Time for you to answer for your crimes" he narrowed his gaze on the priest "Lucky for you that I'm not exacting your punishment. Stupid bonds of leadership" he growled under his breath

"Crime?" Brill asked surprised "What kind of crime your reckless mind created this time?"

"Death threats and murder attempt and actual killing for starters. You must realize little mole that no matter what you do you will always lose. You might try to create the perfect blaming plan, but it will be worthless"

He confidently strode forward, forming a protective scaly shield from his own body as he hid the young black dragoness behind his massive figure.

"As long as I am here you won't lay even a single claw on her scales"

Brill with a calm sigh folded his hands behind his back.

"You have evidence supporting your accusations I believe? Because without any these are nothing but the delusions of your filled with images of grandeur mind. The only accusation I can answer to and hence defend myself are the supposed death threats"

He saunter towards another stature, with great care rekindling the candle at its base.

"That accusation is as reliable as your faith in the people"

"That's how you plan to defend yourself?" Cyril snarled "With mockery? A pitiful line of defense especially when I was there when you demanded Cynder's death just not so long ago. I was also there when you openly encouraged people to start a bloodshed"

"When I referred to spilling the blood of the tainted it wasn't my consent for taking up arms, do you see any fights going on? No. And you would know that there was no risk of a riot if you would only come to one of my sermons"

The cleric spread his arms wide, the robe on his arms fluttered gently. He spun around delicately as if trying to invite the temple into a hug.

"This place gives me the strength to guide my flock through the right path, away from the tainted road. We all carry the Darkness inside!" he shouted suddenly, making all three dragons gasp as he pointed in their direction

Spyro noticed a familiar spark of insanity in the mole's eyes.

The priest clenched his extended hand and pressed the fist to his heart with an audible thud that would made anyone else caught his lungs out.

"I dedicated my life to become the Seeker, I see Darkness, I won't let its black tentacles devour the souls of my flock. I will guide people to the light. And as for now I'm successful, there are no tainted among us"

Cyril shook his head "You stupid little fucker" he mumbled under his breath, words for only him to hear

Brill took a deep breath, folding his hands once more behind his back.

"I have never and will never deliver any death threats. What I presented here was an offer"

"An offer?" the Guardian laughed bitterly "You're asking someone if they would be so kind to give away their lives?" another dose of laughter escaped his throat "Why of course! Just blink and she'll jump right into the fire" as if by a magic touch the explosion of bitter joy ended, turning the dragon's expression back to its cold self

"You're even more insane than I originally thought"

"You shouldn't laugh, decisions of other people might surprise you"

"By all means!" Cyril stepped to the side, gesturing at the young black dragoness with a wry wave of his leg "Ask! I'm sure she won't have any objections! Who wouldn't want to die for you!"

"She wouldn't be doing it for me, but for the world" Brill responded calmly, stepping in the young girl's sight, stopping exactly in the colorfully illuminated rectangle on the floor

In the brilliant pillar of light coming from what seemed to be haven themselves the mole's frail figure radiated a beaming, blinding aura of respect and kindness.

"Is there any light still left in you girl?" the mole asked "Do you accept my offer?"

Cynder opened her mouth automatically yet surprisingly no sound came out. The ridicule of the request was beyond any reasonable measure and yet, part of her mind caught her on hesitation, scolding her for it like parents catching their young child on doing something a child should never be doing.

For a period of time, so short that no clock was capable of measuring it, no wise scientist capable of finding a name for it, Cynder heard herself saying _Yes_.

And in that particular moment she felt that everything is as it was supposed to be.

"I think I'll take a raincheck on your generous offer, thanks" Cynder eventually replied. In reality only a second has passed

Spyro instinctively bent on his legs, preparing himself for any kind of surprise from the mole, even when the priest didn't show any hint of hostility so far.

Brill sighed sadly, the aura of a divine creature dispersed with the beaten exhale of air. In the bright light every dry wrinkle was clearly visible. The mole's body looked very old and frail, no doubt applying a little pressure would make it snap like a twig.

Spyro portraying the mole as the most wicked and vile creatures in Warfang was the only one who noticed the change in the priest's appearance. His bent legs straightened up slowly as if they were made from rusted springs, eyes previously narrowed and fierce softened and widened.

For the very first time since he seen the mole he perceived him for what he truly is. An old creature whose mind clings to life with whatever power it has left. Spyro believed that the clench was so desperate that the poor mole doesn't even realize that his vision is nothing more than a delusional, senile breath of life.

For the very first time since he met the mole he pitied the priest.

"I pray that one day there will be someone who will shed the veil of obliviousness, before it's too late and the Taint will consume those around"

"You're asking her to die!" Spyro finally protested, the aggression that boiled within him evaporated, he wasn't irritated with the mole. His voice reverberated no hidden hostility. His tone of voice was normal, as if he would be talking to just some complete stranger, a complete confused stranger.

One of Cynder's brows reacted to his unexpected tone, she turned her gaze to observe him. Curiously most of all.

"Can't you see how insane that sounds? Who would simply throw one's life away just because a person who showed nothing but resentment asked?"

Brill's attention turned towards the young drake, his head tilted down and then slowly began to rise.

Spyro felt every single burning second of that intent scan, as if the cleric would be branding him with his stare.

"You changed boy since our last meeting" the priest gave him another look over, this time a brief one "You wouldn't be asking me that question if it would be for the better"

"Reasonable doubt has no place here" Cyril commented with mocking amusement "The only satisfying change for you would be if Spyro would start drooling nonsense like you"

The mole's head suddenly cocked to the side so fiercely that Spyro heard the breaking of bones and snapping sounds of tearing old flesh. For a moment he imagined that the priest broke his neck, he imagined that his head would forever remain tilted to the side.

And his eyes would never close.

Zombie mole.

A horrible stench of decay wafted across his purple nose.

Cold fingers of fear sprinted along his draconic back making him shiver.

"I sense something in you that I didn't feel the last time we met" one of the priest's hands clenched on the artificial eye sewn into his robe

"It's called disgust" Cyril chimed in, his voice ringing with laughter "At first meeting the seeds of abhorrence for your fanatical ways are planted. They only start to blossom with time, like a pretty flower"

The mole extended his hand beyond the pillar of light, the old fingers shook with uncontrollable spasms of age. Curled claws clenched and unclenched themselves in the most popular gesture requesting approach.

"Come here into the light, let me take a closer look at you"

The priest's wish filled Cynder with overwhelming dread making her so cold that for a moment she felt like someone locked here in literal Dante's Freezer. The hand ahead suddenly started to shed skin, breaking off every trace of kind, old grace, until it resembled nothing but a rattling skeleton's hand.

Cynder grabbed Spyro's leg, the clench was so strong that she cut off the blood flow to his limb.

"Don't you dare" she muttered pleadingly

He watched his partner with concerned eyes, when she rose her emerald orbs at him his jaw cracked open.

Her eyes were gleaming with fear.

"I'll stay where I am" he turned his confident gaze at the cleric "Sorry"

The mole's hand clenched into a fist, only to return to the light after a moment of silent hovering in the air.

"Darkness has a hold on you boy"

Cynder impulsively let go the purple leg she was holding.

"Its black tentacles are wrapped around your soul, squeezing the essence out of it. Your freedom is taken away and yet you're beaming"

Spyro's tail made an inconspicuous, gentle sway to the side where its tip intertwined itself softly with its black, feminine counterpart.

"You're not talking about Darkness grandpa" he whispered, eyes never leaving the old priest

Cynder's tail returned the hug.

Brill stepped out from the pillar of light, advancing slowly in the purple dragon's direction, eyes aimed at him with uncomfortable fascination.

"The Taint is pulsing within you and yet I feel that there is something strange about you boy" the mole kept on walking "Why are you still the master of your life?" another few small steps "Why aren't you lost?" few more "What are you?"

A blue tail fell down from the air like a blade of a guillotine and blocked the mole's path.

"That's far enough" Cyril snarled

The mole extended one of his hands forward, palm opened up and directed upwards. He never stopped walking, even when his body pressed itself against the tail he kept on pushing forward.

"A drop of your blood, please" Brill literally begged

The eyes of the young drakes widened in shock.

"How people can even listen to you, you damn lunatic, I have no idea" the Guardian hissed annoyed and put pressure on his tail, countering the mole's walking direction, slapping his tail with enough strength to hurt an old body

Brill cringed and started to cough fiercely, rasping, unpleasant sounds were coming from his ruined by age throat, both hands clenched his stomach.

"Cyril!" Spyro admonished the Guardian, his voice ringing with sincere worry, his caring heart forced his body to impulsively jump forward

Cynder just stood there, allowing the purple tail slip from the embrace of her black one. Her emerald eyes were aimed at the coughing old creature ahead, so weak and scrawny.

She could feel nothing but worry for the sick with age mole. Almost to the point that she felt his pain.

The Ice Guardian rolled his eyes "Quit the show mole, if it would be so easy to kill you I would have done it years ago even before Lightbane gutted you"

The cleric coughed severely a few more times before straightening up, supporting himself on the blue tail that constantly slid away from his grasp making the feat so much more difficult.

"Are you alright?" Spyro asked worriedly, surprising even himself with the honesty in his voice

Cyril snorted in disdain "Dear Ancestors, hug him if you so care about his well-being"

Brill wiped his mouth, letting out a raspy calming breath.

"Leave" the mole uttered

All three dragons were taken aback by the unexpected order.

"Leave?" Cyril asked coldly "We're not done here"

"I believe we are" the mole rearranged his robe reverently

"Not until you answer for your hideous acts"

Brill glared at the young drakes, for the very first time since they got here it was impossible to tell what the mole was thinking. He was emotionless, seemed automated like a machine.

Lifeless.

"You place judgment on the wrong person, while the true horror is right beside you"

After those words both young dragons blinked, the mole before them was again the same, provocative Brill they knew. This time both of them seen the same image of the cleric and all those bad feelings, no matter how hard they wanted to ignore them, nested back in their hearts.

They didn't like the mole.

"Do you really think I'll believe in what you say?" Cyril growled annoyed "Since you showed up ugly things started to happen in this city. First a whole family was set on fire and now we had mole assassins in the hospital. You want me to believe that this is only a coincidence? When you are the one who rallies people under the banner of a crusade for the…Taint?" he spitted the last word out

"Those are only your insinuations, if I would be the priest you try to convince people I am I would destroy the city just to crash Darkness under its rubble" Brill spread his arms wide "And yet Warfang still stands, even now when the Taint entered through the doorstep of my home"

The mole folded his arms behind his back, making a pause to catch his breath.

"I never showed any notion towards violence, people won't hurt each other while I am here. I keep a close eye on my flock, if things will become desperate I will be the one who will take up the blade if necessary, nobody will kill and die in my name. As long as I am here I control Darkness, no flesh will be shed, even that of the Dark Vessel herself. I only shared the truth and will continue to do so"

"What's with the nicknames?" Cynder whispered to Spyro "I hate when people do that"

He smiled weakly "Glad to hear you have your priorities set straight"

"Is that so?" Cyril flicked his tail "You should have told that to your servant outdoors who tried to strangle Cynder"

Brill turned around, making his way slowly towards the staircase from which he descended from.

"Not everyone have the strength to carry the burden of truth, for some its simply overwhelming"

The Guardian opened his mouth but the words were shoved back into his throat by the dismissive wave of the cleric's hand.

"You should stop this parade of false morality. You don't care about the tragedies that happened, you don't care about these people. You came here intently because of me, perhaps to judge how someone as frail as I can pull people from the strong wing of someone like you. You came here to evaluate your enemy"

The Guardian's claws drummed against the floor, tail swung from side to side in irritation.

"You're wrong" he replied, his voice lacked the usual cold tone, whether it was because the mole has seen through his ruse or the dragon allowed other emotions than just anger to take the lead was impossible to tell

"I do care"

Brill began ascending the long staircase, beating slowly one step at a time as if he didn't want to go, but something was forcing him while his weak body was doing everything it could to delay the inevitable.

"Perhaps in a way you do, however your understanding of concern is corrupted"

Cyril grunted something incoherently, words once more held back by the mole's hand who didn't even bother to turn around.

"We're done here, I'm tired. See yourself to the door and take the Darkness with you. Do not come back here, there won't be enough prayers to chant to clean the Taint you left behind"

All present draconic eyes observed the ascending mole, many thoughts swirled in their heads. In Cynder's case most of them were about darkness and taint. Her eyes instinctively rose upwards, past the mole, clinging to the trail of shadow that splayed on the stairs. Emerald orbs walked the black path, drawn by some unconscious power, farther and farther up the stairs.

Her eyes stopped on the black mass on the top, a single fire of a torch was dancing above, its light weak as if was scared of touching the darkness. The blackness however was the only thing that interested her it was filling her whole vision, growing until the whole world turned dark.

She could swear that the blackness started to hum.

Cynder blinked, her eyes were once again hers, the vision pulled back, surroundings appearing once more. Her gaze remained locked on the dark mass of the corridor, now so small and unimportant, except in a single spot.

She frowned, concentrating on the peculiar bulge, craning her neck as far as it would go to cut the distance.

The blob seemed to swivel as if it was alive.

She blinked again and in that moment she could see a massive silhouette forming, with something sharp projecting vertically.

A horn?

She blinked again.

The shadows above were all of the same size.

"What now?" Spyro finally broke the silence

"Now we get back to reality" Cyril responded icily "You two focus on what's really important, I'll make sure this lunatic doesn't get out of control"

Cyril got up, directing himself towards the door with a derisive snort.

"Devils, darkness, monsters. If any of it would be true we would be in real trouble"

He pushed the door open, taking a deep breath of the wafting, daily, fresh air.

"Insanity has a colorful imagination"


	92. Chapter 14 Book V

Chapter 14

"Please rub the ointment twice a day on the aching spot, the pain should subside day by day until it completely fades away by the end of the week"

A mole healer handed a neatly packed medicine over the desk and into the furry hands of the unfortunate customer.

"Thank you" the elderly cheetah answered with a smile as he pressed the bag with a red string to his old, heaving chest "You people are life savers. May your Ancestors bless you"

The healer smiled politely "That's a simple ache sir. You still have plenty of years ahead of you"

"Thank you, thank you" the feline rasped gratefully as he eventually made his way towards the exit

The mole waved the cat away "May your health never falter!"

With a content sigh the mole stretched in her chair, looking around the room. The receiving hall of the hospital was nearly empty, only a few patients were being serviced by the other desks. Today nobody went past the desks and that always was what made this work so much enjoyable.

Outside you meet silence and peace practically whenever you turn, it's only up to you to go and walk with them. Here silence and peace weren't popular visitors, lately however that seemed to change. With the rebuilding of the city nearly complete the cases of drastic injuries lowered greatly. And with no war on the horizon this state of events might become normality.

The mole sighed once again, eyes landing on one of the benches.

Silence and peace were sitting there.

She smiled happily.

The door to the hospital opened, the mole's eyes immediately darted up, she straightened up in her chair when she noticed the familiar silhouette stepping over the doorstep.

"Amela!" the healer greeted the new arrival "You're back early"

The cheetah smiled, the knees on her brown working pants were green from grass. Both here hands were placed at the her hips, holding a black belt from below that was overloaded nearly all around with filled up bags.

She looked like a hot-air balloon that didn't want to lose its weight, remaining stuck to the ground.

Her heaving happily chest stretched the material of her grey blouse to the limit.

"Seems like Luck decided to be finally on our side" the cheetah smiled, juggling her belt slightly, making all the bags bounce softly "The herbs were never so good before. Back in the days when I gathered two bags I considered that to be ripe pickings and now look!" she patted her belt "I have so many of them that I can barely walk!"

"Let me help you Miss!" a male cheetah broke from his two souled line, patting the shoulder of the other unfortunate patient to get his attention

"No need!" Amela raised her hand, smiling kindly "You're health is much more important" she juggled the belt wrapping her waist "Besides these bags aren't that heavy and only knowing they will bring relief makes them so much lighter"

"That's the least we can do for all the help this place offer us"

"I appreciate the offer, but I must decline. Don't get me wrong, as much as I enjoy the company of other people it's best that you spend as little time here as possible. As strange as it might sound nothing makes us more happier than seeing these halls empty"

The cheetah nodded respectfully and returned back to his line.

The old healer gratefully squeezed the shoulder of the eager helper as she made her way to one of the nearby desks and placed her valuable loot on top of it.

She straightened her back, something snapped in her spine, sending a jolt of pain through her body. Yet all she did was to smile, over the years, when one becomes old enough, the suffering that comes with age is as common as scratches appearing on the bodies of children. Either you complain about it all the time or get used to it.

She opted for the latter.

"You push yourself too hard" a mole assistant that occupied the desk admonished the old cheetah kindly as he began to ruffle through the bags

Amela giggled "My bones snap at a regular basis, if I would allow it to bother me simple getting out of bed would suck out every bit of determination from me"

The mole shook his head, tips of long claws carefully examining the contents of one of the bags.

"This stubborn practice of trying to keep up with the passing time will kill you one of these days"

She poked the mole's short arm with her claw playfully.

"Remember Per that we're healers. What is our motto?"

The mole shook his head again.

Amela poked his arm again, leaning closer with a teasing smile.

"Hmmm?"

He sighed dauntingly.

"Exercise…" she meaningfully looked at the healer, prolonging the word in the same fashion

"You're too stubborn for your own good"

"Exercise…" she repeated again

The mole sighed.

"is…" he said

"…health" both of them finished

Amela giggled, patting the mole's shoulder.

"You can say I'm doing my job"

The rodent finished looking through four bags and pushed them to the edge of the desk before diving into another one.

"You act as if the whole world was on your shoulders. If you make a break or even slow down a little it won't shatter, trust me. You must also look out for yourself"

"I did that once" Amela pulled one of the bags in front of her, opened it and dipped her claw into the herb filled container

Her eyes locked themselves on the greenish mass below and her claw shifting against it. She stared at the moving raw medicine as if she was about to read from her own special crystal ball.

"And learnt to never do it again" she mumbled, pulling her clawed finger out, the little bits of herbs dripping from her claw reminded her of falling droplets of blood from a bleeding wound

She rubbed her fingers together, getting rid of the last pieces of the herbs before smiling at the mole.

"I'm here to serve and I'll gladly continue to do so until my days are over"

The male healer took another breath, so obviously palpable with surrender to stubbornness that you could touch it with your finger if you only wanted to.

He sealed the last bag, contently tapping his long claws against the wooden desk as he observed the rows of medical treasure.

"At least you do your best in your unhealthy insistence. I've never seen so much herbs before. Seems like even nature recovers"

Amela shrugged with a smile "Seems like we all need only a bit of time. It's the end and beginning of everything"

"AAAAAAA!" a sudden, rumbling roar of terror echoed throughout the whole hospital

Everyone present in the main hall, both patient and healer rose on their legs, those that were already standing felt their legs becoming stiff as boards. Everyone was looking at each other in utter, stunned, frightened confusion.

"What was that?!" someone exclaimed dreadfully

"Was that a scream?!" another panicked voice joined

"AAAAAA!"

"All of you come with me!" Amela exclaimed, dragging her hand around every present healer, being the first that was woken from her stunned trance by the second scream

"Please stay here!" she shouted, pointing at the center of the hall as she began to run towards the corridor from which the shout came from

All the patients and customers stopped in their tracks, respectfully obeying the order.

The healers ran into the corridor, doors leading to the resting rooms began to open, several patients began to stick their heads out from their rooms.

"Please return to your rooms!" Amela shouted at the curious, worried people, they immediately withdrew their heads inside, closing their doors with an intimidated thud

"Someone check on all these people!" she barked another order, healers dispersed in several directions, running from room to room calming and checking on the patients

"From where did it come from?!" someone shouted

Nobody responded to that question, yet they all kept running, not really thinking were but somehow their legs carried them all in the same direction.

A rumbling thud echoed from one of the side halls, noises of slamming doors followed soon after.

The group skidded to a halt, all eyes turned in one direction. In the distance spotting a single, bursting in flames draconic figure slamming itself against one wall to the other, one leg constantly pawing at the snout.

"Flare?!" Amela shouted with surprised worry, momentarily covering the distance that separated them

This time however not all healers followed in her tracks, a couple disappeared somewhere, a female, young healer even shoved one of her co-workers out of the way just to get inside one of the patient's rooms.

Spending inside far more time than it was necessary.

"SHE DID THIS TO ME!" the fire dragon screamed in horror, his voice unnaturally grumbling as if the noise that usually accompanies a hungry stomach would be wafting through his mouth

"What happened?!" Amela exclaimed, cutting the distance even faster than before, the bouncing of the walls, hopping on three legs dragon ahead made that possible

In his hectic moves he was making his way towards the little group of healers.

"What is that?" one of the healers pointed forward, making all the people look in the direction of his claw

A trail of something, a fluid of sorts with bits and pieces of something far more stale was visible on the floor, dragging itself across it like a carpet. Bits of the same substance were splayed across the walls and doors as the thrashing dragon flicked more and more of the stuff on his surroundings.

The group of healers ran only for a short while longer after noticing the peculiar slimy trail, all of them stopped momentarily, banging against each other's backs as they all suddenly skid to another stop.

Every single nose began to jerk and crunch in quick motions as that of a sniffing mouse that just smelled cheese.

The healers smelled also something, but the smell was far more worse than that of cheese. All their minds recalled the aroma, yet in their somewhat panicked states they couldn't put a name on it.

At least until the dragon ahead didn't make them aware of it himself.

"SHE PUKED ON ME!"

They didn't realize that he was so close until he screamed, only then they noticed the vomit covering his snout. It was everything that you call disgusting with a combination of blood in it. it was dripping from the drake's snout, covered his teeth and was smeared all across his cheeks, which his constantly pawing leg only made worse. The staff that was close enough to the screaming dragon discovered also that the spew was also inside his mouth, streams and droplets of the vomit were flicked away from his maw by his lashing tongue. Streams and droplets which landed on some of the healers.

The stench was horrible.

It was not the typical, unpleasant smell of spew, to that most of the healers were used to.

Hazard of the job you might say.

This smell was far more powerfully rooted in the soil of spoil.

People could see the drake's presence affecting the atoms of air all around him, the corruption spreading farther and farther. The usually little clean, white and transparent orbs of oxygen and nitrogen filling up to the brink with a thick, muddy substance, making them shake and eventually burst with a hissing sound of many farts from butts affected by years of constipation, forcing the bowels to chew and eventually spit all the seemingly unending torrent of disgust that gathered up during the years of repression into the air just to filter it through a piss soaked sock later.

The hit from the horrid, foul odor was like a punch from a golem, throwing many of the healers against the wall. Making many gag and everyone cover their mouths and noses, making a pitiful attempt to protect themselves from the stench.

"Flare!" Amela mumbled through the fingers of her hand pressed to her face "Get to the bath-"

"IT GOT INSIDE MY MOUTH!" the dragon roared in terror, almost in the face of some of the healers as if trying to force his point across

The stuffed with gagging sounds cheeks of the glued to the walls staff of the hospital was a clear indication that they didn't need any more convincing.

"Flare go to-"

"I SWALLOWED SOME OF IT!" the covered in vomit dragon screamed again, interrupting any other voice with his own shout

The drake stopped in the middle of the hall, head hanging low, streams of vomit dangling from his draconic features like ropes of saliva from dried lips. His whole body began to convulse, fiery part of his body pulsing with each spasm.

"It tastes…it tastes…." he retched and threw up on the floor

From what seemed like an unending torrent of vomit those more perceptive might say that he pushed into the world the undigested pieces of food that he ate when he was still a little hatchling.

And that wasn't even the end of it.

Everyone that barely contained themselves from throwing up earlier broke and added to the pool their own digested dinners and suppers.

Amela jumped over the mess and farther into the hall, hand pressed close to the mouth. She only looked behind her shoulder at her sick co-workers, giving them a wordless order to carry on with their duty while she herself pushed to the patient that was undoubtedly behind this chaos.

She has seen her share of carnage, making her stomach far more resilient than any other in this hospital and yet it still hurt. She instinctively knew that if she decided to say something it would be over, her hand was the only dam that held the current that built up within her throat.

Waves of which constantly banged against her hand because of her sensitive ears that flicked at every little stomach turning sound.

She pushed forward, several times almost tripping over her own tail, it was perhaps cruel to leave her friends in that mess, but all she could think about was the well-being of her patients. The cheetah eventually grabbed a hold of the door frame leading to the room, the origin of this chaos.

Before she made a step inside however Amela threw her body against the wall, leaning on its solid surface, body bent with a single hand extended, still tightly clinging to the frame. Her head fell down, eyes involuntary making contact with the slimy trail of vomit on the ground.

Instead of catching a breath her body convulsed with another gag, the smell and sight of the vomit wasn't that terrible, yet apparently her stomach received such a beating that it was ready to explode like a volcano at the merest of excuses.

The healer looked behind her shoulder, focusing on the screaming group behind, group that slowly recovered from the shock and was getting a hold of the situation. Calming themselves and the thrashing dragon at the same time. The sight made her forget about her own stomach problems.

To keep it that way Amela pulled herself up and looked inside the room.

The hand covering her mouth fell down limply to her side in perfect accordance with her widening eyes, whatever palpable memories of digested food that stuffed her neck slid back down her gullet to the only place where they belonged to.

Sincere worry overwhelmed all that discomfort.

To say the room was a mess was an understatement. It looked like somebody would throw a dynamite inside and after it exploded got inside and gave everything a solid kick to make sure things that broke stayed broke.

The bed sheet was bloodied, in several places ripped by claws, part of it was splayed on the bed while the rest was dragged across the floor. Surprisingly there was hardly any pool of vomit here, bits and pieces here and there, but nothing too drastic. It seemed most landed on Flare's snout.

Pieces of broken dishes and bowl dotted the area, the nightstand was toppled over, together with the tray of food that undoubtedly was placed on top of it. Food was everywhere, yet the only thing that really caught her attention was the bread, or what was left of it anyway.

A crust to be precise, lied in the middle of the room as if it would be the easiest to find murder weapon. Crumbs were sprayed absolutely everywhere as if it would be eaten by someone who was starving for days.

Her eyes once more returned to the empty bed, literally empty bed, with no one on top, pillows and sheets were also missing. Only the stained with puke and blood mattress remained. At the end of the bed she noticed a small trail of feathers.

"Iris…dear?" Amela mumbled, her voice barely breaking through the shock as she made an uncertain step forward

Avoiding the doorstep as if was a trip line that if snapped would send the roof crushing down.

There was no response, just as she expected, yet two more steps farther into the room proved that she wasn't alone here.

Two curled horns protruded above the bed at the end of the room with feathery wings being revealed more and more with each step she took.

"Iris?" Amela mumbled with fear in her voice as she laid her eyes on the young dragoness

The girl was sitting in the corner of the room, right behind the bed, on a feathery bedding of undoubtedly her creation. She was like an oriental princess occupying her own pillow oriented bed. However the dragoness ahead lacked every trait a princess like that possessed.

In fact she lacked absolutely everything.

She was deathly pale, at first Amela had troubles deciding if in front of her sits a living being or a reanimated corpse and she would opted for the second version if she wouldn't remind herself that corpses are cold, emotionally cold.

And the dragoness radiated nothing but complete and utter satisfaction.

Even despite the fact that she looked miserable, even with her feathery wings pressed and wrapped tightly around her body she was still shivering, so badly in fact that you couldn't help but wonder if below all these feathers she isn't sitting in a pool of electrocuted water.

It was really painful to look at her legs, especially the front ones that were clearly visible. They shivered in a way that made you think of matches, matches that with all their pitiful strength hold a construct that they should never be connected with. Ready to snap in any moment.

Below her left front paw was the medallion she so cared about, it looked like it was the only thing that kept her body upwards.

She kept her head high however, fighting against its natural reaction to fall down and rest, even in this state she tried to maintain the look of authority and unshaken pride. Even when her colorless, tired eyes kept snapping back and forth.

Amela looked at the crust on the floor, image of Flare flashed before her eyes. She looked up, only now noticing a crumb at the corner of the dragonesse's mouth.

She spun around and momentarily ran out into the corridor just to collide with a thud with the door on the opposite side. She pushed the handle down fiercely that it practically kicked back in her hand.

Locked.

She tried the door next to this only to receive the same result.

On the third attempt however the door opened and she barged into the room like a hungry monster looking for its trapped victim.

A cheetah gasped startled, pulling the sheets of the bed he was lying in to his chin.

Amela's eyes sparkled when her sight landed on the nightstand, she immediately dashed towards it, snatching a glass of water.

"Sorry to disturb you" she said sincerely, looking the glass over "But I really need this" with those words she ran back into the corridor "Have a nice day" she closed the door and returned to ruined room

She stopped right in front of the dragoness, reaching below her blouse just to retrieve a small satchel. She opened it with her teeth and tilted it above the glass. A light powder, in the color of sand flew from down from the opening and when it mixed itself with the liquid inside the glass it momentarily turned it green.

She put the satchel back in its rightful place, silently praising her overprotective nature and extended the hand with the mixture towards the draconic girl.

"Drink up" she said sternly

Iris looked at her, in the way she looks at everybody. With mix of hate, disgust and the belief that she is better than everybody. Even in her current state Amela could see just how unhappy she is about the tone of her voice.

"You won't ruin our lucky streak, not on my watch" the glass jerked several inches closer "You will either drink this voluntarily or I'm going to shove it down your throat"

The girl's eyes snapped open and a cold spark of utter despise gleamed in her diamond gaze. Her rump moved, raising in the air to push her body up. However it only lifted itself from the floor by an inch before ungracefully dropping back onto the ground. Her whole body swayed, eyes previously angry, blinked, only to reveal just how dizzy they were moments later.

She was about to faint.

And perhaps she would if she wouldn't be so stubborn in her hate.

A fist of concern bled Amela's heart dry.

Iris shook her head, the gentle gust of air she created almost toppling her over. When diamond eyes returned back to their position they were cold once more.

And then she opened her mouth. Her tongue was awfully pale.

Amela frowned, unable to shake off the feeling of suspicion. It all looked too good to be true.

She approached the dragoness nevertheless, not even for a second losing eye contact with the female. She tilted the glass the moment it was slightly above the draconic mouth, the liquid poured into the opened maw without any trouble.

Just now the cheetah realized, be it thanks to her intuition or simple experience of a creature that seen her share of life, that she didn't particularly like the girl's peculiar glare she was giving her.

It meant trouble.

Iris closed her mouth, time seemed to freeze as the females engaged into another battle of stares. However the fight didn't last long, Amela had no interest in showing who is the alpha female in this room, all she cared about was to see the dragoness swallowing the medicine.

Her throat didn't move however, only her scaly cheeks stuffed out.

Stuffed out.

Reacting instinctively Amela swiftly placed one of her hands on the girl's mouth while the other she put directly on her snout, pushing it down to prevent it from opening.

Iris' eyes widened at the sudden, unexpected reaction for someone so old, someone who obviously seen through her brilliant plan of spitting all of this ugly stuff directly into the withered face of the healer.

Amela felt some of the liquid splashing against her hand, the dragoness, even in her current weak state was still a force to be reckoned with. She began to thrash, swaying her head fiercely to get rid off the furry hands on her snout.

She would most likely achieve victory if her strength wouldn't fade so quickly. The struggle from the draconic girl was a strong one, there was a point where Amela feared that the draconic maw will snap open even despite all her effort to keep it closed. The struggle however was also very short, perhaps lasted the seconds it takes eyes to blink and then the dragoness was in her hands, literally.

Amela took advantage of the opportunity and with a grunt of effort jerked the head upwards, making a bone snap, she couldn't really tell if the sound came from the young girl's spine or her own. The swift jerk was enough however, whatever liquid remained in the mouth was forced to be swallowed.

Patients might all have different personalities, some might be meek, others might not. They all have a mind however, one that won't allow its host to die when there is a chance to survive. A mind won't allow to choke on a liquid when there is a possibility to swallow it.

A small bulge moved down the draconic throat and Amela simply knew it was a genuine one.

She jumped away from the dragoness. Iris began to cough fiercely, only to retch moments later, nothing came out from her mouth besides ropes of her own saliva.

"You stupid, irresponsible girl!" the cheetah admonished the dragoness with a fierce snarl

Iris kept on retching, wings flaring open with each unsuccessful attempt to throw up.

"What were you thinking by eating all that bread?!" Amela pointed at the crust as she shouted at the dragoness

"I'm…." Iris muttered between coughs "…going to…kill…you"

"You won't get the chance! The only person you're going to kill is yourself!"

With one final cough Iris lifted her head up "You know nothing Puss, I survived through worse pain that you didn't even graze a little"

"I'm far older than you dear, I took quite a chunk out of the cake that's called life"

"Age means shit" the dragoness snarled "Something you're going to learn about when I recover"

Amela sighed, sitting at the edge of the bed, looking at the young girl with motherly eyes.

"Death threats don't work on me dear. It's not like I have many years ahead of me, by killing me you might actually do me a favor"

"Stop calling me _dear_"

"Listen Iris, I believe you really had a rough life, most likely a life that a girl of your age should never experience, but that doesn't mean that the world suddenly started to turn around you. As much as it might be hard for you to hear and understand, you are just one soul, there are many others out there. Souls that believe that their problems are the most horrible ones. The truth is however very simple, pain is pain, you don't measure it, horrible is its definition"

Amela poked her chest with her thumb "We are the ones that define its strength, how we deal with it, it's entirely up to us how we patch our wounded hearts. Do a lousy job and it will never stop bleeding"

"I don't give a crap about your preaching you old hag" Iris snarled, the cheetah's ears flicked at every click of her rattling teeth

She was really cold, even for an ice dragoness, hate being her only warmer.

"I'm not your brat that has to listen to your lessons, save it for your own kids. However judging by how you talk to me I guess your barren cunt withered the sperm of every stupid fucker who had no respect for himself and screwed you"

Amela's head dropped down, eyes aimed on her knees. She bashfully started to play with her earring.

"Bingo. Seems there is a bigger chance for life to thrive on scorched earth than it was ever in your womb"

The healer slammed her hand into the mattress of the bed, the wooden construction creaked in agony.

"Be silent!" the cheetah growled

Iris jerked her head back in surprise when she noticed a familiar fire burning in the feline's eyes.

"You hypocrite, how dare you condescend me when you are a butcher yourself"

Amela clenched her hand on the bed, claws tore through the mattress, she closed her eyes, took one deep breath and when she opened them again they were back to their normal self, minus the pain radiating from them.

"I wasn't condescending, I was merely giving you an advice and now I gave you an example what influence pain can have on a person when you allow for the bandages to be torn from your heart"

Iris' claws scratched the floor with a screeching sound, a bolt of extreme cold shot through her body, making her shiver fiercely.

She pressed her wings even tighter to herself.

"I see…your senile mind…has troubles understanding…clear…signals. Let me…spell it out…for you. I-D-O N-O-T G-I-V-E A F-U-C-K"

The healer examined the shivering dragoness from claw to horn, seeing her in such a state, perhaps even a well deserved one, made her soul weep.

With great difficulty she fought back the urge jump and wrap the bed mattress all around the poor girl.

"Aren't you cold?" the feline asked

Iris looked up, the move of her neck caused her to shiver even more strongly.

"You're trying…to be sassy? It…doesn't work. I will bare…through the effects…of the stuff…you gave me and when…I do…you better not be…near if you…value your…short lifespan"

"The medicine I gave you didn't make you feel cold, it's the delayed reaction of your organism to the lack of fluids, a signal that it is at the brink of shutting down. The medicine helps you to replenish those essential fluids, with your natural draconic regeneration the process should be quicker. It also prevents you from throwing up more of the stomach bile. Just to make things clear you almost killed yourself by eating that bread and now you have to suffer the consequences of your irresponsible idea. Was it worth it?"

"I got rid…of a nauseating bug. Yes…it was…worth it"

Amela leaned closer, pressing her hand against the girl's cold, feathery wing.

Iris shook of the hand fiercely.

"Don't touch me!" she growled, for a while having difficulties to regain balance on her wavering legs.

Her body quaked again.

"How did it feel?" Amela asked kindly

"Like a touch of someone who can't have kids" she snarled

The cheetah looked at her hand, swallowing the pain the girl's words caused.

"It felt warm" she said calmly

"No it didn't"

"You might deny it as long as you want, but I'm a healer, I know how the body reacts to certain stimulation. A cold one for example hates the sudden change of temperature, it will do anything to fight off the temporary warmth, making certain parts of the body feel even more colder"

She snapped her fingers "Speaking of which…how are your toes Iris?"

Iris impulsively looked down, at her uncomfortably numb paws.

"You are vengeful…hurt your feelings…didn't I? You're…wasting your…time…I survived…through worse…torture"

"It's not about revenge. I'm showing you what you threw away" she leaned from the bed again, once more touching the dragoness

Iris jerked her body once more with a weak growl. Her whole body shook.

"Don't-"

"You threw relief out of your room" Amela cut her off "The only boy that would be more than willing to warm you up. I'm quite certain that you made sure that after probably years of traveling together you made sure your uncle stays away from you"

"Will you shut up finally?" Iris snapped, surprisingly without any stutter this time "I don't care about your senile wisdom. I just want you out of my room, I can barely stand your stench of age and piss"

"I want to open up your eyes girl" Amela sprung up from the bed, leaning against the window and looking at the world outside "In this hospital we try to heal more than just flesh wounds. Psychological health is also important"

"Psychotic sickness you mean"

The cheetah reached towards her earring, rubbing the jewelry gently between her thumb and forefinger.

"You may mock all you want, pretend that the problem isn't there, that everything you do is a trail left by the brush of your personality. The truth however is completely different, the truth is that you are overwhelmed, too weak to fight back"

Iris groaned annoyed "Are all people in this timeline delusional morons? I don't want to talk to you, I don't want to listen to you, I don't want to look at you. Retarded people won't tell me how to live, retarded people won't judge me as if they believed that they can compare themselves to me, retarded people won't call me weak!"

She breathed a line of ice directly at the cheetah, she nearly fainted after the feat, holding herself up solely by her arrogant will.

The little magical bolt hit the feline right in the arm, she jumped back with a gasp, immediately pressing her hand against the arm through which traveled the freezing, painful sting.

"You know why you are weak?" Amela hissed painfully, massaging the hurt arm "It's because of that medallion"

Iris' wavering leg instantly clenched itself on the jewelry, she slowly slid it closer to herself, pitifully trying to make her move look completely normal and inconspicuous.

"I know what it takes to have a memento, I had one too that I held close, it reminded me of better days. Sounds familiar?"

"I am nothing like you Puss. I'm a dragon, you are a filthy cat that sorts through garbage"

"You need to get rid of it" the cheetah responded calmly

The girl's muscles tensed "Try to heal me like that and I'll bite your arm off, then I'll shove it up your dry cunt, fingers first so when they eventually reach your womb you will finally have a taste how it would feel to have a stinking cub"

Amela's hand impulsively slid down onto her belly, she closed her eyes, taking another deep breath.

"If you would let me finish you would know that by saying _get rid of it_ I didn't mean to throw it away" she opened her eyes, a tear sparkled in the corner of her wrinkled eyelid

"Don't you constantly think of the past? Relive the moments over and over again? Blaming yourself for everything? Cursing your stupidity since now you realize that you could do so much more?"

Something changed in the girl, her wings dropped on the floor, one paw raised from the floor and started plucking at the feathers.

Amela cocked her head, it was a peculiar sight to see, despite the insults and the rough aura the dragoness constantly emanates, making her the popular, alluring femme fatale type, emphasis on the fatale, right now she was absolutely adorable. Even when she carried herself with that typical highborn standards she was good to look at, but here, in this moment, her beauty seemed to radiate like burning rays from the sun. Even if she herself was a female, Amela caught herself staring at the dragoness far longer than curiosity and surprise demanded.

External appearance wasn't however the only trait that drawn her attention. For the first time she was certain that she got to see into Iris' soul, pure as the white scales on her belly. Then came the painful realization that this is just a moment, as a fleeting look at the window by a prisoner led to an dungeon built from dark, impenetrable walls.

She pitied and felt sad for the young girl, the feeling was so strong that her lips began to waver from emotion.

"That's none of your business" Iris replied, her voice soft, very pretty and pleasant to listen to considering her accent and lack of the cold notes behind it

Amela's mouth opened, but no sound came out, in that pose she stared at the girl for who knows how long.

"What? Suddenly forgot the tongue in your mouth?"

The cheetah blinked, the familiar voice bringing her out of the trance. When her eyes opened the draconic girl ahead was back to her arrogant self.

Unfortunately.

"Missed my voice so much?" Amela responded with a teasing smile

For a brief second Iris was awkward, she betrayed that by rubbing bashfully the gold bracelet on her leg. It was a curious sight for Amela, earlier the dragoness showed her nothing but aggression, something that undoubtedly changed after her last words, something that the girl will never admit, but the cheetah knew it was there.

That was a curious case, something that her medical mind simply couldn't miss. For Iris she is nothing more than a villain, a torturer and yet she undeniably caught the girl's attention that could be considered a bit warmer than usual.

An interesting syndrome, one that wasn't present in any medical tome she read.

Yet.

"It looks like your old, withered bones in your legs need time to remember their role so you might as well amuse me further"

With a smile Amela sat on the bed, facing the young girl, almost being at her paw's reach.

"You won't hurt your jester will you?"

"We'll see about that"

The healer nodded, turning her attention at the part of the round medallion protruding from the placed on top of it blue paw.

"Symbolism Iris, mementos are symbols to which we grow attached to. They represent all sorts of things, loved ones, emotions, places, bonds. What that medallion represents is only for your own information, all I will say that no matter what they represent they all give us strength"

Iris narrowed her eyes on the cheetah, a puff of ice wafted from her nostrils.

"Did my close proximity made you speak lies?" she growled "Not so long ago you said that this medallion makes me weak. I warn you cat, I'm intelligent, I can tell when someone wants to sell me words that I want to hear. I'm not the stereotypical girl you take me for"

Amela smiled kindly "Believe me Iris when I tell you that stereotypical never crossed my mind. Special, now that's a word I can admit I thought about"

The dragoness cocked her head, eyes aimed at her suspiciously, something changed again within the female drake once more, it wasn't as apparent as the first shift, but it was still there, in her eyes to be precise.

They flickered, blinked, exchanging one layer for the other as if she would be a sea creature that adjusted her sight to the outside world when she resurfaced from the depths of her sunk home.

Amela gasped faintly when she noticed the pristine gaze, the beauty of it while magnificent wasn't shackling for her, her sexual interests lied elsewhere, when she was younger that is, age deprives of everything. It was the innocence, the happiness, basically the look of a loving, curious child that caught her attention.

She was absolutely radiant and with those feathery wings she looked like a draconic version of an angel.

"Continue"

The healer snapped from her trance with a shake of her head, the voice reminded her of a child begging for a cookie.

"Symbols give us strength" she continued without thinking, as if someone would flick the ON switch "some never stop doing that. There is power in emotions and bonds, when you connect with them and only them, you will be empowered. The same thing cannot be said about loved ones or places, like home for example"

"Why not?!" Iris suddenly snarled, almost lashing out like a snake

The aggression made Amela forcefully lean back against the bed as if she was expecting to be bitten, only after a short while she realized that the dragoness barely moved.

The healer swallowed, diamond eyes were drilling into her skull, she knew that she involuntary entered a very slippery terrain. Being so old a frail makes even such a weak dragoness deadly, even more so when she is pumped with adrenaline of anger.

"Because, unfortunately, they work only for a period of time" she replied, surprising even herself with the way her voice sounded

It was calm and friendly, like nothing ever happened. Her body seemed to share the feeling since it automatically lifted itself to a sitting position.

"You see, when their memory is fresh, and it can be like that for years, it all depends on the person who has to carry that memory, those symbols can be so powerful that they outmatch even the most potent strength potion"

Iris leaned back, returning to her original position, the shivers to which she got used to already seemed to lessen their attack.

"And we can drown in that power, we so desperately fight for that memory that we lock ourselves from the rest of the world. This is the weakness I'm talking about, while we believe that we're doing the right thing, we fail to realize the bitter impact it leaves on those around us"

"You see Iris we are sentient creatures and all of us, without exceptions crave for acceptance"

"Bullshit" Iris snapped coldly "I don't care about other people and I don't need their acceptance"

"I believe you"

The dragoness blinked confused. She obviously didn't expect that to hear.

"You don't need it because you have it already. It's your uncle Iris, he is the only one that prevents you from drowning in sorrow"

"You know nothing" Iris averted her gaze, tired of the conversation that made a turn she considered to be a dead end

Amela nodded, part of her being expected exactly this to happen.

"This is the lock I was talking about. We are failing to see our surroundings for what they really are. I noticed it right in time and closed my symbol within a casket that now rests in my office. Now instead of letting it sip the life out of me I sip life out of it"

Amela swallowed, looking sadly at the dragoness.

"I can only hope that you wake up and decide that you no longer need your medallion before it's too late. Because Iris, the horrible truth is that even blood spoils"

Iris looked at the ground, the paw that held the medallion began to shift uncertainly.

"If you won't wake up you will die cold and alone"

A silence has befallen inside the room, during which, at some point a blue paw clenched itself tightly against a gold, tarnished jewelry.

"You're full of shit" Iris said confidently, raising her head to look at the cheetah, piercing eyes directed straight at the feline gaze

Amela's ear perked up in surprise "Oh?"

"I don't buy your role of a caring mother figure, whatever you tried to do here, failed. You didn't even ask what happened here" she nodded at the mess "Something that a genuine healer would do. You just play a game like everyone else"

With a deep sigh the cheetah patted her knees and got up, with great difficulty pretending that the snapping of bones didn't cause her any pain.

"I didn't ask because I know what happened" she made her way towards the door

"You're a seer now too?"

"Every single room of this building is my womb, in every one of them is my child. I don't have to ask questions to know what happened I look at you and I already know" she smiled lovingly "You happened"

"You make me sick"

The cheetah's claws tapped against the door frame when she nearly disappeared behind the corner as she crossed the doorstep.

"Sit tight, I'll arrange you a fresh room with extra warm sheets" she closed the door, leaving the dragoness inside with her own thoughts

She leaned against the door with a wavering sigh, one hand landed on her belly, rubbing it fondly. The other hand she clenched into a fist and pressed to her mouth, gently nibbling at the fur.

Tears filled her eyes as she held back a sob.

A thought about opening the casket crossed her mind.

The cheetah cleared her throat momentarily, ashamed of the situation. She straightened up, wiped the tears from her eyes and ironed her outfit with her hands.

With a forced smile she softly patted the door behind her, there is hope for everyone, even as cold as the dragoness inside.

Her head instinctively turned around, eyes looked through the window at the end of the hall. She blinked and narrowed her eyes, empowering her old sight while also craning her neck forward to make things even easier.

Ears flattened against her skull when on the blue sky, with the shape of the soon hanging in the background, she noticed a black dot. Too big to be a bird or any of the Ape's beasts. The dot was constantly gaining on mass, becoming bigger and bigger with each second.

She didn't really know why, but an uncomfortable feeling of anxiety filled her heart.

She feared that their luck has just ran out.


	93. Chapter 15 Book V

Chapter 15

Speed.

As a creature of speed he enjoyed the special thrill the sight of the sliding world around woke up within him as he ran. When you stop thinking is like watching an empty play in the theater, with the sets constantly and quickly changing on their own. Eyes barely stopping on one, unable to feel boredom from staring at one scenery because momentarily they are presented with another one. Then another after that and another.

For him slowness is new sickness.

There was only one type of creatures faster than him, birds. Dragons also had wings and in the sky were incomparably beautiful, that is why he didn't consider them in this comparison, it was disrespectful to compare such magnificent beings to anything, especially when it is done by a creature of such a low stature as him.

He envied the birds, the way their feathers fluttered in the air, perfectly cutting through every gust of wind like an oar of a boat sliding across water. He didn't tell this anybody, but it was because of the birds that he started wearing cloaks, just to let it flutter in the air as he ran. Feeling like he would have wings.

Everyone else believed that he wore cloaks for additional protection, basically they believed whatever he told them. Who would question a talented and experienced scout after all?

He laughed.

He dreamt of flying, dreamt of feeling the lashes of wind slapping against his face, yet he is a creature that walks this earth on solid legs, he knew that this dream will remain a dream. Creature like him will never have wings.

Being stuck on the ground, rushing through its every bush and toppled tree can get boring. He became so good at it that he no longer improved, the speed he achieved during his runs was the best his body was capable of.

And then the dream evolved into something far more possible and horrible at the same time. He didn't need wings growing from his back, all he needed was a mount with wings being its natural limb of sorts. A trained mount that would allow him to feel the speed.

He didn't have to look far, his mind immediately came up with an idea.

A dragon.

This is why dreams are called dreams, they make you crave the plausible, but at the same time taunting you with the scent of the unreachable. To be someone's mount, this is dishonorable and disrespectful for the dragons, he was fully aware that dragons are creatures of arrogance and pride, they were born as idols not pets. Making them serve is like asking a king to clean the floors.

There were also exceptions of course, like Spyro, a dragon that wouldn't have objections if he would only ask him. In the question however was the whole problem, it felt like cheating and he believed that asking about lending a back to fulfill a dream would be disgraceful towards his friend.

Among fascination there was also a place for honor. And he would never taint the latter, be it his or someone else's.

Another powerful gust of wind shuffled the strands of his fur like a professional gamer shuffles his deck of cards. Usually he was quite pedantic when it came to keeping his fur in good condition, like any other member of his feline race. Of course whenever it was possible, as a scout his fur got used to all kind of treatment, blood, mud, rain, all of this and more was considered as a healing touch.

Strong, blowing wind however was a new addition to his personal list of cosmetics.

He loved it.

Another laughter escaped his throat.

He just now realized that his mouth hurt, the smile spreading was so wide that it constantly stretched the corners of his mouth. Sending stinging pulses of pain as if someone would be cutting his mouth with a dagger.

He was like a cub.

He laughed once more.

When was the last time he felt like that he had no idea. It was sad actually when he thought about it, he was so consumed with work and duty that he closed the door to happiness and barred them tight and strong.

And yet that wasn't the complete truth.

The fulfillment of his dream broke through the barrier and tore the door from its hinges, it wouldn't be possible if the artificial boards weren't weakened. Only now when he focused his eye of imagination on the blockade he noticed that they were slightly cracked, something already scratched at them.

He concentrated some more, trying to remember when he tasted childish joy before. Letters appeared on the cracked boards, he immediately focused once again. Duty and work consumed him once more, the letters began to fade, work and duty didn't belong before this door.

However he had to know.

_Ta-_

Those were the only two letters he managed to read before the writing faded into the cracks.

What did that mean?

He gasped when the back on which he was sitting on bucked unexpectedly like an uneasy stallion.

"Aren't you enjoying yourself too much up there?" a hypnotizing, dark swooned steady voice reached his ears, a perfectly hearable voice that surfed on the currents of the wind like on big water waves

"You'r hands can compete with the paws of the most sexually fluent dragoness I spent the night with. No male has ever touched me like that"

He frowned, completely confused about the words that he just heard, yet his eyes, stirred by his mind, understood even the tiniest imperceptible tone that even his feline ears couldn't catch. His sight landed on his hands, ears stiffened like boards, experiencing every touch of the roaring wind to the fullest before rolling back and flattening in shame against his skull.

His hands withdrew from the natural cavities of the draconic body that served as the most unpleasant handle. The caught his hands softly massaging the dragon's sides, as if wanting to feel every curve and muscle his body was made of.

With a startled gasp he hectically grabbed the ridged, protruding, scaly handles, his panicked, ashamed mind completely ignored the pulsing pain from his pierced hand. In this very moment the overwhelming joy evaporated from him entirely, he looked around, especially down at the earth below, for the very first time sad that the ground was so far away.

"Pleasure is a greatest incentive to vice" Danox said, slowing his flight so he would be heard, words coming from his mouth slowly and loudly, as if he would be reciting words that he read a million times already

"Shame is a burden, better let your soul intoxicate itself on the dreams than let it be restricted. Impulsive emotions are hindering"

"I apologize" Hunter muttered

A single black eye looked at him. He saw nothing in it but his own reflection.

"I said there is no reason to beg for forgiveness. Do whatever you need to do if it makes you feel better. My comment was only the consequence of the force of a habit, some things just stay with you forever no matter how hard you try to release yourself from them"

He simply nodded without a word.

The black head turned away. Wings pushed down, forcing the draconic body into another airborne slide.

"Tell me of your joy"

Hunter cocked his head.

"Excuse me?"

"It was a simple request. Tell me how joy feels like"

"It's not like I didn't understand the question, the oddity of it is what surprised me. Have you never been happy? I presume it feels alike"

"We all have our own stories to tell, in mine you would find the reason behind my questions. There are moments in life that would make you happy, I wish to be reminded how it felt like, I want to be prepared. I'm whimsical that way"

Hunter respectfully didn't pry, dragons in all their majesty have the tendency to force their will upon you. Even through the politeness you sometimes can feel the authoritative, subtle reminder that shows you your place in the line. He got used to that.

"When you feel truly happy" he said, looking around the shifting ground below, impulsively freeing his one hand from Danox' back and stretched it to the side, palm aimed down as if wanting to feel heat wafting from the earth

"Your all other senses become numb, every worry or thought that's not related with joy fades away" Hunter pulled back his hand, rubbing the corners of his stretching into a smile lips with his thumbs

His mouth stung.

"The only downside of happiness is that your mouth starts to hurt if you remain in its embrace long enough" he chuckled softly

"Numb?" the black dragon repeated curiously "Then perhaps I am happy"

"There is no chance here, there has to be a reason behind the joy, reason which you must be aware of"

"Maybe I found the reason" Damox' paw raised up, claw pointing ahead "Is that the city we are looking for?"

Hunter perched up on the black back, past the draconic horns he spotted the features of a familiar city coming into view.

"Yes, that's Warfang" his ears flickered, as if they would be struck by a whip. His voice was unexpectedly gloomy

An image of his own reflection deflecting from a completely dark eye flashed before his eyes.

Danox scanned the area from left to right.

"Youth has its charms. Come Hunter, let's go home"

The dragon pushed forward, without showing any kind of excitement as always.

He on the other hand felt like he was boiling, he didn't feel so nervous even when his life was threatened in Dante's Freezer. Again he leads a stranger into the city and again he feels like he would be a traitor that helps dig the enemy below the walls.

He arched his back, his exhausted shoulder blades snapped softly. The heat that so suddenly started to be intolerable threatened to scorch him. He looked up, having a strange feeling that he was right below the sun.

It was closer than ever, in fact the burning, blinding ball seemed to be like an eye to him, staring at them like they were an annoying fly. Part of his imagination saw their own shadow on the surface of the burning sun, a single black dot on the eye of nature.

Like the beginnings of an cataract.

Danox kept on flying while Hunter intently observed the growing features of their home.

Their home?

They got closer to the city, close enough in fact to be spotted by anyone on guard duty. The guards didn't wait long, in seconds four draconic silhouettes raised into the air and made their way towards them. Flying like birds in a V formation.

"A greeting committee?" Danox said "I'm flattered"

"A second black dragon when only one is known to exist is a sign for additional care" Hunter replied, observing the approaching guards, impulsively pressing his forearms together, ready to be shackled

"The City Guard usually doesn't react this way, there are some special notes in the protocol that display how to act when something unusual and probably dangerous happens"

"You think I'm dangerous?"

"Isn't every dragon dangerous?" Hunter replied, surprising even himself with his wit and just how natural it all sounded even when original thoughts were deep embedded in his mind

The black drake smiled "Congratulations, you gained a new level in diplomacy. You certainly increased the standards of the Guard"

"I don't belong to the Guard"

"No?" he noticed Danox' head slightly tilting to the side "Even younger than I believed. This is going to be special"

The Warfang dragons pushed closer, Hunter could easily discern the color of their scales from here.

"Everything turns around past and future" Danox continued in his dark, seductive tone "One leads to the other, there is no turning back"

"You did time travel Danox, this theory isn't exactly accurate" the cheetah replied, not knowing where this conversation is going

"Chance favors the prepared mind" the drake recited

Hunter caught himself nodding in respect, there was power in proverbs that even if you don't agree with some you still value the wisdom they want to share. And the dragon that he was currently riding was like a living book full of proverbs.

The dragon fascinated Hunter even more than before. It was no longer about the color of his scales, the powerful body or the intimidating aura. It was about knowledge, and the drake undoubtedly possessed much of it.

There was a brief spark of anxiety, for a moment he was terrified of knowledgeable dragons.

Then he remembered Volteer and everything was good once more.

"A prepared mind knows" the draconic dark voice continued "that four things come not back. The spoken word, the sped arrow, the past life and the neglected opportunity"

Powerful black wings went down, the draconic body jerked forward like an old machine, engine of which cough back to life after years of being dead.

"Let's speed the inevitable, yes?"

"Stop!" one of the guards roared as they neared the strange dragon

To the surprise of the four peacekeepers the odd dragon did exactly as he was told.

"I have no intention to offend the authority" Danox replied politely, lips curling into a smile

"Wipe that stupid smile!" a second guard roared, his paws were twitching nervously "You're not coming in you black freak!"

"Relax rookie!" a green scaled dragon admonished the younger colleague commandingly, undoubtedly wielding the mantle of leadership

"Don't be too harsh on him" Danox cut in, his dark, alluring voice reverberating with unchanging tone

"He's afraid, all of you are in fact, fear wafts from you like heat from a fire. I can feel it"

"Listen here smartass!" the leader of the guards growled "I fought in more battles than there are trees on this earth. I stood against all the horrors that plagued us and I'm not going to let another one walk the streets of this city"

Black empty eyes directed themselves at the green dragon.

"You're just dust on the chessboard toy soldier. Move out of the way, you're incapable of altering destiny"

The leader of the guard narrowed his eyes on the stranger.

"Threats you arrogant dick won't get you far"

"What if this guy is another pet of the black whore?" the third guard added

Danox paid him no interest, they were all irrelevant fools, only their commander unfortunately forced his attention. Even if it was as meager as a thriving fruit.

"This is getting out of control" a cheetah figure raised from the black dragon's back, arms extended into the air, almost resembling an alien popping out from people's insides

Like someone could ever take seriously such comparison.

"Hunter?" the fourth peacekeeper finally blurted out his first words

"You allowed yourself to be mounted?" the commander snarled, abhorrence practically palpable in his voice "Have you no dignity?"

"As a matter of fact I don't" Danox replied, his calm and somewhat mysterious way of carrying himself undoubtedly pushed all the right buttons in the commander's nervous system

"This is Danox" Hunter climbed a little higher up the neck of the hovering dragon, the black neck seemed to bend exactly in the right direction, making the small climb so much easier

"I've met him on my mission in Dante's Freezer. He arrived through a Veil located there"

"Another one?!" a guard next to the leader exclaimed loudly, his body jerking in the air so fiercely that one could think he was hit by a strong gust of wind

"More the reason to send him back whichever way he came!" the commander growled angrily, a note of impuissance could be heard in his voice "Those portal things brought us nothing but trouble!"

Two of the draconic guards were clearly distraught by their officer's words yet out of sheer respect for the function they remained silent.

"Not to mention his scales!" the green drake continued "They are black for Ancestors holy horns! What were you thinking by bringing him here Hunter?"

"Your accusation is misplaced and completely irrelevant" Danox added "I would find my way here anyway with or without his assistance"

"I don't remember asking you for your opinion!" the officer growled, pointing a claw threateningly at the dark dragon

"Danox is correct" Hunter said, resting on the black dragon's neck "I was totally on his mercy, he didn't have to take my unimportant existence into consideration. He made sure that I understood that favor is not what he sought"

"A black dragon with a caring heart?" a guard snorted wryly "What else? Apes will come and apologize for everything?" drake chuckled at his own joke

"One black dragon walking our streets is enough and now you want to bring another one?" the leader of the guard practically whined "You don't belong to the Guard, you don't have to listen to complaints every single day, demands that a murder should be brought to justice. Keeping people away from Cynder is hard enough already, bring a dragon almost the same size as our past nemesis and you will snap the thin line that keeps people in the onlooker zone instead of putting them actively on the race for her head"

"I would let him in" someone from the group of peacekeepers mumbled

"We don't even know why he is so determined to get inside Warfang" the youngest of the guards asked

The officer nodded approvingly before narrowing his gaze on the black arrival.

"State your business"

"First of all" Danox replied, voice unchanging and breathy, alluring even for a male "Hunter is in need of medical help"

"We can take him away from you. That's no problem"

The black dragon nodded "My reason is simple. I came here because time and opportunity aren't in anyone's sleeve"

All four dragons stared at the black drake after his last sentence for quite a while, expecting him to elaborate further. Only when seconds in complete silence kept on drawing on their eyes started to widen in confusion.

"That's it?" a drake blurt out

"Do you find this situation funny freak?" the officer growled

Danox patted his mouth.

"I don't feel a smile"

"Mockery won't improve your chances" one of the more experienced guard's aptly noticed

"You confuse mockery with honesty"

"You won't be coming into Warfang!" the officer rumbled "I won't be a witness to the destruction of this city!"

Hunter understood the guards reluctance, the black dragon seemed to be way too interested in getting inside a city he never heard about. It's not like he approved of their biased look on the situation, narrow-mindedness is a dangerous as a sword and as unfair as a premature death, yet there was a shred of logic hiding behind, even if it was so hard to see.

Big black scaled dragon, he doesn't have to be a female to resemble Shadow. The color of his natural draconic armor spoke volumes. It's not his fault that blackness is considered to be the color of evil, it's not his fault that Fate actually played on a cord of bluntness and made black exactly what first impulse makes it look like.

It's the trendy of society, popular belief is the most believable one, enough for simple minds to follow in its wake.

Simple minds that the world is mostly made of unfortunately.

They fail to realize that black has also positive traits. It's mysterious, seductive, includes also protection, comfort and sophistication.

Sophistication not many tolerate.

On the other hand however he supported the guards, their suspicion awakened his own, which reached even further down the memory lane than he believed was possible. He remembered the dragon's peculiar behavior, even the moments when he heard his voice as he talked with the apes.

Not even for a second he seemed to be overwhelmed by the situation he was in, he was mysterious and comforting, like the embodiment of black. Even now when he thinks about it the question Danox asked him were unusual for a dragon that just experienced the shift of time-zones, zones that separated thousands of years than mere hours.

If this wasn't impossible he would say that all of this was intended.

By what or who? He wasn't sure anymore.

He was certain of one thing however, opposition or not Danox will get inside Warfang. That would happen even without him serving as a guide.

As much as he disliked the idea he was also glad for it, if there are vile forces at work here then there is no better place for them to fail than in a city housing the supersonic power of good, radiating from the souls of two young dragons.

"Shout and scream all you want" Danox replied, addressing the guards with the typical dark-swoon ringing in his breathy voice "believe that the toy story you want to create has any impact at all and perhaps you will have enough strength to make some of the pawns cough. That is all however soldier" black eyes looked over every draconic guards "Soldiers. Return to the place where your actions influence the fate of others, here, in this piece of sky, you are facing something out of your league"

"Aren't you a one pompous motherfucker" a guard, judging by age being the second in command, commented wryly

"Listen to me very carefully boy" the leader snarled "It would be better for you if you stopped living in your delusional world of grandeur. You're just a black dragon, we stopped one such like you already. We can do it again"

The black drake smiled politely, yet there was something in his razor sharp and perfectly white smile that made the youngest of the peacekeepers shiver

If Hunter wouldn't know better he would say that the young guard looked straight into the maw of a Death Hound.

"I assure you tiny guard that you never met a creature like me. I'm also sure that you didn't play even the smallest role in stopping the one you so eagerly compare me to"

"Let's just call the Guardians here" Hunter chimed in, seeing that the banter between all these magnificent creatures will lead to an never-ending argument

"Let them decide the best course of action"

"As much as I value the Guardians opinion this isn't the best of ideas. Tensions are rising between the two powers that I'm sure you are aware of" the green dragon explained "People have noticed your approach, they are watching us even now. If we, the Guard, won't solve the problem and will have to rely on the intervention of the authority, spiritual or not, it will shake the foundations of the city. It's the little things that matter"

"Even when you decide to bring Danox in you will still need to escort him to the Guardians. It's your duty"

"Yes, but that would be the decision that came out as the consequence of the duty of our job, with no one whispering their ideas to our ears. Those are the details that common folk doesn't see, details with which the Guard strives everyday. Trust me, it makes a huge difference"

The officer narrowed his gaze on the stranger.

"But luckily I will never let him in"

"I understand your mistrust" Hunter respectfully added "We all share it. However we can't simply ignore the matter. Danox is a black dragon after all, by throwing him out we gain nothing. We're going to have a black dragon roaming the outskirts of town, with his motives and actions unknown to us, giving us nothing, but days filled with anxiety. People see us already, they will want to know what happened, we might lie that it was a stray Dreadwing or something similar, but eventually they , find out the truth, which will make the days of anxiety be combined with feeling of complete and uncontrollable danger"

"If we let him in" he raised his forefinger in the air "we still won't know his motives, but we gain the opportunity to keep an eye on him. Anxiety will be there, but at least it won't evolve into a sensation of doom. With guards, mole inventions and heroes in the city not even the most powerful being, when it's alone, stands a chance"

"Weren't you listening when I explained the consequences of having two black dragons in the city?" the leader snapped angrily

"No matter what decision you make it will still rouse intolerance. It's all about picking the lesser evil here"

Hunter, fueled by energy of the debate spread his arms to the sides and bent them in the elbows, opened palms aimed up. With such posture he looked like a breathing, weighing machine.

The cheetah slightly bobbed his left hand up and down slightly "Here we have anxiety, danger and unknown" left hand stopped, right repeated the same moves "Here we have anxiety, danger and overwatch" his right hand stopped moving "Both are bad, one needs to be picked, what do you choose? Decide which of the two is the lesser evil"

The green dragon's eyes shifted from one furry hand, to the bandaged and bleeding other one, a feral impulse crossed his mind to tear off both of them and be done with. All problems would be solved.

He then briefly looked over his sidekicks, looking for any kind of advice. The idiots however were staring right back at him with their huge, moronic eyes, as if begging that he sets them up on a date at the end of which they will lose their virginity.

He turned his gaze away from the cretins in seconds, just in time in fact to save his boiling brain from exploding due to alarmingly increasing levels of fury.

His eyes landed then on the black freak, the sight of him momentarily reminded him of all the pleas and threats he listened to during his whole career. The terrible stories, the gruesome images, everything came back at him.

The black dragon not only angered him, but also scared. It was no longer about the scales, or the impact his arrival can have on people. He wasn't prejudiced himself, if some people were too sensitive it was their own problem. He would let the drake in, maybe after some little squabble, but he would let him in, in perfect accordance with his conscience.

If it wasn't for his fucking black eyes.

Seeing his own reflection in those obsidian gem-like eyes filled every strand of his body with fear.

His eyes then landed on the cheetah, in open hands he was holding his dripping with blood heads. The right one was frozen in a peaceful expression, the left was grimaced by signs of torture. Both of them didn't make him feel better.

Both of them led to death.

"You will have blood on your hands Hunter just like I will on my paws. Remember that" with a defeated sigh he turned around and directed his body towards the city

"Follow us. Don't stray away and keep close, if I see anything fishy going on I'll shove your tail blade up your ass" the drake blurted out an order

"Well done" Danox said approvingly, praising his feline rider who immediately adopted the proper posture even before he pushed his black body into a flight

"I apologize for my words" Hunter mumbled, his ears flattened against his skull, pain reawakened in his wounded hand "I was shameless, it was inappropriate of someone like me to speak such words about you"

"Do I sound offended?"

"You always sound the same to me"

Black head turned to look at him "Is that so?"

Hunter nodded sheepishly.

"How exactly do I sound like?"

The cheetah averted his gaze.

"I would rather not say"

"Quit with the modesty, you won't wound my draconic pride. You're bluntness from earlier impressed me, I rarely met people that spoke honestly when being around me. Usually my conversations looked like the one we recently shared with our guards"

"So tell me Hunter. How exactly do I sound like?"

The cheetah sighed, aiming his blue gaze at the lazily shifting earth below.

"You sound like a young, popular prince of an exotic nation who has dozens of dozens of admirers that can't stop listening to your seductive voice. As a prince you invite them to your mansion, telling fascinating and mysterious stories about your home, what unforgettable time awaits anyone that wishes to join you. You spread your charm even further when the celebrations start, you start inviting guest after guest into your private quarters, seductively whispering words like a devil which they simply can't resist. Once you are inside with your partner you charm him or her, promising a magical time if only they close their eyes and say yes. All of them do and when they open their eyes they find that they are in your room no longer, but in a dungeon with their flesh stretched by hooks and chains with crows eating at every piece of flesh that sticks out from their skin while you sit and observe, still whispering false promises and mysterious stories until your victim finally screams his or her life away"

Danox smiled, drawing Hunter's eyes immediately. There was an intimidating touch to it, yet it was not what was important, not even the obvious charm radiating from it mattered. His smile beamed with sincere kindness, in his smile he found what couldn't be found in the dragon's eyes.

Traces of soul. Beautiful, friendly and so, so very familiar.

Perfect.

"I won't lie, with the way your description was going I thought you're going to make me a rough torturer of a sex dungeon"

Hunter smiled back.

"It crossed my mind" he replied playfully as if he would be teasing an old friend

The dragon laughed, turning his head around. His explosion of joy caught the attention of the guards who angrily glared at him.

"Fair enough" the drake commented with a soft shrug "You have a way with words, remaining as an errand boy for your entire life is below you"

"I am honor bound. Serving the Guardians is a privilege"

"There are more ways to serve than constantly crawling through mud and bush"

Hunter's ears perked up in interest, for the very first time the dragon shows him some true interest. It was strange but at the same time very exciting. A dragon is talking with him like they are equals, his pride had troubles keeping itself in check, it was always at the risk of erupting.

"I enjoy cooperating with nature"

"As you should, but why limit yourself? You can enjoy working with nature while also bring change, perhaps even to this city"

"I am much too unimportant to be able to influence a draconic city"

Danox shook his head "Some minutes ago you just convinced four dragons to escort a black drake such as me into the city walls. Worthless creature wouldn't be capable of doing that"

Hunter looked at the flying guards ahead.

"You have their respect" the black drake continued, feeling the cheetah tensing on his back "They listen to you because you undoubtedly showed them the same amount of respect. You built foundations for something extraordinary, it's only up to you if you decide to construct further on that"

The feline looked at his wounded hand, remembering every drop of blood he bled for Warfang and dragons. He regretted none of it, to assist the dragons and help them the best way he can was his duty and he valued it greatly.

The best way he can.

What if it isn't the best way? Maybe he can do so much more?

He closed his wounded hand and his eyes momentarily blinked when they noticed the black scales below. He could hear his own voice screaming inside his head, warning him not to close his eyes or he will wake up chained.

"You really are the prince" Hunter said, perfectly masking the honest fear behind a dose of playful humor

The back below his rump shivered and jerked slightly, like a gear adjusting itself to a new speed.

"I respect a good trade. You managed to convince our escort to let me in, an advice is the least I can do. I still owe you, I hate having debts"

"You protected me from the apes and helped me get out from Dante's Freezer. I think we're even"

"You want to say that the deal on the island was not a single transaction but a combined bargain?" Danox huffed thoughtfully "I can accept that"

"You are a talented diplomat Hunter, all you need is a badge of authority and you will have crowds listening to you. With your fighting skills and wit you'll become a figure of respect. Possibly more influential than some dragons"

Danox pointed down, Hunter followed his claw and his eyes widened momentarily. He was so lost in conversation that he didn't even notice when they flew over the city walls. Down below people were running through the streets, gliding just above the roofs of the buildings, or doing all sorts of other things.

All of them however had their heads tilted up, extended upwards hands with claws pointing at them. People were tracking them like that, looking like nestlings following the beak of mama bird that held a wiggling worm.

"There will be a day" sounded the seductive voice "when all these people will be looking at you instead at a black freakish dragon. And they won't be afraid and prejudiced, but happy and curious"

Hunter's eyes traveled from one curious figure below to the other.

"Forgive me my impertinence, but you sound very sure of yourself. Future is like a blind date, we all go on it, but only a handful find a true beauty"

"Blind dates are of no importance to me. I bend the shadows, I see more than anyone else"

"Listen here stranger" rumbled the voice of the commander suddenly "Here's how it's going to look like. We are nearing the City Hall, you see all these people, we're going to spare them any further stress and lead you straight into the building"

The green head turned around, eyes angrily narrowed on the black drake "Simple order that you're going to follow. Don't do anything stupid, don't talk, don't stray, don't stop, fuck don't even breath until I tell you so"

Danox smiled "It is amusing how the little ones always want to show in their fleeting and worthless moments of power their delusional sparks of importance"

"I regret my decision already. However it is never too late to make things right" the meaning behind the words was understandable even by the deaf

"We land!" the second in command dragon rumbled

* * *

After the training session they all went out into the streets to relax. It was kinda awkward in the beginning, no one was really to blame for that. Spyro, Cynder and Flare, no one of them had any experience when it came to the simple hanging around type of time consumption.

That and they did never spend any free time together in just the three of them.

Eventually after grabbing some snacks, and chitchatting about important and unimportant issues they landed in the library of the City Hall where Flare really wanted to show Cynder and perhaps even Spyro to some degree what progress he made.

Impulsively craving honest and friendly interest, especially after what happened to him in the hospital.

The piles of scribbled notes and opened books really reminded them of Volteer's type of working space.

Flare was undoubtedly making progress, he even managed to stutter out a word in a newbie attempt at reading. He was overjoyed with his victory.

From all the words found in the books he could read only one.

Flower.

* * *

"I'm so proud of him!" Cynder squeaked when they were heading up the stairs into the main room of the City Hall, being far away from Flare's range of hearing, who remained in the library to continue his training after his recent success

"And I'm proud of you too!" she licked Spyro's cheek "You were behaving like two shy best buddies!"

He smiled "I wouldn't call us buddies yet, but I felt some chemistry there"

"Love! That's even better!" she giggled, shoving her rump playfully into his flank, making the purple drake waver slightly

She held him with her wing, making his body tilt slightly in her direction. She slid her wing up his flank, towards his neck where she applied enough pressure to force him to look at her. When his snout adjusted itself with hers, eyes locked with each other, she pressed her lips to his.

There was only a brief grunt of surprise before he completely melted into the kiss that ended far more quickly for his liking. He opened his dizzied eyes, everything was a blur.

Cynder smiled "Last one in the hall buys cookies" she patted his cheek and with a laugh darted up the stairs, giggling all the way

"Hey!" Spyro exclaimed, trying to grab her tail, but it slipped out of his grasp "That's not fair!" he shouted, dashing right after her "You confused me!"

"Loser! Loser!" she teased, letting squeaky laugh erupt from her throat

After a short while of intense climbing the door to the hall seemed to be at paw's reach in seconds, she looked behind her shoulder, spotting Spyro just a two jumps behind her. With a giggle she turned her head around just in time to shove the door wide open.

And come snout to snout with Creep.

She screamed at the top of her lungs, her whole body unnaturally jerked backwards as if an invisible chain would be wrapped around her neck that just stretched itself to its limit, forcing her back into her kennel.

"Cynder!" Spyro exclaimed worryingly, he didn't even catch his breath before her body almost impaled itself on his horns, with all the strength in his legs he prevented them from rolling down the stairs

"Creep!" she growled angrily, pushing away from the purple mass behind her "What the fuck!?" she yelled, voice ringing with dying fear

"He's here?" Spyro blurted out surprised

"Sugar-"

"What the hell are you doing here?!" she growled, cutting off the hollow voice as she began to ascend the stairs "I didn't call for you!"

"Sug-"

"Stop Sugaring me!" she shouted furiously as she reached the top of the stairs "You aren't supposed to be here! This isn't the part of our deal!"

Spyro followed slowly his partner, impressed about the determination with which she addresses a supernatural creature.

The draconic creature burst out tendrils of shadow, just like a fire that is about to get extinguished by a fierce wind.

"You almost killed me!" she pointed at the staircase behind her "If not for Spyro I would fall down those stairs and most probably break my neck!"

"Dragons-"

"What the hell do you want?!" Cynder demanded "Make it quick, you won't be ruining this for me"

"You live, both of you" Creep replied, looking somewhat meager than he did ever before

"Thanks for the info, without you we wouldn't figure that out"

"Do not rush our end"

"Hello?!" she waved at the stairs behind her "You almost rushed it yourself"

"Take Spyro, go to Flare, spend the day in the library. You two must stay away as long as you can"

"You won't tell me what to do!"

"What does he want?" Spyro inquired gently

"He wants us to stay away"

His eyebrows raised in reaction to the surprising revelation.

"Stay away? From what?"

The shadow that usually pulsed from beneath the supernatural dragon's paws slid across the floor and pointed at the exit door from the City Hall, looking like tips of four sharp swords.

"The door over there?" Cynder asked, nodding at them for Spyro to understand what she is talking about "Its just the exit"

"Is something behind those door?" Spyro asked, somehow not able to avert his gaze from the mentioned door

"Yes" Creep confirmed, his hollow voice unnaturally wavered

"Yes?" Cynder repeated after the creature "What's behind it?"

"Abomination"


	94. Chapter 16 Book V

Chapter 16

He pinned the note right next to the one with his name, staring at the two words from his sitting position behind the desk. A fiery bulge of light kept sliding back and forth across the wooden column as if someone would be giving signals to invisible ships tossed by the waves of the sea with a torch.

The sound that reminded him of waves was nothing more than the sound of pieces of paper, blank or otherwise, being crunched and tossed by his wagging happily fiery tail that reminded the signal giving torch.

His mouth kept on moving, silently muttering each letter of the word he learnt as if it would be a verse in a holy script.

F-l-o-w-e-r

He wrote it himself, the letters looked far better than the ones he created writing his name, yet he wasn't interested in such details. All that mattered to him was the success.

F-l-o-w-e-r

Such a pretty word, why people use it only to name a colorful small thingy he had no idea.

F-l-o-w-e-r

It shouldn't be a name of a little plant. It should replace one of the popular words so people could hear it more often.

A word like...

…like…

…like…

…_maybe!_

_"Flower you would like to stay a little longer?"_

_"Flower for a whole week if you won't mind"_

"_Splendid! Let's celebrate this with a glass of wine flower?"_

_"Flower two?"_

Yes!

F-l-o-w-e-r

He was certain of this now, no other word is more perfect than _flower_.

"Flare? What…are you…thinking…about?"

His body jerked fiercely at the sound of the familiar, slow voice.

"Volteer!" he exclaimed cheerfully, body spitting out magical joyful flames as he sprang up on his legs

The Electric Guardian smiled, the sight of the overwhelmed with happiness boy drawn his whole attention, even away from the books he was transporting in his rolled tail. Books that landed softly on the floor, set down by the unconscious move of his body.

"You…have a…good day I…see"

"It's perfect!" Flare roared, bouncing up slightly, lifting himself so easily that it looked like his bones would be filled with air and the breath he let out would be only expendable weight.

More joyous flames burst from his body the moment his legs touched the ground.

"Check this out!" with a yell he pointed at something and momentarily jumped onto the desk

Due to excitement however his leap was terribly uncoordinated, upper part of the body reached the wooden surface with no trouble, rump however was not so lucky. His hind paws slipped from the edge, making his lower body hit the sturdy border of the bed, while the upper part dropped flatly on the desk, chin first.

Volteer winced after hearing the rumbling thuds, he completely lost interest in whatever thing the young drake wanted to show him. The well-being of the youngster taking his whole focus.

"Flare?" the Guardian pressed forward, worriedly eyeing the wriggling, fiery body "Are…you-"

He didn't have to ask since momentarily Flare somehow clambered up onto the desk, showing no signs of hurt, like a little, laughing baby that no matter how many times hits the floor always gets up unharmed like under an immortality spell.

Something that for an old dragon like the Guardian would end with a broken bone or two.

A young claw thudded against the wood, as if a very lucky woodpecker would find food with a single bob of his head.

"Check this out!" Flare shouted, leaving his extended leg in the air while he turned his beaming snout at the amber dragon

All the worry faded instantly, the happiness radiating from the drake was so strong and intoxicating, quickly twisting lips into a smile.

Volteer craned his neck forward when he pressed onwards, as to speed up the burn out of the candle of curiosity. His long neck finally looked past the bookshelf that blocked his view, eyes landing precisely on the piece of paper that the claw seemed to hold hostage, pinning it to the wooden wall.

"I did it!" Flare yelled triumphantly, tapping his claw against the paper fiercely "I did it!"

A proud smile thrived on the old dragon's snout.

"Well…done...Your paw is…becoming more…steady with the…quill"

"I can read it too!"

The smile grew on Volteer's snout as one of his brows raised in reaction to the young drake's words.

"I'm…proud of…you"

"F-!" Flare tapped his claw at the mentioned letter "-l-" his claw jumped to the next one "-o-" and continued to do so with every new letter he spoke "-w-e-r"

"F-l-o-w-e-r. Flo-wer. Flow-er. Flower!"

Flare's wings sparkled with excited flames.

"Flower!" he shouted victoriously, legs bending and straightening like they would be made of springs that were put on an unsteady ground, shaky ground.

"Flower! Flower! Flower!" Flare exclaimed, simply overjoyed, legs never stopping their awkward dance

Volteer chuckled "Congratulations…young…friend"

"I did it Volteer!" the young drake shouted, spinning around with an effortless bounce.

With joy radiating from every fiber of his body he wasn't bothered by the fact that he had a poor landing and almost fell from the desk.

"I did it! I've read my first word!"

"Very…impressive" the Guardian's eyes moved on the second piece of paper "Are you…certain…however that this is the…only word you can…read?"

Flare nodded his head hectically, greatly satisfied with the fact that he can read only one word.

"Yup"

Volteer smiled friendly.

"Look on the…other…note"

"There's my name on it"

"Look"

"There's only-" his voice ended abruptly when his yellow eyes landed on the piece of paper with his name terribly written on it.

His name was made from the same letters as Flower, except one. He didn't recognize it perfectly, but he wasn't that stupid to not be able to figure out what that mysterious letter is. He heard his name being called by different people and himself so many times already that his tongue had no problems putting all those letters into one, single, coherent word.

"Flare" the fire drake mumbled, surprising even himself just how emotionless his voice sounded compared to the moment when he put _flower_ together

"I can read it" he huffed, eyes daring along the whole length of the word "I can read my name" he muttered

Volteer observed the young dragon curiously.

"I…expected…more…doses of…enthusiasm. You…gained the…ability of…pronouncing your…name from…letters. A…milestone in every…young…life"

"I am happy" Flare replied with a smile, looking at the letters forming his without much interest "But it's not really important"

"Not…important? You can…sign documents now…or sign…a book you…are going to…write for your…fans"

"Can you tell me about this a little more?" Flare pointed at the freshly pinned note

"Flowers?" Volteer cocked his head

"Yeah, you said flowers also have names. Could you repeat them please? I would like to learn more about them"

"There are many…types of flowers...I'm no…expert…in this…category. I…would need to…use the…assistance of…one of the…tomes"

"I think I found a book that would help you!" Flare exclaimed, jumping from the desk, on the way gently bouncing off the nearby wooden edge of a bookshelf before gracefully landing on the floor.

There was so much subtlety in the leap that made him look like a leopard jumping down from a tree.

Flare sorted through the mess on the desk, before buried underneath many papery failures he finally reached an opened book, which he closed before pressing his claw against the cover.

"Here!" with a proud smile and straight posture he turned towards the Guardian

He reminded Volteer of a child pretending to be his grandfather leaning against a cane.

The old dragon moved forward, glimmer of curiosity and the almost unquenchable thirst for knowledge could be seen within his eyes as he looked at the closed book in front of him.

_Flora-myths and facts_

The book was adorned with a meaningful title and a drawing of many colorful herbs and flowers serving as a cover. Volteer looked up at Flare, surprised that a dragon of his still thriving intellect could be so accurate in his guess. Especially when the abilities of writing and reading are still not in his possession.

Volteer reached a completely new level of respect for books for children, the way they describe the world using pictures instead of words is worth praising. Even a young dragon such as Flare, who understands the forces of their planet in lesser degree than a freshly hatched hatchling and yet his instinct was led exactly in the right direction.

Books spread an invisible intoxicating aura, even when you don't understand all of them you still find your way if you only tasted some. The power of the library wrapped its tendrils around the young fire drake, guiding him down the road to knowledge, to a chest of wisdom where he will find all the valuable information about the topic he is currently invested in.

Flare wants to expand his knowledge and the books will help him in that, showing up in places he never expected them to find or magically appearing on a desk when you turn your head around.

The fire dragon became the pupil of the library, just like he did a very long time ago.

What other power could be capable of doing such things?

"This…tome…is rich...in…lore" Volteer said, reverently turning page after detailed page with his claw, eyes quickly scanning each and single one of them

All he needed was a rope of saliva dangling from his lower lip to look like a starving animal standing over a bowl of food.

"So…much…information" his eyes glimmered hungrily as he scanned another colorful page "Is there a…flower that…interests…you?"

Flare's mouth opened, yet instead of a word only empty breath left his throat. He felt strangely awkward, like one of those thieves being questioned by a stern and intelligent captain of the guard that Volteer read him about once. Some voice in his head suddenly awoke, screaming that he can't simply spill it all out or come up with a poor lie. Either way he betrays his guild and that's the last thing his going to do.

"Pick something" he finally uttered, sounding like a guy that listened to the begging of his girlfriend and agreed to go shopping with her, just to make her happy.

He was smiling on the outside, but inside, his soul was lamenting.

The Guardian smiled broadly, pressing his claw against a page so swiftly that at first Flare thought that he wants to catch a fly.

"Daffodil" Volteer said proudly "They have a prominent central-trumpet bowl or a disc shaped corona enclosed in a ring of six floral leaves…"

The Guardian just fell into a state that Flare calls _Waggling. _It happened to him every time when he got his claws on a scientific book, no matter the field. As long as the book contained at least a bit of real information the _Waggling _began.

The read words were coming so very quickly from his mouth that it was impossible to catch up with him. There were times when Flare could swear he seen an electric spark jumping from the tip of the tirelessly flapping tongue.

With a shout it was possible to stop the Guardian and make him to slow his reading almost to the pace of his speech. Flare couldn't recall just how many times he stopped the amber dragon, he really wanted to forget about the scratching pain in his throat that bothered him after a couple of those shouts.

Volteer just sped up again on every new chapter. Only when the ache became unbearable Flare learned that stopping him every time to learn something was pointless. A pause is to be made on what is truly interesting.

When he started learning about things everything was interesting. Now he had the privilege of knowing where exactly to stop the Guardian.

"Amarylis" Volteer continued "They grow from eighteen to twenty-four inches tall…"

After some time Flare gained the ability to shut himself down when things started to get tiresome and wake only when the topic he was interested in finally reached the dragon's tongue.

"…it symbolizes determination and beauty"

The page flipped.

"Myosotis…"

Flare chuckled inwardly when he remembered that sometimes listening to the Electric Guardian when he reads a smart book is like throwing yourself back into the prison cell in which he spent his whole life.

"Lavender…"

Truly, there was nothing to laugh about. All those past memories were nothing but scenes from some kind of horror play, yet strangely he never was bothered by them. All he could concentrate on was survival.

"Violets…"

And survival was a thing he was really good at.

"Rosemary…"

The names of many flowers and their details kept on flowing from Volteer's throat. Simply too many to remember.

"Choisya…"

His own laugh reminded him just how much he needs his survival skills.

"Roses…"

So VERY, VERY much.

"Iris-"

"WAIT!" Flare roared suddenly, his voice rumbling like an earthquake, some books shook on their shelves, some simply fell from them

Volteer looked up at the drake.

"I mean…" he averted his gaze awkwardly, his natural fiery illumination dimmed in shame. The look of the Guardian was nothing spectacular, one of many he bestowed upon him whenever he stopped him during the _Waggling. _Yet this time he felt like a guillotine just dropped right in front of his nose.

"Can you…slow down here?" he mumbled bashfully

"You…want to…know…more about iris?" the Guardian asked

Flare pressed his paw to his mouth, muffling the building shy snicker and nodded bashfully.

With an acknowledging nod Volteer's eyes landed back onto the book.

"Iris is…very…beautiful…"

Flare felt his cheeks getting warmer than usual, he was uncomfortable, feeling like a perverse spy.

"There is an…uncountable…number of species…of this…impressive flower. Basically they are…divided into two…groups. Bearded iris and beardless irises. They…range from…towering flowers of five…feet to…tiny ones…no more…than eight inches tall…"

"How do they look like?" Flare cut in, not interested in the scientific facts. His legs carried him automatically next to the Guardian where he could observe the drawings without a problem

"The…petals of the bearded iris…droop down…making it…fuzzy. The beardless irises…lack the…fuzzy…appearance. These…flowers have…many…colors. Blue, yellow, white, purple are just the…most…popular…examples"

"Do these colors mean something?"

"Iris is…associated with…royalty, purple…represents it and all the…respect that…comes with it"

Flare's eyes sparkled.

"Blue…means hope and…faith. Yellow…symbolizes…passion. White…expresses…purity and…innocence"

His fiery body parts pulsed with a brighter light, the strands of his fiery mane wavered slightly as flames of a fire grazed by a gentle wind.

"Where do they grow?" he asked hectically

"This flowers…tolerate…cooler and warmer…climates" Volteer looked up from the book "There is…quite a…considerable…extent of earth where…they grow…in big…numbers"

"White and purple too?"

"Yes. The…plain where they are…located is not…far to the…south of Warfang"

Flare threw his head up so fiercely that Volteer heard a snap and was afraid that the young dragon somehow managed to dislocate his neck.

"Really?" the fire drake asked breathlessly

The Guardian nodded Yes, but…this isn't…the only…flower that…thrives near…our city" he dived into the book again and flipped a page

All the joy and excitement whizzed out from the fiery dragon's mouth like sound from a clogged whistle.

"Fl-"

Volteer was cut off by an unexpected wave of sound coming from above, vibrations of which, in the usually silent library, sounded like rocks toppling over each other during a cave-in.

"Something is…happening…upstairs" the Guardian mumbled, eying the ceiling intently as if expecting it to come crashing down in any minute.

"Our…lecture needs to…wait"

"Victory!" Flare let out a muffled growl of triumph when the Guardian was safe distance away from him

"Come Flare" Volteer directed himself toward the exit "I…feel that we…need to…see this"

* * *

"Too late" Creep said hollowly, shadows scuttled back underneath his paws when the door to the City Hall opened

Big shadows of many massive silhouettes stretched across the floor like black paint from a toppled bucket.

"Do not betray, do not trust. Live. I love you Sugar"

"What did I say about-" Cynder ended abruptly

There was a puff of darkness.

Creep was gone.

She strangely felt sickeningly lonely all of a sudden.

"He's gone isn't he?" Spyro asked, stopping right next to his partner, amethyst eyes aimed at the opened door and the shrouded by sunlight silhouettes at the doorstep

"Yeah" she replied

"That's good, right?"

"I would like to believe that"

Emerald eyes locked themselves on the freshly opened entrance, for an unknown reason she felt that something was pulling her gaze there, she wouldn't be able to avert her eyes even if she wanted to.

Instinctively she wrapped her tail around Spyro's, she didn't knew why, but it felt like that was the right thing to do.

When he returned the special embrace she realized that he felt exactly the same.

A single horned draconic head stepped over the doorstep, wearing the traditional armor of the City Guard. Seconds later another figure entered the hall, also a guard.

Soon after aw third draconic figure of authority entered the hall.

The fourth dragon…

"No way" Spyro mumbled, eyes widening with each spoken letter

The fourth dragon didn't belong to the Guard, in fact it was very possible that he didn't belong anywhere.

And such impulsive thought was stirred only because the dragon that entered had black scales.

Both Spyro and Cynder stared at the unexpected new arrival with their mouths hanging open. Their tails automatically put more squeezing power into the embrace. They both stirred slightly, heads slowly turning around to face each other. For a moment their bodies became stiff, only their eyes sparkled.

Glimmering with every emotion accompanying such unexpected meeting. Like confusion, surprise, a bit of fear.

What they didn't expect to feel was joy.

Spyro and Cynder looked behind their shoulders, at their entwined tails that shivered from excitement. Their colorful, young eyes met, besides utter astonishment and cluelessness they could read something entirely else from each other gaze.

Affection and pride.

"Where are the Guardians?" a loud voice rumbled, deafening even the sound of slamming front door

Both young dragons blinked and looked in the direction from where the voice came, they didn't see the dragon who said those words. He was there of course, but his whole figure was a blur, unimportant, their eyes could only concentrate on the black snout standing out from the group.

Their paws automatically rose in the air, in perfect robotic unison, extended to the side with a single claw straightening up like a penis of a horny teenager at the sight of a naked women.

Claws pointed at the stairs leading to the Guardian's Quarters. Eyes remained stuck on the black snout.

A loud slap against something metallic filled the hall.

"Go!" growled a commanding voice "Bring them here!"

Spyro and Cynder ignored the sound of running, clawed paws, in fact they ignored absolutely everything, their claws and paws would remain extended if a gust of wind created by a blurry, unimportant, running shape wouldn't throw them back, next to the one leg that remained on the floor.

The claws stayed stiff however, looking like natural blades of growing raptors that still lacked the popular curve.

They simply loved the snout they were looking at.

"Milestones in flesh" the black snout said, breathy, enchanting voice filled the hall

Something stung Cynder right in the heart.

"He's so handsome" she whispered in sincere adoration

Spyro heard every word…

…and he agreed with every one of them.

"You will speak only when the Guardians allow you!" rumbled the familiar commanding voice "Now shut up!"

Both young drakes narrowed their eyes angrily at the figure. Blur no longer covered it, they could clearly see every muscle and scale of the green dragon who was undoubtedly the leader of the small group of Guards.

They hated him.

Cynder more than him probably, Spyro could feel her tail slipping from his grasp, an escape that he stopped only by squeezing her tail tighter.

"Friends!"

They forgot about the dragon completely at the sound of the familiar shout, eyes once more returned at the black dragon, this time however spotting two heads instead of one.

The second head was smaller, belonged to a feline and levitated right between the black dragon's horns. They recognized the owner of it without problems.

"Hunter!?" both of them exclaimed shocked

The head disappeared, they only noticed a little shadow sliding across the nearby column. The black dragon jerked his tail slightly up, before dragging it almost in front of his front paws and tilting it up slightly. Momentarily a silhouette appeared on the top the tail, a furry silhouette that was sliding down the tail in a sitting position. The speed of the specific descent controlled perfectly by the constantly bending and stretching tail.

Hunter jumped off the tail right before his crotch would have an unpleasant meeting with the dragon's sharp teeth. He landed gracefully on the ground, reminding everyone of the feline's magical landing skills.

"He brought you here on his back?" Cynder said, only after a second realizing that there is no chance that even Hunter with his sensitive ears could hear her mutter that seemed like a conversation with her own soul.

The whole surprise triggered by the idea of a draconic mount was rendered unimportant when both young drakes took a good look at their cheetah friend.

His outfit was a mess, in many places torn, in others having holes so big that it made them wonder if this is the consequence of a fight or another popular fashion style they never heard about. His fur was matted and dirty, many strands intertwined with each other, adding more whiskers where they simply didn't belong.

His whole outfit was dotted with stains of dried blood, his equipment was missing, save for a single dagger strapped to his belt that considering Hunter's ragged appearance resembled an overgrown metallic toothpick than a deadly weapon. It seemed almost like it silently begged that someone shatters it and spares it the humiliation.

Hunter waved at them at some point, they didn't return the gesture. Their whole attention was consumed by the lousy bandage wrapped around one of the cheetah's hands. It was dirty, covered in a combination of fresh and dried blood and to make things worse it was slipping from the hand, revealing slightly whatever it was hiding underneath.

And it was a gaping, bloody hole.

Despite everything both young dragons had to admit that they never seen Hunter smiling more broadly than right now.

"You're hurt!" Spyro eventually exclaimed "Dear Ancestors what happened?" his legs impulsively carried him forward "Will you be alright?"

"I will live my friend" Hunter replied with a respectful nod

"You must go to the hospital! That hand looks bad"

"Rookie!"

One of the guards, clearly the youngest jumped wildly, as if the rumbling roar would hurl lighting bolts at him

"Move your scaly ass and escort Hunter!"

The young guard looked firstly at the door behind him, just to glue his gaze at his officer soon later.

"But Sir!" he protested "We shouldn't be separating when we have such a dangerous prisoner!"

The black dragon chuckled softly.

Everyone understood the reason for his amusement, maybe except the rookie.

"First of all, you moron, he is not our prisoner" the commander snarled "Secondly you had to swap heads with your dick when I wasn't looking if you think your presence here would help us in any way if it would come to battle. I rather have you far away from here than listen to your cries that you want to mama"

The last guard snickered.

"But-"

"Besides rookie" the commander interrupted the youngster "Spyro is here, a purple dragon. He's above every dragon when it comes to fighting skills. Above Guardians, soldiers, guards, moles, cheetahs, stone, dirt, mud, shit and finally YOU. Not to mention that he kicked the ass of a black dragon once, so as you can see we don't need you here. Do us all a favor and get our best scout to the hospital .NOW!"

The rookie cringed "Come Hunter"

"We'll talk later friend" he nodded politely as he looked at the black dragoness "Cynder" and with that he hurried to the young guard's side, sparing the young drake any more humiliation by quickly taking the lead

"There are two of them now you dick" the rookie muttered as he followed the wounded, yet happy cheetah. Not really paying attention that he said the words far more loudly than he most likely wanted to

The last guard that remained looked at his officer with mischievous, amused sparks in his eyes. He looked at his officer whose cheeks began to grow hot red with boiling fury. He looked at his officer whose body seemed to convulse with sheer wrath. He looked at his officer whose mouth parted open to release one of the most intimidating roars he ever heard, that would probably shake the very foundations of the building. He looked at his officer who was about to stomp the greenhorn right into the mud.

Except that nothing like that happened.

_"There are two of them now you dick"_

The words of his young sidekick resounded within his head, striking every nerve that he believed he cut off. He remembered what it took to put one black dragon down, how the stories of Spyro's heroic deed traveled across the world, how most likely depleted he was after the battle. People even said that he lost his elemental powers.

And that was the result of a battle with a single black dragon.

Now…

"_There are two of them now you dick"_

He couldn't shake of the feeling that he had done something very terrible, unconsciously believing that he just brought the lord of all evil to his bride, that finally the silent plan of annihilation is just about to reach its end.

But Cynder changed.

_"There are two of them now you dick"_

So many people hate the girl, perhaps they are right? There is only a handful of inhabitants that think like him, they are the minority. What he took for prejudice may be actually the truth, making him look like naïve fool all this time.

_"There are two of them now you dick"_

Maybe it's not too late yet?

Maybe there is still time to make things right?

When he finally managed to jump out from his steaming train of thought he realized that for all this time he was staring right at the black dragoness. Her expression changed, only then he realized that she noticed the shift of his thoughts, read it from his eyes, she noticed the hate and despise radiating from him. She has seen all those things and she didn't even turn away.

Green eyes unwaveringly were aimed at him, lips silently pronouncing words that mean everything.

Fuck. You.

So much power. So much strength.

What have I done?

The green dragon turned his gaze away.

"What this ruckus is all about?" from above rumbled the irritated, baritone voice of no one else but Terrador

The two remaining guards around the black dragon stiffened as if someone would shove a stick up their butts.

The main actor of this spectacle looked around his escort and smiled teasingly, as if in an amused and silent way trying to say that all of you should go to hell.

Spyro choked on his own saliva, paw immediately sprang to his nose as if expecting that a gazer of blood would gush from it.

The influence of the anime trend doesn't reach here however.

He looked at Cynder and all he could think about was just how pretty she is and how much he loves her.

"Guardian" the commander of the Guard replied, voice lacking the cocky, commanding tone "We have brought bef-"

"Ancestors watch over us!" the Earth Guardian roared in shock, old body jumping as if electrocuted by an invisible lighting bolt. The spiked ball that was the tip of his tail cut the air wildly, missing the armored leg of the guard behind him by mere inches

"Are my eyes fooling me?!" he rumbled again

"Absorbing light without reverting any of the irradiation composing it scaled dragon?!" the hectic, brain sizzling, excited and quick speech in the tone of a blare reverberated in the hall even before the door behind Spyro and Cynder truly opened

Volteer literally jumped into the hall.

"This is a stupendous in excellence sight!"

"Not now Volteer" Terrador admonished his friend sternly

The Electric Guardian sprang forward with such vigor that everyone believed that the Guardian suddenly became couple of years younger.

"Are you cognizant of the efficacious puissance exerted by this act of converging together friend?"

"Volteer, not now" Terrador sighed tiredly

The guard that accompanied the commander stepped in front of the black dragon, separating the stranger from the Guardian.

"It would be best if you kept your distance Guardian"

"Hey guys"

Both Spyro and Cynder looked behind their shoulders, spotting Flare ascending the stairs they so recently scaled themselves.

"What's going on?" he asked innocently, eyes scanning around the hall, noticing everyone currently present but not truly focusing on anybody in particular.

For the fiery drake everyone looked normal.

Spyro and Cynder looked at each other, soft chuckles escaped their throats.

"This dithers the very condition of cohering together the intrinsic, indubitable and invariable nature of the prophecy! Generations of purple and black dragons! A prominently unusual phenomenon!"

"History, legends and science can wait" Terrador stepped down from the stairs, eyes locked on the new black arrival "I'm more interested in the present and the future. Report"

The commander of the Guard stepped forward, acknowledging the presence of superior authority with a respectful bow.

"We found him approaching Warfang from the east, judging by his first appearance and reaction of our fair citizens we decided to intervene. At first we wanted to send him away, having in mind the safety of our city, yet we didn't expect that there would be a passenger on his back"

"A passenger?"

"Hunter was with him, he's one of the Veil dragons from what Hunter told us. He was wounded, we had to bring him back to the city. The fate of his mount however we leave to your wisdom"

"Did you have anything to do with Hunter's injuries?" Terrador narrowed his eyes on the black dragon

"I believe so" the stranger replied

The guards immediately circled the black drake, snarling quietly.

"Are they going to fight?" Flare blurt out worriedly and moved in between his friend and Spyro

He bumped into something however that threw him back, he looked down and notice a black tail intertwined with a purple one. He rose his gaze just in time to notice that Spyro and Cynder felt the tug. Their eyes also dashed down, just to spring back up again, widened eyes landing on the fiery drake.

"Why are you holding tails?"

"For support!" Spyro blurt out, releasing his tail from the embrace with a blush, a move that the black tail of his partner was more than happy to follow

Flare stopped in between them, looking at two of them in turn.

"What kind of support?"

"You know…" Spyro muttered, pleadingly throwing a quick glance at his partner

"For a wish to come true!" Cynder blurt out, smiling at the fiery drake, trying to look as convincing as she could

"Wish?"

"Yes!" the purple drake exclaimed, mind already putting every shred of information into a perfect excuse "We were holding tails because we really want our wish to come true"

"What did you wish for?"

"That this meeting we are having here ends nicely" Cynder explained "We were holding our tails so strong because we REALLY want our wish to come true"

"So it means that if the grip is strong there are bigger chances for the wish to come true?"

"Exactly!" Spyro blurt out triumphantly, this is what he calls an improvisation on a master level

"I can help you guys!" Flare exclaimed excited, his burning body burst with thrilled flames "I want everything to end nicely too!"

He swung his tail, Cynder impulsively jumped away from the fiery tip with a gasp.

"Come on, grab it!" he nudged his tail in her direction

She looked at Spyro, his expression spoke volumes, just like her he realized that they deliberately pushed themselves against the wall.

Cynder giggled shyly "Sure…why not" she moved her tail, wrapping it bashfully against the red one

Flare squeezed it eagerly.

To say that she felt awkward wouldn't give proper merit to her current state of mind.

"You too Spyro!"

"Me?" the purple drake jerked his head back, the stupidity and indiscretion of the idea of holding another's male tail like they were partners was overpowering

"You…you don't really need me"

"You were holding Cynder's tail before"

Spyro rubbed his leg shyly "It's different now"

Cynder's eyes widened when suddenly the red tail loosened its grip, making her own black one slip away from the embrace.

"Different because of me?"

She could feel piece of her heart breaking at the sound of his devastated voice.

"Of course not!" Cynder exclaimed, wrapping her tail around the red one and squeezing it tightly, making all his fiery body parts spit relieved flames

She looked meaningfully in the amethyst orbs of her partner.

"Spyro is just shy, whenever he holds tails he always wants to be the one on top of a female's tail. It's his quirk"

Flare frowned "That's not really fair. Do you like when he does that?"

"I like being in the middle"

"And I have no problems with being at the bottom!" he exclaimed proudly "Come Spyro!"

Cynder looked up, a broad grin momentarily appeared on her snout when she looked at her partner, only thanks to clinging to shreds of stoicism she prevented throwing herself into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

Flare was too…innocent to connect the dots that could be easily seen on Spyro's expression, she however had no troubles doing such a thing.

He looked like a kid who sneaked into an adults' show and observed each of the scenes with drool hanging from his mouth.

It wasn't difficult to tell what he was currently thinking about, the combination of words they used undoubtedly made the images flashing before his eyes so much more vivid. Not to mention that Spyro understood the true meaning behind holding tails, and sharing this somewhat intimate gesture with another male wasn't on top of his to do list.

She couldn't ignore such an opportunity.

"Look guys, our tails sway like we would be on a ship, there are only three of us here, ready to face this adventure. You know why?" she made a pause, grinning mischievously "Because only the finest seamen can come onboard"

Her eyes sparkled when she briefly aimed them at the one to whom this tease was directed to.

At first Spyro's snout was twisted by abhorrence, as if he would smell something really bad, however the moment he noticed her stare his expression turned to an endearingly loathing mask, that said only one sentence.

I hate you.

She giggled.

"What's a ship? Or a seamen?" Flare asked confused

Cynder grinned, she could feel a pair of red horns growing on top of her head.

"Well…"

"Here!" Spyro cut her off, wrapping his tail around theirs "We have the power now! But if we want the wish to come true we must be silent" he growled

"Ok!" Flare agreed with the plan unhesitatingly

She wasn't fooled by his stern order, the mask of male pride was cracked and she could easily see through the holes. Behind it she could see a terrified and shocked snout of a boy screaming…

"_I'm holding tails with another guy! I'm holding tails with another guy!"_

Spyro averted his gaze, with great difficulty letting out a breath of ragged relief.

"Thanks the Ancestors Sparx doesn't see me right now"

Terrador stepped forward, tail usually stiff and solid as a rock started to sway lightly, betraying signs of militaristic nervousness.

"Explain yourself"

"Assuming that my humble self is to blame. How very…typical and boring" the black dragon replied, enchanting voice betraying not even the slightest tone of irritation

"Show respect trash!" the commander roared straight into the snout of the black drake

The dark drake winced when droplets of spit splashed on his snout. He acted like nothing ever happened, he calmly raised his paw, wiped the foreign liquid from his snout and with the same amount of serenity flicked it at the floor.

Some distance away from the group two young dragons softly growled.

"Hunter's flesh wounds are not my doing. We were only the victims of a fortunate twist of fate to run into each other as I crossed into this world through a presumed time portal"

"Hey! He has black scales like you Cynder" Flare blurt out, happy beyond imagination that he noticed something that everyone else already acknowledged

"You know him guys?"

"Who are you?" Terrador asked cautiously

"My name is Danox" obsidian eyes scanned the hall, before looking straight ahead at something only they found interesting

"I'm your legacy"

Spyro looked straight into the two dark eyes, at least one seemed to be looking straight at him.

"No, we don't"

He was as sure of it as he was sure of his love for Cynder.

* * *

**This may be the last chapter that I post before going on vacation at the end of this month. I know that it seems like a lot of time, but I might not have the opportunity to write. I'll do my best to provide another one at least before I leave. **

**Just a heads up if nothing shows up for the upcoming weeks;p**


	95. Chapter 17 Book V

Chapter 17

He rounded the corridor, tired and somewhat annoyed by the constant noise coming from downstairs, It isn't new for him, he was raised in a palace, noises were just as common in the night as they were during the day. Something he should have probably get used to years ago, but somehow couldn't force himself to accept the situation.

Oh the horrors royalty has to bare through.

The noises from downstairs were as loud as every mobilization of forces he led or participated in. It was usually the latter. Whatever forces weaving from threads of Fate be damned for their injustice.

When he took the threads into his own red paws everything became so much more to his liking, little setbacks and nuisances aside.

People saying that they put their lives in the hands of Fate, or saying that whatever will be, will be make him sick.

Spineless bastards.

The noises however remained infuriating as ever.

He reached the staircase, the burning tip of his tail casting red light on the walls, everyone that would look at the fiery illumination would believe that a fire just broke loose on the upper floors of the Guest Quarters.

Guest Quarters.

Sleeping in a real bed was a great reward, finally the comfort he deserves. Lately everything pleasant that happened always occurred without his trouble making niece around.

Oh the horrors royalty has to bare through.

"Who are you?" he heard a cautious, baritone voice coming from below as he descended down the stairs, voice that belonged to no one else but Terrador himself

He stopped, carefully tucking his burning tail behind his body, minimizing to the best of his ability the fiery glow it was emanating.

The event once again reminded him of the many interesting things that happen when his trouble making niece isn't around.

Sometimes threads have the tendency to slip from your grasp, yet not long enough to make a difference. Quite a fascinating twist that holds back boredom.

Oh the horrors royalty has to bare through

* * *

"What do you hanker to express in prevalent way by verbalizing _legacy_?" Volteer asked hectically, tongue waggling so quickly as if had a mind of its own

Danox looked at the amber dragon, smiling pleasantly, dark eyes rolling in his eyeballs, everyone decently intelligent would see turning clockwise, small arrows in those eyes, pointing in every direction. Their size clearly pointing out the importance of some dragons that are in this room.

"In vain is the mill clock if the miller his hearing lack " Danox said, dark, enchanting voice seemed to slip into every crack in the walls, filling the room with pulsing hesitation before accepting a devilish offer

Volteer looked at his old friend, hundreds of years of knowing each other formed an impossible telepathic bond. In certain situations words weren't needed to understand what the other was trying to say.

Part of Terrador's soul smiled when he looked into Volteer's eyes and read everything that was to read from them. Occasionally it was the most craved sort of communication when it came to dealing with his amber friend.

"Leave us please" Terrador meaningfully looked in the direction of the officer of this little unit

The commander wasn't capable or simply didn't want to hide his shock.

"Guardian! This is dangerous! This is a black-"

"I'm perfectly aware of the origin of our guest" the solid as rock voice of the Guardian cut off the protests of the officer

"If things will become drastic I believe we are more than capable of handling the situation. I thank you for your assistance, but it would be best that you turn your attention to our honorable citizens. They need your help more than we do"

The green dragon glared at the black drake, who didn't bestow on him even the tiniest piece of attention.

He hated the dick.

"Forgive me Guardian but I don't think this is a good idea" the officer protested respectfully

"Perhaps it isn't" Terrador replied casually "Nevertheless this is my order and I expect you to honor it as your office demands it"

The commander once more glared at the black dragon, as before Danox paid him no attention. His gaze remained unchanged, drilling into the obsidian skull.

"What should we tell the people?" the green drake hissed, anger was wafting from the small cracks of his clenched teeth like hot steam from an overheating boiler

"The truth. I trust you know what that means"

The officer looked up at his comrade that was still accompanying the Earth Guardian. With a nod of his head he called him to join the group.

With his unit at satisfied strength he turned around and opened the door.

His eyes widened when the first slit of light crawled through the crack the door created and reached the shadows their silhouettes cast on the floor. The shadows seemed to disperse to the sides, away from the growing ray of light, with a sharp sound, scuttling like small kittens from a hound that chased them to the wall where their coats bristled and they prepared to fight, hissing threateningly.

He blinked with a shake of his head, when his eyelids opened again the shadows were normal, the beam of light naturally vanquished the shadows, as a sun naturally disperses the night.

Eyes rose up as if walking across the invisible bridge created by the beam of light until they eventually landed on the source. He stared directly at the sun, the strong glow not blinding him even for a second.

"Boss?"

He jerked slightly at the sound of the voice, his eyes shut tight as he averted his gaze from the blinding light, his eyes burned through closed eyelids.

When he opened them his whole vision for a moment was replaced by a combination of yellow and white, brighter than any color he had ever seen.

For a fleeting second he prayed that the sun would never stop shining.

"Move" he grunted and left the City Hall with his comrades closely following him

People were already waiting for them outside.

The door closed.

The City Hall was once again covered with additional layers of shadows, so thick that it would be possible to touch them if there was someone brave enough to extend his hand.

"I hope you have a good excuse for hinting to exclude our guards" Terrador broke the silence with unhidden dissatisfaction

"Mundane and insignificant pawns have the irritating habit of impotency to cope with something beyond the spheres of their limited understanding. Twisting and jerking in a futile attempt to expand that always ends with misspoken words and distorted facts. Paranoia and psychosis are insufferable time stallers"

Danox smiled, the somewhat alluring display of perfect, not overdone smile only added more unexplained power to the dark swoon of his well versed, slowly spoken words.

Something poked Cynder's heart, a dagger of infatuation, hitting every representative of a female gender at the sound of a male, breathy voice that says normal words but always covers them in an aura of mysteriousness and ominousness. Shaking the curiosity within that can be found in every heart, curiosity that demands to indulge into the dangerous and perverse. To see how it would it feel like to be naughty for a little while at least.

A feeling similar to someone leaning from the balcony of a high building and wondering, for one fleeting second how it would feel like to fall down.

That dagger however never renewed its attempt to bleed a drop from her heart, because it simply shattered on impact. A single dark eye that seemed to stare right at her put an impenetrable armor around her heart that prevented her from giving in to this sickening and completely perverse but at the same time so natural and familiar feeling of affection that wailed within her like tears in the eyes whenever she deliberately forgot about the onyx stare of the black dragon.

"Wow" Flare exhaled and paused before succumbing to soft giggling a moment later "He almost sounds like Volteer's younger brother!"

Both young dragons that stood at the fiery drake's sides smiled forcefully, gentle snapping sounds could be heard when their suddenly dried lips stretched.

"Calling someone an idiot using smart words doesn't make the insult any more tolerable" Terrador admonished the black drake sternly "I would advise against similar actions in the future"

Danox bowed in understanding.

"What do you hanker to express in prevalent way by verbalizing _legacy_?" Volteer finally blurt out, repeating the exact same words as before. Words came out from his mouth with the sound of many stretched to the limit bows, owners who spotted their enemy after hours of vigil

"I'm the spawn of your ideas and actions. Your every breath and step molded me into the creature I am. I am a milestone"

Volteer cocked his head, the neurons within his mind started to spark when with one quick jerk they were thrown into a spin of thoughts, like a hamster running against the walls of a constantly increasing in speed wheel.

His experienced and brilliant mind didn't get stuck in an unending and somewhat sadistic chase after his own. His cultivated with lore and bright thinking mind had no troubles with moving past the trampled by natural order paths.

Some individuals are extraordinary, he undoubtedly belonged to the group, his hamster was the only one able to run up against the spinning wheel, eventually locking its sharp teeth on the strands of coat standing from its ruffled by mental work rump.

"The part of earth's outward semblance, not overlaid by a material substance of water, the particular allotment of space, place of your hatching, what is it called?" the Electric Guardian asked, already knowing the answer himself

Danox smiled "Tales of your wit weren't only false praising I see" the smile disappeared "I was hatched in Dragon Realms of course. Possibly many years after this current day"

Everyone stiffened, Flare could see it, he even felt that the special hug they were sharing became more tight almost like the stony grip of a Keeper on his throat.

He had no idea what was going on.

"Guys? What happened?"

"You are a Veil dragon" Terrador pointed out skeptically "You carry the mark. All portals connect our world with the past"

"All? Have you found all of them to come up with such assumption?"

"Wait a second" Spyro broke the embrace, stepping forward

When his tail moved in front of Cynder's eyes an impulse swiftly shot from her mind to the left leg, ordering it to grab the purple tail before it slips away. The nudge was brief, impossible to feel and probably just a figment of her overprotective and jealous imagination.

So much more idiotic especially when Spyro's reluctance to participate in the tail hug was still a fresh memory.

Giggling.

It was the sound of giggling that woke her up from a trance she wasn't even aware she fell into.

"Almost like a ball!" Flare chuckled

She looked at him, noticing his gaze being aimed down. Gentle slapping sound began to resound in her head, she followed his gaze. His red leg was slapping against her black paw that was pushed down on the slapping contact and then shot back up to its original position.

A cold finger of unexplained dread marked a freezing trail across her spine.

The paw was risen in the air.

The bouncing paw reminded her of a severed head of a doll dangling on the last strands of artificial tendons, a head that someone wanted to push back to its natural place but it kept sliding down.

The finger turned into a complete hand that grasped her spine into a tight, numbing grip, stiffening her body with a wavering whimper wafting from her suddenly empty lungs.

The paw didn't want to go down, it didn't want to touch the floor.

The head kept on sliding down.

"You're a black dragon" Spyro continued "how can you know so much about the Veils and how many of them are out there. You don't wield Time, you can't sense them"

Danox looked at him, even from here he could see his own reflection in the dragon's completely black eyes.

"I was hatched when their presence was prominent in the world. I grew up in their emotionless, yet not dull company. I possess the ability of counting, seen them where they aren't now currently. And because you told me"

This took Spyro completely by surprise.

"Precisely!" Volteer exclaimed excitedly "You are in a budding stage of a condition that imprint us off as antithetic from inorganic entities Spyro. Your ubiety in time that is to come hereafter from which Danox makes his manifestation is very conceivable. Necessity originated from this adjunct to form an approximate assessment regarding the presumed time flow. This will grant attainableness to counter whatever is plaguing us with your succor imparted in Danox' conception!"

"Hold back your excitement friend" Terrador warned with the cautious of an experienced fighter

"Many years have passed I believe as I already mentioned" Danox said, answering the unspoken and undoubtedly soon to appear question "You Guardians were merely a memory. Both Spyro and Cynder however were in their prime, rising their two kids in between duties as protectors"

Her paw finally dropped on the floor with a smack.

Spyro looked at his partner, Cynder's emerald eyes were aimed directly at him, glimmering like they never did before. Even from here he could hear the wild beating of her heart, not because of happiness, it was there of course, so much of it that she seemed to breathe it out instead of air. Her heart was racing because of a different reason, he knew what it was since his own natural pump was working at a similar pace.

They have a future.

They will make a family.

"You're going to have babies?" Flare asked, disappointment and sadness ringing in his voice

The pain in his voice seemed to fly directly into her happiness breathing nostrils to hit her brain and wake it from its numbing stupor.

It was successful.

"I don't know Flare. Maybe" Cynder replied, hiding the dreamy tone as best as she could

"You will become mates!" Flare's wings glowed brighter "We will stop being friends!"

"That's not true Flare, you will always be my friend"

"But we won't see each other! You won't have time for me! Spyro and your kids will steal you away! Volteer read me a book about priorities and family! I know how it's going to look like!"

The temperature got a little bit warmer.

Cynder moved forward wanting to touch his shoulder to comfort him but he jerked his body away.

"I will be alone again!" he whined, yet his tone wasn't ringing with complete desperation. Those that were around the fiery drake long enough could hear the pulsing sounds of cracking flames

"Flare we don't know how the future will look like" Cynder said calmly even if the growing heat started to sting her eyes

"You do know! I want to know too!"

"Flare" Terrador addressed the young drake "There are more important-"

"I WANT TO KNOW!" the City Hall was illuminated by fiery light as flames burst from the unnaturally roaring dragon's burning body parts, spitting hot, hissing small tongues of flames everywhere

The roar sounded like it came from a very deep cave.

Cynder squeaked and jumped back when a stinging, burning pain exploded on her right leg. One of the sizzling sparks landed on her scales. She impulsively started to huff at the painful spot, it brought her little relief since the fiery spark momentarily eaten through her scales and into the flesh, devouring her leathery armor like the most vile of cancers.

The freshly aching wound pulsed with blood and small boils momentarily appeared on the revealed, scorched flesh. Her nose cringed at the stench of burning meat.

Spyro tensed, he swore to protect her from harm, his future mate and she still got hurt. A pulse of sheer fury was enough to start boiling his blood. With all his strength he held himself back from leaping at Flare right here and now, knowing that both Cynder and Flare won't forgive him if he acts on reckless impulse.

If he would see that danger is imminent however, he doubted he would really care about that.

Volteer turned towards the black dragon, his meaningful expression was enough for Danox to tell what the Guardian is expecting from him.

He shrugged.

The amber dragon's lips began to move, slowly and with great difficulty, tongue however kept on flapping hectically, obviously not happy about slowing the quick pace it was comfortable with.

Danox held back an amused smile, the Guardian's snout reminded him of a dog that wanted to lick its mouth and bark at the same time.

The silent word Volteer formed however were completely serious, so somber that he didn't care about putting himself willingly on the path to ridicule.

Lie.

"I'm not their friend, merely an associate" Danox' enchanting voice remained unchanged

Volteer realized that even if he wouldn't ask the guest to lie he wouldn't be able to discern if he is telling the truth or not. In fact he realized that the dragon might be lying from the very beginning.

Or telling the truth.

Knowledge sometimes is unnerving.

"From what I know and saw during the scarce number of visits at their home I could tell that they have a big family. Everybody knows their story, they don't have any relatives and yet the house was always full of different creatures, so much different than their hosts. I remember it was always loud there, everybody however loved the noises, especially the children, they just kept screaming happily. I've never met the one responsible for the sounds that were so similar to explosions and all the joy that came with it. I always wondered if the home isn't sitting on some explosives, I swear it was always fiery bright there and the rumbles sounded like…like…"

"D-dynamite?" Flare stammered, his eyes were big and full of hope, wings pulsed with brighter and dimmer light alternately

The black dragon's eyebrow raised in reaction to that suggestion. A claw touched his neck and scratched it gently, he momentarily pushed it back at the ground with a snort.

"Now when I think of it…the noise really sounded like dynamite. Funny, it never crossed my mind, would explain all that reddish light coming from nowhere"

Flare looked at Cynder, by now he looked like somebody would tilt a bucket of water above him, he was barely emitting any light. Yellow eyes were starting to fill with tears of guilt.

"I'm sorry"

Cynder smiled lovingly "It's fine, don't worry about it"

"I-I-I h-h-hurt y-you-"

"Flare it's okay"

"I-I-I did-d-dn't m-m-mean t-t-to"

"It's okay"

He sniffed.

"I-I-I-I'm s-sorry"

"Flare"

He opened his mouth, but no sound came out since momentarily a soft, black body pressed against him, one gentle paw wrapping around the back of his neck.

"Shut up" she whispered endearingly and kissed his cheek

His fiery, wagging tail exploded brightly like an intensified candlelight coming out from a mole's helmet.

"You're my friend and I'll never leave you. From the two of us you will be the first one that gets bored of our friendship"

He pushed away from the hug "Never!" he shouted straight in her snout, making her wince when his spit landed on her black snout.

Flare gasped, covering his mouth "I'm sorry!"

Cynder giggled "It's okay" she wiped her snout "Serves me right for not paying attention to my company when I'm joking"

"I-m-"

"Shhhh" she clenched his mouth shut, smiling cutely "Save your voice for the moles in the Mess Hall, you need to beg the food out of them for me"

She let go of his nose and patted his cheek "Come on, we grab something to bite. My treat"

Flare immediately followed her "Your what?"

"You'll see"

As she crossed the hall with Flare closely walking by her side she winked in the direction of every familiar snout.

All smiled in return.

She even looked at the black dragon, meeting his gaze and sickeningly familiar smile. In his obsidian eyes she saw nothing but her own reflection.

With her neck severed and head dangling up and down.

Up and down.

Up and down.

Up and down.

Her left leg became suddenly numb, if not for the fiery body walking next to her from which she bumped slightly she was certain she would drop on the floor.

When the feeling returned to her leg just as fast as it left her she turned this whole situation into a joke.

From the bottom of her heart she wished for it all to be a joke.

And only a joke.

"One who believes everything he's told is as naïve as one who fetches water with a sieve" resounded the breathy voice

Spyro was following Cynder with his gaze, not paying much attention to his surroundings. His whole focus was drawn towards his partner, locked in a cage of breathtaking admiration. Where her swinging tail, swaying hips and occasionally flicking wings only completed the image of divine black angel when you combined it with humor, care, wit and aura of friendship that simply radiated from her.

The voice that resounded in the hall grabbed onto the bars of the cage however, twisted and torn them apart, creating a gaping hole through which it freed his unwilling to leave conscience.

He was mad at the voice, no longer hearing its alluring tone that somehow enchanted you to listen without really much wondering what is going on. He heard the smug tone behind, the notes of mockery and triumph, laughter of a demon that couldn't simply believe that such stupidity exists.

He heard Malefor.

As he turned his head Spyro hated and mistrusted the black dragon. When the black body came into view he recognized and loved him. When he looked into the pair of completely dark eyes he pitied and was terrified of him.

And most of all he was sad.

"It was necessary" Terrador commented, guilt cracked his steady voice like an unending stream of water eventually cracks a rock

He swallowed, feeling like his throat was being rebuilt with more solid emotionproof barrier.

"This was the first and last attempt of manipulating facts. From now on you speak the truth and only the truth. Are we clear?"

Danox bowed "Of course"

"Nothing of what you said was true?" Spyro asked alarmed "You made it all up to calm Flare?"

"Parts of me being merely a soldier and loud parties were true" the black drake replied without hesitation "I never heard explosions, such loud, unexpected events wouldn't allow me to ignore my duties as a fighter. I never met this strange dragon, that doesn't exclude the possibility that he belonged to your circle of trust however"

"Parties? You said the world was overrun with Veils, with so many of them how it is possible to have a break?"

"I never said that the Veils were a curse"

Spyro blinked, he wasn't the only one that was shocked by the surprising revelation, from the corners of his eyes he could see Terrador who seemed to be just as dumbfounded as he was.

He didn't see Volteer, he didn't really had to anyway. The soft smacking of the amber dragon's what seemed like constantly electrocuted tongue against his lips could be heard even before excited flood of words burst from his mouth.

It was all Spyro needed to know to guess in what state the Guardian currently is.

"This is conspicuously estimable disclosure not vividly conveyed to the mind before!" Volteer roared, during this happy blare he sounded like a young excited hatchling that achieved a tremendous victory by becoming big enough to be able to run up the stairs without having to jump to reach each step

"Just employ your mind lucidly and objectively in predisposing the significance of the viable several comprehensive plans! New assemblages of creatures forming an indigenous stock, new branches of discernment that deal with nascency and technical means and their interrelation with life, new illumination preserved in writing or the like of past conjectures and times, new prerogatives for reciprocation of commodities! We could conjoin with bygone times like we never did before! Acquire unlimited capital of cognition by means of study!"

"That is not an unreachable wish of a creative mind Guardian" Danox commented "The future benefits from the Veils exactly how you described it"

Volteer's cheeks became red with excitement, he bit on his clenched into a fist paw that he put into his mouth, as if holding himself back from screaming. The increasing shrill sound that was coming from his throat, so similar to a excited shriek of a fan girl, was enough to tell that the amber dragon was doing a very poor job at holding back his emotions.

"You couldn't let them just spread wildly, you needed some means of controlling them" Spyro calculated coldly, something deep inside urged him to find a second bottom in all these good news

He momentarily remembered the tingling sensations, he imagined a similar itching crossing his body in this very moment just like a portal would open in front of his eyes.

Spyro looked straight into the black dragon's eyes. "It was me, wasn't it? I was controlling the Veils"

Danox smiled.

Spyro wasn't certain but he thought that he saw his reflection wavering in the obsidian mirrors embedded into the black dragon's eye sockets. Just like something would fly across his eyes, so silvery and sharp like a sword.

He didn't like this thought with every fiber of his being.

"I see your intelligence is unmatched even in such a young age" the dark dragon continued

"Spyro!" Volteer squealed "You are the crux!"

"I'm wondering if I shouldn't be the lock" the purple drake replied thoughtfully

Volteer's thrilled and definitely overreacted joy evaporated into nothingness. His quickly thinking brain catching a ride on Spyro's train of thought momentarily.

"Why the reluctance Spyro?" Terrador inquired

"If everything would be so nice and colorful" Spyro said, observing the black dragon whose smile was growing with each spoken word "He wouldn't be here. He doesn't control Time so it had to be me that sent him back and that means trouble"

Danox nodded with a chuckle "Impressive and very accurate"

"Why you?" he asked confidently, almost accusingly

The black dragon showed no sign that he was offended by the suspicious tone in the purple drake's voice. Or he simply didn't notice it.

"Inquisitive and wary. Interesting, considering the company you keep"

It's like he asked for it, the dragon pointed out his hypocrisy, the aura of protection he enveloped Cynder with must be famous even in the future. Both of them had black scales, which didn't really matter to him, it's not the color of one's body that make a person. It all lies in the soul.

Even now he doesn't truly understand what made him to save Cynder from certain death. Was it merely an impulse to save someone that was exactly his age? Driven by the sheer instinct of protecting someone from the same clutch of eggs? Maybe it was his intelligence speaking through him then that noticed the transformation and came to a conclusion that not everything is as it seems? Perhaps it was due to the somewhat creepy infatuation corrupted version of Cynder caused in him? Or it was blossoming love from the very beginning noticing something in the green eyes that no other one could see?

Most likely it was all of those things and maybe even more he simply can't name now. No matter how he would want to call it, when he looked at Cynder he felt a pull, she stirred something in him.

When he looks at the black dragon, forgetting about every thing he thought about him, about every feeling and odd nudge. When he simply looks at him, waiting for that unexplained impulse that travels constantly between people when they talk and meet, impulse that pushes you closer to some and farther from others. The popular first impression.

When he looks at him with his mind empty…

He feels absolutely nothing.

"We're in difficult position currently" Terrador explained "Caution is now our most trusted guide"

Danox nodded "I'm perfectly aware of the situation. History is as important to me as wings are for our race. You can live without them, but life is so much more bearable while in air. Considering the reputation that sticks to someone like me I'm not surprised by your caution, even from Spyro himself"

He pressed his paw to his chest, bowing apologetically.

"It was merely an inappropriate tease from my side. I inherited traits I really try to quell, but sometimes I simply can't control myself. Especially when a perfect opportunity presented itself to needle somebody"

He chuckled, the brief and somewhat bitter laughter was surprisingly very pleasant to listen to.

"If I was in your situation I would also mistrust a black, appalling creature like myself. Believe me, I'm more than aware of my looks"

"Affective state of recognition in which feelings are cultivated as distinguished from cognitive and volitional states of consciousness aside" Volteer interjected "Spyro's inquest has judicious distinctive affirmation. Expressly when you came to this warranted point in the range of travel from the time to come hereafter, knowing utterly that the ruptures of the mental integuments of the people are still contrived to hemorrhage with mental capacity of detaining and enlivening facts and events of a black dragon's commination"

"Spyro gained the mastery of his Time ability, he walked through portals as easily as simple folk walk through doors, the only hindering element of Time was the inability to shape a Veil according to your whim"

Danox turned his attention to the young purple drake who listened to him with temperate interest.

"You see, you could tap into the essence of the Veils when they were around, grab a handle of the door if you will, from there you decided if you wanted to close or open them, as long as you haven't decided to shut them permanently you could walk freely through and whatever was on the other side could do the same"

"This sounds too easy" Terrador commented

Danox chuckled "Joining the club of too nice and colorful Guardian? You are wise to do so, there's a catch"

"Not every Veil is the same" Spyro added confidently

"Unmatched, definitely unmatched" the black dragon smiled "This should be fun"

Spyro shivered unexpectedly.

"Some portals required a key of sorts I believe, without it there was no chance to close the door. Sadly I have no knowledge about the key's appearance, nobody really confirmed it, but you and Cynder were the only ones probably that knew the keys secrets"

"This still doesn't answer the question" Spyro looked straight into the eyes of the dragon and swallowed uneasily when he noticed his reflection once more in the obsidian mirrors that were the dragon's eyes

The two little Spyro's laughed in uncontrollable amusement.

He blinked.

His reflection was still.

"Why you?" Spyro rasped and momentarily cleared his throat, surprised by the hoarse sound of his voice

The slightly nervous glances he received from the two Guardians were a clear sign that he wasn't the only one that noticed it.

"Did I mention you had children? Leaving them to be raised only by their mother was probably the anchor that kept the future you from coming here. Seeing how you loved your family I think that was the true reason, even if your help was really needed to keep the Veils in check"

Spyro's eyes widened.

"You can't go back?"

"It is easy to threaten a bull from a window" Danox looked behind his shoulder, grazing the door that he was recently led through with his tail tip

"You were the only one who could travel freely through the portals, however there was always a risk. I don't understand it fully, but the scraps I've heard that my oblivious mind could put together was that every power has its limit, even Time. There was always a risk that if you cross, you get locked on the other side, how the future you could counter the risk is beyond my understanding. Only a Time wielder is capable of that I suppose. Whatever the case may be the future Spyro was certain of one thing, the portal that I came through was a one way trip"

"You got stuck here?" Spyro asked in shock

Danox shrugged "Not necessarily. If you live up to your legend I will go back"

"It will take most likely many years for me to master the ability!"

"What are years for our kind? They flow by, like breath from our mouths. Inhale for long enough and you won't even notice when you have children. That is why we surround ourselves with other races, their passing reminds us how many years passed. Cruel perhaps, but undeniably true"

Terrador tapped his claws against the floor, playing a soft, rumbling, thoughtful melody.

"All of this seems…rather impossible"

Danox laughed "Impossible? You are witnessing the impossible right now, why, you are living in the impossible in this very moment"

"In the future Spyro and Cynder reach adulthood, becoming undoubtedly the most powerful dragons the Realms have even known and neither of them come back? Didn't you say they were protectors?"

"They were, still are, but of that time not this. They remain true to their duties. The Veils not only brought prosperity, but also enemies, many, many enemies. Before Spyro and Cynder became powerful enough to be able to stop the incoming waves of aggression with little more than several pants many were lost. People and land included, things poured into our world you never believed existed. Our race, serving as bulk of the Realms army was nearly decimated, a dragon was as often seen as a falling star on the sky"

The three dragons that listened to the black drake looked at each other, worry and shock glimmering in every eye.

"Munitions Forge was destroyed, bringing the Manweersmall race into extinction, cheetahs followed in their unfortunate wake, apes and their beasts were also wiped out. The only old race besides dragons that survived were the moles, too valuable to lose with their technological knowledge they were protected as treasure. Yet their numbers were shrunk as well, when the worst was finally over our technological advancement was practically stalled, or even cast backwards. Tall Plains and Dante's Freezer, among some other places were ravaged by the constantly bursting energy with every new Veil appearance"

"Why me and only me you ask?" Danox looked through the window

Spyro noticed that the dragon's snout looked really good in the sun's rays.

"Spyro and Cynder are too busy, every other dragon couldn't be compared to me, only numbers would make a difference, numbers that we don't have. With the Protectors fulfilling their duty I was the only viable choice. I am here to make sure that our race has a future, because in mine we face certain extinction, no matter how hard we try to stall it"

He sighed.

"I am here to even the odds"

Everybody felt a delicate pulse of electricity running through the floor when Volteer stomped his paw excitedly.

"With your furtherance Cynder's impetus in Dark element will betide with much more promptness! With your cognition of what is true or right coupled with just sagacity as to action we would in a more felicitous way prepare ourselves for the times to come!"

Spyro jerked, his mouth immediately opened to scream just how much he is against the idea of Danox teaching Cynder anything. His eyes hectically evaluated the black dragon, from the toes to the tip of his horns, looking for absolutely anything that would serve as a good argument. He aimed his gaze at the eyes, at the black, empty eyes.

And he saw nothing but a magnificent glimmer that the sun's rays left on his eyes.

He didn't say a word, feeling that everything is as it should be.

"Spyro and Cynder, even going through their maturing period are still more powerful than any other dragon" Terrador added sternly, sounding like an officer planning a tactic for the upcoming battle over a sprawled map "Forgive me if I offend you, but how can a single dragon change the incoming tide? Even if he wields the Dark"

Spyro noticed the black dragon smiling, the toothed smile looked like a grin of a predator about to devour its prey.

"You have never met a creature like me Guardian"

The Earth Guardian narrowed his eyes on the drake.

"What do you mean by that?"

Danox turned around.

"No-oo" Spyro hiccupped, lost protest no more audible than a brush of a feather against the skin

"He who revealeth his secret maketh himself a slave" the black dragon recited enchantingly

Terrador's stony gaze seemed to want to pierce through the black dragon's skull.

"With words like that you won't earn trust"

"In times like this, where dragons with my type of scales are seen as adversaries, trust is something I don't plan to aim my attention at. There's no point in wasting time in pointless endeavors. Cynder eventually will make people see the truth"

"She will be forgiven?" Spyro blurt out, hope silencing every other emotion, his words jumping out from his throat like a ball shooting from a cannon when a reckless soldier checked if it didn't get stuck in the chase

Danox shrugged casually, as if he would be answering an obvious question "She was quite revered in my days"

It was enough to convince him to give the dragon a chance, with guilt still weighing heavily on Cynder's shoulders it was the cue for him that would make the burden disappear so much sooner. If there was a chance Danox could bring the desired moment for his partner he was willing to risk it.

Terrador noticed the glimmer in the young dragon's eyes, it made him to consider giving the black dragon the benefit of the doubt. He simply couldn't just trust the stranger, it was not because of scales, it was his militaristic instinct that kept him from making the decision. The dragon offered rational explanations, but war taught him that judicious is not always the answer.

There was something in the dragon, something that reminded him of the chaos battles caused.

Or he is simply under the influence of the same prejudices that taint this city, and the chaos he thought about is nowhere else to be found but in his own struggling mind.

"Deliberation often loses a good chance" the friendly voice of Volteer drawn the attention of both his friends and a single black dragon with whom he exchanged meaningful glances

Danox smiled, nodding, undeniably impressed.

"You can't stay here" Terrador said after a moment of silent pause "The presence of two dragons so close to each other might rise unnecessary tensions"

"That won't be a problem. I insisted on going to Warfang because I'm hungry"

The Earth Guardian cocked his head, completely baffled by the dragon's irrelevant comment "G…good. Above the mountains surrounding Warfang there is an upland with some old statues and a cave. You will have to settle there and consider it to be your home, this is the best we can offer"

"I'm no stranger to nature"

"Also, we can't leave you unattended"

Danox chuckled "Am I going to have my own personal guard? I'm honored"

"This is a serious matter" Terrador admonished the drake "Your presence will be trouble enough, no matter where you are. To make people feel safer and earn their trust we can't simply let what reminds them of their tragic past loose. There has to be someone who will keep an eye on you"

"I expect many volunteers to show up"

"I will do it"

Everyone jerked their heads at the sound of the new deep and low voice coming from the staircase, every eye shifted in that direction.

"Ignus!" Terrador exclaimed startled

"My apologizes, I didn't mean to eavesdrop" fiery red body of the old dragon reached the bottom of the stairs "As I was making my way down I couldn't help but overhear you saying something about someone needing a careful eye"

The ruby eyes of the red dragon made contact with the obsidian ones of the black male.

Ignus licked his lips "I see the problem now" he turned confidently towards the Earth Guardian "My offer stands"

"I can't let you do this, not when your niece is in the hospital!" Terrador protested

"Iris overstays her welcome in every place her actions throw her into. Be it prison or hospital, in such situations she prefers to be left alone. She will be fine. I have a debt to pay and honor demands I pay it"

"There weren't any black dragons in your time, you don't understand the danger"

Ignus smiled "Danger is my middle name"

The Earth Guardian opened his mouth but was silenced politely by the red dragon's, respectfully risen paw.

"I want to make myself useful, besides do you have anyone to watch over him? All your trusted allies are too important for a babysitting job, with everything that is going on in the city with the fanatics and all it's a risk to put some random guy there from the streets, who knows what religious teachings bang around in that head"

Volteer nodded "Well verbalized"

He pressed his paw to his chest "I'm your perfect candidate if I might be so bold. I know how to deal with troubles, there is barely anyone here that knows me, my mind is my own, free from all religious influence. I don't share the mistrust that is so apparent in this world towards the black dragons, hence my opinion will be completely objective and to top it all I have years of painful and rewarding experience of watching over young harbingers of destruction"

Terrador looked over his friends, Volteer clearly supported Ignus' candidacy, Spyro on the other paw looked like he had no opinion, or too many for that matter"

"Very well Ignus, I accept your offer. I only hope you know what you're doing"

The red dragon looked straight into his ruby reflection in Danox' black eyes.

"I always know what I'm doing"


	96. Chapter 18 Book V

Chapter 18

"Just give us our food and we won't bother you anymore" Flare said, with his hind legs placed firmly on the ground while his upper body was rested on the counter he stuck his head inside the kitchen, looking around and inhaling the many delicious smells like a hungry reptile that shoved his snout into a hole too small for his head eyeing a meal that is so close and yet beyond his reach

The angry sound of clicking dishes would tell Flare exactly what the moles attending to the kitchen think about his proposition if he would be smart enough and his senses wouldn't be clouded by the beautifully, smelly cloud of cooking.

A feminine giggle burst next to him.

Cynder was also standing on her hind legs, her upper body was being supported by two front paws placed on the counter. The black tail of her stretched upwards body was wagging slowly in amusement, making sways so wide and curled at the end that for everyone looking at her from behind it seemed like her tail was a very specific swing with invisible limit to prevent it from making a full circle in the air.

"I said practically the same thing when I first came here and here I am" she laughed, gently smacking the counter with her right paw "Remember that Nancy?"

He looked at his companion "Who's Nancy?"

Cynder nodded at the female mole who was currently closest to them. The rodent was pulling out a recently cooked piece of venison from a pot lying on a stove. Trying to look as busy as it possible in the whole world, her shaking hands however betrayed that she's not doing a good job at ignoring them as she wanted to.

"Her?" Flare leaned closer, letting out an awkward whisper that only his companion could hear

"Oh yeah, me and Nancy go a way back, we're like sisters"

His eyes sparkled excitedly, his head once more slid behind the counter.

"Hey Nancy, since your friends with Cynder just give us our plates when your master isn't looking and nobody will say a thing"

"My name isn't Nancy!" the female mole exclaimed furiously while spinning around, slapping the red snout with a towel she was holding like she would swinging a whip

Flare withdrew his nose sharply with a startled yelp.

"You won't be getting anything from us!" she yelled, pointing her claw threateningly forward, the sharp tip slid between Cynder and Flare back and forth "Get your snouts out of here!"

"You heard the lady" someone growled next to Cynder and shoved her making her bump into Flare, but otherwise she remained unharmed

The tail that was wagging happily stopped moving, both young dragons looked in the direction from which the growl came from, meeting the eyes of a very annoyed, old drake.

"A lady wouldn't shout straight into the snouts of citizens of Warfang she has the honor to assist" Cynder answered confidently

The old dragon's eyes widened, he simply couldn't believe that the dragoness in front of him dared to remark him so impudently.

"And a gentlemen would never push a girl. So _SIR_ you should stop using honorifics in circles of people without any regard for propriety"

"Are…you…giving…me…lessons about…ethics?" the old dragon pronounced each word slowly, every next one more loudly than the previous one

"YOU?!" the dragon snarled, wrinkles on the old snout seemed to crack from the sudden, aggressive stretch

If not for the furious jerk forward with the intention to bite her head off Cynder would say that the dragon was about to fall apart right in front of her eyes.

"Leave her alone!" Flare roared, the temperature around the counter increased drastically

A combined yelp of two voices filled the Mess Hall, one belonged to an old male who cried out painfully, while the other one belonged to the dragoness most likely everyone hated. That one however had no shade of pain behind it, only shock.

The trio around the counter was too busy to notice all other surprised or angry gasps coming out from the throats of all the people that waited in line to the counter, neither they were bothered by chokes of those that already were sitting by the tables.

"That freak burned me!" the old dragon exclaimed, clenching one of his paws tightly

Cynder raised her head from the counter, together with the upper half of her body that she pressed to the wooden surface when she felt the sudden heat. Her eyes widened when she looked in the direction of the yelling drake and the nervous people behind him. It was not the painful growling that shocked her, he was swinging that paw at her, if it wouldn't be stopped it might meet a far worse fate.

It was the thing between her and the shouting dragon that drawn her attention.

The air in front of her seemed to be boiling, every atom seemed to twirl with heat, creating a false sight of a distorting mirror that never reflected images. A mirror through which you could push your paw through.

Which would be a very bad idea.

Cynder felt the immense heat radiating from at the brink of combustion air, fiery, small rays of light swirled around, bouncing off the shaking atoms like from unsteady magnifying glasses. Her eyes impulsively moved, instinctively following the sounds of shouts perfectly as if her sight would be led by a mythological ball of thread.

Flare's tail sprouted from behind her back, wrapping her into a touchless embrace of a shy lover, the fiery tip at the end of his tail was burning brightly. If she looked closely she could see invisible shapes of flames shooting from the side of his tail, connecting with the distortion in the air she noticed earlier, constructing a transparent fire wall.

For a brief moment, due to some unexplained instinct of mind for a gory masochism she wondered how it would feel like if somebody would lit a match and throw it into the wall which seemed to beg for something or someone to give it a spark so it can turn this whole place into scorched rubble.

"Look at his leg!" an unknown female screamed, the shout only intensifying the overall turmoil already going on

"She's starting to send her pets after us!" someone else shouted, through the ongoing bedlam it was impossible to pinpoint whether it was a female or male

"Listen Nancy" Cynder stuck her head into the kitchen, directing her pleading voice at the same female mole "Sorry for calling you Nancy by the way, but could you give us our share of food please? With our mouths busy nobody is going to hear us talking anymore, we'll just sit by the table and munch our share. We'll just sit in a corner, mind our own business and hence stop all this chaos from escalating. Everybody's a winner right?"

"You have the audacity to ask for food after you injured a honorable citizen of Warfang?!" the mole nicknamed Nancy shouted, extending her hand swiftly forwards, with tips of a fork she was holding aimed directly at the pair of emerald eyes

The fork was a considerable distance away from her eyes, yet Cynder driven by an overprotective impulse for her own safety still decided to withdrew her head a little, just in case the mole decided to do something utterly stupid.

"That honorable citizen of Warfang acted like a total jerk, trying to bully me as if we were a couple of kids"

"Stay back" Flare's voice sounded next to her, the notes his throat emitted were lower and more distant than usually

So very similar to the one back in Munitions Forge.

"It's so hot here!" someone shouted

"Easy with the temperature kid or you're going to torch this place down!" some male shouted

"Tell your friend over there to stop trying to jump at us and I'll consider it" Flare responded, his voice switching between his normal way of speaking and the ominous, low one

"Now your spitting insults!" the mole named Nancy shouted, the fork moved closer, the female showed no signs of discomfort caused by the growing heat

"Get out of here!" she shouted vigorously

Seems like spending most of your time around heated ovens and hot pots has its perks.

Cynder's body however wasn't so well adjusted to heat, with Flare and whatever fiery protective barrier he constructed being so close she felt like she was melting. The distance the mole shrunk between her and the fork forced no reaction from here, all she could think of right now was concentrate on the job before everything goes to hell.

If it didn't already. She could swear that the floor that her hind legs were pressed against turned into lava.

She didn't want to look down, or even behind, there was a high risk that she won't like what she's going to see, which would make all this melting experience so much more unpleasant.

They had a job to do, Flare had the unfortunate task of protecting them, while she had to convince the stubborn cooks to give them what they came here for. No matter from which side you looked, it was obvious that they were running out of time.

But first she needs to cool herself.

Cynder's mouth opened, her tongue rolled out from her mouth, just to hang from her lower lip. It kept pulsing up and down with each heavy breath she took.

"Times…" she mumbled finally, wiping her sweaty forehead into an even sweatier front paw, as she raised her head back up she licked her lips, wincing painfully at the sensation of cracking lips as her rough like sand paper tongue ran over them

"…when I lowered my head and ran away crying after accepting your every taunt and curse are over. We came here for what is rightfully ours and I'm not leaving until we get it"

"You heard what she said!" another cook joined the fray, demonstrating her unshaken support for her co-worker by hurling the handle of a broken frying pan at the nosy dragoness

Even in her weakened by heat state her fighter's instinct was still working on its top gear. Her upper body was sprawled on the counter, maw was opened and panting heavily, eyelids struggling to remain open, basically she looked like dehydrated poor wretch counting her last breaths lying flat on a hot desert heated by the merciless rays of a sun.

However when the twirling image of the hurled handle came into her view, her emerald eyes, previously sleepy flared up with an intense green light as if someone would toss a dose of some special powder into the fire making it burst with colorful flames.

With a growl Cynder jerked her body up, swinging one of her paws swiftly, there was a smack and the wooden handle of a frying paw was sent flying to the side where it crashed with a jingling, vibrating sound into a pile of dishes.

The startled mole cooks gasped loudly in shock. The fork that one of them was wielding dropped on the floor, nearly impaling itself into Nancy's foot.

"I'm done with being everyone's pushover" Cynder said calmly, in the same manner resting her head back on the counter, nobody would ever believe that just a moment ago she defended herself

"Five minutes, this is all. It will take you five minutes to get rid of us. Give us our portion of the meal or let me in and I'll take it myself. You won't even see me"

"We don't want you here!" the mole cook, who wasn't nicknamed Nancy, screamed, voice wavering with fear, desperation and fury "It will take you five minutes to get out of our sight!"

"True" Cynder sighed, licking her lips once more this time not bothered by the fact that they kept cracking and bleeding, actually she wanted them to bleed so she could at least swallow something that would somehow sate the overwhelming thirst.

"But even if by some chance I might have get past my moment of confidence, there is my friend you see. His life was a total misery, eating typical food is perhaps one of the first things of normality in his life and I'll be damned if he won't taste it because of me. One heart poisoned by my fate is enough"

She put one paw on top of the other in a crosswise fashion.

"My paws are tied unfortunately"

"You won't touch her!"

Cynder closed her eyes at the sound of the familiar, almost otherworldly rumble of a voice breaking through the commotion behind her.

"We won't-"

"This once!" Cynder growled fiercely, making both present cooks cover their mouths in display of scared gasps "I'm doing my best to make up for all the things I've done, even despite all of you wanting to see me fall. I don't blame you for hating me, I really don't, believe me when I say your hate is nothing compared to the disgust I feel for myself"

She pressed her forehead to the counter.

"If it was possible I would reverse time to prevent all those horrible things from happening. I'm really tired of seeing my soul bleed every time I'm reminded or think about the things I've done. No matter how many bandages I put on those wounds the pool just keeps on growing. That blood isn't only mine, it's so big and thick now that it threatens to drown all of us"

She sighed.

"I need your help in plugging that hole, the initiative to heal needs to come from both sides. So please…" she raised her head, looking pleadingly at the cooks "…please…JUST this once do something for me. I don't ask you to forgive me, I only ask for a simple meal, life would be easier for all of us if we would just tolerate ourselves on the basic level of social meetings"

"Give the girl and her companion meat"

Cynder and both moles looked in the direction from which the unexpected, raspy sound came from. Even if their eyes would be clouded by an extreme cataract they wouldn't be able to miss the bulky ball of fur that appeared in the kitchen.

The popular cheetah cook, massive like a miniature version of a golem made her way towards the counter. She was wearing a white, bloodied apron. The blood was fresh, combined with bits and pieces of all sorts of intestines, the gory mess was also hanging from the disheveled strands of fur on the cheetah's face.

A dirty towel was flung across the feline's bulky right shoulder, in her left hand she was holding a massive cleaver. The blade was bloodied just like her apron, a piece of what seemed to be a recently severed bone was stuck to the bottom side of the sharp edge.

The eyes of the three females widened, as by a magic touch forgetting about the surrounding heat. The cheetah looked like a figure from some kind of a horror show that was about to continue her carnage after slaughtering her recent victim.

"NOW!" the lumpish cheetah roared, droplets of blood and bits of pieces of flesh shot in the direction of the two small moles from the strands of fur on her mouth, a mouth that she aimed at the two rodents, without interrupting her walk

Nancy and her co-worker immediately got back to work, preparing dishes and cooking food with the speed of an running ostrich.

The female turned her head and when she did that Cynder gasped faintly. The chocolate eyes of the cheetah seemed to be aimed directly at her, the bloody cleaver seemed to raise in her hand.

She gulped and tried to push herself away from the counter, but she was unable to do so. Her paws were slippery, she started to wriggle them chaotically, but instead of going up she seemed to lower herself down.

The bulky cheetah was just in front of her. Cleaver threateningly hanging high in the air.

Cynder channeled her elemental powers, mouth opening to scream a warning.

There was a loud slam.

She winced and when she opened her eyes she noticed the cheetah leaning from the counter, sticking her head into the Mess Hall, the cleaver was resting close to her left hand while with the other one she was reaching for the towel on her shoulder.

Cynder stared at the cheetah in utter shock, she couldn't decide what surprised her more, whether it was the cleaver not impaled in her head or the lack of interest the cheetah was giving her.

The commotion in the room seemed to die a little.

"SHUT UP!" the female chef roared, breaking through the loud noise like a shooting cannon through screams

A sharp, sudden slapping sound was like a perfect touch of a talented musician for the still rumbling roar.

"OUCH!" Flare yelped, jumping forward

The heat seemed to die down a little as he looked at his rump and the slowly growing red splotch on his rump where something made contact with his scales. Head jerked back up, yellow eyes narrowed themselves at the huge cheetah who had her big arm risen in the air, a towel was dangling in her hand.

The noise rumbling inside the Mess Hall intensified.

Tiny flames sparkled inside the red dragon's eyes. The temperature started to grow again.

"Try anything and I'll stuff so many mushrooms in your bowels that you won't be able to shit for a year!" the chef growled, pointing her greasy claw directly at the red snout

"Flare"

His yellow eyes shifted towards the mouth from which the pleasant, soft voice came from. Cynder was slowly shaking her head.

The fiery glow his burning body was emanating began to dim, the temperature started to become more tolerable again.

"NOW! THIS IS OUR CHANCE!" a roar filled the room, belonging to no one else but the old dragon.

The rumbling noises intensified sharply when many people began to throw themselves at the counter and two young dragons there.

"STOP WHERE YOU ARE!" the chef roared loudly, grabbing the cleaver next to her with the agility of an thief and thrusting it forward

Everyone skidded to a halt, the Mess Hall went silent like a cemetery at night, every eye was following the tip of the slowly moving cleaver which turned from left to right.

"Nobody is going to fight in my Mess Hall" the chef growled "I will be doing here the only ass kicking, if that's a problem for you get out and don't come back. One less lousy mouth to feed"

"She attacked me! Her pet burnt my paw!" the old dragon blurt out, pushing his wounded leg forward to make his point

Nobody seemed to be bothered by his injuries.

The chocolate eyes of the cheetah narrowed themselves on the old drake. She waved the cleaver at him.

"I'll solve your problem" she nodded at the counter "Put your paw here and I chop it off at least it'll be of some use when I make a soup from it since a whiny, limp dick like you doesn't seem to have any control over it"

Everyone stared at the cheetah in total astonishment.

"What are you waiting for? SIT YOUR ASSESS DOWN NOW!" she roared

People scattered immediately, sitting by the tables, exactly in the same spots. If there was anybody looking through the window right now he or she would say that there is some kind of a theatric play going on inside, people moved so quickly and seemingly in complete chaos and yet none of the collided with each other, like dancers knowing their rite to the last second.

The roar made even the people waiting in the line move, they also wanted to sit, only when their tails or butts touched the floor they reminded themselves that the order wasn't directed at them.

Flare however didn't understand such things, he simply clapped his butt down on the floor.

The chef straightened up, wiping the cleaver slowly in the dirty towel.

"Now if I hear shouting again I want to remind you that there are plenty of sharp tools in my kitchen. Start yelling and I'll start throwing, those I hit will land in my pot. If you don't want your children eating your eyeballs I suggest you all calm down and do what you came here to do"

She flung the towel across her shoulder and turned around.

"Where is the food girls?!" the bulky cheetah shouted "People are hungry!"

Momentarily Nancy shot from behind the corner, carrying a plate filled with a piece of still steamy venison and a little salad in each of her hands. The dishes were rattling in her opened palms, considering how short the mole's legs were and how much distance she has to beat to reach the counter Cynder didn't believe the plates will survive the journey.

Surprisingly they did, and when they landed on the counter the dragoness stared at them in wonder. Part of her astonished by the fact that the cook actually managed to deliver the food on intact dishes, while the other one couldn't comprehend the idea that the food was for them.

She didn't even notice Nancy scattering away, she only looked up, aiming her grateful green eyes at the huge cheetah.

"Thank you"

The feline didn't rune her head, her nose was directed at the kitchen. Only the chocolate eyes shifted to the corner of her eyeballs.

"Don't thank me girl, I didn't do it for you, even if you were making sense. This place was turned into a Mess Hall after the war, a place where people could eat and sort out their problems, or not if they wished so. This is not a ring, but a social place and I intend to keep it like that"

"You are young and someone as young as you shouldn't carry such a burden, the world is cruel however and doesn't see the difference between experienced and innocent shoulders. I hope you one day you find the initiative you spoke of"

"Th-"

"BUT!" the chef suddenly growled, pointing the cleaver at her.

The move caught Cynder by surprise, with a gasp she instinctively jerked her head back only to slam it into the wooden frame behind her that held the glassless window to the kitchen.

"If I ever again hear you taunting and playing some idiotic teasing games with anyone around here I'm going to cut your tongue out and make shashliks out of it!"

She waved the cleaver threateningly.

"Are we clear?"

Cynder gulped, not even truly aware when her head nodded in acknowledgment.

"Get the plates and get out of here. You're blocking the line" the hand holding the cleaver dropped next to the hip

"Move girls! Let's feed these people!" and with that shout the big cheetah disappeared into her own, smelly castle

The clicking sounds coming from the kitchen intensified, another mole cook appeared, most likely drawn out from her brake by the shouts.

"Grab the plate Flare" Cynder dropped on the ground and listening to her own advice she picked the plate in her mouth

The piece of meat was undeniably very well cooked, but somehow the smell didn't move her at all. She moved away from the counter, accompanied by insulting grunts and growls that she completely ignored. She stopped in the middle of the hall, looking for a place to sit.

"There are two free spots here" Flare muttered through his teeth clenched on the plate, his fiery mane was like an arrow when he nodded at the table he spoke about

She looked in that direction, he was right, there were free spots there, yet they were in the close embrace of people sitting by both sides. Sitting there was like signing willingly your own death sentence.

"Over there" she muttered and moved forward, not even realizing that she was moving to the same big table at the corner that they occupied with Spyro the first time they came here

People were sitting there also, but luckily for them the seats at one end of the table were free, not to mention that two free chairs separated them from the first breathing citizen. It was not perfect, but there was nothing better to choose from, they'll just sit in the corner and won't bother anyone. Hopefully the chefs roars reached even this far away table.

Her gaze was entirely focused on the end of the table and the free spots there, however no matter how hard she tried to keep her eyes steady they occasionally shifted from side to side. Briefly registering what was happening around her, but it was enough to form a perfect image of utter disgust wrinkling the faces and snouts of all the people surrounding them.

This are probably the looks that a poor servant girl receives when entering a salon full of pride and noble people, thinking that they are masters of the universe. Perfect by nature, icons of self-indulgence, unable to see the lies about a world that never was and never will be.

Flare was the first one that placed the plate on the table, every head of a person that was sitting at the table jumped up to look at him with an intensity of a meerkat observing the surroundings while standings on its hind legs.

Cynder set her plate on the table soon after her fiery companion. People momentarily sprang from their seats and took their plates, passing behind the black dragoness as sat by the table, throwing glances at her that wished that she chokes on the meat.

She smiled at Flare, even despite that she perfectly sensed the eyes drilling a hole in the back of her head.

"At least as of today we no longer have to worry about finding a place to sit. My ass marked this territory as if I would piss all over the table"

"Ewww" Flare winced "That's disturbing"

"That's how animals mark their territories Flare"

"Aren't we animals too? We walk on four legs, eat raw food when we want to and basically can sleep everywhere"

Cynder giggled "True enough"

His eyes sparkled in sudden enlightenment, his mind coming with an idea that can only be defined as brilliant.

"Maybe this is what it takes? Show them in the most obvious what they shouldn't touch?"

The way he was examining her from top to bottom made her cackle nervously. For a moment she wondered if he was still seeing her as a dragoness or a tree.

"Peeing won't change anything. Besides territory has the unfortunate reputation of being related with power, the more you have the scarier you become, making people want to fight you. If adrenaline is what you seek then you can forget about the primal solutions"

She grinned, straightened up and puffed her chest out in fake pride.

"You have me for that! With me around you will never whine about the lack of attention. And if you stick around you will be thrown into more fights you can possibly count. Isn't that great?"

Flare's head rose up, his glances interchanging with the ones people constantly threw their way.

"I don't get it. Why do they treat you like that. That's so unfair"

She played with her food, slicing the meat lazily into smaller pieces.

"I've made some very serious mistakes"

"So? I make mistakes on a daily basis and you still talk to me. All they would have to do is to get to know you better"

"It's not that simple Flare"

"Why?" his eyes widened "Don't they know their names too?" he gasped

Cynder looked at him, her expression completely dazed by the peculiar question. The longer she stared at him the more certain she became that this was a serious question.

It was impossible to tell just how dumbfounded she felt right now.

She giggled bashfully.

"Excuse me?"

"This is the only explanation why they don't want to talk to you! They don't know how to introduce themselves!"

Cynder smiled kindly "That would be too easy Flare"

"Who said it can't be? Does everything need to be hard and complicated?"

Her eyes sparkled with sincere awe, there was something so enchanting about Flare's beaming snout. He came up with an crazy idea, but he believed in it nevertheless. It was like looking into the eyes of a child, who looks at the world through rose-tinted spectacles, every trouble able to be solved with a dose of innocence dipped in the sauce of naivety.

And in this magical moment you start asking yourself the same naïve question. Unconsciously putting up the same rosy spectacles and immediately feeling that life can be beautiful.

Who said things can't be easy?

Cynder didn't even realize when she lowered her gaze, lovingly intimidated by the childish radiance emanating from Flare.

Only when she noticed the glimmer of her reflection in the plate she noticed that her smile didn't disappear.

"No, it doesn't" she mumbled and believed in every word she said. Silently begging every divine being to not allow Flare to loose his glasses.

"Exactly!" the fire drake blurt out, his wings spat out happy flames "I mean, look at me. Now when I know my name I talk with everybody. You, Iris, Volteer. All my life I've been following orders and now I get to talk to people and learn so much about them. I don't know how to explain this, but some have something really special in them"

"Special how?" she asked, surprising herself by the sincere, almost craving curiosity. Leaving a world where everything is easy ironically wasn't that simple

Not because you couldn't, you simply didn't want to find the exit.

Flare scratched his fiery mane, confused.

"I don't know" he locked his eyes on his female companion "You for example" he gestured at her with his opened palm

Cynder straightened up, listening with bewildered interest.

"Yes, you" Flare answered the unspoken question "I feel so sorry for all these people, they don't know what they miss. You are pretty, funny, friendly, intelligent…"

"Flare stop" she giggled bashfully, unable to hide the faint blush creeping on her cheeks under his watchful gaze

"…you have the most shiny and beautiful eyes I have ever seen, they spark so cutely when you smile, like a moon from an ocean in the night. Also I have never seen eyes having a hue like my favorite color…"

She couldn't utter a word due to her embarrassment, her paw kept on waving dismissively, but the moves were so uncertain that it would make a sheep wonder about who is really at the top of the food chain.

Listening to another boy complimenting her like that, even if he most likely doesn't know what he is doing, felt weird when being committed to another partner. She felt guilty, offended but also quite honored at the same time.

"…there is also your body" Flare continued without hesitation "it's shaped in such a tempting and mysterious way, not revealing too much, but showing that it hides something you never dreamed of. Your legs are especially pretty, they seem to be the ones talking. You walk so gracefully, not in the way Iris does, confident and certain that keeps screaming _I know you like it_. You're more like a shy but alluring _Do you like what you see_ type"

"Flare" she whined, rubbing the back of her neck nervously "You shouldn't be saying things like that" she mumbled softly "It makes me uncomfortable" she blushed, eyes aimed at the floor "It will make things really awkward between us"

He cocked his head "Why? Truth confuses people so much?"

"No, the words you used are…"

"I'm just saying what I see, besides the things I said you have also that…special thing…I don't know. It's like a power of sorts, just by looking at you I believe I would be able to do…something…like write a book maybe. Not many people have something like this, I don't feel it. You do however, Spyro and Iris too. It's the stuff of legends"

Cynder's head jerked up, one of her brows raised in surprise.

"I'm your inspiration?"

Flare shrugged innocently.

"I dunno. Is that a good thing? I don't want to make you more nervous"

She giggled "It's a good thing don't worry. In fact now instead of feeling troubled I feel humbled. Those are very sweet words. Thank you"

Flare grinned, a soft smack could be heard when his lips stretched his mouth suddenly.

"Inspiration it is then! Or whatever it is called, all I know is that you're awesome!"

And with the same grin he dived at his place, grabbing onto the edge of the meat with his sharp teeth. He jerked his head up fiercely, the venison unglued itself from the plate forcefully, making the plate rattle. He tilted his head backwards, meat rose in the a wide arc, looking like an overgrown slapping tongue.

With his eyes aimed at the ceiling he opened his mouth farther, made three bites, pumping his head upwards with every clamp of his teeth. Three claps, it was everything that was needed to get rid of the meat. Cynder could see bulges running down his throat, every other bigger than the next.

He looked like a snake devouring its prey.

When the final piece went down his throat he started to rub his belly blissfully.

"This was so good" a heavenly whisper wafted from his happy mouth

She smiled "You know Flare? You're awesome too"

He shook his head confidently, fiery mane sparkling brightly with each swing.

"Nope"

"You are, you are one of the reasons why I have this power you speak of"

He looked at her hopefully.

"Really? I helped you?"

"You are still helping me, even if you don't realize it" her eyes rolled around, giving signals like turning arms embracing the world "Look around, all these people hate me, more or even more"

He took her words literally, he turned around, meeting the stares of many people looking their way. Cynder didn't want to turn around, it could make the already boiling like water situation even more difficult.

Judging by Flare's constantly shifting intensity of the burning wings she was certain that this was a good idea.

"And you managed to give me hope and perhaps even assurance that all of this will change one day"

Her words were successful, they've drawn his attention, the flames calmed down.

"Spyro was like your worst enemy and now you're talking with him like you are no longer bothered by the color of his scales. You're not friends maybe, but you talk to him like to a guy that you meet at work. Spyro is very important to me and seeing you overcome your biggest bias gives me hope that all these people will eventually forgive me. Redemption no longer seems so impossible to me"

She kissed the air, sending all the loving gratefulness with it.

"Thank you for that"

"I will become friends with Spyro if that is what it would take to help you a little more. I will always try to help you!"

"That's very nice to hear, but you don't have to do something you don't want to do"

"But I want to do that!" Flare protested, the excitement radiating from his voice was nearly palpable "Especially when it will give you more strength! And besides I owe him for protecting Iris"

Cynder's heart skipped a beat, she simply couldn't find words to describe the boiling joy within her. She wanted to know everything, how is he going to buy Spyro's friendship and when he was going to that.

Yet she remained silent, mind woke up just in time when she opened her mouth and was about to start spitting questions. It would be unfair, all this time they kept talking about her and there is still so much that she doesn't know about her. Who knows maybe she will manage to make him happy too.

Friendship is about sharing.

"Speaking of which…" Cynder stated softly "May I ask you something?"

"Sure!" Flare blurt out "You don't have to ask for my permission!"

"What do you see in Iris?"

He cocked his head, completely dumbfounded.

"I don't understand"

"I mean why do you like Iris"

"You have seen her, you know how she looks. She's absolutely beautiful"

Cynder frowned, eyeing her friend suspiciously.

"Don't tell me you have a crush on her"

Flare blinked, eyes widening in confusion again.

How can I have a crush on her? How can anyone have a crush?"

"I mean attraction, infatuation"

"Oh that sort of thing" he replied casually, with the emotion accompanying when describing the weather and then he made a sudden pause.

His fiery body shot tiny sparks of realization when his eyes widened.

"Oooooh that sort of thing. I never thought about it…I don't know…I really like her though"

"But why? I would really like to get to know you better Flare, you know so much about me while I know nearly nothing about you. It has to be more than just looks and that special power that draws you to her, especially when she showed you nothing but hostility"

There was a pause, his yellow eyes went down.

People kept on talking.

"She's trapped" Flare replied confidently, thoughtfully started making small circles on his now empty plate with his claw.

She said nothing even if she didn't understand what he meant by that. The concentrated look on his snout made her shut up. To see Flare so focused was a rare sight indeed, in fact she couldn't remember when was the last time he looked like that, probably when they first met and possibly it wasn't as intense as it is now.

It made her wonder what past is trailing her friend. She wondered if it's going to catch up with him and if it does what will be the consequences of the unearthing hand of left behind life finally grabbing onto the twirling thread of ongoing life.

She couldn't really help herself but think of fire.

"I know how it is" his claw created that annoying screeching sound like sliding a fork against the plate as it was drawing an transparent picture

His claw trailed a square and then slowly, but steadily began filing it with straight, vertical lines.

Creating an image of a cage.

"Being locked up makes you different. You would never recognize me Cynder if you would see me in my prison. Iris is trapped in a cage, the difference is that she created her own prison. I can't really tell why I care, but I just have to help her get out of there. It's my duty as a former cellmate, especially now when I have a clean slate, I don't want to spoil it"

"That is very commendable Flare" Cynder commented softly "It truly is, I know a thing or two about trying to make things right. Please remember that you can't save everybody, Iris is unstable and dangerous, I don't want to see you getting hurt"

Flare shook his head.

"Iris isn't dangerous, the beast is"

Cynder cocked her head "Beast?"

He swallowed, claw stopped moving, paw pressed itself against the plate, it creaked slightly under the pressure. His reddish leg plastered itself directly on the transparent drawing, covering it like a wound.

"It wakes up one day, you don't even know when and why. I only found about it when I wanted to be free, it's like an alarm of sorts, it warns you that you are loosing yourself. The beast goes hungry when imprisoned, it will make you to do things you would never have done and the only way to kill it is to break free"

He patted the artificial cage.

"To say that I fought out my survival doesn't even scratch the truth about the very bad things I've done"

"I'm sorry Flare" Cynder said softly, offering as much strength of a touchless hug as it was possible to bestow with words

"Don't be, I'm not. We would have possibly never met if I wouldn't do what I did. It's sad, but nothing can be done about it. I will make sure that I never let my friends go through the same horror I did"

"Not everyone is like you Flare, some people are just nasty"

He shrugged obliviously "Maybe. This doesn't change anything"

"It changes a lot. Iris might be such a person. She is definitely not your friend Flare, she already used you, puked on you, who knows what she is capable of. I wouldn't be telling you this, but you see, we have a thing in common. I too care for my friends"

He raised his gaze, she expected him to look devastated, yet he radiated nothing but extreme calm. He even smiled weakly at her, there was a glint of arrogance in that smile.

"You don't really like her do you?"

She met his gaze, making sure he understand that she's serious.

"No I don't. That's because I don't trust her. She's spoiled and unstable, chaotic. Chaos is dangerous. I'm sorry, but this is how I feel"

He waved his paw dismissively, letting out a comforting chuckle as he did so.

"That's ok! You don't like her because you never seen her for real!"

She frowned and cocked her head to the side.

"Huh?"

"Have you seen her when she plucks her feathers? Like this!"

To her surprise he opened his fiery wing and swung it nearly in front of him, the warm wave it created dried her lips and judging by the furious grunts coming from behind her someone was against some tan.

He then pressed his claw to his burning membrane, her eyes widened when he pulled out a fiery string, sparkling and twirling like fireworks. He repeated the move again and again, her eyes hurt from staring at the flying, burning strands.

"Damn!" he growled, throwing his wing back in place "I'm not good at it"

She nearly snorted directly in his nose.

"Maybe you've seen her eyes flickering? Or, or how she changes when she touches her medallion? And talks? She's adorable when she does that! I know all this stuff because we're friends!"

His naivety was so cute, but at the same time so very painful to see. She cared for her friends and to prevent Flare from roughly landing on earth from his dreamy cloud she has to prepare him somehow for the downfall.

And her feminine instinct warned her that the ice dragoness will bring downfall, probably for more than one person.

"Friendship is a mutual feeling Flare, the other person has to be aware of it"

"But she is!"

Her head jerked back in surprise.

"Oh?"

Flare nodded quickly, assured of his right.

"I told her!"

"That's…" she giggled "…oh my…" she scratched her choker , chuckling occasionally "…that's not quite how it works"

"No?"

"For you to be friends Iris needs to confirm that she feels the same bond as you do. It doesn't have to be exactly the words _we're friends_. You'll know when the moment comes"

He looked literally terrified.

"T-his s-sounds so c-complicated" he whined, the little, nervous stammer sounding like a soft hiccup "How will I make friends? I'm going to end up alone again"

"No, no, no, no" Cynder shook her head, out of caring impulse she reached across the table, trying to comfortingly reach a red paw that wasn't there

"You won't be alone Flare" the eyes of her stretched body looked straight into the yellow ones, they were glimmering with such pleading determination that even the sturdiest mountains would crack under the compassionate drilling

"You will always be my friend. You can't put a difficulty level when it comes to friendship, people are complicated, in the good and bad way. Keep doing what you're doing, if it makes you happy"

She slid back into her place.

"Just promise me you will be careful"

Flare smiled pleasantly, like someone who possessed an extraordinary talent in area of expertise but hides it behind a modest smile.

"Don't worry about me Cynder. I know how to take care of myself"

She tried to smile, but somehow couldn't, a familiar otherworldly voice awakened in the back of her mind.

"_Stand back!"_ it rumbled

She had no doubt he could.

"Flare?" she mumbled bashfully.

"Yep?" he replied happily

"May I ask about something else?" she nearly whispered, some strange power seemed to push her head down

He chuckled "Why you are talking so funny?

"Were you going to hurt these people if they wouldn't back away?"

The bluntness of the question seemed to catch him off guard, it was either that or the fact that you could actually manage to scrape the sadness from her voice if you only wanted to. It was so thick.

The smile faded from his lips instantly.

"N-n-noooo" he mumbled uncertainly, even the deaf would be aware of the ringing lie

Cynder frowned, she wasn't angry at him, that unfortunate fate had befallen on Spyro when they were talking about Corruption. Here she was simply disappointed, even if she was expecting such answer

"Hurting innocent people is wrong"

"Innocent people?" he jerked his body forward, putting his front paws on the wooden surface of the table as he leaned towards his companion.

"They wanted to attack you!" he said in a muffled tone, making sure she is the one that hears him and no-one else

"Maybe they did, hitting them in self-defense is a bad thing, but sadly a necessary one"

"That's what I did!'

Cynder shook her head gently.

"No, you grabbed a punching hand, but instead of twisting it you decided to push further and break it, in more places then one"

"I didn't do that!" he protested, a glimmer of oblivious triumph flared up from his eyes "I burned his paw! I didn't catch any hand!" he nearly laughed like a notorious villain

"What I mean is" she continued in the same tone, as if Flare's literal understanding of her words was like a question of a trainee asking his superior for advice

"that you behaved like the surrounding screams and the melting heat meant nothing to you. I understand the fire, what I don't understand why you were making the situation worse while you could simply keep the magic under control"

"I shouldn't protect you?" he looked at the table devastated "You want to say I'm a bad friend?"

"No Flare" she said softly "You're a good friend and even if I'm not a big fan of someone's else putting their neck out for me I'm glad that you stood by my side"

He looked back at her, eyes glimmering with affection a child gives his loving mother after a praising. In a perverse way it made her feel proud and in an even more selfish way thrilled. Flare is like a kid, seeing him affected by her words made the future Danox told about so much more believable.

"What I'm worried about is that you seem to not know when to stop. Not to say that when you're getting angry, letting the adrenaline in, you're acting really strange"

"Y-y-you n-n-noticed?" he stammered, eyes widened in horror

She straightened up in surprise.

"You made no intention to hide it. We all noticed it Flare. Back in the caves with the bugs, or now" she leaned forward, eying him kindly "Is there something you want to say? Do you have a problem Flare?"

He leaned away from her, his wings flickered nervously, fire burning brighter, tendrils of which seemed to want to envelop him and make him disappear. He never met her gaze.

"Y-y-you w-w-won't l-l-like me a-a-a-anymor-r-r-r-re"

"That's not true. I will always like you. I'll help you, you just need to tell me how"

"M-m-maybe y-y-you c-could" he swallowed, his strained muscles relaxed as he met her gaze "But that is not what would make you stop liking me"

"What is it then?" she basically whined, the worry for her friend feeling her with overwhelming dread

"Hey guys. What you are taking about?"

They both jerked their heads up, meeting snout to snout with Spyro.

"I have no regrets" Flare said, small sparkles of flames glimmered in his eyes

Like a still twinkling head of a match in a dark forest.


	97. Chapter 19 Book V

Chapter 19

Waiting for Spyro to come back with his plate was probably one of the longest ten, fifteen minutes in both their lives. They spent this time sitting in complete silence, making their paws busy to somehow fool the other that they are the most busy paws in the world and simply the brain is using all of its energy to keep them moving.

Cynder was in better position, she still had some meat left on her plate. Her paws and the claws attached to them were busy slicing it into constantly smaller pieces, over and over again. They didn't even stop moving when the venison turned basically into a pulp she could suck in through a straw if she wanted to.

All this time however she was thinking about the look on Flare's snout when he looked up at Spyro. She didn't like it, obviously Flare noticed her displeasure since momentarily he averted his gaze with a nervous chuckle when their eyes met.

He looked troubled to say the least, she didn't really know what he meant with his last words, it was however undoubtedly important for him judging by his nervous reaction. So she waited anxiously for him to continue, not trying to be nosy as every friend shouldn't be.

During this uneasy vigil she silently prayed for Spyro to come back and break the ice.

Flare had no intention of elaborating on the matter, he treated this silence as an uncomfortable luck. Under the table he was nervously scratching one leg then the other, making him look like he would be sidestepping between one hot coal filled spot and the other. He was terrified to utter another word, afraid that revealing more would push her away from him. Especially when she made it quite clear what she thinks about hurting people.

She wouldn't understand that killing is a sad necessity, like smelling some really foul stench in a place you currently call home. You wouldn't want to do it, but if you have to, then you get used to it. Thinking about this kind of stuff might drive you mad.

They both weren't aware that Spyro was watching them for a while.

Flare was the first one to notice the purple drake approaching their table. His yellow eyes followed the young drake, a faint trail of hopeful smile stretched his lips.

The plate clicked on the table, next to Cynder's, the dragoness looked up at her partner.

"Ok guys you're acting really weird" Spyro said, sitting himself down, his eyes jumped between his two companions

The smile disappeared from Flare's snout.

"Something happened, didn't it? I could feel it from the angry and scared looks people were giving me. Did you have any serious problems?"

"I don't want to hear it was not a big deal type of answer" he leaned towards Cynder, making sure that she understands what he means "I'm serious" he continued with a stern worry in his tone

He didn't realize that with this combination of emotions he was as intimidating as a kid that prepared to stand against a bully but lost his glasses somewhere.

"It's not about that" Cynder replied softly

"About what then?"

"About me" Flare added

Spyro looked at the fire drake, expecting that he will elaborate on the matter, minutes passed and his shuffling nervously black slits betrayed that no more words were coming.

He then looked at Cynder, her head was locked in one position, worried and caring green eyes aimed at the red snout on the opposite side of the table. She wasn't paying him any attention.

His purple eyes kept on jumping between the two during this silent moment, expecting that soon one of them will open his or hers mouth.

Nothing.

"I need more than that" Spyro reminded them

Flare was the first that stirred at the sound of his voice.

"Cynder won't like me anymore" he whined

She slammed the table with her paw, the flames surrounding the fire drake cringed together with his body.

"I've told you that's not true!"

"I don't want to be alone"

"You won't be alone!"

"I don't want to lose my friend"

"Flare!" she growled irritated, making the dragon look even more miserable "Listen to me! I will always be your friend!"

"You need to like me" he mumbled

"I like you!"

The flames surrounding his burning body sprang to life with a bright glow, his head went up fiercely with a snapping sound.

"Spyro!"

The squeaky, unexpected shout made him jerk back, he had to prop himself on his purple tail as to not fall on his back.

"Will you be my friend?!"

"Ummm…" he swallowed out of surprise "I'm purple…"

Something sharp nipped his butt, he straightened up instantly, pressing his lips tightly together to hold back a squeaky yelp.

"I mean…" he muttered, forcing a smile. With a corner of his eye he noticed a black tail retreating from behind him "of course I will be your friend!"

"Yeah!" Flare blurt out triumphantly, his body roared out victorious, happy flames "Now there is no way you won't like me!"

"I have no problem with the fact that this sounded like a request to become your mate" Spyro mumbled under his breath

"Flare, for the last time" Cynder took a calm breath "I like you and I will continue to like you. I'm your friend"

The fiery drake nodded, a grin spreading across his muzzle "Now you have no choice! I'm Spyro's friend, you wouldn't want to ruin something you wanted to happen!"

"I can't believe it" she mumbled, leaning back, stunned "You're blackmailing me!"

"I'm not blackmailing you. This is…is…" he looked to the side, frowning thoughtfully "What was the word?"

Spyro and Cynder looked at each other confused.

Flare snorted "I don't remember" he looked up at the purple drake "You remember when we were inside that big volcano?"

"Big volcano?" Spyro mumbled, at first his mind was completely blank but after a while an idea popped inside his brain

"You mean Munitions Forge?"

Flare shrugged "I dunno. That's where we fought with the little bugs?"

"Yeah"

"Really?!" he exclaimed excited, throwing his upper body onto the table with a slap and a show of shooting flames. Both young dragons on the opposite side had to lean back away from the heat.

"Ok, ok! So in Mun…Muti….Mulition..."

"Munitions Forge" Spyro corrected gently

"Yeah! So in Muntitions Forge was that platform that moved after I pulled that special stick"

"Platform?" his brow raised up in bewilderment, looking for some help in Cynder, but she also had no idea what the fire drake was talking about

"That big thing that all of us got into. It moved only up and down"

"Ohhh" Spyro huffed in realization "You mean a lift"

"Does a lift has that special stick that makes it move?"

"Usually. It's called a lever"

"Leverage!" Flare exclaimed, pointing a claw at Cynder that almost toppled on her back out of sheer instinct of avoiding sharp objects being lodged in her eyes

"I've got leverage!" he laughed triumphantly

Their wide eyes were aimed at the laughing fiery drake, only after a while they managed to break free and once more look into each other's dumbfounded ocean of purple or green.

Cynder snickered after a short pause

"You sure did take quite a way around the matter. Funny to see you forgetting a word when not so long ago you described me with words of an inspiring poet"

"A lever is a stupid, dull object. You are an awesome, beautiful girl that is impossible to forget and describe with boring words"

She had her mouth opened, ready to offer another remark, the air was already venting out of her mouth when Flare started talking. Yet when he finished the air didn't form into words, instead it felt like somebody would grab all that air, meld it into a ball of considerable size and shoved it back down her throat until it reached the stomach and burst with additional mass, making her want to implode.

She wasn't prepared for such an answer, truthfully she wasn't prepared for anything and perhaps what she didn't expect the most was such obvious truth radiating from a voice, as if Flare would be stating something that is seen plain as day. It wasn't the first compliment he told her today, but this one was special in some way.

Mostly due to the fact perhaps that Flare doesn't even realize the impact of such words, for him it was as normal as talking about the weather. The other reason why she felt so awestruck by the comment was her guilt, she did not expect someone like Flare, especially now when he acts no better than a hatchling, to suddenly jump out with such a serious and confident tone.

Whatever her expectations were or were not, it led to the same destination.

To a bashful snort and a paw pressed against the top of her nose, covering the flushing line there and somewhat shrouding the heating cheeks.

Spyro observed her cringed form with amused jealously.

"Just in case I want to remind you that I'm your partner" he whispered, wiggling as if he would be rearranging his sitting position. He leaned far enough for her to clearly hear him

He heard her gasping faintly, eyes widened in guilt, paw that was covering the nose slid down onto the mouth, revealing the flush mixed with horror in all its awkward glory.

Her terrified expression was saying only one thing.

I'm sorry.

A piece of his heart cracked at the sight of her pain riddled snout. Only now realizing how badly timed his joke was, in her shocked state she simply didn't understand the humor.

"And now that I've got leverage" Flare continued, oblivious to everything that was happening around him "You have to do what I tell you or you're gonna regret it!"

Both dragons on the opposite side of the table frowned, the flush disappearing from the black snout, replaced by wounded wrinkle of independence.

"How do you know what leverage is Flare?" Spyro asked

"I've read about it!" he looked down, rubbing the back of his neck "I mean…Volteer did and I listened. The book was about two thieves that stole some really important documents, with threatening to reveal them every major king or some other noble guy did whatever they were told"

"Books are just fantasy tales, they aren't real. Not everything is as simple as in books. You get that right?"

Flare grinned "Really? Then why Cynder has to like me no matter what? Because I can break our friendship that gives her hope for redemption! Typical leverage! Like in the book!"

"How's that not blackmailing?" she chimed in with a shrug

The fire drake shrugged "They called it leverage in the book"

"Wait a minute" Spyro interjected, his snout carrying an slightly disappointed and offended frown "So I was used like some sort of bargaining chip in this…" he opened his paw, waving it between the two other dragons occupying the table "…this…this…whatever this is?"

Flare cocked his head in confusion "A bargaining what?"

"Feelings mean nothing to you? You asked me to become your friend because you wanted to use it for whatever reason against Cynder?"

The fire drake shook his head confidently "No. You saved Iris, I owed you"

"So we're friends out of gratitude" he faked a happy smile "I feel better already!"

"You're welcome!" Flare replied honestly

"All right" Cynder mumbled defeated

The tone of her voice caught Spyro's interest. Her head was hanging low, muscles seemed to be devoid of any strength, she looked like prey chased against the wall by predators with nowhere to run to, finally accepting her sad fate.

"You have me where you want it with that leverage"

A triumphant grin appeared on Flare's snout, tail wagged happily.

"Now nothing stops you from telling us what is that you are so afraid of" she sighed "You won"

"Oh no!" Flare whined, pulling back

Cynder shivered at the sound of his voice, it reminded Spyro of a thief who is about to slip in by enchanting her way with smooth talk, but said a one word too many.

He caught up on the ruse.

"You're so sad! I don't want you to be sad!" Flare continued to whine

"She's not sad" Spyro interjected with a chuckle

Cynder tilted her head, eying him with a thoughtful frown.

"She's only pretending" the purple drake continued, winking inconspicuously at his partner "She's a fighter at heart, she knows you outsmarted her so now she tries to trick you so in the end she would be victorious"

"Hey! Hey! Hey!" she straightened up, pointing her claw indignantly at him "Don't spoil my plans!"

Flare visibly perked up, the more intense fiery light he now emanated was a clear signal just how pleased he is about the fact that every trace of sadness disappeared from his friend's black snout.

Spyro shrugged with an innocent smile.

"Sometimes I just like to tease you. It's a friend thing"

Flare laughed "You wanted to outwit me Cynder? You nearly did it! If not for Spyro I would fall for your trick!"

She smiled kindly "I always fight to the end. I just wanted to make sure that you wouldn't think that things are going too easy"

"I've told you that you're smart!"

"We're friends Flare. You were right about me and believe me when I say that I am right about you when I tell you that I will like you no matter what. Leverage or no"

Flare looked down, the flames he radiated dimmed, they didn't have to experts on reading body signals to understand that no trace remained of the joy that flew through him just seconds ago.

Claw once again tapped at the empty plate, exactly in the same spot where he drew the indivisible image of a cage.

"Would you like me if I told you that I could kill people?" Flare muttered

Cynder frowned, surprised by the odd question.

"I…would, you're not the only one that did such bad things"

"Would you like me if I killed Spyro?"

Cynder jerked her head back, looking startled at Spyro who was giving her the same kind of glance through his swelled cheeks, filled with undigested food he just put inside his mouth.

"Why would you want to kill him? You would lose your leverage and hurt me" Cynder replied shyly "You want to protect your friends right?"

"It's not about what I want. It can happen"

"Killing people can't just happen"

He acted as if he didn't hear her, constantly tapping at the plate, wings pulsing more intensely with each clicking sound.

"Would you like me if I told you that I would wake another day after the kill and ask how's your day?"

"Stop Flare" Cynder demanded "Enough of this. Why you say things like that? You can recognize good from wrong, you told me that yourself. Besides you know what empathy is, just look how you care about Iris"

"I care about all my friends"

"See? Now that Spyro is your friend too, you can't kill him just like that"

Flare's claw started to scratch against the plate, besides the screeching sound nothing else could be heard. The fire drake went unexpectedly silent.

Cynder looked at her partner, her eyes meaningfully asking for any sort of explanation or advice.

Spyro shrugged, impulsively aiming his gaze at the moving claw.

As he listened to the somewhat hypnotic shrieking noise he began to put all the scraps of hectic information and juvenile behavior of his new friend together. Eventually coming to one revelation, Flare simply lacks the knowledge and wisdom to properly explain what is troubling him.

Like a child trying to depict to the adults its time of being abused by using snippets of sentences that only its young, hurt mind could understand.

A child sees the world differently, its unable to explain something when the brain is stuck in fantasy world**, **created by the tirelessly working imagination. Such minds have tendency to give away information only in their own special ways, mostly its pictures, where imagination is limitless.

In Flare's case however imagination found its infinite well of ideas not in crayons, but in letters. Books have as much power as images, both are capable of stretching the limits of impossible.

Spyro wasn't really sure what made him think about all of this things, maybe because he was a child too once and by some impulsive notion he remembered, even if not perfectly, the struggle of his parents or Ignitus.

He wasn't aware of the fact that deep down his parental instincts were awakened. Even when he wasn't actively thinking about what the strange black dragon said the idea of fatherhood already rooted itself deep within his being, little twigs of this peculiar awareness started to scratch gently in all the right places.

He wasn't aware that in this moment his heart tuned itself to the scratching, delicately reminding him that he would do everything, try as best as he could to understand his child. No matter how complicated riddles his offspring would be unconsciously throwing at him.

It was because of that undetectable sensation he never turned away from the scratching claw. It was because of that seemingly non-existent feeling he noticed a pattern in the moving claw. It was because of that impossible to scratch itching he realized that the claw was writing a single word over and over again.

W-O-R-

It was a four lettered word, with the last one being nothing more then random scratches. It was up to the parent to bend the incomprehensible silhouette into readable form. Make it through the riddle of a troubled, childish mind.

Those scribbles were like a drawing of a not fully developed imagination which by some magical mean felt that more was needed to tell, but was unable to properly create the picture due to the fact that it simply couldn't put a proper name on it.

He impulsively focused on that unprepared letter, driven by unspoken command that locked his eyes. In a moment that lasted couple of milliseconds he became aware of the parental influence scratching against the walls of his quickly beating heart.

This moment, that he will never remember again, was enough to solve the riddle. It was almost like reaching down a tight hole where an earring or something else similarly valuable fell into. Paw scratched against the rough surface of the earth, mind automatically slowing its descent, making sure that it feels every rough touch. Mind that made sure that its host was thinking about nothing else but the hole.

Only when the claws clicked on the sought object the paw became aware of its surroundings, mind reaching a moment of clarity incomparable to anything.

This moment of clarity made him put the chaotic silhouette into an comprehensible form.

M.

He blinked, slightly because of intuitive shock after noticing something so obvious and slightly because of self-admonishment that scolded him for letting something so simple elude him. It was like reading into a joke that you didn't get at first time.

W-O-R-M

This was the word the claw was scratching.

W-O-R-M

Over and over again.

"You know what Flare?" Spyro said, eyes following every move of the claw "How about you come with me to see Volteer?"

The claw stopped moving.

"What for?" the fiery drake asked, discouraged

Cynder cocked her head, one eyebrow raised curiously as she looked at her partner.

"He knows a lot of stuff about many things...ummm…" he looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully "…like…" he extended one claw "…history, animals, magic…" he counted each word by extending claws one after the other, only after the last one the paw froze in the air and eyes lowered themselves on the red dragon

"…fire…worms…"

Flare's claw clicked against the plate, like a spoon falling on dishes, wings pulsed with fiery light when they impulsively flicked.

Cynder's eyes widened, her green pupils were jumping between Spyro and Flare.

"He's also very good at helping out through things that scare us" the purple drake continued, observing with interest Flare's muscles and burning body parts as they second by second betrayed more and more of devouring them curiosity

"I had a mentor when I was younger. His name was Ignitus. He-" his voice suddenly was wrecked by an uncontrollable emotional sob

Cynder's eyes glimmered with care, she desperately fought back the urge to jump at him and kiss him into happiness. The notion was so much harder to quell because she couldn't even show how much she supports him by squeezing his paw tightly, all because of the many people looking their way.

Spyro cleared his throat "He helped me through my fear problems and he was successful because he consulted with Volteer and listened to his advices"

"You were afraid of something?" Flare asked, or begged more likely, the plea in his voice was almost palpable

He chuckled "I was afraid of many things…of some I still am and always will be" his amethyst eyes shifted away from the red dragon "but I'm also excited"

Cynder's whole body jerked as if electrocuted, paw instantly flew to her mouth to quench the gasp that burst from her throat. Amethyst eyes aimed themselves directly at her and in that glance was so much unspeakable affection and certainty.

And she immediately knew what was behind that certainty.

It was her.

It was not the glimmer that said that she is the most important wonder to him that sucked the air out of her lungs. It sped up her heart, it felt great, even when she was quite familiar with it already she doubted it will ever lose its magic.

It was the other shade of that same spark, a shimmer she never saw before. It was assurance, a silent oath of faithfulness pledging its life to her that nearly stole all the air from her lungs.

It was the sight of their lives, futures tight up together with chains neither of them will ever break apart.

She was certain of it even now.

_I'm loved._

_I'm loved._

_I'm loved._

"But you are a purple dragon" Flare replied dumbfounded

Spyro chuckled "The color of my scales doesn't make me any more brave. I was really afraid of my power, of the pressure that was put on me with saving the world and all that. I always wanted to help people, but I didn't want them to suffer because I've tried too hard"

"And Volteer and that other guy helped you?" Flare blurt out, the flames he emanated betrayed his excitement

He winced, purple paw rubbed his chest exactly where his heart stung. The casual and somewhat ignorant way of referring to his foster draconic father filled him with a dose of irritation.

"Ignitus" his voice was hollow, trying to prevent himself from sounding bitter he accidentally stripped it of all emotion

It was Cynder's unexpected and very fake sneeze that made him aware of the limits of his tone.

He coughed softly.

"They both showed me the way, but it was solely mine decision to want to help myself. And with all honesty that was one of the best decisions I've ever made"

Flare looked down at the plate, Spyro could easily guess at what they were looking at. He frowned, for the first time the red dragon had an audience of two that could with all confidence confirm that he was actually lost in deep focus.

"When?" his voice cracked like twigs in flames

"I'll organize everything today" Spyro replied automatically, acting with the reflex of an experienced fishermen when he feels that a fish just caught the bait

"How about tomorrow morning?"

"Ok. I still need to do something today"

Spyro smiled, feeling strangely proud.

"Great! Then we're set up for tomorrow! We'll meet at the training grounds"

The expression of deep concentration vanished from the red snout.

"Wait!" Flare exclaimed, accidentally slamming his paw into the edge of the plate making it spin around in the air and fall on the table with a shrieking, ringing sound

The noise made the heads of the two accompanying him young dragons tilt backwards while making all the rest turn in their direction.

"Your morning or my morning?" Flare whined as if the question would be the last one he ever asks

"Huh?"

"When I wake up the sun is already high in the sky and people are so lively and doing all sorts of things"

"Flare is a deep sleeper" Cynder added with a kind smile

Spyro shook his head, dispersing the cloud of confusion that clouded his mind.

"Oh yeah! Come whenever you are ready, I'll be waiting"

"It will be so late then! I don't want to try too hard!" Flare kept tapping his claws against the table as he was looking for a solution

"I know!" paw rumbled against the wooden top, flames from his burning body shot with perfect accordance with spit fired from his throat

"Maybe when I go to bed earlier I'll wake up quicker! Yes!" his tail wagged happily "I'll just need to start now!" he jumped on all fours, making the table rattle as he hit its legs accidentally when he got up

"Thanks Spyro! Stay awesome Cynder! See you guys!"

Before they both could truly understand the situation Flare was already gone, leaving only dying sparks of his tail tip on the edge of the table.

"What just happened?" Cynder asked stunned, eyes still aimed at the spot her fiery friend just occupied

The only sound that she heard in response was that of teeth clenching themselves down on meat.

"What did you do?" she blurt out, voice ringing with increasing, sweet tone of joy

Spyro only smiled, with fake ignorance cutting himself another piece of meat and putting it inside his mouth.

"Talk to me!" she smacked his shoulder with a giggle "How did you knew how to talk to him?"

"What?" he chuckled

"I'm serious Spyro, what you did there was so sweet and cool. It was your heart again, I know it. I can't listen to it with all these people around so you have to tell me what it told you to do!"

He looked around the room, noticing heads turning around as he made brief contact with nagging stares. His romance with Cynder, the official one, is still fresh, they didn't have to keep it secret for long and yet it was already getting irritating and tiresome.

She is happy, they are happy and they can't enjoy it.

This is so unfair, especially when neither of them asked for any kind of reward after saving the world.

He frowned.

"I'll tell you, but first you gotta do something for me"

"Ooohhh" she huffed endearingly placing a clenched into a fist paw on the table on which she dropped her chin, narrowing her eyes on him roguishly "We're getting cocky now?"

He raised his paw defensively.

"You just need to say yes"

"I hope you're not going the way I think you are"

"Get away with me"

The sly expression was gone from her snout, replaced by regret.

"What?"

"Get away with me"

And devastating sadness.

"Spyro we've been through this already. You know we can't"

"I don't mean forever" he leaned closer, almost dropping his chin on the table, eyes glowing pleadingly like huge orbs of a kitty "Just until next dawn. I'll set up everything with Volteer and we simply get away for the rest of the day"

"Spyro…" she muttered lovingly, offering every bit of affection a girl can offer with her eyes

"I just want you for myself, away from everyone and everything. Since we defeated Malefor I feel like this is a completely new story for us, a story where we received only a few chapters truly dedicated only to ourselves. Maybe it's for a reason, maybe some force out there is really writing the road for our lives, maybe even there is some cheering or otherwise crowd out there"

"I don't care. I always believed I tread my own path and now I want your paws tramping the grass with me. Instead of waiting for some force to gratefully give us a moment of respite after it solves all of its other problems let's just steal this moment for ourselves"

"Let's get out there, fly around, somewhere far from this place preferably, sit on rocks, lie on grass. I don't know, anything. Rest or fool around"

He reached forward, placing his paw on top of hers below the table.

She moaned, her whole body shivered.

"I want to be alone with you, I want to talk to you freely, I want to touch you, laugh with you, kiss you, love you, be with you"

"Spyro…" she mumbled with a wavering sob, eyes glistened with tears "What's gotten into you?" she let out a whimpering, emotional, loving giggle

"I don't know" he replied sincerely, rubbing her paw fondly, her toes and the claws attached to them twitched around, craving to intertwine and grab his purple ones, but they pulled away

"I feel…I mean…we're going to be family one day and I just want to spend time with my…my…"

"Mate?"

He bit his lower lip, a blush turned his cheeks red.

Cynder smiled, paw rose from the ground with the intention to touch his snout but stopped before it truly lifted itself from the floor. She looked to the side, only to face the stare of a silently grunting with hate and blame eyes.

Chains rattled somewhere in the distance and she heard their ringing in her very soul.

It made her furious.

"Yes"

Spyro's eyes widened, his heart stopped moving, expression frozen in total shock and bewilderment. With that confirmation hearing a reply for a question he now realized was his dream for nearly all his life. An answer for a question far more important than the one he asked.

"I will get away with you"

She looked back at him and with a faint gasp jerked her head back when noticing his expression. A beautiful smile stretched her lips after a soft chuckle.

"I've said that I will get away with you not that I agree to be your mate. Not yet at least" she said softly

"No, no, no!" he exclaimed in panic, pulling himself back so fiercely that he wobbled on his legs and nearly toppled the table over "I-I didn't even think about it!"

"It looks to me that you've been giving much thought about us having children"

"No I didn't!"

"Really?" she giggled, loving smile never disappearing from her mouth "Then why do you look like you seem to be planning exactly how you are going to make them?"

"Nooo…" he whimpered, blush nearly making him look like a fire dragon, a condition he unconsciously felt since he started rubbing his snout and winced, feeling the heat wafting from his cheeks

His eyes rolled from bottom to top, reaching the ceiling eventually, he tried to look indifferent, but she caught the moment where his moving pupils slowed down. She spotted his eyes scanning her entire figure with a hungry and shocked glimmer.

He wasn't doing it earlier, behaving like the polite usual self, it was her teasing that caused this reaction.

From the spark that flared up in his amethyst orbs she could tell he liked what he was seeing. Very, very much.

It made her ashamed, but also filled her with feminine pride, screaming into her head that she is beautiful.

"I…I…"

"Relax" Cynder giggled lovingly, silencing his nervous muttering by taking pity on him "I was just teasing you. There is nothing wrong with you thinking about our future, stirring up the parental instincts"

She smiled wryly "Of course it's typical for a guy to have maternity instincts instead of a female"

Spyro frowned, scolding his partner with his gaze radiating the pain of his scratched male ego.

"You really can't help yourself when you get the chance do you?"

"Ooohhh" she leaned forward with a playful wiggle of her snout "I know you love me" she pronounced with an endearing squeak

Spyro pouted his lips, being the scapegoat of this relationship is a combination of tricky and fun, he doesn't have anything against that, he knew what to expect from a friend he knew for years and now is in romantic relationship with. Teasing was her strong side and a weapon, the chances he gets to strike back are pitiful in comparison and not his style to be honest.

For all her strengths she has one weakness which he knows how to exploit and get literally sweet payback.

His nose pulled itself back, wrinkles appeared on top of it, eyes squinted and wings began to shake. His body was prepared for a sneeze, even if it was a fake one.

He _sneezed, _head lunging forward like that of a attacking snake, both wings followed suit, hiding his head behind the membranes, a barrier impenetrable for anyone that was too interested in their lives. His mouth parted open, showing fangs exactly like a snake that was about to bite, yet instead of sinking them into flesh he hid them behind his lips, lips that for a second met contact with Cynder's soft ones.

Bestowing them with a brief, full of assurance kiss.

A gentle startled gasp was all she managed to offer.

"Spyro!" she stifled down a shout, covering her lips with her paw and turning swiftly towards her plate, a red line of embarrassment crossed the top of her nose diagonally

"People!" she squeaked from behind her paw, cringing as she did so, pupils darting back and forth in her eyeballs

He folded his wings, smiling at her with a dose of triumph.

"Yep. I love you"

Cynder cringed even further.

"And maybe you were right about the instinct" his tone became more serious, seeing her embarrassed and hearing her bashfully squeaking and giggling was one of the best sounds and sights he ever experienced.

Yet there was that deaf voice of the golden organ Cynder adored so much beating inside his chest that prevented him from pursuing the selfish desire. Warning him that a thing that makes one happy doesn't necessarily mean it will make another one joyful

"Flare is like a child and after hearing all that stuff about our future, meeting with that little girl that gave me the flower, I guess it made me think about stuff and I just…I don't know…acted on my hunch I think"

"It's simply you" Cynder added proudly "I don't really need any more than that. Helping people is just your thing. I never understand how you reach all these people"

"I don't. I just guide them to look into themselves" he frowned, lost suddenly in deep thought, words popped into his head out of nowhere, just as if he would be remembering one of Ignitus' many lessons

"We are each our own devil and we make this world our hell" he recited

"Whoa" Cynder huffed in sincere awe "Those are some really nice words. Who said that?"

Spyro blinked, head immediately emptied itself of every unexpected thought. Smile appeared on his snout.

"I just did. Don't you recognize my voice?"

She laughed.

"Seriously though" he continued after he fed himself to the brim with the beautiful sound of her laugh "I expected you to be going crazy with happiness after everything Danox said, but it seems that I'm the one who went nuts"

Cynder smiled "I have no doubts that my future will be tied with yours and every child we're going to have will have your admirable traits. So much happened lately, so much joy hit me day after day, wrecking my heart. I need to dose good news property or I'll flip around and the only way we're going to have any kids is if you somehow manage to impregnate my stiff corpse"

He winced, imagination already running on terrain he didn't really want it to go.

"Cynder…"

"Also" she continued "it was the new guy who said that"

"You don't trust him?"

"No, I believe that we'll make a family, but I rather accept the news with some reserve. Parties and happy family life, maybe, but I don't think it's going to be so easy considering our life style. It just… seems too believable to me"

"I'm sorry Spyro, I would want to scream my lungs out but that's the way I feel"

"It's okay, there is something weird about that guy, I just can't decide if he's good or evil. Considering the color of his scales it will make me quite the hypocrite, but I simply…I don't know…would believe in everything people said about him. Not to mention that I feel like he said things we wanted to hear"

"I know, right" Cynder nodded "That guy gives me the creeps"

Spyro nodded and surprisingly went silent, both of them did in fact. As they looked into each other's eyes during this somewhat eerie moment they could see the unexpectedly accurate disgust mixed with guilt for themselves.

"He's handsome and has a pretty name though" Cynder broke the silence, words swiftly coming out from her mouth as if Danox himself would be close and heard them talking about him behind his back

"Yeah!" Spyro agreed hurriedly, feeling the same kind of rush as his partner

"Where is he now anyway?" she asked impatiently

"They sneaked out through the back exit into the hills behind Warfang, to some cave or something that will be Danox' temporary home. Can you imagine that Iris' uncle volunteered to keep an eye on him?"

"Really?"

"Yeah, he wanted to somehow pay the debt to the Guardians for taking him and Iris in"

"At least there is someone honorable in that family"

With those words she turned around, looking at the wall of the building that if gone would open the passage to the mentioned hills, not even realizing how bitter she sounded. With the eye of her imagination she saw Danox and Ignus flying together, the fire dragon having the opportunity to spend much time with the mysterious drake.

She never felt so jealous.

"Why we weren't offered such a job?" she muttered out loud

Spyro cocked his head "You would want to go with him? Why? Didn't you say he creeps you out?"

Cynder winced "You heard that?"

"Well…yeah. You intended to keep it a secret?"

"Yes…I mean…no…it's just that…I…" she swallowed before taking a deep breath, giving the wall one last longing glance until she finally turned towards her partner, eyes begging for plea

"What do you think of Danox?"

An unexpected cold finger of dread touched his spine, it was an ordinary question and yet he felt like he was caught on doing some sort of unthinkable act.

"Like…like I said-"

"No" she cut off his uncertain response "Tell me what you REALLY think about him"

Spyro swallowed, his heart started to race in fear as if he was about to confess that he betrayed his partner.

"I don't know him"

She didn't utter a word, what he said and the tone he used to do that made absolute no sense, being sad because you don't know a stranger. You don't see such justification often, if ever.

However she could understand his depression perfectly, she felt the exact same thing.

"What is happening Spyro?" Cynder nearly whimpered "Why do we feel miserable when thinking about him?"

Her reply in plural when he was talking about himself caused no reaction. He wasn't aware of the fact that their souls communed on different level, what the mind couldn't see the heart knew, it could read between the lines.

This is what it means to be soul mates.

"I don't know Cynder" he practically sobbed

His eyes aimed themselves directly at the same wall she was looking earlier.

"All I know is that I'm scared"

She swallowed hard, nodding slightly and nearly inconspicuously, unconsciously trying to kill every noise, even the natural, whispering sound of her scales rubbing together.

She knew at what he was looking at.

She couldn't find the courage to join his eyes there.

"Me too" her voice came out with a faint exhale, lips were wavering as if she was about to start crying soon "Why?"

The question remained hanging in the air, not because they couldn't find the words to answer it as Spyro believed, but simply because they didn't have to. The answer was already carved on the links of the chain shackling their hearts together.

The last ring of which reached behind the wall, dragging them behind.

Forcing the wild and horny, perfect near fatal headlong dive.


	98. Chapter 20 Book V

Chapter 20

The sharp tips of mountains surrounding Warfang are like the most ingenious defensive system Nature could come up with. The rocks here were ragged and rough, a simple scratch would be horribly painful. The aggressively primal blocks of stone looked like they perfectly realized that, if there would be someone imaginative enough he would surely say that this rocks are set in a peculiar formation.

So clearly resembling the smirking, sharp toothed smile of a predator. Exactly aware just how nice it would be if someone scratched themselves, how nice it would be if that someone slipped due to the sudden pain and hit his head against one of the many teeth.

This is a very rigid natural defensive system. No siege equipment would reach the top of the sharp hills, not only there was no place to set up, but also the jutting rocks turned every smooth, walkable piece of rocky ground into bumpy, needle filled tiles.

As uncomfortable and painful as it was it didn't bother one particular black dragon to stand on top of the mountains. Black head slowly moved around, observing the surrounding scenery with clear, unshakable interest.

The rocks pierced the bottom sides of his paws, blood was lazily soaking down the sharp, rocky teeth like wine down the pyramid of glasses.

"You should reconsider my warrior of care" the alluring dark voiced boomed from the top of the mountains with surprisingly no echo as if nature did everything in its power to make the voice perfectly audible

"You don't know what you're missing"

"I'm not a big fan of sightseeing" Ignus replied casually, watching the slowly dripping blood with a wince, his own paws stung from the imagined pain

"Do you know that you're bleeding?"

"Light come, light go" Danox recited

Ignus observed the standing dragon on top of the sharp hills, at first he wanted to scold the youngling for ignoring his question, but all of that became unimportant suddenly when he realized that the black drake above looks like a statue. A magical one.

Gargoyles humans call them.

And that dragon above was one such magical being slowly waking up to life, perched above the Realms, ready to swoop down and cover the world under his dark shadow.

The idea excited and scared him, especially when he simply felt that Danox would be capable of doing exactly that.

He caught himself on admiring the figure above and made no inclination to stop. The grace and strength, the alluring trail of well formed muscles and mysterious beauty. Worthy specimen of dragonkind.

Perfect.

"Warden, tell me, did you know that we were being followed?"

That snapped Ignus out of his trance, militaristic experience even if dormant for most of the time triggers awake when right impulse is applied.

"Followed? By who?"

Danox sprang to the side. The fire dragon instinctively cringed at the wet sound of tearing scales when the black dragon jumped. He hissed when the black paws landed on another sharp rocky blades, impaling into the flesh with a wet, smacking sound.

Blood was flowing down the recently left stony needles like wax from a burning candle.

There was something utterly terrifying and majestic about it.

Danox craned his neck over the mountain edge, opening his black wings, rays of the sun reflected from the blades on his wing thumbs, the golden tips seemed to feed on the light like a starving beggar on scraps.

"You know what people used to say when wind was involved?"

Ignus turned away from the blood, frowning as he looked at the dragon.

"Are you planning to ever answer my questions? If our little union is to work we need to get to know each other better and cooperate. Avoiding an explanation about potential danger jeopardizes both those things"

"Did your patience started to waver Ignus? Better keep control of it, there is still a lot of work to be done"

The heart in his chest skipped a beat, the excitement was gone, replaced by unexplained and instinctive anxiousness combined with suspicion.

"What that supposed to mean?"

Danox folded his wings, straightening up on the hilltop.

"I don't have to explain, you're too clever for that" he turned his head, aiming one of his obsidian eyes on the fire dragon below when the last, enticed in dark allure word left his mouth

"Besziambesakne"

Ignus literally jumped back as if a lighting bolt hit the ground just in front of his paws. When he landed a crack resounded in his left, back leg, old bones cringing underneath the sudden dropped weight of the massive body. The dragon's rump tilted to the side.

He had no idea what Danox just said, but even if he didn't understand the meaning, he recognized the language, being surrounded by this idiocy made him sensitive to it.

At least it was always like that, but now, with the word coming out of this strange dragon's mouth he instantly discarded the label he put onto the language. It no longer amused and irritated him.

This time he was completely overwhelmed by dread as if he would be staring into the eyes of a monster that will leap at him if he moves a muscle.

Danox smiled, the smile was enveloped in the same dark, enchanting aura as his entire being.

"I see that you have given some thought to my question. Tell me my warrior of benignity, do you know what people used to say when wind was involved?"

"No…" the fire dragon rasped "…no, I don't"

"Arrange your cloak as the wind blows"

With that he opened his mouth, sending a gentle, magical breeze straight at the fire dragon.

Ignus shivered, the involuntary quake wasn't only caused by enlightenment, the ability to read between the subtle hints of threat, but also because of hurt noble pride that such a young dragon dared to ravish.

The arrogance.

"You're not helping our relation to develop"

Danox smiled "Am I now? Haven't you spoken of unity? Here I'm weaving the first thread of our partnership and something tells me it will be an unbreakable one"

"I also heard some rumors" Ignus growled, low voice rumbling with each calmly spoken word "They stated that creatures like you are vile and cannot be trusted"

The black dragon chuckled "Masses have the tendencies to brand something they don't understand, supposedly it makes life easier if you put a name on your adversary"

He turned his head around, eyeing the stretched valley below.

"I cannot be labeled however dear, sweet people. You have never seen a creature like me"

"You realize how first impressions and false judgments can be deceiving. You might take someone for who he isn't"

Danox laughed, his explosion of joy resounding in the mountains like a small thunder.

"Well said my warden, well said" he started to step down from the sharp hills, paws sinking into newer and newer rough needles "Intelligence is a trait I value greatly. So much potential to be found there"

Ignus observed the descending dragon with a pained wince.

"Do all black dragons have a thing for masochism or is it just you?"

The dark drake stopped when he reached the ground, looking down at his paws and the bloody paw prints they left behind.

"I'm a glutton for punishment" resounded the serious swooned by dark mystery voice "Pain makes me feel alive"

"Only you then. Just mind you won't bleed on my sleeping spot"

"Who mocks his chains will not be free" onyx eyes raised at the fire drake

Ignus couldn't help but to stare into them, noticing his reflection. An overpowering sense of doom washed over him when not only he felt that the black drake was staring at him, but also his very own soul.

Which was more terrifying he couldn't tell.

"Underestimating something you don't fully understand can have dire consequences. I'm sure you read about our young, pretty black dragoness in the city, you make an impression of a tactician after all. Not only shackled to the battlefield as you are fully aware"

The fire drake swallowed, he felt defenseless and that was something he despised the most.

"Who are you?"

Danox smirked, the display of perfect white, razor sharp and enchanting teeth reminded Ignus of a smiling shark that plays with his pray before eating.

"I'm a legacy that lives beyond, far beyond the grave"

The fire drake growled in annoyance, uncertainty is something he prefers to kill.

"Does speaking in riddles and repeating old proverbs amuses you?"

"Not at all. Straightforward answers are so boring, wit and wisdom is what I value greatly as I already modestly stated" Danox tapped his temple "Mind is a weapon, see, when you start thinking. Planning, scheming, evaluating, seeking, you name it, mind prevents from making the same decision. When you think you become creative"

He pressed his paw to his chest, no blood was left on his scales, the leg already healed itself.

He bowed respectfully.

"And I, as a black dragon, cherish creativity. You are familiar with the powers of my kind I'm sure. Would you be so kind as to remind us of them? All for the sake of unity of course"

"What kind of game is this?" Ignus snapped "I'm not going to be your plaything"

"Poison, Wind, Shadow and…" Danox took an excited breath "Fear. Fear is my favorite. I can sense it you know, everyone is afraid of something. The more creative the mind the more interesting the fear is, reaching beyond the trivial and boring fright of death"

Black eyes once more drilled into the fire dragon.

"And you my warrior of selflessness have a very creative mind"

Helplessness was called the dagger that suddenly found its way to his fiery heart and pierced it. It wasn't blood however that gushed from the wound but strings of threads he believed he held tightly within his grasp.

A sudden feeling of overpowering danger washed over him.

Claws of his battered legs dug into the rocky ground, sharpening the generally blunt tips of his natural blades.

"Come warden" Danox said calmly, making his way towards the cave, if he noticed the growing aggression from his companion he made no indication of it "Let's go check our new home, we better be prepared for the arrival of our mysterious stalker"

He looked behind his shoulder.

Ignus gasped faintly, he wasn't sure if what he saw was not some kind of trick of light, but he could swear that the black eyes flashed white for a second.

"We're partners now" the dark voice spread its deep, breathy charm "In crime we could say, because blood is not as a thick bond as many believe" he smiled "Come, I'm hungry"

Ignus observed the walking dragon, completely unaware of the moment when his legs started to follow the swinging black tail.

"I'm not going to be your cook, if you're hungry you will fetch food for yourself"

"I wouldn't have it any other way, whether you believe it or not I don't like using people. Besides, no offense meant, you would be able to provide only a snack and I already had a lot of those"

The cave wasn't difficult to find, all they had to do was to follow the slowly shrinking hilltop until it eventually spread to the side, melding into a formation that resembled an overgrown turtle shell with spikes, big and small protruding in every direction.

Yet it wasn't because of that comparison the two dragons will remember this place, another characteristic element was to be found just in front of the cave and it stood out far more greatly from every other less and more memorable spot.

It was a circle of long, sturdy slate columns to the top of which perpendicularly were attached similar extensions yet wider than their bases. Some of the columns were cracked, while others were in quite good condition, all of them formed a letter T.

Both dragons silently agreed that history doesn't interest them and decided to completely ignore the mental search for the origins of this small construction.

Danox entered the cave first, completely indifferent about the fact that it smelled of bat droppings, quite a horde of those little neighbors could be seen in the far end of the cave where in their upside down positions they awaited the call of the moon.

He left the night stalkers to their nearly comatose existence, respectfully making as little noise as possible even if they were so far away that probably extensive, loud shouting would wake the little critters up.

He took another whiff of the smells dominating the cave, catching the scent of dirty wolf fur and a faint scent of loyal and extensive mating session. One of his back legs instinctively made a step back with the intention to leave the cave behind even before the impulse of understanding coming with the smell told him that all of this was fading away and only his sensitive nose was to blame for any doubt.

Whatever mammals that called this cave their lair have abandoned it.

He didn't really care about anything else. The cave was mostly uninhabited and spacious. Nothing else mattered.

"Ugh" a grunt of abhorrence rumbled behind him "It stinks here"

"Shhhhh warden" Danox huffed "We have bats for roommates"

"Perfect" Ignus hissed frustrated "There is never enough vermin"

The black dragon smirked "Not your type of preferred accommodations I presume?"

"After all this time I finally got a deserved comfortable and clean bed, traded it away for honor and what do I get in return? This…this stinkhole!" he growled barely containing a roar

"You're not really used to the rewards wrought by good deeds I see"

"This is below me" with a grunt Ignus pulled his head out of the cave "I'm royalty" resounded the irritated voice from outside "I won't be sleeping surrounded by shit!"

Danox chuckled.

"You're overreacting Ignus"

"Don't tell me you're going to sleep in that filth. Have you no respect for yourself? No pride?"

Black snout popped from the cave.

"Not especially"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Ignus asked, narrowed in disdain ruby eyes followed the black snout "If I wouldn't meet that young girl in Warfang I would suspect some odd quirks coming as a consequence of your origins"

"Oh warden" Danox leapt into the air, with two flaps of the wings finding himself on top of the wide perpendicular column. "I'm simply special" his breathy, deep voice cooed

"So special that you put your exceptional neck on the line. Have you already forgotten that someone might be following us?"

"Look at me closely Ignus"

It wasn't an order nor a command, it sounded like a shy request of a boy so intimidated by his surroundings that for people walking by he was transparent and not worth a glance, even if they would hear him.

A request of a guy someone of his social stature would treat with a frown of disgust when walking through a street of smelly commoners.

His ruby eyes however, surprisingly not held by any chains of narcissistic impulse, instantly rose to focus on one rightful point.

On his black companion.

Envy and sincere admiration scratched the deepest part of his mind where it silently gasped in awe. He was never the one to be mesmerized by art, but the perfect figure of the black dragon couldn't be ignored.

He couldn't force back the sudden grip of cold hand of terror that suddenly found its way to his spine. The obsidian eyes, the slowly spreading black wings, the dark stretching body, they all stood in the way of the sun.

Creating a long, dragged shadow on the ground that seemed to move and Ignus couldn't tell if the shakes were caused by the wind moving some tiny rocks or if the shadow quaked on its own.

The short break he got when his fiery eyes started to pull out from the ground and back towards the only right direction was not enough to make a decision. It was in that moment he noticed the sky turning red. The usually normal sign of night slowly crawling into the domination seat he took for blood. He was certain that the sun behind the dragon was shrinking and withering, dying and the crimson sky was a glimpse into its agony.

The night was coming, but this time with no intention on leaving, the irremovable shadows will reach everyone.

It was Death that stood above him on the column.

He blinked.

Nothing changed.

"Do you see clearly now my honorable warrior?" Danox' asked with a soft, breathy tone "My scales are black, sucking the light out with a craving similar to that of a cub pressed against the breast of his mother"

"Light is hope, light is future, light is life, take it away and all you have is fear. There is nothing more terrifying than a black dragon, you can ask Spyro if you don't believe me"

Danox folded his wings, smiling without a hint of emotion.

"If our mysterious stalker decides tomake a move he better make sure it will be a good one. So don't be afraid for me Ignus, I don't risk anything and only gain with the coming night"

"You are very sure of yourself"

Danox laughed, loudly and heartily, his wings shot open wider, covering a part of the sky behind the black curtain of their membranes.

For a moment Ignus believed that it will stay like that.

"You finally get it! This is why we make such good partners"

The fire dragon frowned "I don't remember any partnership"

"Do you now?" he asked, sounding like he never laughed, in fact like he didn't even knew what laughter is in the first place "I think I would be offended if I would care Besziambesakne"

"Stop using that word!" the fire dragon snarled, the burning tip of his tail pulsed with brighter flames, for a moment it seemed that the night had second thoughts about taking the lead role

Danox smiled sweetly "My point exactly"

Ignus calmed momentarily by taking a deep, raspy breath. The mind of calculating tactician steadily getting back on its rightful track, leaving anger behind where it belonged.

He perfectly knew what it was capable of.

"So partner, since I volunteered to watch over you I propose you get down from there, you already stand out as it is. We don't want to scare off a potential assassin"

"There's no need" Danox indifferently laid down on the wide surface, tail hanging across the edge. Similar fate fell on his left front leg "He's already here and shows no inclination of running away"

Ignus' muscles tensed, only the experience of a seasoned fighter prevented him from looking around. He acted naturally, a costume he wore nearly his whole life.

"Only one? Where is he?"

"Hiding behind that rock formation behind you"

"With how outnumbered he is I suspect he is waiting for nightfall to increase his chances of an ambush"

"No" Danox replied, stretching his back legs as if he would be resting on a comfortable, safe bed "He is not here to attack us, he is observing as for now, in fact was doing it for quite some time now"

Ignus narrowed his eyes on the dragon "And you found it appropriate to tell me about this now?!" he admonished the dragon through clenched teeth "What does he want?"

"I can feel the scared rhythm of the heart Ignus, not read minds. Thank you for considering it however, you humble me with your compliments"

"Do you always act so lightly and ignorant in the face of danger?"

The black dragon chuckled "My dear warrior of care. I am danger"

From the relaxed and lazy position the black dragon adopted one could be sure that many would laugh at his bold statement. It was almost as if a sloth would shout death threats at you.

The idea of laughing never crossed Ignus' mind however, it was quite the contrary in fact, right now the drake, at least for him, was a force of complete intimidation. It was because he seemed to fade into the encroaching night, becoming one with it during the mystical embrace.

Darkness and black scales becoming one.

Wind carrying its audible whisper, that for a moment stopped his heart. Whisper that breezed even his soul, branding a single sentence across its shimmering form.

I'm permanently everywhere.

Suddenly he wanted to be as far as possible from the black dragon.

"I'll better check-"

"Shhhh Ignus"

The polite, scolding and barely audible, breathy whisper silenced him in a moment's notice, in his skull he still heard the ringing of his own teeth when his mouth closed itself with the force of a swinging executioner's axe.

"Creatures of the night are waking"

He was paralyzed, the thought hit him with the strength of a wrecking ball.

There was no magic behind, no spell or any other binding element, he simply couldn't move, couldn't get his eyes of the shadowy, reptilian silhouette sprawled on top of the column, he couldn't stop listening to the deep tone of the dragon's whisper, how his dark and mysterious voice was carried by the wind, grazing every scale and bit of flesh with invisible, gentle, passionate finger of a lover.

No, not a finger.

A claw, sharp, bent and deadly, sliding under the chin and across the whole body. Ignus was entirely certain the only right thing to do now was to jump away, stay away from the clawed, alluring whisper, somewhere where it couldn't reach you.

He didn't move, not because he couldn't, he didn't move because he didn't want to.

It was the power of the forbidden, of the perversely corrupt, of the wrong, of all those things that turned common sense and morality into dust.

The presence of the dragon, his gloomily charm, made him realize just how addicted to this prolific design he is.

"Feeding time has begun"

Not long after this next whisper the horde of bats poured out from Danox' new home. They darted right above the sprawled back drake.

Ignus was quite certain that what he saw was only his imagination and all of it happened by accident, but it seemed like some of the bats patted the black dragon approvingly on the back.

And when that happened his usually black eyes pulsed with blinding white light.

The fire drake shook his head fiercely that nearly the chipped horn on his head fell off.

Enough of this madness. Nothing is happening. In front of him is just a crazy, way too knowledgeable black dragon. Nothing more.

"They always remind me of hunger" Danox' tongue flickered sadly in the darkness

"Then move and go hunting, instead of whining all the time" Ignus gulped, surprising even himself by the harshness of his tone

"I'm too busy" he pulled himself up, stretching all of his limbs

Young, firm muscles pulsed underneath the scales. The view slapping Ignus in the cheek, reminding him of his age and position.

"Let's meet our new friend shall we?"

He tapped his claw against the slate.

Ignus' eyes widened, his gaze momentarily fell on his paws and the cloak of the night embracing them, the rocky ground beneath looked like it always did and yet it felt different. The rough feeling was gone replaced by something moist and gelatinous.

Ideas ran rampant in his head, one particular idea was stronger than all the others. It was her influence that made him believe that his paws are no longer touching rock, but more like he would be standing on the entrails or a tongue of some sort of a beast.

"I can see you" Danox sang "Come to us"

Momentarily a startled, low gasp resounded from ahead, Ignus swiftly turned his head around, noticing a bulky silhouette coming into view.

"Sorrow doesn't kill, reckless joy does" the black dragon recited

"I've heard about you" Ignus muttered when the green muscular figure came into view, the single horn projecting above the nose, the grey eyes that in the night looked like Danox' onyx ones

There could be no mistake, he is one of the lackeys of the crazy mole everyone talks about back in the city.

"Your presence here is unwelcome" the fire dragon hissed

The black drake behind him chuckled.

"That Ignus we all have in common, we all are unwelcomed in one place or the other"

Ignus frowned, scolding the dark dragon with an angry glance.

"Keep your rambling to yourself, you don't know who this boy is. He will bring nothing but trouble and unwanted attention"

"Won't we all?" Danox jumped down, gracefully landing on the ground as if the stretched darkness would be stuffed with pillows.

"Besides, this is not a proper way to treat a guest. Let's avoid spreading prejudice or we'll feel like we are in the city again"

He smiled politely "Welcome! What brings you to our humble doorstep? Sort of. I hope you aren't here to steal Ignus from me, his rough and charming personality is all a lonely and misunderstood dragon can ask for. I'm not really keen on sharing"

The fire dragon grunted something under his breath.

"You remind me of someone very important to me" Capro replied without any hint of fear connected with the fact that he was just discovered "I wanted to see if my hunch is correct. Seems I was right"

The malachite dragon bowed respectfully "It's a pleasure to meet Cynder's relative, me and your…whoever is she for you have a long history"

Danox laughed heartily, both his draconic companions noticed unconsciously that his laughter was really beautiful.

"This is perhaps the most polite way I've heard someone telling me that he came to tear my heart out"

"I've never implicated to do such a thing" Capro responded defensively

"Of course you have no bad intentions" Ignus commented sarcastically "It doesn't matter that you hail from that temple of zealots and follow us. No problem at all. We'll just take your stalking for a crazy fan moment and be on our way"

Danox cleared his throat, raising one of his legs in the air, a single claw pointing up.

"I want to interrupt this festival of sarcasm with one rather important note" his leg dropped down, black eyes meeting shadowy ones "Just because my scales are black doesn't mean that I have black scaled parents. Nobody knows the formula, why, the unique individuals of this era were hatched from eggs laid with whole certainty by normal draconic mothers"

"I didn't want to offend both of you in any way" Capro touched his heart, emphasizing by gesture the hurt tone of his voice

"Making puppy eyes and whining won't help your cause boy" Ignus commented sternly "I would suggest that you start speaking and tell us what it is that you want. I have seen enough mind games in my life and have no patience for more. You were caught spying on us, better start explaining yourself. Right here, right now"

"Oh warden, where are your manners?" Danox asked distressed

"I volunteered to watch over you and that means looking after you, so stop fooling around and take this seriously. You might be powerful, but if those fanatics planned to tail us then they surely came prepared"

"You will have to forgive him, treachery is a touchy subject"

The fire dragon winced, judging by the flexed muscles and anxious swings of tail it was a consequence of holding back fury than fear or shame.

Threads where are you?

"Speak!" Ignus rumbled, the loud command coming out with sparks shooting from his paws as claws behaved like little anchors, preventing his body from lashing after the invisible trail of the word and into anyone who was at the receiving end of it

Capro straightened up, adding to his posture all the confidence of a duelist that is ready to fight to the death.

"I have faith, but you…Ignus wasn't it? Ignus you are under the wrong assumption that it is everything that drives me. I respect the Seeker, but I try to keep an open mind"

"You won't buy yourself into my favor by spitting honeyed words. Speak of your purpose!"

"My purpose here is to learn and check if I can expand my options"

"Do not try my patience with this riddle talk" Ignus growled "I had enough of it, luckily for you I don't have to force the words out of you. There are other means to extract information. Danox?"

"He is not afraid" the black dragon said curiously, cocking his head "You are dead inside"

"Callous bastards don't strike me as reliable" the fire dragon snarled through clenched teeth, tiny tendrils of flames wafted from his nose

"This façade, my warrior of worry, is amusing"

"Focus on him! Use your magic to tell if he can be trusted"

Danox burst out with sincere laughter, making both other dragons forget about everything and instead concentrate solely on him.

"Dear Ignus" he inhaled deeply, air whizzed through his mouth "Your humor is unmatchable, you're absolutely deadly with it! Trusted!" he laughed once more "Like all of us!" another explosion of joy

Ignus frowned, wrinkles of irritation deepening on his snout.

"You won't find what you are looking for here. Goodnight"

"Wait" the black drake stated, the deep, breathy voice devoid of all happiness, even the moon itself flickered in the sky in search of a cloud it could hide behind

"I sensed you…remind me of your name if you would be so kind?"

"Capro" malachite drake introduced himself straightforwardly

"I sensed you following us Capro for an entirely different reason it seems. Now I know what it is" he licked his lips cravingly "You tapped into something you don't fully understand, but can already feel it. You haven't used your own claws. Dangerous but clever. You're obsessed and perceptive, volatile combination"

"I'm not afraid"

Danox smiled "I believe you. Very, very much" black eyes shifted to the fire drake "You're saved Ignus, our triple acquaintance won't last for very long"

The strength caused by insecurity faded somewhere, reminding his legs of their age, making them weak and old.

"Why I don't feel relieved?" he mumbled

"If you don't want to kill me or throw me out, then let's talk" Capro proposed

The black drake nodded with a pleasant smile.

"Talk we will, don't worry about that"

"I don't want to have anything to do with him!" Ignus protested, pointing a claw at the black drake threateningly "I warn you Danox! The Guardians will hear of this"

Capro narrowed his gaze on the fire dragon, muscles bulged underneath the scales.

"You are quite the jester my warrior of concern" he waved his wing "Look around, what do you see? Do you think that the night was always so grisly?"

Ignus didn't know why but he did look up and gods of every timeline be damned if he didn't feel expendable and worthless in that brief moment. The black sky seemed like a dark, thick slab that was slowly falling down on them and when it finally does it will crash everything beneath it.

It's the damn question.

It made him think about it.

What is wrong with that question?

"It's whispering" Capro muttered reverently

"Yes" Danox took a deep breath "The darkness is whispering, it always did but only few are able to actually hear it"

Ignus heard only the wind, it's sinusoidal wailing throughout the mountains, if it was whispering the words weren't meant for him. Even with ringing scepticism in his mind he couldn't fight the addicting urge to hear it.

"With darkness being so close to us you can comprehend its passionate language" Danox closed his eyes, wings softly flapping as if they wanted to drag every scent of the world

"What does it say?"

He groaned, clenching his head with one paw, headache struck with the force of a war hammer against a shield. The resounding rumbling sound that bounced inside his head was spitting only one furious discontent.

Why I don't know the answer?!

Why I don't know the answer?!

Why I don't know the answer?!

Capro extended his leg, the night brushed against his paw like waves of water against bare feet.

"World War Me" he whispered like the darkness

End of Book V


	99. Chapter 1 Book VI

The Legend of Spyro: Path of Delusions

Book VI: Sweet Desire

Chapter 1

With a soft slap the beautiful text disappeared underneath the thick cover, seconds later even that vanished from the illumination of the yellow, near golden light. Soon however its shadow appeared at the edge of the light, for a moment there the withdrawal from the light seemed just a delusion, yet it wasn't. The shadow danced on the edge, fighting what seemed like a battle of deciding whether to return to the illumination or retreat as planned. It disappeared eventually, vanishing for unaccountable amount of time, seemed like forever, leaving the ray of light illuminating the same spot, this time however an empty one. The thick cover with the golden text hiding underneath returned however, long time filled with emptiness has passed since it happened, but it was back and as if make up for lost time the cover hungrily flipped open, revealing the golden text shimmering as if in happiness.

* * *

_In a place where nothing is as it seems, with things shifting beyond the reach of ordinary perception. In a place where many items floated in their seemingly motionless space, completely not fitting to be around one another as if gathered throughout the world while walking with a hourglass where each grain of sand embowed with the power of a single year._

_In this place two eyes stared out of the window into the swirling, timeless oblivion of White Isle. Now empty, but ready to be filled with surroundings that a single touch create. A library after all is nothing more than a den of imagination._

_Both of them those eyes were of grey color, yet the right one was gently penetrated by a flickering hint of orange. Both orbs began to understand that feelings are the gears of the machine called existence, those gears stir the machination towards its goal._

_This is what makes the books scattered in this orderly chaos differ from one another, making one short and others extremely long. Many tomes like this filled this place, the urge to look into them wasn't caused by the difference in their length, but the emotion they radiated from within, making every letter as worthwhile as every previous one._

_Even the completely grey left eye acknowledged this fact as it stared into the seemingly empty space ahead. This is what roots of Fate are made of, no matter how far you stray out of the original bark you will always end up at the same orchestrated spot. _

_The other eye protested with its fading orange tone, similar to that of a sunset, that there is more to life than walking towards one door. When emotions are in play nothing is certain, everything can be shattered or created with the passion of an artist._

_The dragon to whose those eyes belonged blinked, during the brief moment his orbs fluttered thousands upon thousands of thoughts ran through his head with the speed of a crossbow bolt cutting through a vulnerable heart._

_Eyes opened themselves back again, the orange hue of the right orb had a difficult task of floating into visibility as it fought through the overpowering grey vortex that was the iris of the right eye._

_The grayish-light blue dragon turned away from the window that suddenly was a window no longer but a wall made of pristine, white marble. The powerful glow of the blue crystal dangling around the chest vaporized every shade of darkness, illuminating the path perfectly, making manipulation around the floating, steady and constantly filling themselves up Books of Time easily._

_The dragon stopped in front one of those books, it was sprawled on a pedestal, letter after letter was appearing on the velum with the intensity of a scorch mark of a dashing spark of flame. The book never flipped its pages, whenever the black text was about to reach the end of the velum a piece of paper dropped on top of it, a page of another book that floated just next to the resting one._

_The process repeated itself, yet every time a page from a completely different book was added to the main one. The dragon raised his gaze up, observing the many books near the pedestal, the joining between them, the amount of space that was still left around the main book for many other tomes to fill up the blanks._

_He gasped faintly, momentarily pressing his paw to his mouth, hiding the shock, something he didn't feel for so long from everyone and everything, as if feeling the scrutinizing gaze of the library on him._

_He nodded, confused by the fact that something so obvious like this could elude him for so long. One eye might believer that Destiny cannot be changed, while the other one might think otherwise, yet in this very moment the dragon was a single entity entirely, agreeing wholeheartedly on one thing._

_On the uncertainty._

_Power of desire possesses the ability to shake the pedestal and the book on top of it, the power of desire possesses the ability to send the spark of flame across the bridge formed by the falling pages to burn or completely torch the book on the other end of it._

_He shifted his gaze at the freshly molded wall that momentarily became transparent just to disappear completely moments later. Instead of black void behind there was an entire space of flashing images like someone would be managing a scene of a chaotic theatre, not able to keep up with the theme of the play._

_Which was titled Life._

_And he was looking straight into the uncertainty, juggled by the manipulation caused by desire in the day that stopped something that was never stopped before._

_Actors may be many, but how good will they be in their performance…_

…

_That only Time can tell._

* * *

A friend of mine once said that most of us are dead anyway, and this existence is just a dream, a break from the oblivion to allow us to remember how it was to live. She said that this is a barrowed life, unreal, better to make the best out of it and end it on our terms then let something else do it for us.

Whether she was right or not I no longer care, I believe she was to some point, we are sentenced to this drama for life for whatever reason. Perhaps there was some reason, I feel there was, but I'm just not good with words to describe it.

This is my final note in this…the old me would say masterpiece since it got a sip of my flawless personality…you know what? I'm the old me and the new me. This is my final note and THIS IS A MASTERPIECE.

I'm ending this on my own terms and in case I lose my vocal cords and the world won't hear me I want to say three things.

First, I'm following my heart desires, don't feel sorry for me, this is a relief. If there is some justice in this world I'll be with my loved ones and when the bell will ring for you guys just know that you all are invited to join up. You know who you are.

Second, keep kicking ass sister.

Third, this is a note for whoever or whatever felt obliged to play with our lives for his/hers/its creepy amusement.

GO FUCK YOURSELF

Did something just broke?

Anonymous The Second

* * *

Terrador stood in front of the massive and heavy door of the City Hall, as he touched the rough surface the door seemed to bend under the pressure applied by his paw. The door never felt so light before, he was almost certain that if he would take a deep breath and puffed the air out nothing would remain of the blockade that separated the main hall of the City Hall that he was currently in from the outside.

From the very loud outside.

Many people have gathered in front of the City Hall, from the nervous and angry muffled shouts and voices it wasn't hard to guess what, or more precisely, who, caused such turmoil. A weak small of consolation stretched the corners of his lips, Warfang might not be currently the symbol of unity, but it was good to see that its inhabitants didn't ram the door and have respect for the status of a Guardian.

People were anxious and frightened, it was perfectly understandable, the fear of black dragons is justified. It wasn't long before Cynder ended her reign of terror and now out of nowhere another black dragon appears. People aren't to blame for their prejudice, after all there is a chance that every black dragon has to go through a period of corruption.

He didn't believe it himself, but the doubt was there and even if he didn't want to, he kept thinking about it. A leader has to consider every possibility.

He flicked his wings and wiggled his shoulders as if he would rearrange a cloak on his back. It didn't help, the uncomfortable clench was still there.

Leader.

He let out a deep sigh. Even after many years of commanding troops didn't prepare him for this role. People consider him the head of the Guardians, Ignitus himself passed the mantle on him after all. Yet as time passes by he begins to understand that perhaps it was not because that he deserved it, but because there was no one to choose from.

Volteer, he is too friendly and trusting to make any reliable decision, being the people dragon is simply not his area of expertise. Not to mention that he isn't an orator, many would not understand him and if he would want to make it easier for people they would die of boredom during his prolonged speeches.

He is destined for a library and the search for knowledge, so this is where he was sent. He insisted on helping of course, but both of them knew his offer was that of simple politeness and support of long lasting friendship. He wouldn't be of any help outside, again, they both knew about it.

The other option was Cyril…this would be enough of an explanation for most people why he wasn't a good choice. He has everything that a true leader needs, at least in his own opinion, royal blood and the ego to see his ideas through. He would be a perfect leader if not for the fact that the heart in his chest is as cold as his breath, even if it's in the right place.

He would built an empire, Terrador had absolutely no doubts about that, the harsh through however is that it would be a draconic empire, making every other race redundant, means to an end with a promise of a better future. Future that would be reached when, or more likely if, dragons will reclaim their rightful place in society.

Luckily Cyril wasn't here right now or this moment would be so much more difficult.

Even if it was selfish to say this, Ignitus made the right choice. He isn't perfect and never will be, but the alternatives were far worse.

Terrador sighed once more, the realization didn't fill him with any dose of confidence, he was as reluctant going outside as he was earlier. Only another glimpse into his flaws, the lack of any motivational skill outside the battlefield.

"I'm too old for this" with this malcontent mumble he pushed the door open

The plaza in front of the City Hall was exactly as he expected, filled with many muttering and yelling people, the soldiers that recently left were the current target of the mob's displeasure. The rumbling effect created by the crowd didn't go unnoticed, many guards have appeared to make sure that nothing escalates beyond the bounds of order.

Definition of which was really stretched in a place like Warfang.

The representants of the Guard that weren't owners of a pair of wings circled the crowd on the ground, keeping a fair distance from them as to not be accused of taking any sides. The draconic members however were sited all around the walls and roofs of the larger buildings, occupying the perfect vantage points, ready to swoop down if the circumstances will demand it.

When the Guardian steeped crossed the doorstep of the most official building of Warfang every eye, including those of the Guard, turned in his direction. The city went eerily silent as if someone would pull down a lever with a label saying _Mute_ on it.

All of this years of being a commander of an army prepared him for one thing for which he was immensely grateful. The inability to break under the pressure of eyes staring at you. No matter how civilized one can be, the feral instinct is there and whether you believe it or not it works like a sixth sense, sense that feels fear and uncertainty, especially in the ones that are considered to be an alpha of a particular society.

Letting the pressure get to you renders every diplomatic struggle to failure even before it really started.

People didn't see him break, this is why no one from the crowd broke the silence, unconsciously waiting for him to swing the axe of war.

"People-"

"You brought another black dragon into the city!" someone huskily screamed from the crowd

From there it went as it was to be expected, the mob literally roared, not really caring that in this combine yelling no comprehensible word could be heard. It wasn't really that necessary since everyone knew anyway what this is about, however it was still quite amusing to see all those people coming here to scream out their protests and hammer some sense into the heads of their leaders when in truth they are the ones that make no sense and instead of participating in a debate all they do is roar like hungry lions over carcass.

"We need to look at this from different perspective" Terrador's baritone voice rumbled loudly, far more audibly than the ongoing shouts

"What perspective?!" a cheetah sprung forward from the crowd, paw clenched into a fist

The forceful jerk forward was followed by clanking of weapons and armor as some of the guards, driven by instinct, tensed their muscles.

"There is only one perspective here!"

"That's right!" the crowd joined the feline

"We didn't live through the horrors caused by one black dragon just to go through it again!"

Pinpointing from where the shout came from was impossible because momentarily the crowd picked up on the words and started roaring their agreement with the mysterious speaker.

"A simple perspective" Terrador said when people finally calmed down, his voice unchanging and rough like a rock "Someone exceptional like this new black dragon would find the way our city sooner or later, now if he would enter our city is an entirely different question. By inviting him in we didn't give him a choice and this decision opened possibilities for us. We get the chance to learn more about him while also keeping an eye on him. or would you rather have a black dragon soaring the skies without our knowledge?"

The roaring of the crowd turned suddenly into a whispering breeze of conspicuous collaborators, people might be terrified but they aren't without reason. Most of them at least.

"This doesn't change anything!" a female mole cried out "We already have Shadow walking our streets! I don't want another black dragon so close to my children!"

Nods of many heads were followed by shouts of approval, mainly female ones.

"Then you can sleep safely" Terrador replied calmly "We are aware of the wounds Malefor and Lightbane caused, this is why we made sure that our new arrival won't be staying in our city"

"Made sure?" a mocking laughter came from the middle of the crowd "Did you already forget that it took the power of a purple dragon to beat a black dragon?"

"By the Ancestors!" a terrified blare came out from the crowd, from a throat belonging to an old dragon "Don't tell us you sent Spyro to control that dragon! Who's going to protect us from the creatures hiding in those portals or whatever that is!"

After hearing those words Terrador was immensely grateful to whatever force kept Cyril away from the City Hall, he could only imagine how furious he would be right now.

There was also a second part of him and that one felt badly hurt. He wasn't a creature of pride, years of battling tempered that particular trait, yet he had some layers of self-respect and those didn't want to accept that they were worthless and weak.

In this very brief moment he wanted Cyril to be here, or at least by some magical means took control of his mind and body and explain to those people that they can't rely on Spyro to do all the paw work. His cold friend was right to some degree, dragons shouldn't speak like that, creatures of nearly godlike status and uncountable longevity cannot give in to weakness.

It simply doesn't fit with creatures like them.

Terrador looked around the rooftops and walls, making sure that he isn't alone in this, when the young and strong, dedicated to duty would collapse they would be surely lost. He was glad to see that the draconic part of the Guard flinched in silent displeasure. He could even read a cuss or two from the moving lips.

It made him smile.

"Don't worry" Terrador stated, voice calmer than ever "Spyro's attention is focused on our city"

"If not Spyro then with who you plan on controlling the dragon?"

"Don't tell us it's Cynder!" someone roared horrified

It was enough to shake the crowd completely, many throats cried out at the same time, the rumbling sound was similar to an explosion of a dynamite found hiding in a pile of clothes just under you.

"NOOOOOOOO!"

"You can't put two black dragons together! Who knows what they could come up with!"

Terrador remained silent, he had no intention of breaking through the commotion, if there was something he learnt from Ignitus way of dealing with crowds then it was patience. When it comes to dealing with mobs the preferred course of action is to let the shouting members of the gathering chip their own throats.

"It's Malefor's influence!" someone else cried "He said he was immortal after all!"

He caught himself on a brief moment of hesitation, doubting his stern confidence. Both Spyro and Cynder confirmed that the Dark Master perished and yet he stubbornly kept repeating that he cannot be killed.

Was it only hollow bragging of a dragon drunk on power?

He always believed so, but in this very moment his nostrils flared up without him even realizing it and they caught the dreadful scent that tormented the Realms for so many years. It wasn't a faint smell, it was strong, potent, close.

It was everywhere.

He could smell it even on himself.

"Guardian!"

Terrador snapped from his trance momentarily.

"People" he said, tone steady as always, turning the moment of hesitation into nothing but a figment of imagination "Both Spyro and Cynder remained here in Warfang, there is no reason to panic"

"No reason to panic?!" a dragon, exclaimed in mocking horror

The Guardian remained unaffected, at least from the outside. Deep down he heard something cracking within him, revealing bloody letters pulsing on the veins of his heart.

_What has happened to us?_

"First of all let's make one thing clear. I didn't say anything about controlling, we didn't force anyone to do anything. Danox, that's the name of our new guest, came here with peaceful intentions, simply to converse. He made no attempt to protest when we explained the situation to him and how his presence would be difficult for all of us if he stayed in the city. We proposed a solution and he accepted, leaving on his own accord"

"Taint works in the most subtle of ways!" the Guardian no longer cared who shouted, it was him against the crowd and they all spoke mostly with the same voice

"Brill was right! You are way too trusting and vulnerable to the influence! I bet you sent one of your own with him!"

"YES!" the crowd screamed

"It really pains me to hear that there are _yours_ and _ours_ in Warfang"

The mob quieted down after the Guardian's words, there was something emphatically honest and blatant in the way of the green dragon spoke that made the people feel like they would collide with a rock formation that was always there but they simply ignored its existence.

"All we do is to make the Dragon Realms a better place for everyone, a safe place where every opinion matters. We didn't forget about that principle even when dealing with Danox. That is why Ignus, another new arrival, accompanies our even newer guest. He has no ties to this city or to any of us. He's opinion will be one hundred percent objective"

"You've sent a total stranger with the black guy?!" another loud voice of protest burst from the crowd

This time however there was only a handful of people that supported the yeller with their own cries.

"If Darkness boils within him like it does in Cynder, Ignus might be influenced by the Taint without even knowing it!"

Terrador opened his mouth, but then suddenly bit his lip, trapping his tongue between his fangs. His first impulse was to explain that a thing like Darkness doesn't exist, especially not in someone like Cynder who put her own life at stake for the Realms, but he decided not to do it. Questioning Brill's belief spreading over the people would be just another pretext to start another shouting fight.

He rolled his tongue back into his mouth, coming to an conclusion that it is better to simply let the words, sounding almost like provocation, be ignored.

Time will tell who was right in the end.

"The Guardians made the right choice"

The crowd gasped faintly, but it was not a gasp ringing with pain of betrayal, but admiration. One of their own had the nerve to say out loud words that most of them were thinking about.

"Very nice Guardian" a soldier who stood just ahead complimented him "You didn't lose your knack for resolving battles I see"

Terrador nodded formally, soul screaming in joy. He wasn't jaded after all, even after so many years.

"How can you say such a thing!" a voice of protest rumbled across the Plaza

"Be silent!" a group of people yelled "Let him speak!"

"Just think!" the supporting voice continued, it belonged to a cheetah "A natural party like Ignus is perfect. He won't try to ignore the signs of Taint just to force us to believe that such a thing doesn't exist, he won't also try to take every uneasy sign as the work of Darkness. He's not some youngling either who will give to impulse! He's an experienced dragon who no doubt seen many things in his long life, he will certainly know if there is something fishy going on or if that black dragon isn't worth much attention"

Murmurs spread across the crowd of people. Content, agreeing, calm.

"Go home dear people!"

Every single soul that created the mob gasped in shock at the sound of the shout. Noises of clanking armor and snapping sounds of stiffed bones echoed throughout the walls and rooftops, even the guards that stood on the stairs to the City Hall straightened up like they would be hit by a lightning bolt.

Terrador narrowed his gaze, at the end of the Plaza stood an old, frail looking mole enveloped in an invisible but palpable orb of respect and kind authority.

It was no one else but Brill himself.

The crowd parted in two groups momentarily, it was like an invisible staff would drop on the earth, cutting the crowd in the middle, separating the groups by an invisible layer of magical energy that only few could pass through.

The mole ahead was undoubtedly one such person.

The Earth Guardian wasn't awe struck by the sight, in fact he was somewhat disgusted and scared of it. He couldn't help himself but wonder what the world would look like if people would bend under the rules written by faith, follow something so blindly that they forget about morality and see nothing else besides it.

A grim perspective for certain.

If a world like this exists somewhere out there, the Guardian pitied it.

People started to scatter without a word, even dragons did, beasts that should be revered according to Brill's faith and it looked like it was the other way around. Whether the mole did anything to stop them from doing so Terrador couldn't see, there were just too many people moving around, all toward the exit.

All except one of course.

Brill walked straight ahead, across the invisible staff towards the stairs to the City Hall. His walk was slow and looked painful, age has the audacity to push needless into even the most powerful and respected it seems.

As he observed the hobbling mole Terrador couldn't shake off one thought out of his head that found its way to his mind like mouse to a basement.

Brill's days are numbered.

And strangely that thought was breathtakingly frightening.

With the crowd scattered and the terrain outside the City Hall nearly empty the guard on the rooftops and walls had no reason to stay, they disappeared as quickly as a stalker behind a moving cart.

Terrador and the three draconic guards on the stairs were the last remnants of the debate, all four of them were watching the approaching mole in silent concentration.

Brill hobbled forward, the robe he was wearing was draped over him like withered, old skin. He was nodding his head as he looked around, eyeing the many statues, his hands were faintly clapping against each other.

Terrador noticed the guards around him wincing, as if the claps would be the sound of echoing war drums of an approaching, overwhelming army.

"You my old friend are the living example why we erected these statues" the old mole rasped with a smile "You are everything a dragon is supposed to be. A complete opposite of your ice partner"

He tapped the side of one of the nearby guard, gaining his attention. He nodded in the direction of the mole.

"Assist him"

"There's no need" Brill blurt out automatically, pushing his hand forward with his palmed opened up, giving a clear signal for the guard, who didn't even made a step, that he should stop

"You can't fight with age Brill"

"I know, but creatures like you stand on a pedestal from which you shouldn't lower yourself to help someone like me. Those on the ground are just dust in the wind"

"You say that and yet among those people were dragons that listened to you"

"Simple, but precious minds can be found amongst every race"

The mole eventually crawled up the stairs, stopping right in front two big, green legs. He rearranged the goggles on his long nose. Terrador believed that the term _goggles_ doesn't apply to the device the priest was wearing, but due to a void in his scientific dictionary he couldn't come up with a better name.

And the construction definitely deserved one.

The second pair of artificial eyes was way smaller than the ordinary goggles mole usually wear. It looked like two magnifying glasses connected by a thin black frame with a strap that went behind the mole's head, holding it attached to his head.

He didn't knew the word for this device, but the mole's black eyes were completely huge in them.

"Age hasn't changed you at all" Brill rasped, trailing the draconic figure with his enlarged eyes. Awe could be heard in his voice, combined with that faint, delicate hint of jealousy

"Death didn't change you either"

Brill chuckled, a laughter that immediately turned into a fit of coughing that he calmed by pressing his shaking hand to his lungs.

The guards around the mole winced, Terrador did the same to his surprise, if he wouldn't look around he would never establish a mental connection with his draconic companions that explained to him what he was feeling right now.

It was pity.

The mole looked older, so much different from the tales of people he heard circling around the city describing Brill when he was giving one of his speeches or leading a sermon in the temple. So much different than the single time he had to intervene when during one such speech the mole nearly initiated public lynching on Cynder.

"May I come inside?"

Terrador shook his head fiercely, as if being snapped back to reality by an explosion. He felt ashamed that he didn't propose it first, even if no hidden in between lines scold was heard in the mole's voice he still felt like someone would smack him across his snout.

"Of course!" he blurted out and immediately pushed the door open, instinctively putting so much strength into the ordeal that he nearly tore them off from their mechanical hinges.

The three guards turned around, ready to enter right behind the two of them. Terrador looked up at them and shook his head, every single orb of the six eyes sparkled at the meaningful signal.

All were radiating gratitude.

The Guardian impulsively gulped, not really knowing what he was feeling, he was only aware of the fact that his heart seemed to stop beating, as if it was preparing itself to accept some dire news that it felt were coming, finally letting go off the final strands of hope it clung to.

He slid back into the City Hall, all the time observing the guards flying away and wishing he was in the air with them. He stopped in the entrance, eyes aimed at the world outside, paw unconsciously pushed the door, making them slowly close themselves.

His eyes dropped on the ground, where the streak of sun entering through the door could be seen. A streak that was slowly disappearing beneath the shadow of the closing door, a bright scene steadily being shrouded by dropping black curtain.

When the last spark of light finally vanished and the door closed with a thud he felt like a lid of a coffin just shut itself tight.

"You will have to excuse me if I don't ask for permission to sit, but my legs are not as strong as they used to be"

The scratching of a chair made Terrador turn around sharply.

"Of course!" he blurt out startled, rubbing his claret beard slowly, throwing one final glance behind his shoulder.

Coffin.

"I think it's about time we talked" Brill said, taking a rasping breath, the walk undoubtedly tired him

"Can I get you something to drink first? Water perhaps?" with questions leaving his mouth he approached the table where the mole sat. His maroon eyes observed the frail more intently

Brill raised his hand in a popular signal of refusal.

"Thank you for the offer, but I must decline. Someone like you won't be serving someone as lowly as me"

"Don't be ridiculous. This is the duty of a host"

"This is not a matter of principles of savoir vivre, this is about faith and its commandants. I can't possibly accept service from a being I worship and consider divine. This is unacceptable"

"As you wish" Terrador stated with a tone that seemed to indicate sincere indifference

He moved behind the table, near the cabinet where they kept most of the daily papers and trays filled with snack and all different kinds of drinks. In his maw he picked up the one holding a pitcher with water and several empty glasses, he then placed it on the table just at the reach of the mole's arms and sat adjacent to the priest.

"I'm thirsty however, so you won't mind if I put it here" he reached for the glass, pouring himself some water

Brill smiled, it was a very kind smile that only someone old and caring can grant.

"If you ever had any doubts about being the leader of the Guardians I advise you to throw them away. You are where you are supposed to be, there could be no one better"

With those warm words he filled his own glass.

"It's about Danox isn't it?" Terrador asked bluntly

"Danox?" Brill repeated, putting the glass down

"The black dragon"

"It slipped my mind, no wonder, attributing personality to an embodiment of Taint is a cursed thing to do"

"I respect your faith Brill, but I won't have anyone accusing and offending someone because of the color of their scales. Not under this roof" Terrador said calmly, yet the stern tone of his voice was as palpable as rough edges on a rock

"Your dedication is falsely focused and inspired, you took a wrong dragon as your scapegoat. It wasn't Cynder's fault that corruption was forced upon her, after being released she did everything in her power to make amends for the deeds she in my subjective opinion shouldn't be accused of in the first place. You can't shroud the bad past of one dragoness onto every next black dragon we will meet"

Brill intertwined his long, cracked claws on the glass.

"Believing that she had no choice in the matter is a sweet delusion, dark forces can be resisted, you only need faith and will to do so. Trust me, I know"

He took another sip of water.

"This is beside the point right now, the girl can still save herself, hopefully she will realize that sooner than later and take up on my offer"

"I've heard about your _offer_" the Guardian shook his head "And still can't believe how could you even propose such a thing. She's so young! There is whole life ahead of her and you expect that she simply throws it away just because you spread visons of doom?"

"These are not mere visions, this is our future" he tapped the golden eye sewn into his robe "I've tasted the Darkness, seen its power. Ancestors reached up to me then, opened my eyes to unimaginable horrors if we remain idle"

Terrador frowned, eyeing the mole skeptically.

"Ancestors talked to you?"

"Your lack of faith is understandable, just as your thoughts are about me. In both cases you are misguided however. I can't protect your faith, you need to raise that shield yourself, however I can protect myself and here I tell you that I'm not the monster many take me for. I'm fully aware that the girl is young and has a lot of life still left in her, that is why I don't intervene and allow her to live it fully until she will make a decision, one way or the other. Unfortunately the Taint is a curse no amount of magic will heal and therefore her life is cursed. She has the chance to make the best out of her limited lifespan, adulthood is a stage she will never reach however. Pity. Unfortunately that's a necessary sacrifice"

"How can you be so certain of this?"

Brill looked up at him, something sparkled in his eyes, Terrador couldn't tell what it was, for all he knew it might just be the light from the nearby brazier catching the surface of his strange goggles.

"I am guided"

"By the Ancestors I presume"

"By faith dear friend, by faith"

"And that faith tells you to take command over a life of a young girl"

He waved his hand dismissively "Enough about the girl, she is safe as long as I live. There are more pressing matters"

The Guardian sighed "Will I like what I'm about to hear?"

The priest sipped from his glass again.

"No. As you should. That black dragon, he cannot be allowed to exist around our people"

"Then you will be happy to know that he won't be living in Warfang, he's already outside the city boundaries and will remain there"

"It's not enough"

Terrador's brow raised in surprise "Not enough?"

"That creature needs to be gone"

"He's far away from the city, in a place where nobody goes. If there will be troubles, which I doubt, we're close enough to react. You can't expect from me to send him to the other edge of the world"

Brill once again turned his head, his sight was sharper than ever, his natural grey coat seemed to gain on tint, all the shaking was gone, just as the appearance of a kind grandpa. Before him sat a priest, devoted to his faith, seeing nothing besides it.

"He needs to die"

The Guardian reared his head back.

"Excuse me?!"

The mole rubbed slowly the eye on his robe.

"Can you not feel it? he whispered "Can you not smell the decay? Can you not see the rot polluting our air? Taint is everywhere, it surrounds every one of us, Taint is in every one of us. Did you never felt its corruptive power?"

Terrador shivered unexpectedly "Nnnnooo" his voice wavered, a discomfort he instantly got rid of by clearing his throat "We all have a dark side, you are taking something for what it isn't"

The mole's enlarged eyes never left him, they were way too busy drilling into his soul, making him really uncomfortable.

Brill smiled with a nod.

No kindness radiated from his lips.

"I wish that you will remain in that lie, but I fear that you will wake up and then it will be already too late"

"Do you even consider the possibility that you might be wrong?"

"My faith is strong, it shows me one and only true way"

"That road leads to murder"

"Salvation Terrador" Brill shook his finger in a silent scolding manner "Salvation"

"I've been a warrior nearly my entire life Brill" the Guardian retorted sternly, not shaking under the mole's gentle judgment "One thing I learnt during my campaigns is that spilling blood never leads to relief or salvation. Murder is murder, a kill is a kill, nothing else"

"You're under the wrong assumption that vanquishing a creature without a soul is a vile act"

"You're under the wrong assumption that black dragons are soulless"

Brill shook his head "I've never said such a thing, there are two black dragons here right now, only one of them has a soul. The girl"

"Listen Brill" Terrador said with a sigh, tapping his claws against the table "I'm a simple creature, a soldier. I believe in what I see, if I would consider every tale people come up with I would be afraid of my own shadow. A clear head, with straight priorities, is important on the battlefield. All your attempts to convince me on the supernatural are futile. I need proof"

"The Taint works subtly" the mole said sadly, being back to his old, weak self, shaking claws clutched the glass like it was the only thing that would pull him out from the hungry waves of the sea

"This is its advantage, it works around people's ignorance and blindness. Forget about your militaristic experience just for a while friend and tell me. Did you feel entirely secure when that creature was within this walls?"

Terrador stopped for a moment, thinking about Danox even despite his better judgment and he could feel the tendrils of fear creeping and wrapping themselves against his heart. If this was because of accepting the existence of the Taint the priest speaks of he didn't know. Most likely not, he spent too much time around Cynder to believe in such a thing, not even the most intelligent and sly vile force could be able to act like that, displaying so much kindness, it would not bare it.

The only reasonable explanation why the dragon triggered any fear in him was hurt pride, the experience it had to go through when being drained by Lightbane. It was merely an instinctive fear, one black dragon conquered him once, another one could do the same.

This is prejudice, disgusting prejudice.

"Of course I did" Terrador said, baritone voice solid as a stone even despite his thoughts

Brill looked at him again, absolutely nothing could be read from his huge eyes, it was rather awkward to face his stare, trying to discern if the mole believes him or not.

The priest made no indication on that matter.

"Whatever you believe, getting rid of that creature is essential"

"What do you want from me Brill? My consent for a crusade? You won't be getting it, you won't murder an innocent dragon. I won't agree to this"

"I don't expect you to do otherwise, at least not now. We both need time to prepare, we are facing a creature that none could imagine existed"

"Prepare?" Terrador blurt out with a jerk of his head "For what? You want us to indulge into your most likely twisted world of what's right or wrong? True or false?" he narrowed his eyes on the priest "What exactly you mean by _you need time to prepare? _If you plan on jeopardizing the integrity of this city further you won't be allowed to continue"

The mole's eyes sparkled, irritation could be clearly seen radiating from them and the priest made no intention to hide it.

"Don't let Cyril's influence speak through you, it doesn't suit you. I will strengthen the people resolve, their confidence, nothing else"

"And just what exactly are you expecting me to do? Mobilize an army?"

"We already have an army"

A shiver ran across Terrador's spine, there was something terrifying about that sentence.

"We need a general" Brill continued "You will have to convince Spyro to join our cause, I can't do that for obvious reasons. I've tried already but he is too far gone for me to reach him"

The Guardian shook his head "This is insane, you can't expect me to make such a decision on my own. I need to consult this wi-"

"No" Brill cut him off fiercely "Your fellow Guardians won't help you. Volteer is exceptional and wise, but blind to the consequences of the unfolding events. I don't have to explain why Cyril is a bad advisor, he can't see past the tip of his own nose as you are most likely aware. This is your choice my friend and you better make the right one soon"

"And what if I won't make the right choice? What did the Ancestors tell you will happen then?"

Brill turned around, aiming his gaze at the nearby window where the slowly weakening sun of the day hid behind a cloud, letting the world be enveloped by the black curtain of shadow.

"We will all be consumed"


End file.
